Oscar Colas’ Glove Could Land Him In Right Field For White Sox

When the White Sox signed Andrew Benintendi to a five-year, $75 million contract in early January, Eloy Jimenez lost his starting spot in left field.

Jimenez was Chicago’s DH for his final 28 games last season, and the White Sox hope he’ll embrace the role in the interest of staying healthy.

Jimenez has been injury-prone over the last four years but still wants to play the outfield. With Benintendi on board, Jimenez is convinced he can be Chicago’s regular right fielder.

The job is open, but 24-year-old Cuban Oscar Colas is much more likely to emerge as the starter.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily too much of an ask,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said.

After signing with Chicago for $2.7 million in January 2022, Colas started his first minor league season with High-A Winston-Salem and quickly took off.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Colas was promoted to Double-A Birmingham and finished the year with Triple-A Charlotte. In 117 total games, the lefthanded hitter batted .314/.371/.524 with 23 home runs.

“He’s a guy who has really good hands at the plate, certainly has power,” White Sox farm director Chris Getz said. “He has the ability to make adjustments at the plate just because of how talented his hands are. He loves to compete and plays passionately.

“He has a chance to be an impactful major league player.  We feel like he really has a chance to help our major league club soon.”

Colas played center field for much of 2022 but also played 34 games in right and should have no trouble making the position his regular home.

“He can impact the game in a lot of different ways, in a positive way,” said Justin Jirschele, who managed Colas at Birmingham last season. “Everything he does is next level.

“There were nights when he wasn’t really clicking with the bat, but he’s got the ability to change a game on the defensive side and he did that numerous times (by)  throwing runners out at the plate.”

CHI-LITES

— The White Sox acquired righthander Franklin German in a trade with the Red Sox. German was named Boston’s minor league pitcher of the year in 2022 after going 5-2, 2.75 with seven saves in 43 relief appearances for Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester.

— After managing Double-A Birmingham the past two seasons, Jirschele will manage Triple-A Charlotte this year.