Micah Johnson is playing well at Triple-A and while Carlos Sanchez has come up with a few key hits lately, he has struggled at the plate.
With the White Sox offense in an overall funk, Sanchez’s .173/.214/.227 slash line in 161 plate appearances has some wondering why the team hasn’t promoted Johnson back to the majors. Since he was sent to Charlotte in May, Johnson has a .309/.368/.436 slash line with four home runs and 17 stolen bases in 213 plate appearances. In considering anyway they can jumpstart an offense averaging 3.45 runs per game, the White Sox have discussed recalling Johnson but seem content to hold off for now.
“You start kicking things around,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “Micah is hitting well down there but you also get Sanchy, he knocked in a run last night and swung the bat fairly well.
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"But you have to be able to play defense and that's what Sanchy was brought here to do and he's done that part. It's notlike putting blame on anybody or anything like that. He's done what he's supposed to do. Would he want to hit better? Absolutely. Do we want him to do that? Absolutely. I think he will do that. But moving forward, you're looking at what kind pieces you can move around to kind of shake things up.”
General manager Rick Hahn said the White Sox had the equivalent of a “mini organizational” meeting with the club’s roving instructors as well as farm director Nick Capra and assistant GM Buddy Bell within the last week to discuss a number of minor league options. One NL scout recently complimented Johnson for the effort he has put in on the defensive end and that he has made strides. Hahn agrees Johnson has improved but didn’t delve further into any details.
“We went through each of our guys, where they’re at in the season and what’s the plan for development, both at the upper levels and throughout the system for every guy, and obviously the players in Triple A who conceivably could help us in Chicago were a big part of those conversations,” Hahn said. “Micah’s swinging the bat real well, playing solid defense there and certainly is a viable option to help us here, as we said at the time when we sent him out. We fully expected at some point Micah to return. We’ve got a pretty good idea of what he would add to the roster if and when he does return.”