Tristan Peters picked up a piece of hardware for August, even if the bigger award conversation still looks like Detroit’s to lose.
Peters was named Rookie of the Month after posting a .320/.414/.640 line over 27 games. He also tied a rookie record by homering in five straight games, a run that gave his month some real pop even if the American League Rookie of the Year race appears headed elsewhere.
That larger spotlight seems pointed at Kevin McGonigle, whose numbers lag a bit behind Peters’ on the surface but come with a major caveat: playing time. McGonigle is in the lineup just about every day, while Peters has been working on the long side of a platoon.
Peters.279.345.468 128 4.0 3.8 421
McGonigle.271.372.410 123 5.8 4.5 608
There’s also the matter of McGonigle’s current skid. He went 0-for-6 against Minnesota on Wednesday and is now 3-for-32 over his last eight games.
The 22-year-old Tiger is operating well past his previous high in playing time, while Peters, at 26, has already logged multiple seasons with far more action than this. If McGonigle is just in a normal slump, the race stays pretty tidy.
If he’s wearing down, Peters has a chance to keep the vote from becoming a formality.
For the White Sox, the better news arrived on the mound. After 10 straight games in which a starter couldn’t get past the fifth inning, Sean Burke and Davis Martin each covered 5⅔ innings over the last two nights. That may not jump off the page, but it matters because it kept at least one high-leverage reliever from having to enter both games.
Both pitchers, as discussed on Wednesday’s Sox Machine Live, found a workable middle ground. Burke cleaned up some early control issues and strung together a couple of efficient innings to put himself on the edge of a near-quality start. Martin had to pitch through traffic, but he did it by using the whole strike zone again and getting better count leverage with a more effective four-seam fastball before things could snowball.
Martin explained after the game that his four-seamer had too much horizontal movement before his stint on the IL, which was helping it run back toward the barrels he was trying to avoid.
"That cutt-ier ball that really hasn’t been above barrels, which kind of eliminates the upper half of the strike zone for me," Martin said. "To be able to have that upper part of the strike zone available is one more thing they have to worry about."
That kind of postgame explanation is a good sign in itself. For his previous three starts, the conversation had centered on pitch tipping, a rain delay that left him with one bad inning, and a blister that made his fastball control impossible to separate from head-hunting.
The White Sox also have another roster question starting to come into focus behind the plate. Kyle Teel is six games into his rehab assignment for a high ankle sprain, and the last two nights gave him a chance to check the box for consecutive full games, one at catcher and one at DH.
Before Wednesday’s game, Will Venable said there was "nothing imminent, no date" on Teel’s return. But the eighth inning of that game offered a reminder of why the club might want to keep a third catcher around.
With Drew Romo at second and what could have been a go-ahead single by Munetaka Murakami in play, Romo didn’t score. Venable said after the game that the White Sox considered pinch-running for him, and the inning left plenty of room for second-guessing.
"We talked about it and trust in Drew there. At the same time, he's catching a shutout there, with [Sean Newcomb] going back out, which was the plan.
Definitely a thought and obviously if you go back, probably would have chose to do it. But it was a decision that we talked about and thought that we were in a good spot and trusted Drew to make the right move."
Even with the shutout context, carrying an extra catcher can make that kind of move a lot easier. That’s the point of going three deep behind the plate: you get the chance to chase a small edge without putting yourself one awkward turn away from a defensive mess.
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Venable was candid that, with a do-over, he would have sent a pinch runner for Romo. For a White Sox club trying to squeeze every edge out of tight games, it was the kind of call that can stick with a manager because it sits right at the intersection of defense, urgency and the small details that decide whether an inning keeps moving or stops cold. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Could Fast Track A Prospect Fans Need To Watch
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For a rebuilding club, those late-season decisions matter. A jump to a higher affiliate can tell the front office a lot about how far a prospect has come and how ready he might be for a bigger role down the road, especially with 2027 in view. Nothing has been finalized yet, but the possibility alone makes this a situation worth watching closely as Chicago looks for the next wave of players who can move quickly when the time comes. [Read more 🡒]