KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There are bigger names and bigger bats that might have been expected to be leading the White Sox in home runs in the dog days of August.
But here the Sox are entering the home stretch of the season, and there’s Lenyn Sosa, slugging away at the heart of the rebuilding Sox’ order.
Sosa smacked his team-leading 15th homer of the season in Friday’s loss to the Royals, the fifth homer of a torrid month at the plate for the infielder that has vaulted him past Luis Robert Jr., Miguel Vargas and Andrew Benintendi as the team’s top slugger.
Sosa might not hold the Sox’ homer mantle for long, especially not with rookie sensation Colson Montgomery swatting 10 dingers since his July 4th call-up.
But swinging his way through the final weeks of his first full major-league season, Sosa’s surprisingly consistent offensive prowess could keep him around for the next phase of the Sox’ rebuild.
“His bat is dangerous on good pitches,” manager Will Venable said.
Once considered a prospective contributor to the Sox’ last contending window alongside Eloy Jimenez, Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada, Sosa is one of the last vestiges of that disappointing era now slotting into general manager Chris Getz’ overhaul.
While his shaky infield defense and sometimes questionable baserunning decisions have frustrated fans since his 2022 debut, he’s put it together at the plate this season, hitting .274/.303/.439 with 49 RBI — another team high — and 16 doubles.
“It means a lot,” Sosa said through team translator Billy Russo. “We prepare every year to improve and surpass what we did the year before. When you’re able to do that, it means all the work that you’ve been putting into your preparation, your routine, is paying off.”
Because Sosa has lingered on the roster for four years, it’s easy to forget he’s just 25 and still figuring things out.
“It has a lot to do with experience. You’re gaining experience every year, every day,” said Sosa, who added he’s striving “to be stronger mentally.”
His ascent as one of the Sox’ biggest offensive producers could be read to illustrate just how lifeless this team’s bats were earlier in the year, but that hasn’t been the case in the second half. Their 43 homers since the All-Star break were tied for the most in baseball entering Saturday, while their 131 runs scored were fourth-most.
Sosa’s been a huge part of that, with an .854 OPS and 18 RBI in the second half. And he’s thrived under pressure all season, with an MLB-high 19 hits on 0-2 pitches.
“He always gets an ‘A’ swing off, even when he’s maybe expanding,” Venable said. “It’s still just a well balanced swing, where he has the opportunity to do damage.”
Now it’s a question of how to keep Sosa’s bat in the order along with more defined core players of the rebuild. With the returns of Vargas and infielder Chase Meidroth from stints on the injured list, plus Montgomery and the arrival of Curtis Mead, it’s suddenly a crowded infield situation for the manager to sort out.
Sosa is a natural second baseman who has slotted in at first and third, but he’s a liability across the field with 10 errors this season. And playing him at designated hitter boxes out one promising rookie catcher or another, as Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero continue to develop.
“We’re still very much figuring out how this group is going to work together,” Venable said. “It’s great to have everybody healthy, and now we’ve got to go out and play and kind of figure each other out again.”
Sosa’s figured out his own approach, which has him on pace to top 20 homers this season. But he’s not counting.
“I just try to hit the ball hard,” he said — no translation necessary.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
