Manager Tony La Russa inserted Brian Goodwin into the No. 2 spot in the lineup for his Chicago White Sox debut Saturday against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
“I saw Brian with (the Los Angeles) Angels, and he fits,” La Russa said before the game. “He has good speed. Timmy (Anderson) gets on, he can hit the hole or hit to all fields.”
Anderson indeed did get on, beginning the game with a double to left.
Goodwin, called up from Triple-A Charlotte on Thursday, followed with an RBI double to right.
It was the start of a big day for the center fielder, who became the latest player to step up for the banged-up Sox. Goodwin hit a three-run homer in his second at-bat and finished 2 for 5 with a walk, three runs and five RBIs as the Sox pummeled the Tigers, 15-2, in Detroit.
Despite injuries to key players, the Sox (40-24) are a season-high 16 games over .500. They have a 4 1/2-game lead in the American League Central over second-place Cleveland.
Goodwin’s double came as part of a three-run first. His three-run homer came during a five-run second. He walked and scored during a five-run fifth.
Regulars like Anderson continue to make an impact. The shortstop had three hits, two RBIs and three runs. Leury García, playing third base to give Yoán Moncada a day off, had two hits, three runs and three RBIs.
The Sox added Goodwin for outfield depth in the absence of injured starters Luis Robert and Eloy Jiménez. Goodwin agreed to a minor league contract on May 4, a day after the team announced Robert would miss extended time because of a right hip flexor strain.
Goodwin, 30, had a .244 average with four doubles, three home runs, 11 RBIs and 12 runs in 24 games with Charlotte. The Sox purchased his contract Thursday, the same day they placed second baseman Nick Madrigal on the 60-day injured list with a torn right hamstring.
The move gave the Sox the flexibility to have García still see some time in the infield, including potentially filling in at second base.
Sox general manager Rick Hahn on Thursday listed “speed, defense (and the) ability to play all three (outfield) positions” among Goodwin’s strengths.
Goodwin had a career .250/.317/.455 slash line before joining the Sox, with 69 doubles, 42 home runs, 129 RBIs and 144 runs in 357 games during five big league seasons with the Washington Nationals (2016-18), Kansas City Royals (2018), Angels (2019-20) and Cincinnati Reds (2020).
A first-round pick of the Nationals in 2011 out of Miami-Dade College, Goodwin originally was drafted by the Sox in the 17th round in 2009 out of Rocky Mount (N.C.) High School.
“A veteran, left-handed bat who knows the role and given the injuries we’ve already had out there will provide some versatility in different options to Tony and his staff,” Hahn said Thursday.
Goodwin joins a long list of contributors who have helped the Sox maintain an incredibly high level of play.
Yermin Mercedes was the star in April, earning American League Rookie of the Month honors by providing an offensive lift in the immediate aftermath of Jiménez’s injury (torn left pectoral tendon) late in spring training. Mercedes had two hits and three RBIs on Saturday.
Robert suffered his setback May 2. Billy Hamilton, who is on the injured list with a right oblique strain, made a splash with moments like homering in consecutive games against the Baltimore Orioles on May 29-30 and using his speed a couple of days later in Cleveland for a Little League homer.
Danny Mendick is filling in for Madrigal, and had two hits, one RBI and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning of Friday’s 5-4 win. He also made a nice play on a hard-hit grounder by Jonathan Schoop for the game’s final out. Mendick doubled, walked three times and scored three runs Saturday.
The success has started with the starting pitching.
The Sox entered Saturday second in the majors with a 2.98 starters ERA — the Mets led at 2.82 — their lowest mark through 63 games since 1968 (2.61), according to STATS.
Dylan Cease continued that strong pitching Saturday. And he continued his impressive numbers against the Tigers.
Cease allowed two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in five innings to improve to 5-2. He’s 8-0 in eight career starts against the Tigers.
The Sox used Cease’s efficient outing — and multiple innings with multiple runs — to win for the seventh time in nine games.
Following the news of Madrigal’s injury Thursday, La Russa said: “We started the spring with deep depth and now we have depth.”
Days like Saturday served as a perfect example of what that depth has meant to the Sox.