SEATTLE — What a difference an All-Star break makes.
The White Sox offense has transformed from one of the weakest in baseball in the first half of the season into one of the league’s most potent, entering Thursday’s series finale against the Mariners with 34 home runs since July 18 that mark the second-highest output in MLB.
The Sox ranked third in team batting average (.278) and slugging percentage (.501), while their 105 runs scored marked their best second-half start in 22 years.
What’s the secret for hitting coach Marcus Thames & Co.? Attacking the fastball.
Sounds simple enough, but it’s an approach that took awhile to set in for the young Sox, whose first-half slugging percentage on fastballs was last in the league at .352, but jumped to a second-half MLB best .555 entering Thursday.
“It’s just a mindset. Guys are throwing so hard nowadays and just as a team as a whole, our fastball performance was down,” Thames said. “Good offenses, they always dominate the fastball. So it’s just making sure that we’re getting ready, standing ready and being committed to our plan.”
It’s worked this half for Luis Robert Jr., who’s hitting .373/.441/.549 with three homers and 11 RBI, while Lenyn Sosa has jumped out to a .986 OPS since the break and Colson Montgomery entered Thursday at .878.
And no, it’s not just the torpedo bat that Montgomery started using a couple of weeks ago in Tampa, which he’s used to crush his first eight career home runs.
“He’s just got to keep working and knowing that the opposing team is going to make adjustments,” Thames said.
Meidroth lands on injured list
A week after Chase Meidroth exited a game against the Phillies after being hit in the right hand with a pitch, the Sox placed the rookie infielder on the 10-day injured list Thursday retroactive to Aug. 4.
Meidroth has been out of the lineup since July 31, but made an appearance as a late defensive replacement last weekend against the Angels.
“It’s tough holding the bat right now,” Meidroth said. “We were hoping that it would speed up a little faster.”
Asked Wednesday why the Sox didn’t put Meidroth on the IL sooner rather than play shorthanded for a week, manager Will Venable said “as long as we have progress in our health and are covered roster-wise, we’re able to give Chase a couple days here. That has an expiration date, obviously.”
Venable on Thursday said he expects Meidroth back in the lineup when he’s eligible to return Aug. 14.
In corresponding moves, the Sox picked up infielder Jacob Amaya’s contract from Triple-A Charlotte and designated reliever Gus Varland for assignment.
Nayled again
The Sox are sick of Josh Naylor.
The former AL Central nemesis and current Mariners first baseman went 4-for-6 with two homers and four RBI in the first two games of the Sox’ series in Seattle, an all-too familiar stat line for the 28-year-old who has owned Chicago pitching since his days with the Cleveland Guardians.
Naylor entered Thursday’s game with a .357 career batting average and a monster OPS of 1.022 in 54 games against the Sox. His 11 homers and 42 RBI are the most he’s put up against any team in the league.
“If you hang something, he’s ready to go and he doesn’t miss it, man,” Thames said. “It’s just something against us.”
Naylor heads to free agency in the upcoming offseason, when the Sox could be looking for first-base help.