Patrick Gorski-Imagn Photos
The Chicago White Sox, popping out of the worst season in trendy main league historical past, began 2025 with a bang: an 8-1 win over the Angels on Opening Day. They misplaced the subsequent two video games, then pounded the Twins into smithereens on the final day of March. Since then, the Sox have dropped 12 video games out of 14 and as soon as once more settled like silt on the underside of the American League standings desk.
It’s not going to be their 12 months in any case. However I don’t assume it’s going to be as depressing because it was in 2024, and Chase mile is one motive why.
Only a few groups in skilled sports activities historical past have been as abjectly horrible because the White Sox, and a few years in the past, after I was younger and callow, I had the misfortune of writing repeatedly about one in every of them: the Course of-era Philadelphia 76ers. The parallels between these White Sox and people Sixers don’t go very far, however in that point I realized a helpful lesson: Unhealthy is just not as depressing to observe as boring.
Imagine it or not, I even have largely constructive recollections of these horrendous Sixers; at the same time as they went months on finish with out successful, they cycled via an fascinating cadre of unfancied younger gamers and remember-this-guy veterans who may in any other case have been too bizarre to stay on an NBA roster. I’m certain a lot of that affection got here from a mix of postgraduate boredom and mid-2010s compounding irony, however we had some enjoyable with Tony Wroten and Jerami Grant and Henry Sims, and so forth.
At the same time as I stay pessimistic about Chicago’s team-building course of (reminiscent of it’s) usually, there are particular person inexperienced shoots and leaves poking out via the morass. Shane Smith is one instance; Meidroth is one other.
Even primarily based on solely three begins’ price of knowledge, I really feel fairly assured declaring Smith to be a helpful large league contributor. A reliever at worst, a no. 3 or no. 4 starter at greatest, possibly someplace in between. As a result of I’ve seen pitchers like him earlier than and I do know what they flip into.
Meidroth is a distinct animal. There’s no person like him within the league.
Simply yesterday, Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan posted our White Sox prospect checklist, with Smith seventh and Meidroth eighth out of 40 ranked names, with a forty five FV grade on each. (Eric particularly wrote that Meidroth “appears a bit like if Cary Elwes’ character in The Princess Bride simply bought house from his first semester in a frat.” I learn that line, instantly texted Eric: “The Dread Pirate Brian Roberts,” and took the remainder of the afternoon off, I used to be so pleased with myself.)
Meidroth is listed at 5-foot-10, 190 kilos. Eric and James put 40s on his run and area instruments, and a forty five on his arm. In elements of 4 seasons within the minor leagues, Meidroth has performed 527 2/3 innings at second base, 809 2/3 innings at third base, and 599 innings at brief. Calling him a extremely contact-oriented groundball hitter doesn’t inform the entire story — I’ll get to that shortly — however it tells sufficient of the story that you just’re in all probability beginning to assume I used to be filled with crap after I stated Meidroth was distinctive.
We all know this man, the small and/or stocky singles hitter who finally ends up at second base as a result of he can’t actually defend every other place, and isn’t even particularly nice there. He doesn’t run effectively, he doesn’t hit for energy, he simply hits a bunch of singles and by no means strikes out.
That is, to a larger or lesser extent, Luis ARCEERZ. A slower Whit Merrifield. Jean Segura with a gap in his glove. A wealthy man’s Santiago Espinala poor man’s Brendan Donovana clean-shaven man’s Luis Guillore.
Any White Sox followers who bought this far are in all probability pondering, “I’d say, ‘We’ve Nick Madrigal at house,’ however we traded him and aren’t precisely worse off for it.”
There’s a key distinction. Listed here are the profession stats for a couple of of the potential comps for Meidroth I discussed above, in comparison with the White Sox infielder’s stats from final 12 months’s minor league season. See if you happen to can spot the distinction.
Destiny of the Slappybois
Title BB% Ok% WRC+ GB/FB O-Swing% Z-Swing% O-Contact% Z-Contact% Nick Madrigal 4.6% 9.0% 88 2.77 29.8% 59.7% 81.8% Luis Arraez 6.8% 6.7% 119 1.40 27.7% 88.4% 95.2% santiago spinal 7.1% 13.8% 90 1.19 25.4% 65.5% 69.5% 91.2% Jean Safe 5.4% 13.9% 96 2.10 32.5% 63.5% 72.1% 91.1% Chase Meidroth* 18.8% 12.7% 132 1.95 18.3% 43.6% 93.6% 2025 MLB AVG. 9.1% 22.6% 100 1.10 28.4% 64.6% 55.6% 84.8%
*2024 in Triple-A
As you may see, most of those guys are free swingers. They’ll hit every thing, so that they do hit every thing. Not Meidroth. I don’t know if his dad and mom named him “Chase” as a “Boy Named Sue”-style problem, however he doesn’t. Chase, that’s. His profession is one lengthy rebuke of nominative determinism.
Final season, Meidroth had the third-lowest chase price in Triple-A. He swung at 30.7% of the pitches he noticed, no matter location. That was the bottom swing price in Triple-A, and would’ve been the bottom within the majors (forward of Juan Sotogood guess) by 6.2 proportion factors. Meidroth was 17% extra selective than Soto final 12 months; the distinction between Meidroth and Soto was the identical as Soto and Tyler Stephensonwho had the Twenty fourth-lowest total swing price within the majors.
It beggars perception. We’ve seen loads of hitters within the Arraez genus who don’t swing that usually: Steven Kwan, Sal Frelick… GERALDO PERDOMO might be a little bit of a stretch, however he’s within the neighborhood. However no person swings as sometimes as Meidroth. Final 12 months, CEDDANNE RAFAELA and Ezequiel Tovar swung extra steadily at pitches outdoors the strike zone than Meidroth swung at pitches inside it.
I’m fascinated to see how effectively Meidroth’s method interprets to the majors. He’s by no means hit double-digit homers in a minor league season, and I don’t assume he’s going to place up high-teens stroll charges within the large leagues it doesn’t matter what he does, but when he can hit within the excessive .200s with… let’s name it a 12% stroll price, he’ll be within the prime 10 within the league in OBP, and at that time he may be an above-average common even when he doesn’t area his place effectively or hit for energy.
The truth that Kwan can do that doesn’t precisely show that Meidroth can, however it ought to provide Meidroth’s backers hope.
If all of it falls aside for Meidroth, it’ll be as a result of main league pitchers have higher command than their Triple-A counterparts. How Meidroth offers with this can decide whether or not he will get labeled as discerning or passive.
Final season, 42.7% of the pitches Meidroth noticed have been within the shadow assault zone — across the fringe of the strike zone. That was the Forty second-highest proportion out of the 309 Triple-A hitters who noticed 1,000 pitches or extra, and inside that zone Meidroth posted a .374 OBP, which was sixteenth out of 309. That’s superb.
However Meidroth swung at simply 33.5% of pitches throughout the shadow zone, the bottom mark of any Triple-A hitter with a consultant pattern. Separating that even additional into pitches contained in the zone versus out of the zone, Meidroth swung at 28.4% of balls within the shadow zone, in comparison with 37.7% of strikes.
We’re speaking a couple of small goal for pitchers to hit — a bit greater than three inches large on the sides of the strike zone, and 4 inches tall on the prime and backside. But when a pitcher can hit it, two out of thrice Meidroth goes to provide him a free known as strike.
As an example this level, I’ve invented a stat I’m going to name Discernment Charge. Don’t trouble remembering the title; I’m in all probability by no means going to make use of it once more. It’s swing price on shadow zone strikes minus swing price on shadow zone balls. Meidroth’s discernment price in Triple-A final 12 months is 9.3% — 37.7% minus 28.4%.
That may’ve been within the fourth percentile amongst main league hitters for the reason that begin of the 2024 common season. Kwan, if we need to preserve utilizing him as a comp, had a discernment price of 18.0%.
It’s potential for a hitter like Meidroth to carry his personal whereas treating all edge case pitches roughly the identical. Arraez has a decrease discernment price, and Frelick is just not that a lot larger at 10.4%. However each of these hitters are way more aggressive on the fringe of the zone than Meidroth — virtually twice as aggressive, in Arraez’s case.
And that’s in all probability an adjustment Meidroth should make within the large leagues. As a result of proper now, that is the form of take I’m nervous about.
It’s the primary pitch of the at-bat, but when phrase will get out that Meidroth goes to take 93 on the letters for strike one, each pitcher within the league goes to oblige him.
We’ll see how he does. Each hitter has to be taught some new methods on first contact with large league opposition; Meidroth is not any exception. Sadly, the upper degree of competitors may drive the White Sox rookie to turn out to be much less bizarre. Through which case, he’ll simply must be good.
