Before the start of a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins, the White Sox on Monday promoted all-purpose player Rikuu Nishida from Triple-A Charlotte.
Nishida, 25, who was born in Japan and played college baseball at the University of Oregon, was selected by the Sox in the 11th round of the 2023 MLB draft.
He began this season at Double-A Birmingham and quickly earned a promotion to Charlotte, where he was batting .347/.454/.395 with a home run, 10 RBIs and nine stolen bases in 33 games.
It was an eventful MLB debut for Nishida on Monday, as he batted ninth and played right field for the Sox in their 3-1 victory over the Twins.
He collected his first major league hit, going 1 for 3 with a single, and recorded seven putouts in the outfield. Perhaps most impressively, he provided the best defensive play of the game. Nishida threw Orlando Arcia out at the plate to end the top of the second inning, after Minnesota's Alex Jackson had singled to right field.
The play kept the score tied at 1 at the time and got Sox starter Anthony Kay (4-1) out of the only jam he was in all afternoon.
Speaking of Kay, has anyone noticed that he's been the second-best starter on the Sox lately? The left-hander is now 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA across five May starts after he tossed six innings of one-run ball against the Twins.
Brooks Lee homered in the first inning for Minnesota, but that was the only run the Twins could manage all day.
Meanwhile, the Sox hit two home runs in the first two innings off Minnesota starter Zebby Matthews (1-2), and that was the difference in the game.
Munetaka Murakami hit his team-leading 18th home run of the season in the first inning -- a solo shot that tied the game at 1. In the second inning, Tristan Peters worked a leadoff walk and scored when Drew Romo hit his fifth homer of the year. The two-run blast put the Sox ahead 3-1 and capped the scoring for the day early.
The Sox got scoreless innings of relief from Grant Taylor, Bryan Hudson and Seranthony Dominguez, with Dominguez earning his 11th save of the season.
The Sox are 27-26, 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.
Exciting pretty young team
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