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Meidroth

Meidroth has been stuck on 49 RBI for 10 days now. He is 4-for-32 with no extra-base hits and one walk in his last eight games.

Meidroth’s home run was his 12th of the year. He hit a two-run shot off Reds reliever Julian Garcia in the sixth inning. Meidroth returned to the lineup after missing two games with a wrist injury. Not known for his power, Meidroth has five home runs, 11 runs scored and 12 RBI over his last 14 games.

Meidroth is back at shortstop and hitting sixth following a relatively brief two-game absence due to a left wrist issue. The 25-year-old middle infielder has hit .274/.350/.404 with 67 runs scored, 11 homers, 46 RBI and two steals in 475 plate appearances across 113 games this season.

Meidroth told reporters that he isn’t dealing with a potential hamate issue after hurting his left wrist on a swing last week. He’s out of the lineup for the second straight game with Sam Antonacci drawing another start at the keystone in his absence. It’s possible he’ll require a trip to the injured list if he isn’t showing any improvement later this week.

The issue is believed to be minor and the White Sox anticipate Meidroth returning to the lineup for Tuesday’s series opener against the Reds. Sam Antonacci will cover second base in his absence on Sunday with Randal Grichuk starting in left field and batting cleanup against Guardians’ southpaw Joey Cantillo.

Meidroth had the best game of his career against the team that drafted him, homering off Ranger Suarez in the third and Aroldis Chapman in the 10th. It’s the first time he’s hit two homers, the second time he’s knocked in four and the third time he’s reached base safely five times in a game. He has 11 homers and 44 RBI in 466 plate appearances this season, compared to five homers and 23 RBI in 505 plate appearances as a rookie. It’s just too bad he hasn’t kept up with the basestealing; he’s only 2-for-4 there this year after going 14-for-18 last season.

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.