White Sox manager Will Venable still isn’t quite comfortable with playing both catchers Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel in the lineup, but he understands the necessity.
“We need these guys in the lineup, they’re two of our best hitters,” Venable said. “They continue to perform out there. It’s hard to not have them in the lineup, so for me it’s worth the risk and something that we have to be comfortable with doing because I think it helps us and gives us the best chance to win.”
The risk lies in the fact that if Quero or Teel gets injured and one has to shift from the designated hitter spot to catcher, then the Sox would forfeit the DH spot in its lineup. But if the Sox don’t have one of the two in the lineup, it shortens a lineup that, despite some more encouraging flashes in the second half, has ranked near the bottom of the league in most statistical categories.
Since June 5, Quero is fourth on the Sox with a .778 OPS, and Teel is seventh with a .714. Both of the promising catchers are also sporting a wRC+ that is above the league average. They’re impacting the lineup and providing consistent at-bats.
Take Tuesday’s 9-6 Sox win, Quero and Teel combined for four RBIs and five hits, proving to be the catalyst for what had been a meager offensive showing for the Sox before a five-run fifth inning.
But while the two young players are capable hitters, they’re still getting used to the designated hitter spot while splitting catching duties.
“It’s a little tough, especially for me coming from the minor leagues playing almost every day,” Quero said. “Coming [to Chicago], trying to find a spot to play more. It’s really tough, but I have to make adjustments, and that’s what I’m doing.”
But Venable said both players have taken to the DH role and while splitting catching duties.
“We’re asking them to do something they haven’t done before in their careers,” Venable said. “To be able to stay locked in, do all the work they need to do with game planning, their relationships with the pitchers, there is plenty of work for them to do, and they’re doing it, and it’s been great. Whatever opportunity they have, they’re embracing it.”
Teel has a hit in three of his last four games and got a taste of the DH role 17 times at Triple-A Charlotte. Teel views the role as a means to keep him and Quero fresh. When he’s in the lineup at DH, Teel isn’t one to sit on the bench.
“I like to move around in the cage,” Teel said. “ I’m not sitting down too much when I’m at DH.”
Venable’s hesitancy to play the two in the lineup at the same time could be coming to an end once infielder Chase Meidroth (right thumb contusion) returns from the 10-day injured list — he was placed on the IL on Aug. 7 (retroactive to Aug. 4).
Once Meidroth returns, the Sox would likely place him at second base because the team wants to give Curtis Mead a long leash at third base. But if Meidroth replaced Lenyn Sosa at second, the only position for Sosa — who’s tied for the team lead in homers with 14 — would be at DH. The team also has to commit to giving Quero and Teel the exposure to major-league pitching to prepare them for next season.
Balancing playing time for Quero and Teel is the quandary Venable has to figure out down the stretch of this season.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
