Chicago White Sox hitting coach Derek Shomon sees the potential for offensive productivity in a variety of ways.
“We have guys that can slug, we have guys that can move the baseball forward, we have guys that can and will lay down a bunt,” Shomon said on Sunday at Rate Field.
“It’s not just a one-trick pony. Even though some nights it feels like it is, right? When it is firing off, there’s a lot of different solutions to score runs.”
The Sox found those solutions in the seventh inning Monday, scoring seven runs in an eventual 8-7 victory against the Los Angeles Angels at Rate Field. There was a bunt and a line-drive single. Players reached via an error and after getting hit by a pitch. There was a double followed by back-to-back home runs.
First baseman Munetaka Murakami played a big role, as he has from the start of the season, hitting a go-ahead three-run home run. Murakami entered Tuesday’s game against the Angels leading the majors with 12 home runs. He was tied for 10th in the big leagues with 23 RBIs.
“He’s just got this calm demeanor about him,” Shomon said of Murakami. “He doesn’t get overly worked up when things aren’t going well. He’ll come in after an at-bat, he’ll look at the AB, it’s like he processes it, and then he’s on to the next thing.
“It’s more so his ability to turn the page quickly is what helped put him in a position to be successful at a quicker rate after failure.”
As April nears an end, Shomon recently discussed some of the offensive progress up and down the lineup.
Third baseman Miguel Vargas followed Murakami’s seventh-inning home run with one of his own.
Shomon described Vargas, who has a .208/.352/.446 slash line with six home runs and 14 RBIs, as “coachable.”
“Receptive, willing to make micro-adjustments where needed, when needed,” Shomon said. “He’s a good hitter. And this is a guy, who, historically, Miguel Vargas has not chased, he does not miss on the strike zone and he can do damage. It just takes a little bit of realignment here and there to get him in a spot where he can go out and do what he does best.”
Murakami, Vargas and shortstop Colson Montgomery hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in a game last week against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
Shomon said Montgomery, who is second on the team with seven home runs and 19 RBIs, can “carry an offense when he’s hot, for sure.” Four of the home runs for the left-handed hitting Montgomery have come against left-handed pitching.
“I think some of that is mindset, left-on-left, this kid doesn’t shy away,” Shomon said.
Shomon wants recently promoted infielder/outfielder Sam Antonacci to keep the same mindset that helped him get to the big leagues.
“When guys come up to the big leagues, it could happen where you start to lose yourself and you think you have to be somebody that you’re not,” Shomon said. “It’s just like, be that crazy little (person) that’s hitting your helmet and stuff all the time. And the boys are going to back you 100%.”
“(Antonacci has a) high-contact rate, puts together a good at-bat really every time,” Shomon said. “And I think he’s seeing already maybe some ways he’s going to have to adjust, because the pitching is different, but no doubt that he’ll do that.”
Shomon has similar confidence as catcher Edgar Quero and center fielder Luisangel Acuña continue to work to get going in the right direction. Quero entered Tuesday batting .169 (11-for-65).
“He’s showing flashes of it, and it’s just not showing up consistently and for sure it’s frustrating for him,” Shomon said. “It’s like, ‘I feel like I’m doing everything right and it’s just not showing up.’ But we just have to keep pounding the stone and keep chipping away and the consistency will get there.”
Acuña had a .179 average (12-for-67) coming into Tuesday.