CHASE MEIDROTH’S 2026 season gave the White Sox a little bit of everything: award recognition, postseason fireworks, and a steady stream of production from second base that stacked up against some of the best years in team history.
The honors came first. Meidroth was named a finalist for the American League Silver Slugger Award at second base, and the Sox still have never had a second baseman win it. He also landed on The Sporting News All-Star team, joining Nellie Fox as the only White Sox second basemen to earn that distinction.
Then came the October surge. In the Wild Card sweep of Houston, Meidroth hit .571, the second-best average by a Sox player in a postseason series behind Tim Anderson’s .643 in the 2020 Wild Card, with a minimum of seven at bats.
His .643 on-base percentage in that series also checked in second to Anderson’s .643 mark in 2020, with a minimum of eight plate appearances. And his 1.000 slugging percentage was the second-highest output by a Sox player in a postseason series, trailing only A.J.
Pierzynski’s 1.333 against Boston in the 2005 Division Series, with a minimum of seven at bats.
His home run in Game 2 of the Wild Card in Houston carried its own place in club lore. It was the first postseason homer by a Sox second baseman since Geoff Blum’s 14th-inning blast in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series, also in Houston. The three-run shot was the Sox’s first postseason three-run homer since Leury Garcia in Game 3 of the 2021 ALDS against Houston, and it was the club’s first postseason home run on the road since Dewayne Wise in Game 1 of the 2008 ALDS in Tampa.
Meidroth’s numbers against left-handed pitching were just as eye-catching. He led all qualifiers with a .350 average, a .431 on-base percentage and a 1.023 OPS versus lefties in 2026. That on-base mark was the third-highest in Sox history, minimum 157 at bats, while the OPS ranked fourth and both the average and slugging percentage ranked fifth.
He also did damage at the top of the lineup. When starting games, Meidroth slashed .343/.425/.714 with three homers.
His slugging percentage was the highest in Sox history for players with at least 23 at bats leading off games since 1952. His on-base percentage led the American League, his average ranked third in the Majors, and his 1.139 OPS over the last two years is second only to Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio’s 1.161 when starting games, minimum 40 games.
Since 1952, Meidroth is the Sox leader, minimum 90 at bats, leading off games with a .333 average, .406 on-base percentage, .600 slugging percentage and 1.006 OPS. His .333 average leading off games is also the best in the Majors over the past two seasons, minimum 101 games, and among Sox players with at least 100 at bats leading off games, it trails only Lu Blue’s .363 from 1931-32.
The power showed up early, too. Meidroth hit three game-starting homers in 2026, pushing his career total to five.
That ties him for sixth in Sox history with Yoan Moncada and Pat Kelly, behind Ray Durham (20), Tim Anderson (16), Adam Eaton (9), Tim Raines (9) and Alejandro De Aza (8). He also became the first player in Sox history to lead off a season with a homer on Opening Day in Milwaukee.
At second base, the power numbers kept building. Meidroth is one of only six second basemen in team history with at least 16 homers in a season.
The franchise record belongs to Alexei Ramirez, who hit 21 in 2008. His multi-homer game on Aug. 6 was the second by a White Sox second baseman in Fenway Park and the first since Craig Wilson did it on June 27, 1999.
Meidroth, Jorge Orta in 1974, Durham in 2001, Juan Uribe in 2004, Tadahito Iguchi in 2006 and Lenyn Sosa in 2025 are the only second basemen in Sox history with two multi-homer games in a season.
And he was everywhere at the position. Meidroth’s 150 games at second base in 2026 were the most by a Sox player since Ray Durham’s 151 in 2000.
Among American League second basemen, he led with 156 hits, 61 walks and 90 runs. He was second to Toronto’s Ernie Clement in doubles with 31, trailing Luke Keaschall’s .282 with a .276 average, and he also ranked second among AL second sackers with a .350 on-base percentage, a .415 slugging percentage and a .765 OPS.
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