CHICAGO -- Chase Meidroth, the No. 8 White Sox prospect, per MLB Pipeline, received the news of his callup to the Majors from Triple-A Charlotte manager Sergio Santos on Thursday afternoon.
But the 23-year-old played like a seasoned veteran during the team¡¯s 11-1 drubbing of the Red Sox on Friday night at Rate Field. Getting the start at second, Meidroth saw 15 pitches overall, walking three times and singling to right, as he helped the White Sox (3-10) end an eight-game losing streak.
It¡¯s the sort of stat line often attached to Meidroth, who has a .425 on-base percentage and 207 walks compared to 185 strikeouts over his Minor League career. Being known as a guy who walks a great deal certainly doesn¡¯t bother the newest member of the White Sox.
¡°I¡¯m not exactly looking at how much I walk. I¡¯m just trying to win as many pitches as I can in a game. I think it¡¯s great,¡± Meidroth said. ¡°My approach at the plate is I¡¯m trying to give the bat to the next guy with me on first base anyway I can. I¡¯m going to have a quality at-bat, and that¡¯s my goal every time I go up there.¡±
Meidroth took only two innings to make a difference in his Major League debut, with a slick pickup of Blake Sabol¡¯s grounder up the middle and flip to shortstop Jacob Amaya to start an inning-ending double play. His offensive prowess was on display when he walked on four pitches and scored on Amaya¡¯s two-run double in the bottom half of the same inning, grounded a first-pitch single to right and scored during a four-run fourth and then drew a pair of five-pitch walks.
This effort happened against the Red Sox team selecting Meidroth in the fourth round of the 2022 Draft and then trading him to the White Sox as part of a four-player return for Garrett Crochet on the last day of the 2024 Winter Meetings. Crochet faces his old team in the series finale Sunday, but what does Meidroth do for an encore?
¡°He's going to be a good one,¡± said Boston manager Alex Cora, who had Meidroth during Spring Training ¡®24. ¡°He's going to be one of these guys that, the more you see him, the more you're going to like. Obviously, physically, he's not the biggest one or the fastest one, but I can guarantee you that the baseball part of it, people are going to love him."
¡°It¡¯s awesome. It¡¯s kind of a full circle moment,¡± Meidroth said. ¡°I had a lot of guys over there texting me like, ¡®I¡¯m happy I¡¯ll get to see you tomorrow.¡¯ I¡¯m excited to compete and go beat them.¡±
Beat them is exactly what the White Sox and Meidroth did in one of their most dominant efforts of this young season. The White Sox certainly do it up right when they emerge victoriously, having outscored the opposition by 26 in those three victories. Their 0-5 record in one-run games has been the problem to date.
Davis Martin took advantage of this offensive support by allowing one run over six-plus innings, striking out six and yielding one walk. It was his first victory since Sept. 30, 2022, during the same season when his MLB debut took place. He was impressed with the Day 1 effort from Meidroth on Friday.
¡°I told somebody I think he has the fastest hands I've ever seen,¡± Martin said. ¡°[He's a player] a pitcher would love to have behind him. He did a phenomenal job. He looked like he's supposed to be here, looks like he's been playing that position up here for a long time."
The only issue for Meidroth came when he departed in the top of the eighth due to dehydration. He smiled postgame, said he was doing fine and thanked the reporter for the inquiry. It was a great night for him in front of family and friends, and a great night for his family overall, as his brother, Connor, homered for the University of San Diego among his four runs scored in their victory over St. Mary¡¯s.
Those four runs scored earned the Chase seal of approval, as his favorite stat.
¡°You can¡¯t win without runs scored,¡± said Meidroth, who arrived at the Rate at 11 a.m. for a 6.40 p.m. first pitch. ¡°I had a lot of fun. It was good that we won.¡±
¡°You hate to lose players, but we like what we got, and I know they like the package. So it's a win-win situation for both,¡± Cora said. ¡°They got some good players over there, and it starts tonight with Chase. People are going to fall in love with that kid. He's a really good player."