Nick

Maton

It’s a routine day off for Vaughn, who has started every game so far this season. Nick Maton will play first base and bat leadoff, with Luis Robert moving to designated hitter and Travis Jankowski getting the start in center field.

Maton — who functioned as the White Sox’ designated hitter and leadoff man in this one — worked a leadoff walk off of Simeon Woods Richardson but was cut down attempting to steal second base. He then victimized Louis Varland for a 406-foot (109.3 mph EV) solo shot in the sixth inning that extended the White Sox’ advantage to 3-0. The versatile 28-year-old finished the night 1-for-3 plus a walk and is now hitting .222 (2-for-9) with a pair of solo home runs on the young season.

Maton never found a home in the majors last year, but now he’s the White Sox’s leadoff man against right-handers, even if he probably wouldn’t be on the roster at all if not for the late injuries to Josh Rojas, Brandon Drury and Mike Tauchman. It’s not something that figures to last for an overly long time.

Sosa homered on Opening Day and has three hard-hit balls to one strikeout in two games, but it seems he needs the early day off anyway. Meanwhile, the White Sox have Nick Maton DHing for a second game in a row.

Both veterans have officially made the White Sox thanks to injuries late in spring that opened up opportunities. Jankowski may even get a chance to start in the outfield early in the season, but neither player should be on fantasy radars.

So will Mike Tauchman, who is dealing with a hamstring issue. Rojas has a fractured toe, and the pain tolerance isn’t to a point where the White Sox feel comfortable playing him. With Tauchan and Rojas unavailable, Travis Jankowski and Nick Maton have been informed they’ve made the Opening Day roster.

Meidroth has gotten off to an ice-cold start this spring, hitting .107 (3-for-28), which puts his Opening Day roster spot in serious jeopardy. The 23-year-old’s defensive versatility and plate skills ensure that he’ll get an opportunity at some point this season, but there’s a chance the White Sox elect to go with Josh Rojas, who is dealing with a hairline fracture in his right big toe, in addition to some combination of Lenyn Sosa, Jacob Amaya and Nick Maton to open the year as their middle-infield mix. Regardless, it’s not a situation that fantasy managers should be closely monitoring.

It was a traveling lineup for the White Sox and didn’t feature any projected starters, but Maton started in left field and batted second on Sunday. He smacked a double off of Jack Leiter in the opening inning and scored the game’s first run on an RBI triple off the bat of Bryan Ramos. Maton then connected on a 381-foot (102.5 mph EV) solo shot off of Shawn Armstrong in the sixth inning that extended the White Sox’ lead to 6-2. He’s now hitting .346 (9-for-26) with three long balls and four RBI on the spring and is inching closer to securing a spot on the team’s Opening Day bench.

Maton entered the ballgame as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning and made his presence felt on the offensive end, clobbering a two-run shot (103.1 mph EV) off of Antonio Knowles in the ninth inning. The long ball was Maton’s first hit of the spring in 10 at-bats, so it was one that he desperately needed to keep hope alive of securing a spot on the club’s Opening Day bench.

Maton, 27, was last with the Orioles’ organization. He’ll provide versatility for the White Sox and has a decent shot of making the Opening Day roster; although they’ll need to create a spot on the 40-man if he does play well enough in Arizona to earn that right.