Former Angels Prospect Involved in Blockbuster Trade Gets MLB Call-Up: Report

He will debut Monday.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Former Los Angeles Angels pitching prospect Ky Bush made his major league debut Monday with the Chicago White Sox against the Oakland Athletics.

Bush's task was not easy: to help the White Sox avoid history and halt the team's 20-game losing streak.

Unfortunately, the 24-year-old left-hander came up short. Bush allowed three runs in four innings, walking five batters and striking out three, in a 5-1 loss. Chicago's 21-game losing streak matched an American League record, set in 1988 by the Baltimore Orioles.

The White Sox have a 27-88 record. Not only are they the only team without 30 wins, they are MLB's only team without 40 wins.

Bush, the Angels' second-round pick (No. 45 overall) in the 2021 MLB Draft, was part of a blockbuster trade before the 2023 trade deadline. The Angels traded Bush and Edgar Quero to the White Sox in exchange for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López.

Neither Giolito or López remain with the Angels. Both were waived before the end of the 2023 season. Giolito currently plays for the Boston Red Sox, while López pitches for the Atlanta Braves.

Bush was part of an Angels draft class that consisted entirely of pitchers — an ironic note considering the team's struggles with pitching before and since. The Angels followed a similar pattern in the 2024 MLB Draft, as the team took eight pitchers during the first two days of the draft.

Prior to getting traded, Bush played for the Angels' rookie level, High-A, and Double-A affiliate teams. Bush had his best season in 2022, when he spent the entire year with the Angels' Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas. He made 21 starts, going 7-4 with a 3.67 ERA and 101 strikeouts.

Bush did not repeat that level of performance in 2023. He instead made two Rookie-level starts before returning to Double-A Rocket City. There, Bush started six games, going 1-3 with a 5.88 ERA and 33 strikeouts. After the trade, Bush played for Double-A Birmingham.

Bush began the 2024 season at Double-A, going 5-3 with a 2.12 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 14 starts. He was bumped up to Triple-A, where he was 2-1 with a 6.16 ERA and 16 strikeouts.

The longest losing streak in MLB history is 26 games in 1889 by the Louisville Colonels, and 23 games in the modern era of baseball by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1961. With three more losses in a row, the White Sox will tie the record no team wants to approach.