It’s no secret the White Sox have been bad this season. At this point of the season, the only reason worth watching is to see how young players like Oscar Coalas and Lenyn Sosa develop and if they fit into the White Sox future plans.
So then why are the White Sox trotting out lineups with Trayce Thompson and Elvis Andrus? It’s time to let the kids play…consistently.
That’s not to say Andrus can’t be on the roster to help mentor the likes of Sosa. But playing him every day is asinine even for a manager as inexperienced as Pedro Grifol when the team is 15.5 games back and 26 games under .500.
As it turns out on Sunday both Sosa and Colas played a significant role in the White Sox 10-5 victory over the Rockies on Sunday, despite the pair starting the game on the bench.
Sosa entered the game in the sixth inning as a defensive substitute for Andrus. Colas entered in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter for Trayce Thompson. Both made an immediate impact.
In the top of the eighth inning, Colas faced left-handed pitcher Justin Bruihl in a tie game. Unphased by the lefty vs. lefty matchup, the rookie guided a line drive into left-center field for a go-ahead two-run RBI double.
“It was definitely a difficult at-bat,” Colás told reporters after the game through interpreter Billy Russo. “Lefty against lefty is always difficult. But I was just sitting on one pitch: slider.”
It was the second time in as many days that Colas has come up with results against a left-handed pitcher. (On Saturday he hit an RBI single against Kyle Freeland.) The double forced Rockies manager Bud Black to go back to his bullpen and bring in right-hander Justin Lawerence to try and finish the inning.
Two batters later Lenyn Sosa came to the plate and launched a 403-foot three-run homer to left field to cap off a seven-run inning and put the game out of reach.
It was fitting that the rookies who weren’t even in the starting lineup, were the ones to prevent a series sweep at the hands of one of the worst teams in the National League.
Once Tim Anderson finishes his five-game suspension Elvis Andrus should be starting at second base. After Sunday’s game, Sosa has just over 100 career at-bats in the big leagues (112 to be exact). That is not a very large sample size to figure out if he can be the long-term solution at second base, a position that has plagued the White Sox since Nick Madrigal was traded.
This season in Triple-A Charlotte Sosa was batting .271 with 17 home runs and an .820 OPS. That is enough to earn him consistent MLB starts down the stretch.
Zach Remillard has done a valiant job stepping up and contributing this season, but at 29 years old he has no future with the team. Playing him every day does the White Sox no good in the long run.
The same goes for Oscar Colas.
Early in the season, it made sense to ease Colas in. The White Sox were trying to contend which put a lot of pressure on the young rookie. That ship has sailed. After getting sent down to Triple-A it is time to take the training wheels off. In the three games in Colorado, Colas got the start in just one of them.
That is unacceptable, especially if Trayce Thompson is the one getting reps over him. Now is the time to let both Colas and Sosa go through growing pains in the big leagues. Pedro Grifol should be starting them in the majority of the games down the stretch and exposing them to as many situations as possible in the big leagues.
It is the only way the organization will get an honest assessment if either of them is going to be a core piece of their future plans and as we saw on Sunday it may also be their best chance to win games, which should be more than enough reason for Grifol.
