White Sox pin hopes on Collins getting 'up off the mat'
The White Sox know the drill.
As a rebuilding team, they have been bringing up promising prospects over the last three seasons and patiently dealing with the growing pains.
"More guys are being brought to the major-league level sooner," Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "I think there's an expectation that everything will explode in a very positive way. There will be a lot of things that are positive that come from their performances.
"There will also be a lot of learning experiences that occur, things are not as good as you'd like to see. But you cannot measure how valuable it is to be up here at the major-league level and experience playing against the best guys that exist."
Yoan Moncada struggled when he joined the White Sox in July 2017, and that spilled over into last year.
Lucas Giolito had the highest ERA in baseball last year, and fellow starter Reynaldo Lopez is still trying to become a consistent performer.
Eloy Jimenez has had plenty of forgettable moments as a rookie this season, and Dylan Cease is in the same boat.
Zack Collins has also been swimming upstream in his first year with the Sox.
The No. 10 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Collins made his major-league debut on June 19 but was sent back to Class AAA Charlotte on July 15 after going 2-for-26.
Collins hit almost .350 back in the minors, earning another shot with the White Sox in September.
"I learned a lot from the first time being here," he said. "I know I'm young and still learning, and that's something I'm going to continue to do."
In the short stretch of season that remains, Collins will try to end the year on a high note with the bat and glove.
Starting at designated hitter against Kansas City Thursday afternoon, the left-hander was 0-for-2 before being lifted for pinch-hitter Danny Mendick.
In 16 games with the White Sox, Collins is batting .089 (4-for-45).
"Continue to trust a lot of things he worked on when he went to Charlotte, but apply them now here with us," Renteria said. "I think there are plenty of conversations being had. It's something he's going to have to learn and kind of draw some knowledge from and kind of get up off the mat and keep going."
As for his position moving forward, Collins still wants to catch despite his defensive issues behind the plate.
Renteria said Collins is going to start at catcher twice in this weekend's three-game series at Seattle.
"I think we view him as potentially a catcher that can play some first and DH," the Sox's manager said. "We don't have to rush to judgement as to what he is or isn't. I think we have time to do that. More than anything we want to make sure we take advantage of the oportunity of him being here at the major-league level. You can't replicate the experiences he's going to be gaining here. We want to take advantage of it as much as possible."