White Sox announce September callups; Seven Knights promoted

Here's the official release: 

With the 2014 Charlotte Knights record-breaking regular season complete, the Chicago White Sox have announced the promotions of seven players off of Charlotte’s final regular season roster. Officially joining Chicago’s roster today as September call-ups are Chris Bassitt,Scott Carroll, Jordan Danks, Josh Phegley, Marcus Semien, Eric Surkamp, and Michael Taylor. Six of the seven players have spent time with the White Sox in their careers, while today’s promotion is the first for Taylor with Chicago. The Stanford University product, who had his contract purchased by the White Sox today, spent parts of three seasons in the majors with the Oakland A’s from 2011-13 (26 games). Taylor becomes the 40^th player on Chicago’s 40-man roster.

Bassitt, 25, made his Major League debut with the White Sox on Saturday, August 30 after being promoted from the Birmingham Barons (Double-A). He allowed five runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings and was saddled with the loss in his debut. With Birmingham, Bassitt posted a 3-1 record with a 1.56 ERA in six starts. He was optioned to Charlotte on August 31 but did not appear in a game for the Knights.

Carroll, 29, began the 2014 season with the Knights and made four starts with the club before his promotion to Chicago on April 27. The Liberty, MO native went 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA in 23 innings pitched with the Knights. In 22 games for the White Sox (16 starts), Carroll is 5-9 with a 5.07 ERA 108.1 innings pitched. Carroll was optioned to the Knights on August 30 and did not appear in a game in his second 2014 stint with the club.  

Danks, 28, finished his fifth season with the Knights on Monday and hit .270 with 16 home runs, and 57 RBIs in 93 games. It was a record-breaking season for Danks, who broke the all-time Knights hits record, games played record, at-bats record, and runs scored record. Overall, Danks has appeared in 463 games played with the Knights and has 1,682 at-bats, 449 hits, 215 walks, 95 doubles, 12 triples, 52 home runs, 222 RBIs, and 250 runs scored. He broke the all-time Knights franchise hits mark on July 31 at BB&T Ballpark – passing Joe Borchard’s mark of 439.

Phegley, 26, hit .274 (115-for-419) with 69 runs scored, 30 doubles, four triples, 23 home runs, and 75 RBIs in 107 games for the Knights this season. The Terre Haute, IN native was named as an International League Midseason and Postseason All-Star this season. He finished third overall in the IL in home runs and slugging percentage (.530) and ranked first among IL catchers in runs scored, triples, home runs, RBIs, and total bases (222). Defensively, Phegley, a 2012 MiLB Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, led all IL catchers in games (105), total chances (893), putouts (799), and assists (86). He also threw out a league best 44% of attempted basestealers.

Semien, 23, returns to Chicago after beginning the 2014 season there. The San Francisco native hit .267 (81-for-303) with 57 runs scored, 20 doubles, three triples, 15 home runs, and 52 RBIs for the Knights in 83 games. From August 5 to August 30, Semien reached base in 24 consecutive games and hit .370 (30-for-81) with five home runs and 13 RBIs over that 24-game stretch.

Surkamp, 27, started the 2014 campaign as a member of Charlotte’s rotation and posted a 4-5 record with a 4.69 ERA in 18 starts (11 games) for the Knights. The Cincinnati, OH native earned IL Pitcher of the Week honors (June 16-22) and later earned his first promotion of the season to Chicago on June 26. In 23 games out of the Chicago bullpen, Surkamp is 1-0 with a 6.91 ERA (14.1 innings pitched).

Taylor, 28, was acquired by the White Sox from the Oakland organization in a trade on June 14. The Cheverly, MD native quickly made an impact with the Knights and hit .306 (67-for-219) with 41 runs scored, 18 doubles, two triples, six home runs, and 38 RBIs in 64 games. Overall, the former Philadelphia Phillies farmhand hit .275 (120-for-437) with 32 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, and 69 RBIs in 123 games combined between Triple-A Sacramento and Charlotte this year.

With today’s announcement, 19 different players have earned a promotion from Charlotte to Chicago this year. RHP Jake Petricka (April 4), outfielder Jordan Danks (April 10), RHP Zach Putnam (April 17), RHP Andre Rienzo (April 19), LHP Charlie Leesman (April 22), RHP Scott Carroll (April 27), LHPFrank De Los Santos (May 3), RHP Frank Francisco (May 10), RHP Javy Guerra (May 20), LHPEric Surkamp (June 26), infielder Carlos Sanchez (July 13), RHP Taylor Thompson (July 20), RHPMaikel Cleto (August 4), 1B Andy Wilkins (August 31), and Scott Snodgress (August 31), are the other 15 players promoted in 2014.

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Notably absent from today's promotions was White Sox top prospect Carlos Rodon, who allowed four runs on nine hits over the course of three appearances (12 IP) with the Knights. He struck out 19, walked eight, and hit a batter. Rodon was the White Sox first pick in this year's draft. 

Jared Mitchell is another name that many expected to be called today. After a slow start to the season and 42 games in Class AA Birmingham, Mitchell returned to the Knights and hit .274 (31-for-113) with a .376 OBP and four home runs over Charlotte's final 28 games.