The White Sox have lost five-straight home games, which matches the number of times they will have used an opener after Jordan Leasure gets things going for Anthony Kay on Thursday.
Neither Edgar Quero, Luisangel Acuña, Derek Hill, Reese McGuire nor Sam Antonacci have an extra-base hit in the majors so far this season. Antonacci has the best excuse, having been here for less than 24 hours.
Quero, given his offseason work to elevate the ball more and Kyle Teel nearing a rehab assignment next week, might have the most pressure on him.
"What we talked about, you look at the scoreboard and it's not telling you a good story," said hitting director Ryan Fuller. "What's the story that we're telling in here with our work? Are you advancing, doing your homework against the pitcher. Are you going in with intent, attacking your movement patterns with his swing and then are you seeing something nasty to prepare for the game? For all these young guys, it's really letting them know with that scoreboard at the beginning of the season, to make sure we really ingrain those habits, your daily structure, that's very, very important where the scoreboard is going to show up. So let's hammer that."
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Colson Montgomery is out of the lineup on Thursday. There's a lefty starter on the mound and he had a golden sombrero on Wednesday, though he's largely been praised for not panicking about his .175/.268/.365 batting line.
"Some days are really good and it's a high, other days are not so good and it's low," Fuller said. "To his credit, he has been 72 degrees, understanding the nature of a 162-game season. There are going to be some peaks and valleys, but I know that if I'm more emotional and I'm going to hit the panic button, we're going to go further into that trough.
He's done a great job understanding yeah, it's early, I need to make adjustments. There have been really good spurts where I am swinging the bat well and I am able to affect the team's chances of winning. But to his credit, has not hit the panic button. Same guy every day, ready to work, and when it is tougher, he wants to work even harder, so credit to him."
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To address the headline, the Sox were swept at home once during the opening month last year, and twice in 2024 (or three times, if you count a Twins series that ended on May 1). Either way, two times is probably too many.
First pitch: White Sox vs. Rays
TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM
Lineups:
| Rays | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Chandler Simpson, LF | 1 | Miguel Vargas, 3B |
| Junior Caminero, 3B | 2 | Chase Meidroth, 2B |
| Cedric Mullins, CF | 3 | Munetaka Murakami, 1B |
| Yandy Díaz, DH | 4 | Everson Pereira, RF |
| Ryan Vilade, 1B | 5 | Edgar Quero, C |
| Ben Williamson, 2B | 6 | Tanner Murray, SS |
| Jonny DeLuca, RF | 7 | Andrew Benintendi, DH |
| Nick Fortes, C | 8 | Derek Hill, CF |
| Taylor Walls, SS | 9 | Sam Antonacci, LF |
| Steven Matz | SP | Jordan Leasure |
