The White Sox announced Wednesday that outfielder Corey Julks passed through waivers unclaimed and was assigned outright to Triple-A Charlotte. He’ll remain with the organization as non-roster depth and be invited to big league camp this spring.
An eighth-round pick of the Astros in 2018, Julks came to the White Sox last May after he’d also been designated for assignment in Houston. Chicago sent right Luis Rodriguez, a 20-year-old reliever in Rookie ball, to the ’Stros in that swap. Julks wound up logging 66 games and 189 plate appearances for the South Siders but hit just .214/.275/.306 with poor batted-ball metrics during that time (84.9 mph average exit velocity, 28.2% hard-hit rate). He fared quite a bit better in Triple-A last year, slashing .278/.372/.470 between the two organizations.
Julks has always hit well in the upper minors. He’s a .267/.360/.491 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons and sports a .275/.339/.459 slash in a pair of Double-A campaigns. He’s a good runner (80th percentile sprint speed) with above-average arm strength who’s best suited for corner outfield work but does have the experience to handle center in a pinch.
Given the state of the White Sox’ outfield, Julks could play his way back onto the big league roster. Andrew Benintendi, Luis Robert Jr. and Mike Tauchman are slated to start for rookie skipper Will Venable in 2025, but Benintendi is coming off a pair of down seasons, while both Robert and Tauchman will be trade candidates this summer if they’re healthy and playing well. Others in the outfield mix include Dominic Fletcher, Zach DeLoach and Oscar Colas, but none of that trio has established himself as a credible big leaguer yet.