Being on the wrong end of a sweep is already the most thunderous defeat the already-grueling major league season can offer. But a four-game sweep? That's a stinging, lingering statement of inferiority.
The management of resources that a 162-game schedule demands almost precludes any major league manager from pushing forward with their best options four games in a row. If the White Sox drop Thursday's game to suffer a four-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium, it would be the sharpest blow they've suffered from the Royals since...last April, when they suffered a four-game sweep at Kauffman Stadium in the third series of the 2024 season.
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Through seven games in May, Andrew Vaughn is hitting better than his awful April, but still not resembling a resurgent hitter: 7-for-26, two doubles, one walk, six strikeouts. While his batted ball metrics suggest a more impactful swinger, his chase rates foreshadow someone who will have a hard time sustaining a run.
"Vaughny's hit some balls hard," said hitting coach Marcus Thames. "I know the numbers on the scoreboard don't look right, don't look good at all, and I get that. But he has hit some balls hard. The one thing we have been talking to him about is not to chase. 'I know you're hitting balls hard, you're not getting the success. Don't try to chase hits.' If he doesn't try to chase hits and sticks with his game plan, good things are going to come for him. But he can't chase. If he's not chasing, good things are going to come."
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Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero have returned to the lineup after a shared day off.
Joshua Palacios has hit .220/.256/.329 against left-handed pitching in 87 career plate appearances. It's a small sample, but that's because few of his previous teams would trot him out to start in a left-on-left matchup.
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Former MLB outfielder Chet Lemon, who made two of his three career All-Star Game appearances as a member of the White Sox, died at the age of 70. Lemon had a 121 OPS+ over 16 seasons in the majors, collected 1,875 career hits and was the starting centerfielder for the World Series champion Detroit Tigers in 1984.
First pitch: White Sox at Royals
TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM
Lineups:
| Royals | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan India, LF | 1 | Chase Meidroth, SS |
| Bobby Witt Jr., SS | 2 | Miguel Vargas, 3B |
| Vinnie Pasquantino, 1B | 3 | Edgar Quero, C |
| Salvador Perez, DH | 4 | Luis Robert Jr., CF |
| Maikel García, 3B | 5 | Andrew Vaughn, 1B |
| Michael Massey, 2B | 6 | Joshua Palacios, DH |
| Hunter Renfroe, RF | 7 | Lenyn Sosa, 2B |
| Drew Waters, CF | 8 | Brooks Baldwin, LF |
| Freddy Fermin, C | 9 | Michael A. Taylor, RF |
| Kris Bubic | SP | Davis Martin |
