Injury Provides Opportunity For New Chicago White Sox Trade Piece

The Chicago White Sox placed infielder Miguel Vargas on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Saturday, with a left oblique strain prior to Sunday's series finale against the Los Angeles Angels.

White Sox manager Will Venable said Vargas suffered the injury taking swings pregame, per LaMond Pope of the Chicago Tribune. Vargas was scratched from Saturday's lineup and replaced by left fielder Corey Julks, who went 0-for-3 in his season debut with the White Sox.

The White Sox will certainly miss Vargas' bat in the middle of the lineup. With a team-high 439 plate appearances, he leads the White Sox with 57 runs scored, 25 doubles and 44 RBIs, while ranking second with 13 home runs. After batting just .104 in 42 plate appearances with the White Sox last season, Vargas has taken a noticeable step forward to slash .229/.305/.402 this season.

As a corresponding move, the White Sox recalled infielder Curtis Mead from Triple-A Charlotte. Vargas has played the last 16 games at first base, but Lenyn Sosa takes over that spot Sunday against the Angels. Josh Rojas gets the start at second base, with Colson Montgomery at shortstop and Brooks Baldwin at third base.

That makes for a unique infield alignment without Vargas, as well as middle infielder Chase Meidroth, who has not played since Wednesday. Meidroth's right was hit by a pitch during a 9-2 win over the Phillies at Rate Field. X-rays were negative, and he was not placed on the injured list.

Though he's not in Sunday's starting lineup, Mead figures to help the White Sox replace Vargas and Meidroth for the time being. Acquired Thursday in a trade for starting pitcher Adrian Houser, Mead has played first base, second base and third base for the Tampa Bay Rays, both in the major and minor leagues.

Following the trade, Mead went 4-for-7 with two doubles and two RBIs in his first two games with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. He's been productive in the minor leagues throughout his career, posting an .811 OPS this season and an .839 OPS in 2024, leading to Mead being ranked No. 55 in the MLB Pipeline rankings in 2024.

But that has not translated to the major leagues, where Mead slashed .226/.318/.339 across 132 plate appearances with Rays in 2025. The White Sox feel they can help fix Mead, who could get his first chance with his new team off the bench on Sunday.

"He was a high profile player, top prospect for a while. Thought very highly of throughout the industry," White Sox general manager Chris Getz said Thursday. "Had a lot of conversations about Curtis and what he’s about and what he’s been through. He’s not the first player that has had some Major League struggles early on. He has been productive but based on what he’s done in the Minor Leagues, we feel like there’s more in the tank. And we identified some things in his offensive game that we feel like we can try to tap into to make him a real impactful Major League player but really happy to get Curtis Mead."