May 15--The Chicago White Sox optioned Micah Johnson to Triple-A Charlotte on Thursday, a little more than a month after the rookie second baseman made his major-league debut.
Carlos Sanchez will join the Sox in Oakland on Friday and is expected to take over the role as the primary starting second baseman, general manager Rick Hahn said. Hahn expects that Emilio Bonifacio and Gordon Beckham will remain in their current utility roles.
Sanchez had a big first month in Charlotte, hitting .344 with 10 doubles, two home runs, 17 RBIs and five stolen bases in 29 games. Sanchez was in competition with Johnson for the job in spring training.
"Carlos is going to bring a little bit more defensive consistency, solid baserunning," Hahn said. "He'll be a tough out for us. He's going to help stabilize that position."
Johnson hit .270 with two doubles, three RBIs, eight runs scored, five walks and 17 strikeouts over 27 games this season. Known for his speed, he was was 3-for-5 on stolen-base attempts.
The concern with Johnson from the start was his defense, and while the Sox said he was improving while putting in a lot of pregame work, he was still shaky at times. He committed three errors and is ranked 23rd among major-league second basemen in defensive runs saved at minus-8, according to FanGraphs.
"From a defensive standpoint, he wasn't quite as consistent play to play as we needed him to be at the big-league level and as we expect him to be in the future," Hahn said. "He also had a couple of questionable baserunning decisions, which I think is a part of being young, and much like the defensive side of things, will get ironed out with repetition."
Johnson sat out Wednesday's victory over the Brewers as Sox manager Robin Ventura went with a more defensively sound lineup that started Bonifacio at second base, Beckham at third base and Adam LaRoche at first base.
Defense has been a major issue for the Sox, who rank seventh in the majors with 25 errors, and Ventura and Hahn said it remains a point of emphasis for the 14-17 club.
