Kyle

Teel

With left-hander Parker Messick taking the ball for the Guardians, Antonacci will begin this one on the bench for the White Sox. Fellow left-handed hitters Andrew Benintendi and Tristan Peters will also take a seat for the Southsiders. Here’s how Will Venable’s club will line up as they look to punch their ticket to the ALCS on Thursday: Chase Meidroth (2B), Randal Grichuk (LF), Miguel Vargas (3B), Munetaka Murakami (1B), Tommy Pham (DH), Brenton Doyle (CF), Kyle Teel (C), Braden Montgomery (RF) and Colson Montgomery (SS).

The AL Central is still up for grabs with the White Sox 82-77 and the Guardians 82-76 ahead of Thursday night’s game, but both teams are in. Teel’s homer today was his fifth. He’s batting just .196 in 136 plate appearances, but his OBP is a solid .333 with his 19 walks and four HBPs.

Attempting to avenge a mostly lost season, Teel got the White Sox comeback started here. After falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, Teel’s two-run single cut that lead in half and he came around to score the tying run two batters later. They’d wind up blowing the game later on, but it’d be a huge boost to this lineup if Teel could find his form.

Peters doesn’t normally sit against left-handers, but the White Sox have opted to work in all of their bench bats in this one with Peters, Colson Montgomery, Andrew Benintendi, Kyle Teel and Sam Antonacci all getting a breather in this one. Brenton Doyle will start in Peters’ place and will bat sixth against Tigers’ southpaw Framber Valdez.

Teel did go 2-for-2 off the bench last night. His previous four starts since coming off the IL had all come batting ninth. With Teel batting second, Miguel Vargas and Munetaka Murakami are sliding down one spot to third and fourth, respectively. Braden Montgomery, who has typically hit fifth and sixth since his callup, is batting ninth for the first time.

After starting three consecutive games behind the dish for the White Sox, Teel will get a night off on Thursday. Since returning from the injured list, he has hit .214 (3-for-14) with a pair of homers and four RBI in 15 plate appearances. Jake Rogers will do the catching for the White Sox and bat ninth against Pirates’ right-hander Jared Jones on Thursday evening in Chicago.

Teel topped out at 113.7 mph in exit velocity as a rookie, but his previous high in 22 games during his injury-riddled sophomore year was just 108.2. He’s hitting .200 with four homers and 31 strikeouts through 82 plate appearances.

Teel has gone 1-for-9 with one homer and three RBI in three games since returning from the injured list last week. The 24-year-old offers enough offensive upside to be interesting for fantasy purposes, but this has been a lost season due to hamstring and ankle injuries that have limited him to just 22 games so far.

Teel has been out since the end of July with an ankle sprain, and he has also missed time this season with a knee injury. The 24-year-old has hit .190/.271/.317 in 19 games this season.

Teel has been shelved since the end of July due to a high ankle sprain. He should only need a couple of games there to get his timing back and could be an option to rejoin the White Sox at some point next weekend barring any setbacks.