Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura. Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
CHICAGO — Trayce Thompson is scorching hot at the plate, but that wasn’t enough to get into the White Sox’s starting lineup Wednesday at U.S. Cellular Field.
A day after going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and nearly hitting for the cycle, Thompson sat out the White Sox’s 3-0 loss to drop a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox. Chicago manager Robin Ventura has been starting Thompson primarily against left-handed pitchers and saw no reason to break from his platoon.
“You sit there and you like the combo, what’s going on right now,” Ventura said of a platoon situation that includes playing first baseman Adam LaRoche almost exclusively against right-handers. “You’re not afraid of putting (Thompson) in there. It’s just you like the matchups that you see, and I think he’s also in a nice roll against lefties.”
Thompson is hitting .522 (12-for-23) since being recalled Aug. 3 from Triple-A Charlotte, but the majority of his plate appearances have been against left-handers. He’s hitting .588 (10-for-17) with two home runs and five RBIs against lefties, and .333 (2-for-6) against right-handers.
The infield defense isn’t quite as strong when Thompson plays, though, because it means LaRoche is on the bench rather than at first base. Jose Abreu starts at first against left-handers, while Thompson enters the lineup to let one of the regulars in the outfield be the designated hitter.
LaRoche is a keen fielder, which gives the White Sox’s infield four plus defenders whenever he and rookie third baseman Tyler Saladino start.
“I like it a lot,” Ventura said. “We start looking at where we started out this year and where we’re at now, the way we play defense on the infield, and you like what you see when (Saladino’s) in there and when (LaRoche is) in there.”
