SEATTLE -- A good deal of the equipment in Curtis Mead’s locker in the visitors' clubhouse at T-Mobile Park is still the Rays’ light blue and navy. Luckily for him, it’s pretty easy to find gear in black, gray and white.
Mead was appropriately kitted out Wednesday for his first start since coming to the White Sox as part of the return in the trade that sent Adrian Houser to Tampa, recording his first hit and first RBI with the South Siders in the second inning of Chicago’s 8-6 loss to the Mariners.
With Miguel Vargas on the injured list with an oblique strain, the Australian infielder is set to get an extended look -- primarily at first base -- which is exactly what he’s been hoping for.
“I was excited at the opportunity to hopefully play a little more and play in front of different coaches with different players,” Mead said. “I definitely think it was a breath of fresh air.”
Mead signed with the Phillies out of high school in Adelaide in 2018 before being traded to the Rays in exchange for Cristopher Sánchez the next year. He broke into MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list going into the 2023 season and made his MLB debut that August. He appeared in 24 games across the final two months of the season, made the Opening Day roster in ‘24, and did so again this year -- coincidentally beating out former Chicago slugger Eloy Jiménez for the final roster spot.
After bouncing back and forth between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham last season, this year brought a consistent spot in the Majors for the 24-year-old, but not necessarily consistent playing time. He appeared in 47 of the Rays’ first 86 games -- over a quarter of those as a late-game sub -- and was hitting .225 when he was optioned for the first time on July 3.
“I obviously wasn’t playing very frequently in Tampa, and started off pretty slowly,” Mead said. “But I felt like my last six-to-eight weeks in the big leagues were pretty good. Then I went down to Triple-A and was enjoying playing every day. I felt I was getting in a rhythm at the end there as well.”
In 14 games with Durham, Mead slashed .264./339/.472 with three home runs, two doubles and seven RBIs. That run gave him some momentum going into the Trade Deadline, and after being traded, he began his time in the White Sox organization by going 4-for-7 with three walks and two doubles with Triple-A Charlotte.
That hot start, along with Vargas getting injured in batting practice ahead of Chicago’s Saturday game in Anaheim, made Mead’s stay in Charlotte a short one. He joined the White Sox ahead of their finale against the Angels and debuted as a pinch-hitter Tuesday in Seattle.
“[He’s a] corner infielder that we can mix and match with, and obviously a right-handed bat that we like against lefties,” White Sox manager Will Venable said ahead of Tuesday’s game. “We’ll see what he can offer us in these next couple of days.”
Opportunities against left-handed pitching are rare against Seattle’s all-righty rotation, but Mead made the most of his first start nonetheless, slapping George Kirby’s 3-1 fastball down the first-base line to drive Luis Robert Jr. home and put the White Sox on the board.
Mead is set to split duties at first base with Lenyn Sosa, who started the previous three games there before moving back to his more natural second base Wednesday -- and homered for the second straight day.
Those two -- and Vargas, when he returns -- will try to turn things around at first base for the White Sox, where they went into the All-Star break with a collective .194 batting average (tied for last) and a 0.575 OPS (last).
Then again, similar things could be said for the rest of the White Sox lineup, and despite the end result, their second-half resurgence didn’t exactly slow down Wednesday. Sosa’s homer came one pitch after Mike Tauchman went deep -- giving Chicago back-to-back homers in back-to-back days for the first time since Aug. 16-17, 2020. Michael A. Taylor’s blast in the top of the ninth narrowed what at one point was a six-run gap down to two.
The White Sox now have 34 home runs since the break, just one behind the Phillies for the best in baseball.
“It was great to see the continued effort, the continued battle,” Venable said. “ … Tough start to the game, but really pleased with the guys’ effort throughout the game.”