White Sox’ Engel full of confidence heading to opening day

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Center fielder Adam Engel was given a regular day off Saturday a day after he returned to the lineup following a two-day absence from the lineup because of a stiff neck.

Engel said the neck is fine. And so was his spring – he produced a .370/.431/.696 hitting line, slugged four homers and hit three doubles and struck out 10 times in 51 plate appearances. Opening day is Thursday in Kansas City.

Engel batted .166 last season and struck out 117 times in 331 plate appearances.

“The biggest thing I can take into this season in confidence in my approach,’’ Engel said.

Engel played good, sometimes spectacular defense in center which may have helped him get continued at-bats despite poor production. He says he was working on his swing and making changes on the fly with an eye on the 2018 season.

“Working on a lot of mechanical things that guys typically don’t work on during the season,’’ he said. “It’s really hard to do that and have a lot of success.

“I’m kind of reaping the rewards of that now.’’

At the start of spring, Engel’s place in center fielder didn’t appear to be a lock. Leury Garcia covered the ground in center, too, and was a much more productive hitter. Prospect Ryan Cordell was given a good look in center and made a good showing. But manager Rick Renteria, preferring to utilize Garcia as a utility player, kept the door open for Engel, 26, to work some kinks out in his swing and continue to develop. Renteria said he wanted Engel to make more contact and utilize his speed.

“My approach has been when I get a pitch over the plate put it in play,’’ he said.

“Be aggressive to a good pitch, whereas in the past I tried to put the best swing on every pitch. Now with confidence in my swing, even if I’m late or early I can still hit the ball. Before I was trying to make a perfect swing, that’s not the player I want to be. I want to be an [Jose] Altuve type or [Jean] Segura type when a pitch is over the plate I put a good swing on it.’’

Those are high standards. But why set the bar low, right?

“I’m confident, ready to get rolling,” Engel said.

Here is the Sox lineup vs. the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch (2:05 CST):

Leury Garcia CF, Avisail Garcia RF, Yolmer Sanchez SS, Matt Skole 1B, Tyler Saladino 3B, Keon Barnum DH, Omar Narvaez C, Juan Perez 2B, Jacob May CF, Hector Santiago P.

NOTES: Carson Fulmer, penciled in as the fifth starter in the Sox rotation, will start a minor league game at 3:05 p.m (CST).

*Chris Volstad, who will open the season at Class AAA Charlotte, gets the start in the Cactus League finale against the Brewers Sunday. Volstad has not allowed a run this spring.