White Sox Are About To Get A Boost To The Lineup

The white-sox">Chicago White Sox should be welcoming back a key bat to their lineup soon. 

Outfielder Everson Pereira is working his way back from a right pectoral strain. He landed on the 10-day injured list all the way back on April 29, but his return to the White Sox roster is on the horizon. 

Chicago recently sent Pereira on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte on Friday. This marked a significant step in his recovery from that right pectoral strain. He will need a handful of games with the Charlotte Knights before being activated off the IL. 

Pereira has looked solid at the plate in his first two rehab assignment games with the Knights. He went 1-for-3 while playing five innings in right field on Friday and then launched a towering two-run homer at the designated hitter spot on Saturday. 

It’s a nice sign to see the White Sox’s outfielder hit the ball well in his first two rehab assignment games. He will continue to work his way back from this injury and could be activated off the 10-day IL next week. 

Getting Pereira back from injury will no doubt boost this White Sox lineup. He showed some encouraging things in his first 18 games before suffering that pectoral strain on a swing against the Los Angeles Angels on April 28. 

The 25-year-old slashed .250/.310/.453 with three home runs, four doubles, and seven RBI across 71 plate appearances. He also posted some strong metrics with a 11.4% barrel rate, 43.2% hard-hit rate, and a 40.9% launch angle sweet-spot rate. 

Where the White Sox could really use Pereira in their lineup is against left-handed pitching. He has a current .389 batting average (7-for-18) with one double, one home run, and three RBI against southpaws this year. 

It’ll be interesting to see how much the White Sox play Pereira once he is activated off the IL.

Tristan Peters has become such a consistent force in Chicago’s lineup. Sam Antonacci has seen most of his starts in left field and has been the perfect leadoff hitter for the White Sox, and Derek Hill, Randal Grichuk, and Rikuu Nishida have all been rotating in right field. 

Still, Pereira should see most of the starts in right field when he returns. He will always start against lefties and should make his way into the lineup pretty often against righties as well. 

His return will be a nice boost for this White Sox team.