Danny Mendick needs to stay when Tim Anderson returns

The Chicago White Sox are getting help from all kinds of different places. The next man up mentality is alive and well on this team as it seems that when one player goes down, another one is able to step in and take his place. This happened with Yoan Moncada when Jake Burger stepped in for the injured third baseman and it’s happening again now with Danny Mendick.

Mendick has stepped in at shortstop in the absence of Tim Anderson and has played very well. Not only is he adept at being good at the defensive side of the shortstop position but his bat has been red hot since he’s been the starter.

The numbers that Mendick has put up this season are quite impressive. He has played in a total of 26 games and has been to the plate 80 times. Mendick has hit the ball 23 times to go along with his 14 RBI. He is currently slashing .288/.337/.475. He has been struck out 17 times.

So, what’s going to happen to Mendick when Anderson is finally healthy and ready to come back to the White Sox? They can’t play both of them at shortstop at the same time.

The White Sox needs Danny Mendick to stay when Tim Anderson returns.

There is a solution to this. Josh Harrison is not playing lights out at second bases by any means and Leury Garcia isn’t hitting the ball well. What would be a good idea is to move Mendick to second base and have him play there on a consistent basis. The White Sox need him in the lineup as much as possible and having him at second base would give him that opportunity.

Mendick has played second base before and has done well at it. It’s time that he stays there and lets Garcia play backup. Garcia isn’t hitting that well anyway so he should be relegated to being the jack of all trades he has been.

Mendick playing at second base would cure a lot of ills for the White Sox. Keeping him in the lineup would also help the Sox to present their best available group by keeping one of their best available players in it.

Tony La Russa should absolutely make the right choice and keep Mendick at second base when Anderson returns. If he doesn’t and sends Mendick back down to Triple AAA or relegates him to backup duty, it will only go on to prove that La Russa has no idea what he’s doing.