White Sox call up David Sandlin; Noah Schultz hits the IL

The White Sox have called up right-handed pitching prospect David Sandlin, and he will make the start Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins at Rate Field.

Sandlin, 25, was acquired along with Jordan Hicks in an offseason trade with the Boston Red Sox. He dealt with a sore forearm in spring training, and he has been ramping up in the minor leagues after recovering from the early-season injury.

He has a 0.75 ERA across four outings with Triple-A Charlotte, the last of which lasted four innings. We should not expect Sandlin to pitch deep into the ballgame Wednesday night. It will probably be 75 pitches or five innings, whichever comes first.

Sandlin takes the roster spot of Noah Schultz, who has been placed on the injured list with right knee patella tendinitis. This is the same injury the 22-year-old lefty dealt with in 2025, when he was limited to 17 games and 73 innings.

Schultz has struggled as of late. He's 0-3 with a 9.87 ERA over his past four starts. Worse, he's walked 10 batters in 17.1 innings over that same span. Schultz had the reputation of a strike-thrower during his time in the minor leagues, so the mounting walks have been a head-scratcher.

Perhaps he was pitching at less than 100%, and if so, he shouldn't be pitching. We'll see if Sandlin, who has a high-90s fastball, can fill the gap in the short run.

Twins 5, White Sox 3 (11 innings)

Brooks Lee's 3-run double in the top of the 11th inning off Tyler Davis (2-2) allowed the Twins to take the second game of the four-game series Tuesday at Rate Field.

After getting ahead 0-2 in the count with two fastballs with the bases loaded and one out, Davis tried to trick Lee with splitter, and it did not work. 

The Sox were fortunate to get the game into extra innings. They managed only three hits off Minnesota starter Joe Ryan through the first seven innings. However, with the Twins leading 2-0, Rikuu Nishida singled to open the eighth inning, and one out later, Munetaka Murakami hit his 19th home run of the season to even the score at 2.

In the bottom of the 10th, the Sox had their chance. They had runners on first and third with one out for Murakami, but he hit a one-hopper right at Minnesota first baseman Josh Bell that resulted in an inning-ending double play.

That set the stage for Lee to deliver the decisive hit that made the score 5-2. In the bottom of the 11th, the Sox got their ghost runner home on an RBI single by Chase Meidroth, but that was as close as they could get.

The Sox are 27-27, 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.

Rikuu Nishida debuts; White Sox beat Twins

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. 

Memorial Day 2026

Make it a safe and reflective one.

 

 

White Sox catcher Kyle Teel out another 3-6 weeks

White Sox catcher Kyle Teel will miss another three to six weeks after spraining the lateral collateral ligament is his right knee Saturday while playing in a rehab game with Triple-A Charlotte.

Teel has not played a game with the Sox yet this season after suffering a Grade 2 hamstring strain on March 10, during a game in which he was representing Italy in the World Baseball Classic.

Coming into the 2026 season, we expected catching to be a Sox strength, with both Teel and Edgar Quero coming off respectable rookie years in 2025.

Instead, it's been one of the weaker position groups. Sunday's performance notwithstanding, it's been a terrible start for Quero. Here's a look at what the Sox have gotten from their catchers heading into Monday's game against the Seattle Mariners:

• Quero: .176/.264/.220, 1 HR, 1 2B, 10 RBIs, 28 Ks, 9 BBs
• Drew Romo: .184/.340/.553, 4 HRs, 2 2Bs, 7 RBIs, 10 Ks, 8 BBs
• Reese McGuire: .172/.273/.172, 0 HR, 0 2B, 3 RBIs, 9 Ks, 2 BBs (given his release) 

At least Romo is hitting for power. It seems the coaching staff trusts him more than Quero at this point, because Romo was in the starting lineup Monday against the Mariners -- even after Quero walked off the Cubs on Sunday.

And rightfully so. Romo has outplayed Quero over the past few weeks. But this is still a lineup hole that could cause the Sox a problem until Teel returns -- if he returns.

We probably won't see him until July at this point. 

Edgar Quero walks off Cubs; Sox complete 7-2 homestand

Rate Field on May 13. (Photo by Jason Bauman)

Struggling White Sox catcher Edgar Quero picked the ideal time for his first home run of the season.

Quero, who entered Sunday's game against the crosstown Cubs batting .151 with a .163 slugging percentage, picked on the first pitch he saw from Ryan Rolison in the bottom of the 10th inning and smacked it over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer to give the Sox a 9-8 victory over the hated and despised North Siders.

The Sox took two out of three over the weekend at Rate Field, picking up their first series victory over the Cubs since 2022. 

It was hard-earned.

Sox starter Erick Fedde didn't have good stuff. He needed 84 pitches to get through the first three innings, and after allowing the first two Cubs batters to reach base in the top of the fourth, he was mercifully removed from the game.

Fedde's final line: three innings pitched, six hits, four runs (all earned), four walks, two strikeouts. Fortunately, the Sox only trailed 4-1 headed to the bottom of the fourth. With the traffic the Cubs had on the bases, it easily could have been 7-1.

Instead, the Sox remained within striking distance. They scored one in the fourth, and then tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth on a two-out, two-run double by Miguel Vargas.

Meanwhile, the Sox bullpen held the line. Sean Newcomb tossed two scoreless innings. Grant Taylor tossed two scoreless innings. Bryan Hudson pitched out of a second-and-third, one-out jam in the eighth to keep it at 4-4.

In the bottom of the eighth, Tristan Peters took his shot at being the unlikely hero. With two outs, he connected for his first MLB homer off Cubs reliever Phil Maton. It was a 3-run shot that gave the Sox a 7-4 lead going to the top of the ninth.

That should have been the decisive blow, but alas, Seranthony Dominguez has been an adventure as Sox closer. And he had another misadventure Sunday.

Alex Bregman walked to lead off the top of the ninth. After Ian Happ struck out, Seiya Suzuki reached on a two-base throwing error by Vargas that placed runners on second and third.

When a multi-run lead is blown, usually walks and errors are part of it. Dominguez fell behind in the count, 3-1, to Michael Conforto, and the Cubs outfielder blasted the next pitch out to center for a 3-run homer to tie the game at 7-7.

The Sox left two runners on base in the bottom of the inning, sending the game to extras. The Cubs got their ghost runner across against reliever Tyler Davis (2-1), with Bregman picking up the RBI on a slowly hit grounder to short.

But Davis did a good job of preventing further damage and gave the Sox a chance in the bottom of the inning.

After Andrew Benintendi's sacrifice bunt moved ghost runner Chase Meidroth over to third, the struggling Quero delivered perhaps the biggest hit of his career thus far, sending those dressed in black in the crowd into a frenzy.

The Sox are 24-22, one game back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. For the homestand, the South Siders went 7-2, winning two of three from the Seattle Mariners and sweeping the Kansas City Royals prior to the Cubs series.

I made it to Rate Field for the middle game of the Kansas City series, after a co-worker who is a Royals fan invited me to the game. I took the above photo in the bottom of the eighth inning that night, with Munetaka Murakami at the plate.

As you can see, the fans haven't really come back from these past three miserable seasons. Sure, all these games against the Cubs were sellouts, but all the losing and lousy Jerry Reinsdorf ownership has hit everybody hard.

But maybe more homestands like this will slowly rejuvenate interest in this team. There's a lot of baseball left to be played, and it's a long road back to relevance. But punking the Cubs is one way for the Sox to get a little more mention on the sports talk shows and in the national press. 

Angels snap White Sox back to reality

There was a moment Tuesday night when it looked as though the White Sox might take sole possession of first place in the pillow fight known as the AL Central.

The Detroit Tigers had lost to the Boston Red Sox. The Cleveland Guardians had lost to the Kansas City Royals. Both Detroit and Cleveland had fallen to 18-19, and with a win over the Los Angeles Angels, the Sox could have gotten to 18-18 and leapfrogged them both.

The Sox even took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Ha! You didn't really think that was going to happen, did you? If the Sox had taken over first place, I would have been worried about the Earth possibly spinning off its axis.

The Sox left the bases loaded in the ninth inning and lost the game, 4-3. I wouldn't say they should have won it, but they most certainly could have.

With runners on first and third and one out in the ninth, Colson Montgomery got a 2-0 fastball right in the middle of home plate and fouled it off. The at-bat continued, and Montgomery fanned on a hanging slider for the second out.

Jarred Kelenic also got a hanging slider moments later, but he fouled it off. Any of those three pitches -- two to Montgomery and one to Kelenic -- could have been put in play hard and likely tied or won the game for the Sox. 

While Kelenic eventually worked a walk to load the bases, the game found Edgar Quero, who is batting .154 this season. Quero grounded out to second to end the game.

Most of us were probably hoping the Sox would bounce back in the series finale Wednesday afternoon. Alas, it was a bad day for starting pitcher Noah Schultz, and the defense behind him wasn't especially good.

The Angels shellacked the Sox, 8-2. 

The Guardians beat the Royals on Wednesday night, so they are now in first place at 19-19. The Tigers lost to the Red Sox again. They are 18-20. The Sox and Royals are tied for third at 17-20, 1.5 games back. The Minnesota Twins are last at 16-21.  

Like I said, a pillow fight. 

The Sox finished their road trip 3-3, which honestly is about what you'd expect. It just came in a different shape than maybe I expected. I figured they'd lose two of three in San Diego, and beat the Angels two of three.

It turned out to be the exact opposite. That's baseball for you. 

Braden Montgomery promoted to Triple-A Charlotte

The White Sox announced on Sunday afternoon that outfielder Braden Montgomery has been promoted to Triple-A Charlotte.

Montgomery, 23, is the No. 73 prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America's top 100 list. In 27 games at Double-A Birmingham this season, he batted .313/.429/.606 with six homers, five doubles, three triples and 22 RBIs.

The swing-and-miss in Montgomery's game remains at issue, as he struck out 32 times in 126 plate appearances. However, he did draw 21 walks.

Given the Sox's unstable outfield situation at the big-league level, fans should cross their fingers and hope Montgomery can conquer Triple-A pitching in relatively short order. A call-up to Chicago sometime later in 2026 would be nice to see.

Let's take a look at what the Sox have gotten out of their outfielders so far this season, with all numbers entering Monday's action:

• Sam Antonacci: .255/.361/.431, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, 121 OPS+ in 61 plate appearances
• Luisangel Acuna: .169/.235/.182, 0 HR, 3 RBIs, 19 OPS+ in 86 plate appearances
• Everson Pereira: .250/.310/.453, 3 HRs, 7 RBIs, 111 OPS+ in 77 plate appearances
• Andrew Benintendi: .200/.241/.350, 2 HRs, 15 RBIs, 64 OPS+ in 108 plate appearances
• Tristan Peters: .284/.346/.324, 0 HR, 5 RBIs, 89 OPS+ in 83 plate appearances
• Austin Hays: .233/.250/.326, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, 60 OPS+ in 44 plate appearances
• Derek Hill: .263/.349/.421, 2 HRs 3 RBIs, 115 OPS+ in 44 plate appearances
• Jarred Kelenic: .167/.286/.167, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 31 OPS+ in 7 plate appearances 

It's not great, is it? Pereira has shown encouraging signs when healthy, but he's on the injured list for the second time already this season. The same is true for Hays, who hit the 10-day injured list Monday with a left calf strain.

It's gotten so bad for the Sox that they signed Randal Grichuk off the scrap heap Monday. The 34-year-old veteran batted .194 in 16 games with the New York Yankees before being designated for assignment in late April. 

He takes Hays' spot on the roster immediately after inking a one-year deal worth $1.25 million. 

So, indeed, the Sox could use a fixture for at least one spot in their outfield. I don't see that guy among this current group. Let's hope Montgomery comes quick.