Chase Meidroth arrived at Rate Field around 11 a.m. Friday, just trying to take it all in.
“I don’t think it’s still sunk in yet,” the infielder said less than four hours before the series opener against the Boston Red Sox.
The Chicago White Sox called up Meidroth from Triple-A Charlotte on Friday morning. He was in the lineup, hitting seventh and playing second base in his major-league debut.
And it was a productive start for Meidroth, who went 1-for-1 with three walks and two runs as the White Sox defeated the Red Sox 11-1 in front of 13,432, snapping an eight-game losing streak.
“I had a lot of fun,” Meidroth said afterward. “It was good that we won.”
He became the second player in White Sox history to record three walks in his major-league debut. The other was Ray Morehart on Aug. 8, 1924, against Washington.
“I think my approach at the plate is I’m trying to give the bat to the next guy with me on first base any way I can,” Meidroth said. “I’m going to have a quality at-bat and that’s my goal every time I go up there.”
Meidroth was active on the bases all night, helping the Sox win for only the third time in 13 games this season.
He walked in his first plate appearance in the second, scoring on Jacob Amaya’s two-run double. Meidroth singled to right in the fourth for his first big-league hit, later scoring on Miguel Vargas’ two-run double.
Amaya, Vargas and Lenyn Sosa each had two RBIs. Omar Narváez drove in three as the Sox scored a season high in runs.
“To have (Meidroth) and everybody else step up and have a good game, it was great,” manager Will Venable said.
Sox starter Davis Martin, who allowed one run in six-plus innings for his first win since Sept. 30, 2022, also noted Meidroth’s defense. That included starting a slick double play to end the second.
“He looked like he’s supposed to be here,” Martin said, “looks like he’s been playing that position up here for a long time.”
The White Sox acquired Meidroth, 23, as part of the December trade that sent starter Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox. His first big-league game came against the team that selected him in the fourth round of the 2022 draft.
“It’s kind of a full-circle moment,” Meidroth said.
Meidroth has a career .285/.425/.414 slash line with 23 home runs, 133 RBIs, 195 runs and 207 walks in 264 games during parts of four minor-league seasons. He led all minor-leaguers with 105 walks in 2024 for Triple-A Worcester and ranked third with a .437 on-base percentage.
He had been in the running for an opening-day roster spot with the White Sox for most of spring training before the club ultimately reassigned him to minor-league camp.
“He put together some really quality at-bats (during spring training),” general manager Chris Getz said before the game. “He wasn’t getting hits, but his plate discipline was very good. Towards the end of camp, I could tell that he was pressing a little bit. And I didn’t want to bring him up to Chicago coming off of a spring training without getting the results that he wanted — that, all of a sudden (he’s thinking) ‘I didn’t get results in spring training, now I need to show them right now.’
“It was just an unnecessary thing to do for a young player that we believe in. He’s got a tremendous process. When we sat down with him at the end of camp, Will had a ...
