New hitting coach Thames liking White Sox approach at plate

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox lineup for their 5-2 Cactus League victory over the Diamondbacks on Monday at Camelback Ranch had a distinct Opening Day feel.

Andrew Benintendi, Yoán Moncada, Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jiménez and Andrew Vaughn were the first five in the order, as expected. Right-handed-hitting veteran Kevin Pillar was in right field and batting seventh, just as he figures to be on March 28 at Guaranteed Rate Field against the Tigers when left-hander Tarik Skubal gets the Opening Day nod.

Of course, with the idea of competition being stressed hourly let alone daily in White Sox camp, Pillar first has to make his way onto the 26-man roster.

“I’m also looking forward to seeing our lineup, kind of together for the first time,” said White Sox manager Pedro Grifol prior to Monday’s contest. “Not completely and maybe not in that order. I’m not throwing it out there like that. But I am looking forward to seeing the rhythm of these guys flow throughout the lineup.”

Through 11 Spring Training games, the White Sox were tied for 26th with 40 runs scored. They were tied for 25th with 29 walks and sat 29th with a .628 OPS, while ranking eighth with 100 strikeouts. Those numbers look somewhat akin to the ‘23 offensive struggles, although nobody ever got to Cooperstown on the heels of a .400 Spring Training average.

Marcus Thames is in his first year as the White Sox hitting coach, and becomes the team’s third hitting coach in three seasons following Frank Menechino and José Castro. Thames always wants results, but in the context of Spring Training, they don’t always have to translate into extra-base hits.

“I just want to make sure our guys are swinging at good pitches. If you don’t do that now, you can’t start on March 28, so we’re trying to make sure we start that now,” said Thames during a Monday morning media session. “I just like where the guys are at. We talked about a lot of different things when I got the job in the offseason and just their focus and their work in the cages has been really good.

“We want to have competitive at-bats. Not making weak contact early in the count. Some guys are still trying to get their timing, but overall, I’ve been pleased with what I’ve seen.”

Swinging at good pitches would coincide with the team’s desire to cut down on chasing out of the zone, a desire held by pretty much every Major League squad, but one plaguing the White Sox in ‘23. Their 32.9 chase percentage was the highest in baseball and above the MLB average of 28.6, per Statcast.

“It’s just buy in, making sure we’re doing our homework on the opposing pitcher,” Thames said. “Our guys have to understand their strengths and that’s what we’re going to hammer. Every person’s going to know who they are as a hitter, and what they do well and we’re really going to attack that and if a guy makes a mistake, we’ll get him.

“At the same time, we’ve got to focus on what we do well. … Make sure we’re prepared before we go out there. It slows the game down once we do that.”

During a two-run third inning against Tommy Henry, Nicky Lopez opened with a double to left from the nine-spot in the order followed by a Benintendi walk. Moncada, batting right-handed, singled to center to score Lopez, and Jiménez followed a Robert Jr. double-play grounder with another run-scoring single to right.

This lineup definitely has talent, when they are fully healthy. The numbers don’t really matter in Arizona, but it could be where it all begins.

“You want to win all the games in Spring Training, but at the same time you want to make sure we’re celebrating the wins, the things we’re talking about,” Thames said. “The quality [at-bats], the situational hitting, stuff like that.

“Once we see that, it’s going to eventually happen. You see the scoreboard and there are some good things that I write on my card and celebrate those to let them know they’re doing well.

“We’re putting our heads together and seeing what we can do best for the organization. It starts in the [Rookie-level Dominican Summer League] and [goes] all the way to the Major Leagues. We’ve got to swing at good pitches and hit the ball hard.”