The White Sox confirmed some exciting roster news this afternoon, as the club officially promoted infielder Lenyn Sosa all the way from Double-A Birmingham. Unfortunately, it comes with its consequences as Danny Mendick will head to the injured list with a season-ending torn ACL injury.
Here’s the full list of today’s moves:
- Placed OF Adam Engel to the 10-day injured list with a strained right hamstring;
- Placed INF Danny Mendick on the 10-day injured list with a torn ACL in his right knee;
- Recalled INF/OF Gavin Sheets from Triple-A Charlotte;
- Selected the contract of INF Lenyn Sosa from Double-A Birmingham;
- Transferred OF Eloy Jimenez to the 60-day injured list.
Sosa, 22, originally signed with the club out of Venezuela in 2016. He made his stateside debut the following summer and has been promoted aggressively ever since. At the age of 21, the White Sox assigned him to Birmingham this past August, where in 289 plate appearances this season, he is hitting .331/.384/.549 with 14 home runs, 48 runs batted in, a 141 wRC+, .403 wOBA, and a .933 OPS. His strikeout rate is just 13.8%, a career-low. Impressively, these rival the numbers Luis Robert put up during his time in AA:
- Robert (2019): 244 PA, .314/.362/.518, .398 wOBA, 155 wRC+
- Sosa (2022): 289 PA, .331/.384/.549, .403 wOBA, 141 wRC+
Sosa’s No. 22 ranking per MLB Pipeline figures to change drastically in the coming weeks, as the young infielder’s play this season has surely raised eyebrows and made him as intriguing as the organization’s consensus top prospects such as Colson Montgomery.
MLB Pipeline had the following to say about Sosa in their posted scouting report:
A right-handed hitter, Sosa owns some of the best hand-eye coordination and bat-to-ball skills in the system but needs to make better swing decisions to reach his offensive potential. He rarely walks and gets himself out too often by making weak contact. He has enough bat speed and projectable strength to deliver 15 or more homers per season if he can adopt a more selective approach.
Sosa has good actions, reliable hands and solid arm strength at shortstop, but his below-average speed leads to subpar range. He fits better at second or third base, though those positions will demand more offense. He may be more of a bat-first utilityman than a true everyday player.
In the immediate future, Sosa figures to receive starts at second base with potential backup opportunities at third base and shortstop.
The terrible news here is Mendick, who had filled in perfectly for Tim Anderson in his absence and looked as though he had earned the starting second base job more consistently. Mendick was hitting .289/.343/.443 with a 127 wRC+ on the season before the injury and had been worth about one win above replacement. This is a pretty brutal break for someone who has worked as hard as Mendick has throughout his career. Hopefully, the infielder will be able to make a speedy recovery and be back on the team in the near future.
Backup outfielder Engel suffered his respective injury in the third inning of yesterday’s game vs. Toronto. He is currently batting .240/.297/.349 (35-146) with 11 doubles, one home runs, 10 RBI, 18 runs scored and nine stolen bases in 56 games this season. Sheets will look to take over his responsibilities after going .270/.308/.541 (10-37) with four doubles, two home runs and seven RBI in nine games since his demotion to Charlotte.
Elsewhere, Jiménez has been on the injured list since April 24 with a right hamstring tendon tear and is eligible to be reinstated beginning today. He has played in two games with Charlotte since restarting his rehabilitation assignment on Tuesday. The move to transfer him to the 60-day IL is to make 40-man room for Sosa until he officially makes his return.
With these moves, the 40-man roster still sits at 40 players.
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Featured Image: Birmingham Barons / Twitter
