Danny Mendick, who who has homered in five consecutive games at Triple-A Charlotte, joined the White Sox in Minnesota on Monday.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
MINNEAPOLIS — The White Sox need a lift, and any kind of infusion on offense will do, even if it comes from a utility infielder.
On Monday, the Sox selected the contract of Danny Mendick, who had homered in five consecutive games for Triple-A Charlotte, after he made it known his bat might be better served with the big-league team, whose 45 runs entering Monday night’s game against the Twins were the fewest in 21 games in team history.
Mendick, 30, joined the team for the start of the four-game series in Minneapolis and went 2-for-4 with two singles, batting eighth in a 7-0 loss. For the Knights, who play in a hitter-friendly park, he was batting .317/.388/.817 over 67 plate appearances. He’s also second in the International League with eight homers, second in RBI (20) and OPS (1.205) and first in slugging percentage.
“You want to help — that’s the thing,” Mendick said. “At least in the clubhouse, it looks like energy is still good. But we have to get out there and play with confidence. We can’t be timid. We go out there and hit the ball hard, run the bases hard. Realistically, you look at these [good] teams, you’ve got to hit homers, you’ve got to hit doubles, you’ve got to slug.”
Danny Mendick, power hitter. pic.twitter.com/yUfSdKLpcx
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) April 22, 2024
Infielder Lenyn Sosa, who was batting .132/.154/.184 and having issues defensively, was optioned to Charlotte. He had one hit in his last nine games. Playing second base, he misplayed a rundown on a run-scoring play in the Phillies’ 8-2 win Sunday. He was manager Pedro Grifol’s first replacement at third base when Yoan Moncada went down with a strained adductor.
Zach Remillard was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Mendick, who returned to the organization before spring training on a minor-league contract. Mendick had hit .251/.309/.366 over 446 plate appearances with the Sox from 2019 to 2022. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in a collision with outfielder Adam Haseley in June 2022, ending his season. In 33 games with the Mets last year, he hit .185/.232/.277.
He has 11 home runs in the majors. So where’s this new power coming from?
“My swing and how I load has been more into my hip,” he said. “Especially after I hurt my knee, I always babied it and kind of just fell off of it. Now it’s more focused on actually getting into my hip. Just brought out so much more power in my swing. I’m still doing all the same thing, but I have the power now.”
Bring it, Grifol said. The Sox have a major-league-low 11 homers.
“I want to see him continuing to do what he did in Triple-A, my gosh,” said Grifol, who noted Mendick will probably play mostly third base, as he did Monday. “Everything he hit [with Charlotte] was going over the fence.”
Down goes Nastrini, up comes Brebbia
Right-hander Nick Nastrini, who had one good start against the Royals and a bad one against the Phillies, was also optioned to Charlotte. Grifol praised his work and said he’ll be back.
Chris Flexen, bumped out of the rotation recently, probably will return Friday.
Right-handed reliever John Brebbia was reinstated from the 15-day injured list after his second bout with a strained right calf.
This and that
Grifol said outfielder Andrew Benintendi’s day off Monday had been planned for days and wasn’t a result of his .156 average in his last 16 games.
• The Sox are now 0-8 this season in the first games of series. Their six opponents before the Twins were a combined 81-48 entering Monday.