KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chicago White Sox infielder Chase Meidroth was hit by a Taijuan Walker pitch on the right thumb in the fifth inning of a July 30 game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Rate Field.
He exited in the top of the sixth. The initial progress was so encouraging that the Sox held off placing him on the injured list. But when the recovery stalled, Meidroth went on the IL.
Meidroth returned from the bruised right thumb ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
“First swing (taking batting practice on Friday), felt like, ‘I’m good,'” Meidroth said before the game. “I was able to swing with two hands on the bat. Felt lost almost without baseball the last two weeks.
“But it’s all right. It was fun this morning to hit and be ready to go for (Friday night).”
In Friday’s corresponding move, the Sox designated infielder Jacob Amaya for assignment.
Meidroth and right fielder Mike Tauchman were both in Friday’s lineup. Tauchman missed Wednesday’s series finale against the Detroit Tigers with a sore right shoulder. Meidroth went on the IL on Aug. 7, retroactive to Aug. 4.
“It’s great to hear that he’s ready to go, excited to have him back,” manager Will Venable said of Meidroth. “We need his defense. We need his offense, the energy he brings every day. Really happy that he’s back with us.
“(Tauchman is) good enough to go. He’s in a good spot. Couldn’t go there on Wednesday, but got some good treatment in and the day off yesterday served him well.”
Meidroth entered Friday slashing .252/.330/.319 with 12 doubles, three home runs, 15 RBIs, 36 runs and 11 stolen bases in 84 games during his rookie season.
“He’s just a fierce competitor,” Venable said. “He wants to be out there. He wants to play, he wants to be in the lineup and compete. We see what those at-bats look like, he likes being in the box and the challenge of going up against another pitcher.
“Just the competitive spirit really sticks out for me. Somebody that we’ve been able to put right in there from (early April). He’s just brought our group to another level.”
Meidroth said the biggest challenge after getting hit by the pitch was “just holding the bat with my top hand and when it impacted the ball. But it’s all good now and today I was ready to go.”
He added: “All I wanted to do while I was sitting there was play. I want to play every day. It was tough. But just doing everything I could to be around and learn and watch the game. Just try to get better and get healthy as soon as I could to be back for my teammates.”
Meidroth tried to make the most of his time out of the lineup.
“It was frustrating, especially showing up and it was like, ‘Is it better yet? Ah, I still feel it,’ ” Meidroth said. “Just tried to get better.
“Spent a lot of time in the weight room and tried to put a few pounds back on and compete with myself in there and on ground balls every day and try to see how I could get better. I think that was huge for me, showing up every day and learning and continuing to watch the game. That was good.”
The Sox had an infield configuration of Miguel Vargas at first, Meidroth at second, Colson Montgomery at shortstop and Curtis Mead at third for the first time.
“It’s been collaborative, and still trying to figure out where this group needs to be as far as lineup and stuff,” Venable said. “We add Mead to the group (getting called up from Triple-A Charlotte on Aug. 3 after being acquired in a trade July 31), this is the first time that he’s been in the lineup with Vargas and Meidroth (together), so what does that mean for our infield? And I think bringing back Meidroth and Vargas (who was on the IL from Aug. 2-Tuesday with a left oblique strain) without a rehab assignment, they’ve missed time, so we’re going to have to see where they’re at. We see Meidroth in the eight-hole (of the batting order) today, speaks to that a little bit where we’re still very much figuring out how this group is going to work together.
“So it’s great to have everybody healthy. And now we’ve got to go out and play and kind of figure each other out again.”
Meidroth was thrilled to have the chance to contribute again.
“We had that good jump right after the All-Star break, so just stay healthy and keep competing and grinding with these guys,” Meidroth said. “They’re doing a great job. I’m happy to be back and be part of it for the last however many weeks, just give it all we’ve got.”