The White Sox announced that outfielder Andrew Benintendi has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 5th, due to a left calf strain. Infielder Nick Maton has been selected to take his place on the active roster. The 40-man already had a vacancy since right-hander Penn Murfee was outrighted earlier this week.
Benintendi was removed from Sunday’s game with tightness in that calf and didn’t play in the club’s past two games, which is why this IL stint was able to be backdated. If it’s a minor issue, he could return to the club in just over a week.
The Sox don’t have any hopes of competing this year, currently sporting a 10-26 record, worst in the American League. Still, it’s less than ideal for Benintendi to be hurt again, as the club would surely love to trade him prior to the deadline.
That will be tough to do on account of his contract. He is making $16.5MM this year and again in 2026, followed by a $14.5MM salary in 2027. He hasn’t performed especially well with the White Sox overall, so other clubs won’t be too excited to take that on.
He went into the 2024-25 offseason with a bit of positive momentum. His 2024 season started rough, as he had a line of .195/.230/.284 when he landed on the IL in June with an Achilles injury. But he hit .251/.326/.470 for a 124 wRC+ after being reinstated.
The White Sox would have loved for him to roll that performance forward into 2025 but the injury bug has had other plans. Benintendi suffered a hand fracture on a hit-by-pitch in the spring. He was able to get healthy by Opening Day but then hit the IL due to an adductor strain in early April. He was reinstated fairly quickly but is now back on the shelf again. Around those injuries, he has hit .224/.298/.400 on the year, with five home runs getting that line up to league average.
For the time being, Maton will get some more at-bats with the Sox. He spent about a month with the club earlier this year but was outrighted off the roster after hitting .173/.295/.327. That brought his career batting line to .202/.302/.354 over 575 plate appearances. He has hit far better in the minors without being able to translate it to the show. From 2022 to 2024, he slashed .267/.375/.454 in the minors for a 121 wRC+. He has played all four infield positions as well as the outfield corners in his career, so he can bounce around the diamond for the Sox.
Photo courtesy of Rick Osentoski, Imagn Images
FREE ELKO
He’s a puss boy! Milking this organization for all it’s got which isn’t much
It’s a mid tier contract but… What a horrible signing. He’s on the Ben Grieve career arc.
I wish the Phillies never traded Maton. Should be on the bench
@whosehighpitch – Instead of who? Sosa? Last thing they need is a light-hitting LHB.
Marsh. Maton will hit more than Captain Caveman. And Bryson will still have a best friend to dump a cup of water on somebody
You should do a head-to-head stat comparison of them before you say anything else foolish.
Is it my imagination, or do the White Sox look more competitive so far this year? Of course, there’s usually no direction to go but upward when you’re such a bad team, but I’ve noticed fewer blowout loses and games that they don’t lose until the late innings.
Your exactly right now we lose at the end of the game not the beginning.
They are significantly better; casual commentators and the national media are still in the pile-on mode, so they have not yet noticed that the team is improved. All of their young pitchers are impressive, and the best of them are still in the minors. Prediction: the Sox will win their series against the Cubs May 16-18.
John Schriffen, though, is as bad as ever.
Ok, Alan, we get it, the White Sox have less white players which to you, means they’re better, we get it.
They like Nick because he can play multiple positions and he fits in well in the clubhouse. But that 173 average is hard to take and he was hitting 100 on limited action in the minors after his demotion. You would think the White Sox would be looking for a Jack of all trades player that can contribute on the offence.
Jelks hittlng 364 andr ELKO hitting 348. . What are you people doing’ we need runs not ss hitting 075 or outfielders hitting under .200.
Jerry, I guess nobody cares about your White Sox except you and me.
Corey Julks is hitting .364 with an 1.054 OPS in AAA… His phone should be ringing