Chicago

White Sox

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.

Feddy came in for the third after Bryan Hudson and Chris Murphy pitched scoreless first and second innings, respectively, and allowed one hit with three strikeouts through the sixth. He started the seventh by giving up a double to Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, leading to his exit, but Sean Newcomb came in and stranded the runner. It’s Fedde’s fifth win, all of which have come since the beginning of June. He has a 4.15 ERA in nine starts and 10 appearances as a bulk guy.

Taylor took over with the tying run on third and one out in the eighth, putting him in prime position for a cheap blown save. However, he got out of the jam by striking out Shea Langeliers and getting Jonah Heim to ground out. He then walked one in a scoreless ninth that was made easier because the A’s took out decent left-handed hitters for weaker right-handed bats while trying to score off Sean Newcomb in the seventh. Seranthony Domínguez again went unused today, and Taylor is the pretty clear favorite for saves in Chicago, even if he’ll occasionally work earlier in games sometimes.

This is the selection the White Sox acquired from the Pirates in the Jacob Gonzalez trade last night. Thome goes to one of his dad’s teams; Jim hit 134 of his 612 career homers for the White Sox from 2006-09. MLB Pipeline had him as the draft’s No. 34 prospect, so this lines up perfectly. Thome is being drafted as a shortstop, but he’ll probably wind up at second or maybe third, which was his father’s original position. He’s not going to be a 40-homer guy or anything close to that, but he’s a left-handed bat with a strong all-around game.

Cholowsky was one of the most productive hitters in college baseball in his time at UCLA, and finished his junior season with .320/.452/.686 slash along with 23 homers over 60 games with the Bruins. The 21-year-old has significant power from the right side, and while the hit tool projects slightly below his power, he makes enough hard contact with a solid approach to suggest he can hit for a solid average as well. The only thing Cholowsky isn’t projected to do offensively is steal bases, as he’s only swiped 14 bags in his three seasons in college. Despite that lack of speed he’s a terrific defender who does project to stick at shortstop. Cholowsky has tremendous upside, and he has a real chance to be the best player in the class.

Peters gets the call to Philadelphia alongside teammate Munetaka Murakami for next week’s Midsummer Classic as a replacement for an injured Nick Kurtz (thumb). The unheralded 26-year-old hit for the cycle during Friday’s blowout win over the Athletics and has been an unexpected revelation for the upstart White Sox, slashing .303/.357/.484 with six homers and five steals in 89 games. This is his first career All-Star Game selection. It comes just a few years after Peters played for the Savannah Bananas back in 2021. He’ll add some much-needed flair to the All-Star Game for the American League.

It turns out hitting for the cycle wasn’t enough to get Peters back on the lineup card to face tough rookie southpaw Gage Jump on Saturday afternoon. The 26-year-old delivered an electrifying four-hit performance during Friday’s blowout win where he tripled and homered in the same inning to complete the cycle. It’ll be Junior Perez getting the nod in center field to open the contest.

Antonacci takes a seat with Athletics rookie lefty Gage Jump toeing the rubber for Saturday’s showdown in Chicago. The 23-year-old went 1-for-5 with an RBI and his 13th stolen base of the season during Friday’s series opener. He’s emerged as the White Sox primary table-setter, slashing .288/.380/.409 with 47 runs scored, five homers and 26 RBI across 299 plate appearances over 74 games. It’ll be veteran lefty-masher Randal Grichuk in the leadoff spot to kick off Saturday’s tilt.

Schweitzer rejoins Chicago’s relief mix for Saturday’s contest against the Athletics after southpaw Brandon Eisert was shipped to the Pirates in the Jacob Gonzalez trade. The 25-year-old rookie has allowed four runs over eight innings across five appearances for the White Sox this season.

Murakami went 1-for-5 with a run scored against the injury-riddled Athletics on Friday in his return from the injured list. He struck out four times was one of the few Chicago hitters that didn’t go off during the club’s 14-run explosion. The 26-year-old first baseman will probably need a couple games to knock off some of the rust heading into the second half after missing nearly six weeks with a hamstring strain. He’s put together a phenomenal debut campaign so far, hitting .239/.375/.556 with 20 homers, 42 RBI and one steal through 58 games.