Lenyn Sosa’s hot bat keeps him in White Sox’ infield picture

SEATTLE — Lenyn Sosa’s towering home run in the first inning of the White Sox’ 8-3 loss Tuesday might’ve surprised some fans who weren’t expecting his second-half hot streak. He did it again with a 410-foot solo blast Wednesday.

But teammate Luis Robert Jr. could’ve told you this type of offensive prowess was on the way from the Sox’ high-contact infielder.

“He’s always been hitting that way, ever since he was in the minors,” said Robert, who has been on a tear of his own this month. “The only thing that he was missing was that confidence. He’s been able to have that confidence here since last year.”

In Sosa’s second full year with regular playing time, he has established himself as one of the top producers for an offense that was among MLB’s worst over the first few months of the season but has roared out of the All-Star break as one of the league’s best.

While Sosa’s name isn’t the first to come to mind in the Sox’ long-term rebuilding conversation alongside Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth, he entered the game Wednesday against the Mariners with a .956 OPS since the break. Sosa led the Sox in hits on the season (96) and ranked near the top of the team in batting average (.281), homers (13) and RBI (45).

It might be enough to make fans forgive the defensive miscues at first, second and third base. Sosa’s 10 errors trail only Miguel Vargas’ 11 on the team, with more than 100 fewer innings in the field for Sosa.

“The energy level right now on the team is high,” Sosa said through team translator Billy Russo. “It’s like when a little spark goes on, then everybody is on fire.”

New arrivals settling in

Freshly arrived first baseman Curtis Mead swatted an opposite-field RBI single Wednesday in his first at-bat since being traded to the Sox from the Rays last week along with pitchers Duncan Davitt and Ben Peoples in exchange for Adrian Houser.

Davitt had a nice debut starting for Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday, allowing two runs and three hits with a walk and four strikeouts in 6⅓ innings. Peoples hit a batter and walked one in 1⅓ innings of scoreless relief in his first Charlotte appearance last week, but he gave up two earned runs in two-thirds of an inning in the Knights’ 11-0 loss Tuesday.

Houser gave up five runs in his Rays debut Monday.

Martin’s silver linings

Sox starter Davis Martin (3-9, 4.11 ERA) gave up six runs in five innings Tuesday but said he still was able to find some positives in his second start after a month on the injured list with a strained forearm.

After seven years in the Sox’ system and four on the big-league roster — minus a 2023 campaign lost to Tommy John surgery — it’s easy to forget this season marks Martin’s first full-go in the majors. His 96⅓ innings pitched are a career high. And he’s still picking up wisdom with every start.

“I still relish these opportunities to learn and face a great lineup like [Seattle’s],” Martin said. “Just understanding, ‘OK, this is what a playoff lineup would most likely look like, and how do I adjust?’ If you’re not continually learning in this league, you’re not going to be in there for very long.”