Statcast’s latest receiving leaderboard gave first-base defense a fresh layer of detail, and one of the names that stood out right away was Andrew Vaughn.
For a while, it was easy to wonder whether Vaughn’s limited catch radius at first base was costing the White Sox more than it should have. The new numbers suggest the opposite.
From 2021 through 2024, Vaughn finished at 2 Runs Above Average, which means the overall package came out as a net positive. He did lag badly on wide throws, but his work on bounced balls and high throws helped make up for it.
In other words, the doubts were understandable, but the total result says he handled the job better than many might have thought.
The same leaderboard also paints a rougher picture of Munetaka Murakami’s work at first for this year’s White Sox. He sits 29th out of 37 first basemen in receiving and owns the second-worst mark on scoops.
That lines up with the eye test and with the fact that he is still relatively new to the position. Statcast has him at 0 OOA in the rest of his defensive work, which fits the larger impression: sometimes he looks like a third baseman at first, and sometimes he looks like a third baseman at first.
Elsewhere around the Sox, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, whose district covers Chicago’s northwest suburbs and exurbs, said he had an audience with Pope Leo XIV and reported that His Holiness watched the White Sox blow a 4-1 lead to the Reds on Pope Hat Night.
Jerry Reinsdorf also continues to hand out rings to players who hit for the cycle, and Tristan Peters is the latest to receive one.
Jake Rogers’ walk-off homer Friday brought up the same point again about Schriffen’s style on big calls. He captures the raw emotion of the moment well, but the vocabulary doesn’t quite keep pace with the volume. “Let’s go” has become the default answer too often.
That led into a broader thought on celebrations, specifically Jefry Yan’s leap after strikeouts, or what he thinks are strikeouts. The issue isn’t the joy itself.
It’s that the move doesn’t scale. Bat flips and dugout reactions can get bigger without throwing off the game’s presentation, but if every player reacted to getting the first out of an inning by maxing out his vertical, the whole thing would start to look broken.
Colson Montgomery’s reaction to that kind of celebration was described as “praise,” and his words made the point plainly enough. After the Mets’ former farm director Green called up the 29-year-old rookie earlier this month, he said opponents in the minors knew all about Yan’s antics and usually didn’t mind them. Green and others, he said, valued the joy Yan brings.
“I mean, it’s one of those things where if he strikes you out, you probably don’t like it,” Montgomery said. “If I would have struck out there, I would have been pretty mad. If you get on or get a hit, you don’t think about it.”
And if Derek Hill keeps showing up in big moments, there’s a reason for that too. He has been involved in plenty of them for the White Sox and since being traded to the Phillies, where he’s hitting .261/.301/.466. The strikeout rate says that production probably won’t hold, but teams don’t exactly turn away fifth-outfielder offense when it’s there.
In Other News...
White Sox Put Two Key Infield Prospects On Hold At Once
The White Sox have put the brakes on two of their most closely watched infield prospects at the same time, with Roch Cholowsky and Billy Carlson both shut down for the rest of the 2026 season. Cholowsky is dealing with a right wrist issue, while Carlson is working back from a skin infection and the treatment that came with it, leaving Chicago to take the cautious route with two players it views as important pieces for the future.
For a farm system trying to build real depth up the middle, the timing is a frustrating one, even if the long view matters more than any one summer. Both prospects are now focused on recovery and on getting ready for the 2027 season, which means the organization will spend the coming months waiting to see how each one responds before the next step in their development comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Kyle Teels Return Gives White Sox One More Catcher Question Down The Stretch
Kyle Teel is finally on the move again, and the White Sox are hoping the latest step gets him back on the field for good. After a season interrupted by a right hamstring strain, a sprained lateral collateral ligament in his right knee and a left ankle sprain, Teel has been cleared for game action and is set to begin a rehab assignment with Charlotte, giving the organization a chance to see how his body holds up in real action.
For a White Sox club trying to sort out the catcher spot over the final stretch, Teels return to the lineup picture carries obvious significance. Getting him back to full health would give the team a steadier option behind the plate, but the rehab assignment is the first checkpoint, and the bigger question is whether he can stay healthy long enough to matter in the seasons last weeks. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Prospect Rankings Suddenly Come With A Few Real Concerns
The White Soxs updated top 30 prospect list offers a useful snapshot of where the organization stands right now, and it is not all encouraging. A few fresh names have entered the picture, but the bigger takeaway is that several familiar prospects have not taken the kind of steps forward the club was hoping for this season. For a rebuilding team, that matters, because the farm system is supposed to be the pipeline that keeps hope moving even when the major league roster is still sorting itself out.
Christian Oppors slide stands out most after control issues have dragged his stock down, and he is not the only one whose standing has become less secure. Infielder Alexander Albertus and outfielder Samuel Zavala have also fallen short of expectations, leaving their long-term place on future rankings a little less certain than it looked a year ago. The White Sox still have some intriguing talent in the system, but this latest update is a reminder that prospect lists can change fast when development stalls. [Read more 🡒]