Chase

Meidroth

The White Sox had Andrew Benintendi leading off and Meidroth batting sixth tonight. We’re not sure that makes a lot of sense, because really, if the White Sox think Benintendi, with his .298 OBP the last two years, is a better leadoff option than Meidroth, then Meidroth probably shouldn’t be starting in the first place. Still, there’s plenty of time to sort these things out once the season gets going. Meidroth’s future as a long-term regular is still in question, but the White Sox seem committed to him at second base right now.

Meidroth isn’t known for his over-the-fence pop as evidenced by just five round-trippers in 122 games as a rookie last year. Still, he’s capable of putting a charge into one on occasion, while boasting strong on-base skills. He’ll occupy the leadoff spot for Chicago going into the year, which makes him a cheap source of runs scored in deeper mixed leagues as a middle infield option.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine night off for the 23-year-old slugger. Chase Meidroth will slide over and cover shortstop, Lenyn Sosa will handle second base and Curtis Mead will start at first base and bat second for the Sox against Guardians’ southpaw Parker Messick.

Meidroth, who has been hitting at the bottom of the order against righties lately, was leading off versus lefty Ian Seymour today. He’s been a solid player as a rookie, hitting .269/.348/.338 in 443 plate appearances and striking out just 14% of the time. It doesn’t look like there’s much more power on the way, so he still might be more of a utilityman than a starter for the long haul. The White Sox, though, could be content to go into 2026 with him at second.

As a team, the White Sox tallied just three hits and one walk in the contest, with Meidroth doing most of that on his own. He led off the game with a walk off of Tarik Skubal, singled off of the start southpaw in the sixth inning and singled again off of Rafael Montero in the ninth inning. On the season, the 24-year-old infielder is now slashing .262/.338/.333 with four homers, 21 RBI and 13 stolen bases on the season.

Meidroth missed Tuesday’s game with a sprained right ankle, but the sprain obviously wasn’t too severe with the rookie shortstop back in action versus Minnesota one day later.

Meidroth takes a seat after suffering a sprained right ankle during Monday’s series opener against the Twins. The 24-year-old rookie infielder will likely need a couple additional days off to recover, but figures to avoid a trip to the injured list. It’ll be Lenyn Sosa taking over at the keystone in his absence.

Meidroth was lifted for a pinch-runner during the late stages of Monday’s contest against the Twins after taking starter Bailey Ober deep for a two-run homer back in the second inning. It doesn’t appear to be a serious concern, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he needed a couple extra days off this week. He should be able to avoid the injured list now that expanded rosters give the White Sox some extra flexibility.

Montgomery has been playing through discomfort, but this will make two straight games that the 23-year-old shortstop will miss due to soreness in his left side. Chase Meidroth will get the start at shortstop for Montgomery and likely will remain there until the talented infielder can return to action.

Montgomery, who has been playing through some lingering discomfort since last week, has gone deep in four consecutive contests and is up to 14 round-trippers through 43 games in his rookie campaign. He’ll grab a seat on the bench for Wednesday evening’s matchup with Chase Meidroth at shortstop and Lenyn Sosa at second base to face Kansas City right-hander Ryan Bergert. He’s still striking out too much, and doesn’t offer any stolen base upside, but he’s been a strong power source for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues. He’s presumably day-to-day heading into Thursday’s series opener against the Yankees since precautionary imaging didn’t reveal any structural damage.