Former White Sox first round pick struggling with Cubs

On Tuesday, the Chicago White Sox begin a two-game series against their cross-town rival Chicago Cubs.

Former White Sox second baseman, Nick Madrigal, has struggled with the Chicago Cubs and is not looking anything like his former self. Madrigal was drafted fourth overall by the Chicago White Sox in 2018.

Madrigal was supposed to be the second baseman of the future for the White Sox but was traded alongside Codi Heuer at the trade deadline in 2021 in return for relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel.

Madrigal has become a shell of himself. The second baseman, who’s known for his bat-to-ball skill, has compiled 11 strikeouts through the Cubs’ first 17 games.

Former Chicago White Sox 2B Nick Madrigal has not gotten off to a good start.

Comparing that to his first two seasons with the White Sox, Madrigal only struck out seven times through his first 29 games in 2020 and 17 times through 54 games in 2021.

Madrigal’s batting average has dropped significantly as well. He compiled a .323 batting average through his first two seasons with the White Sox. In 2022 with the Cubs, he is now batting .210 and has a slash line of .210/.269/.258. Those are not very good numbers for him at all.

Although the trade for Kimbrel didn’t pan out for the White Sox, and with Codi Heuer out for the season due to Tommy John surgery, Madrigal is the sole piece of this trade currently available for the Cubs. He has fallen short of his expectations of him through the first month of the season.

It will be interesting to see if Madrigal can turn things around as the season goes on and regain the form that Sox fans saw in his short time on the Southside.

This matchup will be the first time the White Sox will see Madrigal on the opposing side since he tore his hamstring in June of 2021 in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The first pitch is scheduled for 6:40 P.M. at Wrigley Field with a pitching matchup of Drew Smyly on the mound for the Cubs and Michael Kopech for the White Sox. The Chicago White Sox can really use this win to help propel them in the right direction for the rest of the 2022 season.