White Sox Take Flier On Highly Touted Former Top-100 Prospect

The White Sox have signed right-hander Justin Dunn to a minor league deal. Dunn will be in camp as a non-roster invitee during Spring Training, according to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Tribune. 

This is similar to the type of move the White Sox have made in the past to try and fill out its pitching staff. Dunn is a former highly touted Top-100 prospect involved in a massive trade when the Mets dealt him and Jarred Kelenic to the Mariners in exchange for Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano. 

He hasn’t pitched in the MLB in the last two seasons, after being limited to just three minor league appearances in 2023, and going unclaimed on the free agent market in 2024. Dunn suffered a right shoulder injury during the 2023 season, so he was limited to just 3.1 innings while rehabbing in the Reds farm system. After not pitching in 2024, Dunn held a showcase for teams last month which was enough for the White Sox to take a flier on him. 

The 29-year-old owns a career 4.44 ERA in 133.2 MLB innings. During his four years in the show, Dunn has a 113/86 strikeout to walk ratio while holding opponents .211 batting average. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers initially selected Dunn in the 37th round of the 2013 Amateur Draft. Dunn, who was still pitching at Frederick Gunn School, a private high school in Washington, Connecticut, opted to go to Boston College instead. During his three seasons at Boston College, Dunn posted a 3.66 ERA and averaged 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings. It was enough to catch the attention of the New York Mets, who selected him in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft with the 19th overall pick. 

Dunn made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Mariners after appearing in the All-Star Futures Game earlier that season. He made just for appearances for the Mariners as an opener,  tossing 6.2 innings and allowing just two runs on two hits with five strikeouts. 

He followed that up by going 4-1 across 10 starts in the 2020 COVID season. During that stretch, he posted a 4.34 ERA across 45.2 innings and walked 15.7 percent of hitters he faced. He then went 1-3 in 11 starts with the Mariners and posted a career-high 22.1 percent strikeout rate in 2021 before being traded to the Reds the following season. In his lone season with Cincinnati, he tossed 31 innings across seven starts, owning a 6.10 ERA. 

His pitching arsenal features a 92 mph four-seam fastball that makes up nearly half of his pitches thrown. His offspeed pitch usage is split evenly between an 84 mph slider and a 73 mph curveball, which he uses around 20 percent of the time. Dunn’s arsenal also features a rarely used changeup. 

Dunn will get plenty of opportunities to revitalize his career in Chicago. The White Sox pitching staff owned the third-highest ERA in the league last season en route to 121 losses.