White Sox demote Johnson to Triple-A Charlotte
Before the White Sox played the Brewers at Miller Park in Milwaukee Wednesday night, I asked rookie second baseman Micah Johnson about making the challenging jump from the minor leagues to the majors.
"Obviously, there is pressure," Johnson said. "Everything is magnified up here, so maybe I do put pressure on myself to try to do more to help the team in different ways."
The Sox are only 31 games into the season, but it was already apparent Johnson was not handling the pressure as well as expected.
In 27 games, Johnson had a .270/.333/.297 slash line and 3 RBI.
That's acceptable for a rookie No. 9 hitter, but Johnson made one mistake after another at second base and also had some baserunning blips.
On Thursday, the White Sox optioned the 24-year-old Johnson to Class AAA Charlotte. Carlos Sanchez joins the Sox in Oakland from Charlotte Friday and takes over for Johnson as the regular second baseman.
"As I explained to Micah, we still think he has a very bright future and he's going to have a long and successful big-league career," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "It's not too dissimilar with conversations we had to have years ago with guys like Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand when they got sent back to the minors after they had some big-league experience.
"There are just some elements of (Johnson's) game that we want him to work on consistently at the minor-league level and get ironed out prior to having him back in Chicago."
Crede split time with the Sox and Charlotte in 2001-02 before becoming a fixture at third base. Rowand split time with the White Sox and Charlotte in 2001 and 2003 before becoming a fixture in center field.
"There is no reason Micah can't follow suit," Hahn said. "This is, what we believe, a minor setback on the path to what we believe will be a successful big-league career."
Sanchez is certainly deserving of the promotion from Triple-A. He was leading the International League with 45 hits and ranked sixth with a .344 batting average.
Defensively, Sanchez is an upgrade over Johnson.
"He's still a relatively young player," Hahn said of the 22-year-old Sanchez. "He's more coming into his own with the repetition at the minor-league level. We do like the fact that he is a kid that got an extended taste last year, and that at the start of the year he got beat out for his job, but as opposed to hanging his head he went down and worked his tail off and obviously had a great amount of success."
Sanchez was on the Sox' 25-man roster to open the season and was 2-for-3 before being optioned to Charlotte on April 11.
Last year, the switch-hitter played in 28 games with the White Sox and had a .250/.269/.300 slash line.
Gordon Beckham and Emilio Bonifacio are options at second base but Hahn said Sanchez should get the bulk of the playing time.
"Carlos is going to bring a little bit more defensive consistency," Hahn said. "Solid baserunning. He'll be a tough out for us. He's going to help stabilize that position. It's good to have two veteran guys, Gordon and Boni, around should the need arise to give him a break or do something different from a matchup standpoint. But basically I don't see a huge change in either of their roles."
Sox scouting report
White Sox vs. Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum
TV: Comcast SportsNet Friday and Sunday; WGN Saturday
Radio: WSCR 670-AM
Pitching matchups: The Sox' Carlos Rodon (1-0) vs. Jesse Hahn (1-3) today at 9:07 p.m.; John Danks (1-3) vs. Jesse Chavez (1-3) Saturday at 8:07 p.m.; Jeff Samardzija (2-2) vs. Scott Kazmir (2-1) Sunday at 3:07 p.m.
At a glance: The White Sox have won three straight series and are gradually emerging from an early hole. The Sox were 4-3 vs. the A's last season (1-2 at the Coliseum). Rodon makes his second start of the season. He had 8 strikeouts in 6 innings vs. the Reds Saturday. Adam LaRoche has reached base safely in 11 straight games and is batting .333 over that stretch. Alexei Ramirez is batting .355 during an eight-game hitting streak. Former White Sox infielder Marcus Semien leads Oakland with 43 hits and is batting .307 with 6 home runs and 15 RBI.
Next: Cleveland Indians at U.S. Cellular Field, Monday-Thursday
- Scot Gregor