A whirlwind month for freshly arrived first baseman Ryan Noda put him through the business-side wringer of baseball, only to see him realize a boyhood dream.
Noda grew up a White Sox fan in northwest suburban Fox Lake, graduating from Grant in 2014.
The Sox picked him up last week off waivers from Boston, putting him in line for regular playing time at first in the wake of Andrew Vaughn’s trade to the Brewers and Tim Elko’s demotion to Triple-A Charlotte.
The glove-first journeyman went hitless in his first two games with the Sox over the weekend in Texas and relished his first home game with his hometown team as a late defensive replacement in the 12-2 loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday.
“It’s a dream,” Noda said. “It’s definitely a sweet moment for me coming back here and being able to put on the pinstripes for the first time and have the family in the stands.”
Noda and his Sox-fan dad and brother are outnumbered by Cub fans on his mother’s side of the family.
“Now they’re just like, ‘Well, I guess we’ve got to put on the black and white.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you do,’ ” Noda said.
Drafted in the 15th round by the Blue Jays in 2017, Noda’s winding major-league road hit a high point with the Athletics in 2023, when he batted .229 with 16 home runs and 54 RBI in 128 games.
It has been more downs than ups since then, with the Sox marking his third organizational stop since mid-May.
“You never know in this business, and my last couple of months, I’ve seen the business side of the game,” Noda said.
He figures to find playing time against right-handed pitchers, as infielders Miguel Vargas and Lenyn Sosa cycle in at first base, according to manager Will Venable.
But how long Noda lasts on the rebuilding Sox is anyone’s guess.
“He’s just gonna have to hit some balls hard,” Venable said. “This is a situation where offensively we need some help and we’ve highlighted him as somebody with a skill set that we can throw in the mix to give us competitive at-bats.”
Tauchin’ All-Star Game?
The stat line isn’t screaming “All-Star” for Mike Tauchman — but more than 177,000 fans are.
The Sox right fielder was running third in All-Star Game fan voting among American League designated hitters as of Monday, behind the Orioles’ Ryan O’Hearn and the Yankees’ Ben Rice.
Never mind that Tuesday’s game was only Tauchman’s fifth start of the season at DH, or that a hamstring injury put him on the shelf for a month and a half.
The Palatine native is batting a respectable .264 with four home runs and 13 RBI while providing veteran leadership in a young clubhouse that needs it.
Tauchman is a known commodity to the vote-heavy fan bases of the Yankees and Cubs, where he has previously played. But don’t tell that to Venable.
“Mike Tauchman deserves every one of those votes and the attention on his performance because he’s been awesome,” the manager said.
Sosa, who returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing 12 games with a hip injury, was the only other Sox player cracking the top 10 at any position, running in 10th place among AL second basemen. One of the steadiest bats in a dismal offense, Sosa is slashing .274/.291/.383 with four homers and 17 RBI.
Voting runs through June 26.
Coming and going
Starter Jonathan Cannon, who landed on the injured list earlier this month with a strained lower back, threw a bullpen session Tuesday, has another scheduled Friday and could head to a rehab assignment next week.
Utility man Brooks Baldwin’s second stint with the Sox this season lasted only three games as he was shipped back to Charlotte.