MINNEAPOLIS — White Sox hitting coach Marcus Thames managed a smile. He even seemed upbeat.
You have to give him credit for that, considering the Sox’ 3-21 record, a franchise-worst start to a season. And knowing the offense is dragging that mark down more than anything.
“Everybody always asks me, ‘How are you? How are you?’’’ Thames said before the Sox’ 6-3 loss to the Twins on Wednesday, their sixth defeat in a row.
Wellness checks in April are appreciated, but they’re never a good sign.
“My journey has kept me positive,” said Thames, who hit 115 home runs in his 10-year career. “For me, it’s trying to make sure these guys stay positive and make sure they are doing the right work to get back on track.”
The track now is a path best untraveled. The Sox snapped a 20-inning scoreless streak Tuesday but blew a 5-2 lead, scoring a whopping five runs only to see them go for naught.
Entering Wednesday, the Sox had scored 50 runs, the fewest in the majors and the fewest in franchise history through 23 games. No team has been that bad to start a season since the Montreal Expos scored 41 in 2004.
“It hasn’t been what I expected,” Thames said. “But I know the guys are putting in the work and trying different things.”
Diagnosing what ails them
Sitting up front on the Sox’ struggle bus are Andrew Vaughn (.157/.247/.193) and Andrew Benintendi (.167/.205/.190), who batted fourth and fifth Wednesday. The lineup also featured the puny batting averages of Paul DeJong (.204), Kevin Pillar (.174), Braden Shewmake (.158) and Eloy Jimenez (.195).
Manager Pedro Grifol, searching for a spark, inserted Danny Mendick — who has four hits since his call-up from Triple-A Charlotte — into the leadoff spot, but he went 0-for-4.
“I like how he competes in the box; he’s there with bad intentions,” Grifol said of the 30-year-old who had eight homers at Charlotte. “He’s there to square balls up, to get on base. I like the way he goes about it, and he’s having some success, so for right now he’ll stay at the top of the order.”
There was no immediate spark — Mendick, Gavin Sheets and Jimenez struck out swinging in the first inning against Joe Ryan.
“As a whole, a lot of our guys are putting a little bit more pressure on themselves and going out of the zone,” Thames said. “It goes back to the basics since you were a kid: Get a good pitch in the zone and hit it hard. Once we can simplify like that, good things will happen.
“They have a track record, and you look up at the scoreboard and you have 60 at-bats and you see .160 and .170, and it stinks. But guess what? Hopefully, you get 400 or 500 more, and you can turn it around and right the ship.”
Vaughn’s battle is particularly concerning and more glaring with Luis Robert Jr. and Yoan Moncada down with injuries. Vaughn hit 15, 17 and 21 homers in his first three seasons but is looking for his first one in 2024.
You begin to see why the Sox were on a streak of 20 games with one or no home runs, their longest since going 21 straight in 1993. They snapped it against the Twins with Pillar and Korey Lee going deep against Ryan.
“[Vaughn is] getting pitches to hit,’’ Thames said, ‘‘and when he’s late, the ball goes on the ground. When he’s early, his bat path works to get the ball up in the air. We did some drill work in the cage earlier today. Hopefully, he can trust it and take it into the game.”
There comes a time when the focus for hitters in slumps needs to shift from mechanics to seeing the ball and hitting the ball.
“Get in the box and compete,” Grifol said. “That’s the way they got here. When you go in a little rut, you worry [too] much about swing mechanics, this, that and the other.”
