Maldonado, Fedde lead White Sox in win to even series vs. Guardians

CLEVELAND -- Martín Maldonado was mired in a slump entering Wednesday’s 8-2 White Sox victory over the American League Central leaders from Cleveland.

Not a slump of the nature of hitless in his last five or six games. Try 3-for-51 over his last 18 games and 10-for-120 with one home run and five RBIs on the season.

So, how did the veteran catcher perform against the Guardians (53-31)? He was one of the offensive leaders in the team’s 12-hit attack, of course.

Maldonado singled home a run during a four-run fourth against Cleveland starter Gavin Williams, who was making his season debut, and then launched a two-run homer to left in the eighth. It was Maldonado’s second multi-hit and multi-RBI game this season, joining a two-hit, three-RBI effort on April 26 against the Rays.

With an exit velocity of 107.7 mph on that fourth-inning single, according to Statcast, Maldonado delivered his hardest hit of the season and just his seventh hit above 100 mph. During a Cleveland mound visit immediately after the single, Eloy Jiménez hugged a smiling Maldonado as he briefly returned to the White Sox dugout.

The dugout silent treatment was brought out following the home run, which ended a drought of 85 plate appearances since last clearing the fences.

“They know the work I’ve been putting in on a daily basis,” Maldonado said. “They see me in the cage grinding, and I’ve been in this game a long time. They see how even when I’m having a tough time, my level of energy is still there. I don’t get frustrated much.

“I’ve told you guys before, it’s about results, but I think at the end of the day, all you could do is have quality at-bats. The quality at-bats have been there and the results haven’t.”

It was a good day overall for the White Sox (25-63), as Garrett Crochet was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for June. The bulk of attention for the White Sox pitching staff has fallen upon Crochet, which is totally understandable.

Crochet has been one of the best 2024 stories in baseball, not just in Chicago, during his transformation from the bullpen to one of the top starting pitchers in the game. But in watching Erick Fedde (6-3) make his ninth quality start of the campaign during the second game of this series, it’s clear the White Sox staff has more than just the Major League leader in strikeouts.

Over 25 games since June 7, the starting rotation has a combined 3.29 ERA. The staff has a 3.18 ERA, which is the best in baseball.

“There has been a lot of quality starts lately, guys who joined the club, [Jonathan] Cannon, [Drew] Thorpe, [Chad] Kuhl, pulling their weight,” Crochet said before the victory. “The bullpen area has been good, especially after what Rock [Michael Soroka] did the other day.

“Just watching the pitching staff, what we’re doing is awesome. The name of the game is giving your team a chance to win.”

Fedde struck out three, walked three and recorded seven outs via the ground ball among his 91 pitches. His ERA dropped to 3.13, as the right-hander only increased his trade value with the July 30 Trade Deadline approaching, working deep without his best stuff.

“I think it’s just surrounding the team,” said Fedde of trade talks. “It’s something that is talked about constantly, so it’s kind of hard to avoid. But in the reality of it, I’ve been trying to say this since the first time I was asked about it, start pitching bad, and those things go away quickly.

“I’m worrying about one start at a time. I love it here; I’ve been happy here. But you know, I’m just going to do what I do and whatever happens, happens.”

Maldonado most likely won’t be traded by the end of July, but he has vast importance to this young White Sox team and this young White Sox staff even when he’s not hitting. There’s certainly a better feeling when he is hitting, as much of the lineup did on Wednesday.

“You try to lead by example,” Maldonado said. “You see every time I get a hit, everybody gets up. The pitcher came in happy about it. It’s what teams do. They care about each other, and that’s one thing we are doing right now. We care about each other. We are getting a lot of good at-bats from every spot in the order.”