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Meidroth

Meidroth hit a two-run homer off David Bednar, which often can lead to something special. Unfortunately for Meidroth and the White Sox, it came with the White Sox trailing by three. The 25-year-old has homered nine times and driven in 40 runs while improving his slash to .276/.345/.396 on the campaign.

His second four-hit game over the past month, Meidroth was a key piece of this White Sox win. Twice he came up with runners in scoring position and twice he came through with RBI knocks. Another one of his singles helped push a rally along in the sixth inning as well. For all of the fanfare this White Sox team has earned this season, Meidroth has mostly flown under the radar despite a .277 batting average and .347 on-base percentage while playing solid defense at second base. That’s a winning ballplayer.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine day of rest for the 24-year-old second baseman. Sam Antonacci will cover second base in his absence while Randal Grichuk draws a start in left field and will bat seventh against Blue Jays’ right-hander Trey Yesavage.

Meidroth also had a single in the contest. With the White Sox having Caleb Bonemer on the way and adding another elite infield prospect in Roch Cholowsky with the No. 1 pick in today’s draft, one wonders if Meidroth might eventually become obsolete in Chicago, in spite of his very solid play to date. It’s not an issue for this year, though. He’s batting .272/.345/.383 through 388 plate appearances.

Meidroth victimized Guardians’ right-hander Slade Cecconi for a 349-foot (100.6-mph EV) two-run shot in the sixth inning that extended the White Sox’ lead to 5-2. That would be the extent of their offense though. The 24-year-old infielder is now slashing .272/.343/.387 on the season to go along with seven long balls, 29 RBI and two stolen bases (in four attempts) over 355 plate appearances for the White Sox.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine day of rest for the 24-year-old second baseman. Sam Antonacci will move into the infield and start at second base while Randal Grichuk makes a rare start against a right-hander and will bat fifth for the White Sox against Troy Melton and the Tigers.

Meidroth will get a chance atop Chicago’s lineup to face Tigers lefty Framber Valdez with rookie Sam Antonacci hitting ninth. It looks like a matchup-based decision since Antonacci has excelled out of the leadoff spot since being moved there earlier this month. Meidroth has been on a heater at the dish recently, batting .300 (9-for-30) with two homers in his last seven games.

Meidroth added to the barrage of runs the White Sox scored on Wednesday when he smacked a grand slam in the seventh inning off Twins reliever Travis Adams to push the White Sox’s lead to 13-1. It was the fifth homer of the season for Meidroth and his first career grand slam. He has now hit safely in five-straight games and has posted multiple hits in his last three games.

Meidroth’s homer came on a full count off Robbie Ray as the first batter of the game. He’s been batting first against lefties, but Sam Antonacci gets those opportunities against right-handers, while Meidroth typically drops to fifth. He’s improved in his second season, but he either needs to increase his bat speed or further lower his strikeout rate before the profile becomes more interesting for most fantasy leagues. Acquired from the Red Sox as part of the Garrett Crochet return package, Meidroth has started all but four contests for Chicago this season.

Runs were hard to come by in Tuesday’s contest in Seattle. Chicago was held scoreless through eight until Meidroth stepped to the plate with two runners on. He got a ground ball just past the first baseman for a single to drive in the game-tying run. The 24-year-old infielder is having a solid season, hitting .262/.337/.369 with three homers, 29 runs scored, and 11 RBI across 194 plate appearances.