be worked on, it’s tough to really dial in if they’re playing so often. So to get a little bit of a rest and continue to develop and work with our coaches and certain aspects I think is a great opportunity. So we’re looking at it as a positive. I think it is a real positive. If we feel like one player isn’t getting enough reps to stay sharp and continuing to progress, you make an adjustment.”
Another reason the White Sox don’t like to start both players is because of what happened on June 14 against the Texas Rangers, when Quero started at catcher and Teel served as the designated hitter.
A game that went to the 11th inning saw Brooks Baldwin pinch run for Quero and score the game-tying run in the eighth inning. That forced Teel to move to catcher, and as a result, the White Sox lost the designated hitter spot.
But the White Sox didn’t have any position players left on their bench to pinch hit, so pitcher Tyler Alexander had to bat when his spot in the order came up. That happened in a key spot, too, with two runners on base and two outs in a tie game in the top of the 10th inning. Alexander grounded out, and the White Sox wound up losing 5-4 in extras.
The White Sox want to avoid that moving forward.
“We’ve tried to using the DH and sometimes that can hamstring you a little bit with what you can do with the bench that night or if someone goes down,” Getz said.
A counterpoint to that could be that giving Teel and Quero more at-bats by using the designated hitter spot helps their development as hitters. That could be more beneficial for the White Sox in the long-run than it is detrimental in the short-term to run into a situation like the Rangers game and lose another game in a non-playoff contending season.
But by the end of the season, Teel and Quero should still finish with a healthy amount of plate appearances and gain valuable experience catching in the major leagues for the first time in their careers. And perhaps most importantly, their production at the plate –– with Teel slashing .279/.388/.372 and Quero at .277/.354/.366 –– provides some optimism for the White Sox future.