Kyle Teel has become one of the White Sox’s most useful October weapons, and it hasn’t just been because of the bat.
His return to the lineup has given Chicago a lift offensively, but the bigger edge might be what he’s doing behind the plate. In a postseason where the White Sox have leaned on openers and bullpen games, Teel’s command of the challenge system has helped squeeze value out of every inning.
That matters because Chicago entered the playoffs with the worst ABS challenge success rate in baseball. White Sox pitchers and catchers had successfully overturned only 49.3% of their challenges, the only team in MLB under the 50% mark.
Teel was not the main reason for that number. Hamstring and ankle injuries limited him to 39 games, but when he was catching, the strike zone looked like it was never a problem.
He won 35 of 65 challenges in the regular season, a 54% success rate.
He’s been even sharper in October. Teel has overturned seven of eight challenges this postseason, the most of any catcher, and his 88% success rate is among the best in the playoffs.
He’s also been active about using those chances. Baseball Savant has tagged 13 of his opportunities this postseason as “reasonable challenge” pitches, and he has passed on only five of them.
Not every missed chance is simple hesitation, though; game state and the number of challenges left have factored into some of those decisions.
The White Sox need that kind of precision more than most teams. Will Venable has had to lean hard on openers and bullpen games because starting rotation depth is thin, and Chicago became the first team in MLB history to have its starting pitcher work four innings or fewer in each of its first four postseason games.
Against that backdrop, every extra strike matters.
Teel helped swing Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the Houston Astros when he overturned a first-pitch ball to Isaac Paredes in the eighth inning. That gave Grant Taylor an immediate advantage, and one pitch later he was in control at 0-2.
Paredes had to protect, chased a slider in the dirt, and struck out. The sequence cut Houston’s win probability by 4.7%.
He came through again in Game 2. In the second inning, Teel challenged a first-pitch ball to Christian Walker and turned it into an 0-1 count for Sean Burke.
Walker struck out to end the at-bat. Then, an inning later, Teel did the same thing against MVP front-runner Yordan Alvarez, flipping another first-pitch ball into a strike.
Alvarez also eventually went down swinging against Burke.
His biggest moment may have come in Game 1 of the ALDS. With the White Sox up 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Taylor was trying to get the final eight outs.
Steven Kwan came up with a runner on first, and Taylor seemed to hit the bottom of the zone with his third pitch. The call came back as a ball, leaving Kwan in a 2-1 count.
Teel tapped his head, challenged the call and flipped the ball into a strike. That changed everything in a hurry.
Taylor came back with a curveball in almost the same spot, and Kwan rolled it into an inning-ending double play. The sequence lowered Cleveland’s win probability by 6%.
Teel has also added four hits and a team-high three runs scored this postseason, giving the White Sox another steady presence in a run that has already produced plenty of early-October value from an unlikely source.
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