GLENDALE, Ariz – After successfully reaching the pinnacle of the college baseball world, White Sox 2018 first round draft pick Nick Madrigal made his professional debut on Thursday night for the Arizona Rookie League (AZL) affiliate. Madrigal was placed at the top of the lineup and played shortstop for his first game as a member of the White Sox organization.
Unfortunately, Madrigal’s first professional at-bat came to a quick end. After getting out of the way of the first pitch that nearly hit him in the head, he would proceed to be hit by the next pitch. Once Madrigal reached base, he was picked off to eliminate himself as a scoring threat. This wasn’t the most exciting way to start off his professional career, however, it could’ve been a lot worse.
His second time at the plate would be a different story. He saw a variety of pitches and was able to put the ball in play. After working a 3-1 count which included fouling one off, the 4th overall draft selection would ground out to the third baseman. During his third and final at-bat of the night, hewould once again be hit by a pitch. Only this time he would come around to score courtesy of a two-run single by fellow 2018 draftee Ty Greene.
Nick would also have a productive day in the field. He had three grounders hit to him, all of which he fielded cleanly. The highlight of his day came in the top half of the sixth inning. With a sharp grounder hit to his left side, he made a beautiful diving stop and flipped it to second base for what would end up being a double play. All in all, it wasn’t a bad professional debut for Nick Madrigal. He reached base twice, put the ball in play, and looked the part defensively.
Other notable performances from the night included a trio of players who collected two hits each. Both Micah Coffey and Camilo Quinteiro had two singles and drew a walk each. Luis Mieses was a big factor in helping the team win by collecting two doubles and driving in two runs. Austin Conway tossed two shutout innings while registering one strikeout, allowing three hits, and walking none.
The AZL White Sox found themselves down 2-0 until the sixth inning when they plated two runs on the aforementioned single by Greene to tie things up. The game would go into the tenth inning with the Indians taking a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom half of the frame. After an RBI single by Anderson Comas to make it a one-run game, Mieses would secure the victory for the White Sox with a walk-off two-run double.
The team will be back in action on Saturday, July 7 at 9:00 P.M. CT. Madrigal will remain with the rookie affiliate until moving up to Kannapolis on Monday.
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