If you're hopelessly poisoned by internet discourse, Chase Meidroth had an ironic start to the season.
After getting his power unfavorably compared to that of the newly fast-swinging Sam Antonacci for much of the spring, Meidroth unloaded on a 99.5 mph Jacob Misiorowski fastball in his first at-bat of the year, for the hardest hit ball (107.7 mph) of his major league career.
It was one of seemingly two good moments the Sox had all of that Thursday, so Meidroth accordingly sounded like he moved past it quickly.
"Felt good, obviously," Meidroth said. "But, Thursday’s behind us and we’re looking to put a win in the win column."
Meidroth's early swing speeds aren't any different from last season, but that also wasn't the big offensive goal of his spring, where he was focused on shortening his leg kick, and spending less time floating on his back leg with the goal of cutting down his 53.3 percent ground ball rate from last season. Meidroth isn't trying to make the biggest deal about that, either.
"Just being athletic, getting into my legs and getting my foot down," Meidroth said. "Just being a hitter, it’s not necessarily trying to be a power hitter or anything. Just be a hitter."
As much as Meidroth's indifference in being admired for power hitting seems pre-installed, he's right. The White Sox have spoken more about trying to get him on a line-drive trajectory and making his contact skills play up more in terms of average, and if he settles into the seven-to-10 homer range alongside it, all the better. The adjustment they're chasing is more about a previous version of Meidroth, rather than trying to produce an unprecedented amount of pop.
"We made an adjustment to his setup and kind of went back to where he was at when he was feeling sexiest," said hitting coach Derek Shomon. "Early on in spring training, [his setup] was a lot wider, [his contact] was into the ground. Everything was way more like pre-tensioned, and he was too locked up. So we showed him some stuff, had some conversations about finding a spot in his setup where he was athletic and free, and that's where he's at presently. Ever since he made that adjustment, he's gone off for the last couple weeks of camp and into the season."
Feeling sexy is about something deeper and more existential than mere on-field results, but Meidroth's setup now seems to more resemble what he used in 2024, when he hit .293/.437/.400 in Triple-A and posted a ground-ball rate under 50 percent. He's actually put the ball on the ground in four of his whopping total of seven batted balls in play this year, but also his ground-rule double on a low changeup this past Saturday means Meidroth is already 10 percent of the way to his total of extra-base hits (20) in 122 games last year.
This breakdown, which shows Meidroth's hands drifting up toward his head in his setup throughout 2025--he actually has them exaggeratedly high before the pitcher starts his motion in the middle clip, but this represents his home base--reminds of a piece of spring training social media content the team put out. If you're a beat writer, even an experienced one, you never know when you'll find yourself watching an IG reel like a burnt-out detective searching for clues.
Like any normal person, my focus drifted toward the final 15 seconds, which could largely be summarized as "Shomon yells, lovingly, at Luisangel Acuña." It's pretty easy to develop a working theory of what he's communicating, knowing that the White Sox's central project with Acuña is similar to that of Meidroth; combatting a sky-high ground ball rate that limits the value of his hard contact.
There are some clues of what they've been emphasizing to Acuña, I feel:
Luckily, to confirm, Acuña walked past Shomon as he was giving this interview. The utilityman just wanted to confirm what hitting group he was in for batting practice, and he got that information, but also another reminder to keep his hands low in his setup.
"It just helps him with how he addresses the ball, his attack angles, and with him specifically, we're trying to get the ball off the ground a little bit more," Shomon said. "It helps him from being so above and chopping over the top of the ball."
With that context, Meidroth sliding his hands down closer to his waist and suddenly detonating on fastballs at similar heights seems to be in a similar vein. But also his hands functioning with less pain is another new feature of Meidroth's 2026 season. He had two injured list stints last season, and both were for his right thumb, and Meidroth said his hand wasn't back to 100 percent until December. Which is to say nothing of how often he could be seen in the clubhouse last season preparing to play with his shoulder taped up, or carefully putting his shoes on with respect to a sore ankle.
Demonstrating himself as someone who will maintain his aggressive play style through discomfort surely helped endear Meidroth to the coaching staff, but they sound equally ready to see what a less banged-up version of the infielder can provide.
"Definitely, and he had an outstanding offseason," said Will Venable. "He did a really good job of putting himself in a better position physically to be able to meet the demands of being an everyday player in this league. Really excited about where he’s at, excited for his health and I think we’re seeing the best version of him right now."
The best version of Meidroth, perhaps even the sexiest version of Meidroth, may yet prove to have more ability to hold onto his place as the White Sox starting second baseman than many realize.
