In Focus: Charlie Shirek

Charlie Shirek spent the entire 2012 season as a member of the Charlotte Knights. His 2013 season will now be spent in a foreign country.

On Tuesday, December 18, the White Sox announced that they requested unconditional release waivers on Shirek so he could pursue opportunities in Asia. Shirek was added to the club’s 40-man roster on November 20 and will now leave the organization to pitch in Korea – leaving Chicago’s 40-man roster at 38 players.

The North Dakota native excelled on the mound last season, leading the International League in innings pitched (170.1) and leading Charlotte in strikeouts with 117. He also tied for the team lead in starts with Charlie Leesman (26) and finished with an 11-5 mark and a 3.65 ERA.

It was an impressive 2012 campaign for Shirek, who was coming off a 4-7 mark with a 3.87 ERA in 24 games with Double-A Birmingham in 2011. He quickly got off to a hot-start to 2012 and won the International League’s Pitcher of the Week award for the period of April 16-22. During that stretch, he went 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA (13 innings).

Shirek was extra-special at Knights Stadium a year ago. In 90.1 innings pitched at home, he posted an 8-1 mark with a 2.99 ERA. Although he would finish just 3-4 with a 4.39 on the road (80.0 innings), Shirek set a career-high with nine strikeouts at Scranton-Wilkes Barre (6. 2 innings) on July 17.

Shirek was originally selected by the White Sox in the 23rd round of the June 2007 draft. A product of the University of Nebraska, Shirek led Big 12 freshmen with a 3.23 ERA in 2006. He made his professional debut with Kannapolis in 2007 and was tabbed by Baseball America as the Best Late-Round Pick in the White Sox 2007 draft class.