The White Sox finally have put their good problem into practice.
General manager Chris Getz has long insisted that there’s nothing wrong with having several good catchers. Now the Sox have two highly rated catching prospects at the major-league level after the promotion of Kyle Teel to the bigs Friday.
Teel was the headlining prospect in the four-player package the Sox received in the Garrett Crochet trade and slashed .295/.394/.492 in 50 games at Triple-A Charlotte. He joined Edgar Quero as top-100 catching prospects to get the call to the majors this season, a pair of rebuild highlights on the South Side.
Korey Lee, another catcher the Sox are fond of, was sent down to Charlotte.
How is this going to work, two catchers who figure to be big parts of the Sox’ future vying for the same playing time? It’ll be a time-share, though no split was specified by Getz or manager Will Venable, who said both will DH, too.
“The catching position is such a demanding role,” Getz said. “To have two guys that are capable, it can help you in many different ways. To keep them energized and to be able to get the best out of them, having two of them is not a bad thing.
“Sometimes, if there’s a certain element of someone’s game that needs to be worked on, it’s tough to really dial in if they’re playing so often. So to get a little bit of a rest and continue to develop and work with our coaches on certain aspects is a great opportunity.
“We’re looking at it as a positive. If we feel like one player isn’t getting enough reps to stay sharp and continue to progress, you make an adjustment.”
Teel, ranked as baseball’s No. 26 prospect, was the starting catcher in his major-league debut. He went 1-for-2 with two walks and scampered home on a wild pitch in the eighth inning.
As for the idea that Teel could play another position after playing outfield in college and revealing that he has been taking grounders at first base, that doesn’t seem likely to occur in the majors.
“Kyle is very athletic,” Getz said. “He’s capable of playing multiple positions, quite honestly, but we believe in him as a catcher. That’s where we feel like he’s going to impact the game the most. In the near term, I certainly don’t expect him to be playing first base.”
Robert returns
After three days out of the lineup, center fielder Luis Robert Jr. returned and played hero.
His two-run single broke a tie in the eighth inning, which saw the Sox score thrice more on a wild pitch and two errors. The five-run inning powered the Sox to a 7-2 victory against the Royals. Robert went 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBI.
Packed house
It was a livelier-than-usual crowd at Rate Field, and, no, it wasn’t because fans snapped up thousands of tickets in the wake of the announcement Thursday of Justin Ishbia as a potential new Sox owner.
Instead, 36,916 fans showed up for the team’s annual — and popular — Mexican Heritage Night, which included a jersey giveaway, for the Sox’ first sellout of the season.
There was chatter that some fans even showed up around noon, hours before the gates opened.
“The thing we put on the field tonight,” starting pitcher Davis Martin said, “I’m glad 36,000 people got to see it because that’s who we are.”
