Fans have been clamoring for Gavin Sheets to be called up from Triple-A Charlotte, and he did not disappoint in his MLB debut Tuesday night against the Minnesota Twins. Sheets will be taking home a collection of souvenir baseballs from all the career-first milestones he accomplished.
He recorded multiple hits, a pair of RBIs, scored a run, and caught three balls in right field.
Baseball America had Sheets as the White Sox No. 10 prospect in the organization in their preseason rankings. He has been tearing it up in Charlotte this season to the tune of a .292 batting average, seven home runs, and 33 RBIs. He is primarily a first baseman but has had to learn who to play the corner outfield spots.
Tony La Russa inserted him into left field, batting seventh in his lineup card Tuesday night.
Gavin Sheets wasted no time getting involved in the game. He singled off of Kenta Maeda in his first career at-bat to lead off the second inning. I’ll let Sheets describe it from here.
“Walking up to the plate, I could hardly feel my feet,” Sheets explained. “The fan response was tremendous. It meant so much to me to hear their noise tonight and every time I came to the plate. The first pitch kind of settled me in. I got a spitter that was up in the zone and I was able to hit it to left field. Rounding first base was an awesome feeling and getting to see D-Bo with a big smile on his face topped it off.”
Sheets has got ya covered. pic.twitter.com/dy3ne2q3bI
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) June 30, 2021
Sheets was later tested with some big moments in the game. He came to the plate in the bottom of the third with the bases loaded. Most players getting their feet wet in the majors for the first time would shrink in these situations, but Sheets embraced the challenge. He hit a line shot off of Kenta Maeda’s glove, that deflected to the shortstop Aldrenton Simmons. The unlucky hop caused a force out at second base but not before Jose Abreu crossed the plate for a game-tying RBI.
In the fifth inning, he came to the plate with runners on first and second and one out. The White Sox were looking to add to their one-run lead. Sheet obliged by popping up a spitter to the opposite field that parachuted safely in shallow left field. Zack Collins raced around the bases to score and Sheets coasted into second base for a double.
Sheets is no stranger to the RBI. In 2019 he led the Southern League with 83 at Class AA Birmingham. His 83 runs driven in were 10 more than the next closest player.
“Hey, this is what I do. I love to hit with runners in scoring position, a big situation in the game,” Sheets said “It kind of took my mind away from, this being your debut. Being thrown into those situations was great.”
Sheets became the first White Sox player since Craig Wilson in 1998 to have multiple hits and RBIs in his Major League Debut.
Gavin Sheets had an outstanding performance in his major-league debut.#ChangetheGame x #CarryTheFreight pic.twitter.com/iXCUxjCoG3
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) June 30, 2021
“He did so many good things, but I love his aggressiveness to make things happen,” Tony La Russa said about his rookie’s debut. “He wasn’t tentative. To see the smile on his face and the joy he brought to his teammates, it was a special day.”
The win will not be remembered as the prettiest victory for the White Sox this season. Lucas Giolito only struck out one in six-plus innings of work. He allowed three runs, including a two-run homer in the first inning to Josh Donaldson.
The White Sox jumped to a 7-2 lead thanks to Sheets efforts, an RBI single and a sac-fly by Leury Garcia, two hits from Andrew Vaughn, and RBI singles from Danny Mendick and Tim Anderson. However, the bullpen made things interesting by allowing four runs, including a runoff Liam Hendriks in the ninth to make it 7-6. But the White Sox were able to hold on and improve their division lead to 2 1/2 games.
Gavin Sheets didn’t seem to mind the extra drama.
“It was awesome, the whole night,” Sheets said. “Obviously to get the first hit out of the way early was awesome, and got a lot of action in right field. It was a fantastic night. And to get the W in the end, a close game, was awesome.”
