The first time Kyle Teel tried to return from injury, he tweaked his knee during a rehab stint for a hamstring strain.
The second time Kyle Teel tried to return from injury, he hit .190/271/.317 over 19 games before suffering a high ankle sprain attempting to pivot and apply a tag at home plate.
So it's probably a little bit foolish to look at Teel's return to the White Sox after another prolonged absence and expect him to change the lineup in a meaningful way, but given that the other White Sox deadline acquisitions are 0-for-4 in providing any kind of impact, everybody is still left to hope that the biggest addition for the last two months was in the organization the whole time.
"Going into this interview, I was like, it’s going to be a lot of the same questions," Teel told reporters, obviously aware of the context. "Yeah, I’m just ready to get going."
The White Sox are doing their best to ease Teel into the mix. He's starting, but he's batting ninth, and while he took Drew Romo's place on the 28-man roster, Romo is still in Chicago as part of the taxi squad.
"Drew’s done a really nice job, he has," Chris Getz said today in a Chris Getz fashion. "What he does with the pitching staff and just the overall value he brings to the club is something that has helped us and gotten us to where we are today. Now you’ve got to make these decisions; Kyle is someone that we believe in as well and we know what he’s capable of doing because he’s done it. Drew, he’s going to stay ready. He’s actually going to stay with our club and help the group continue to go and if another opportunity arises he’ll be ready for it."
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Today is Mike Vasil Magic Wand Night, and the White Sox could use the help from 20,000 of their closest sorcerers. It's not just that their offense has scored just 14 runs over their last six games, but the hit column is also suffering. Their totals in the "H" column of the line score during this stretch: 3, 6, 5, 8, 3, 7.
Zebby Matthews, tonight's starter for Minnesota, kicked off the slump in earnest by carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning and a shutout into the ninth inning of the Twins' 5-1 victory in the finale at Target Field back on Sunday.
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First Pitch: White Sox vs Twins
TV: CHSN
Lineups:
| White Sox | Twins | |
|---|---|---|
| Sam Antonacci, LF | 1 | Luke Keaschall, RF |
| Miguel Vargas, 3B | 2 | Brooks Lee, 3B |
| Munetaka Murakami, 1B | 3 | Kody Clemens, 2B |
| Andrew Benintendi, DH | 4 | Ryan Jeffers, C |
| Colson Montgomery, SS | 5 | Josh Bell, DH |
| Braden Montgomery, RF | 6 | Trevor Larnach, LF |
| Tristan Peters, CF | 7 | Royce Lewis, 1B |
| Chase Meidroth, 2B | 8 | Kaelen Culpepper, SS |
| Kyle Teel, C | 9 | Wyatt Jenkins, CF |
| Erick Fedde | SP | Zebby Matthews |
