Everson Pereira is batting leadoff for the first time this season when the Chicago White Sox face the Washington Nationals on April 24 at Guaranteed Rate Field, a move that puts one of the club’s hottest early hitters at the top of the lineup. The game is scheduled for 6:40 CT, with Chicago at 10-15 and Washington at 11-15.
Pereira has three home runs in his first 13 games and carries a.542 slugging percentage into the matchup, giving Will Venable a different look at the top of the order. Chicago’s lineup has Chase Meidroth batting second, Munetaka Murakami third, Miguel Vargas fourth, Colson Montgomery fifth, Edgar Quero sixth, Sam Antonacci seventh, Luisangel Acuña eighth and Tristan Peteres ninth, with the game set to air on Chicago Sports Network and MLB.TV and be heard on 1000.
The Nationals arrive having cooled off sharply after a shockingly hot start to the season, while the White Sox have found their offensive groove over the last week-plus. That makes nationals vs white sox more than a mid-April meeting between two young clubs trying to climb above.500; it is a chance for Chicago to show it can keep taking care of business against a similar team that began the year with more momentum.
The test is simple enough. If Pereira keeps setting the tone and the middle of the order keeps producing, the White Sox can make this kind of game look routine. If not, the gap between a promising stretch and a real turn could show up fast.
