Matt Skole‘s promotion to the White Sox was announced mere hours before the start of the series in Cleveland on Monday. Matt Davidson was dropped to the disabled list with back spasms and with slim pickings in Triple-A, Skole was plucked from obscurity.
This is starting to get out of control. Davidson to DL, Skole called up and Pinto DFA’d. #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/gCLlwUobYG
— Matt Enuco (@Matt_Enuco) May 28, 2018
He announced his presence with authority as he punched his first major-league hit to right field on the first pitch he saw from Adam Plutko.
First pitch, first hit.
Congratulations and welcome to the Majors, @Mattskole16! pic.twitter.com/dK9oaSjdMH
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 28, 2018
As an encore, Skole gave the crowd in Cleveland a double gut-punch with a home run in his second at-bat.
What a day!
Congratulations on your first career home run, @Mattskole16! pic.twitter.com/7eVmEet8CA
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 28, 2018
.@Mattskole16 is the first #WhiteSox to homer in his major-league debut since Miguel Olivo (9/15/2002 at New York-AL). #SoxStats pic.twitter.com/RdLSE9HQll
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 28, 2018
Tim Anderson followed Skole with fireworks of his own blasting a piercing drive over the left-center field wall to give the White Sox a commanding 5-1 lead. But like many leads the White Sox have held this season, it evaporated quicker than it appeared. The Sox eventually dropped the game 9-6 after the Indians mounted a strong fifth inning posting five runs.
Skole’s outburst at the plate on Monday was not something many would have predicted. The replacement one-bagger was batting a trivial .259 in Charlotte with a slew of strikeouts. Two areas of emphasis White Sox brass have proclaimed to value — patience and commanding the zone — didn’t appear to be in Skole’s wheelhouse, but after toiling for seven years in the minors perhaps he wanted to take a good swat at the competition.
Skole was a heralded prospect with the Washington Nationals selected in the fifth round of the 2011 draft and once considered a gem in the Nationals’ farm system. His ascension was derailed in 2013 after a collision at first base that left him with a broken wrist and torn UCL in his non-throwing arm. In parts of three seasons in Triple-A Skole could only muster a .238 career batting average with pedestrian power stats.
One narrative nugget that may keep Skole in a snuggly comfort zone is that he joins Daniel Palka who was his college teammate at Georgia Tech on the White Sox roster. Palka is a few years younger and the pair only played one season together at Tech, but there is no denying that finding familiarity can promote belonging.
Skole dazzled on day one, but he must keep up the production in order to prove his mettle in the Show.
