When Mark Teahen left the White Sox in the fourth inning of a game against the Rays on May 30, they were 21-28 and eight games back of the Minnesota Twins.
A couple of innings later, the Sox had their first opportunity to miss Teahen when Jayson Nix and his .143 average -- hell, his .143 slugging percentage -- came to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out. Nix worked the count full, then unloaded on James Shields, hitting a drive so hard, so pure, that he irked Shields with a triumphant bat flip.
Though Nix was nixed a couple of weeks later, he set a tone with that mighty blow. It was shocking how quickly Teahen's absence became an afterthought.
Part of it's his own fault. He had to heat up late to raise his line to .255/.340/.387, which still wasn't nearly good enough to make up for his atrocious defense at third. His most famous play this year is turning a hard grounder into a ground-rule double, the ball ricocheting off his shin and into the crowd. Fittingly, that came during the Sox's worst loss of the season, a 13-0 drubbing at the hands of the other Florida team.
But nobody could have anticipated how third base turned into a team strength when he left. Since Teahen suffered his injury, his replacements own a .314/.370/.436 line. Omar Vizquel's reaching base at a .388 clip himself, and while UZR grades his defense as a notch below average, my eye test thinks he's more than reliable. Then again, a notch below average is still a massive improvement to what Teahen is providing.
Ozzie Guillen recognizes this. When Teahen returns to the 25-man roster today, taking the place of Dayan Viciedo, he will be used as the Royals used him -- spelling Vizquel at third, Paul Konerko at first, maybe a little time in right field, and opportunities at DH, too. He may not like being in flux, but he wasn't exactly Wally Pipped out of his job at third. Chances are, his defense would have forced a change had it festered there long enough.
But he has a golden opportunity to redirect his entire season. The course of his injury came full circle on Thursday night. Teahen, who had watched Nix push him out of the picture with his grand slam back on Memorial Day weekend, returns after watching teammates blow every opportunity they had with the bases loaded. He couldn't be a more welcome sight.
It would behoove Teahen to take advantage of these circumstances, even if he ends up raking while his teammates crumble. He's far from the lone reason why the team nearly fell out of contention before June, but an awfully convenient narrative awaits if the team only succeeded without him. Considering he is only one-third of the way through an ill-advised extension and lost his position to a guy old enough to be his woefully unprepared father, falling flat down the stretch could make the next two years seem like an eternity on all sides.
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Minor league roundup:
- Durham 6, Charlotte 2
- Mark Teahen went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Brent Morel and Alejandro De Aza went 0-for-4 with a K.
- Jordan Danks singled and struck out twice over four PAs.
- Mobile 8, Birmingham 6
- Eduardo Escobar went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a strikeout.
- Justin Greene hit a two-run homer and struck out twice.
- Christian Marrero was 1-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Kannapolis 2, Savannah 0
- Ryan Buch struck out six over six innings with no walks. He allowed just four hits.
- Nick Ciolli went 2-for-4 with a K.
- Tyler Saladino singled twice and struck out three times.
- Brady Shoemaker and Juan Silverio both wore the collar with two strikeouts.
- Miguel Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Bristol 1, Burlington 0
- Rangel Ravelo went 2-for-4.
- Kevin Moran struck out a batter and allowed a hit in an inning of work.
- Billings 14, Great Falls 2
- Stephen Upchurch was hit hard: 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HR.
- Winston-Salem at Wilmington PPD
