Mike

Tauchman

Those are his only two plate appearances of the spring to date, so he has a perfect 5.000 OPS. The Mets pretty much know what they would get from Tauchman, so his chances of making the team would seem to hinge on how Carson Benge plays these next five weeks. If Benge thrives and becomes the Mets’ starting right fielder, it wouldn’t make much sense to carry both. If it’s determined Benge needs some Triple-A time, then presumably one of Brett Baty or Tauchman would play right field against lefties, with the other serving as a DH.

Tauchman hit .263/.356/.400 for the White Sox last year and has averaged a .359 OBP and 1.4 fWAR per year as a platoon guy the last three seasons, but no major league offers were forthcoming, it seems. He seems like a nice get for the Mets as a DH and fallback right field option against right-handers, though there might not be room for him if Carson Benge makes the team. If they do somehow carry both Benge and Tauchman, that’d be more bad news for Mark Vientos.

All three players are now free agents. Tauchman has the most MLB success of the trio, but all three have had enough success to suggest they’ll be with new clubs next year. That’s the nicest thing we can say. It is worth noting that Elko underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL, however, and likely won’t be ready until the middle of 2026.

Tauchman will undergo offseason surgery early next week to address the torn meniscus in his right knee. The 34-year-old veteran produced a respectable .263/.356/.400 triple-slash line with nine homers and 40 RBI over 93 games this season in his White Sox debut.

Tauchman has been a mainstay against right-handers all year long and Taylor was playing most of the time with Luis Robert Jr. on the shelf, but it seems the White Sox have decided to take a look at younger players this last week of the season. They have Brooks Baldwin in center and Dominic Fletcher in right tonight. Notably, the prioritizing of younger players isn’t doing Curtis Mead any good; he’s started just one of the last six games.

The White Sox didn’t score a run after the third inning, but wound up with enough to hold off the Rays in this one. Tauchman led off this game with a double and then hit another one in the following frame to bring home a run. He’s sneakily been a steady producer when healthy this season with eight home runs and a .776 OPS in 85 games.

Brooks Baldwin and Tauchman had nearly identical doubles to the wall in right-center to score three runs against Justin Topa in the eighth, and the White Sox protected a 6-5 lead from there. Tauchman, who really should have been picked up by some team at the deadline, is batting .275/.362/.414 in 337 plate appearances this season.

Tauchman is back in the leadoff spot after sitting out Saturday’s contest for precautionary reasons with lower half soreness. It doesn’t appear to be a significant concern.

White Sox’ skipper Will Venable called it a precautionary measure and Tauchman is considered day-to-day. Michael A. Taylor will start in his place in right field and bat ninth for the White Sox against Mick Abel and the Twins on Saturday night.

It’s a scheduled day off for Montgomery, and the White Sox are going right-handed heavy against southpaw Joey Cantillo. Mike Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi are also out of the lineup, and Chicago will have Jacob Amaya at shortstop, Corey Julks in left field and Michael A. Taylor in right while the lefty hitters rest.