NEW YORK — Catcher Edgar Quero formed a quick bond with Adrian Houser last week.
The Chicago White Sox announced the signing of Houser to a one-year deal on May 20. That evening, the right-hander pitched six scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners.
Houser and Quero were paired up and locked in again on Monday, facing the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Houser allowed three hits in six-plus scoreless innings against his former team, but the Sox suffered a walk-off 2-1 loss in front of 39,938 on Memorial Day.
He struck out six and walked one in the 99-pitch outing. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Houser is the fourth pitcher to throw six-plus scoreless innings in each of his first two starts with the Sox, joining Frank Baumann in 1960, Jack Lamabe in 1966 and Johnny Cueto in 2022.
“I thought we had a good way to use my pitches against them and try to find their weak spots, but obviously stick with my strengths,” Houser said. “And (Quero) did a good job back there and I think we made adjustments as the day went on and it was good.”
Houser left with the Sox leading 1-0, but the Mets tied the score on a sacrifice fly by Juan Soto in the eighth against reliever Cam Booser.
Tyrone Taylor began the ninth with a double against Steven Wilson and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Francisco Lindor.
Houser served as a bright spot in the loss.
Houser spent last season with the Mets, going 1-5 with a 5.84 ERA in 23 appearances (seven starts). He joined the Mets after pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers in parts of seven seasons (2015, 2018-23).
Houser pitched for Triple-A Round Rock in the Texas Rangers organization this year before coming to the Sox.
His run support on Monday came in the fourth inning. Mike Tauchman led off the inning with a walk. Miguel Vargas followed with a double, the team’s first hit, placing runners on second and third. Tauchman then scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Andrew Benintendi.
Houser cruised until the seventh, when he walked Juan Soto leading off the inning. Pete Alonso then singled. The Sox called on lefty Brandon Eisert, who got Starling Marte to hit into a fielder’s choice.
That gave the Mets runners on the corners. Brett Baty hit a grounder back to the mound and Eisert looked the runner back at third, then threw to first for the second out. After walking Tyrone Taylor to load the bases, Eisert struck out Jeff McNeil looking to keep the Sox ahead 1-0.
But the Mets tied it an inning later and won it in the ninth.
The Sox were held to four hits, stranded 10 runners on base and went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Manager Will Venable said he likes what he’s seen behind the plate from the catching duo of Quero and Matt Thaiss.
“These guys are doing a great job here,” Venable said before Monday’s game. “We’ve seen a good job from the pitch calling. We’ve talked about the relationship with the pitchers and catchers, these guys are doing a great job in doing that.
“So the performance catching-wise has been great throughout.”
The rookie Quero had one of his most productive days at the plate on Sunday, matching a career-high with three hits — including two doubles. He entered Monday with a .274 batting average and a wRC+ of 100 according to FanGraphs, and hit a double in the fifth inning.
Thaiss, who is in his first season with the Sox after parts of six years with the Los Angeles Angels, had a wRC+ of 107 coming into Monday.
Catching is a spot where the Sox have organizational depth. Korey Lee went on a rehab assignment on May 9 and is hitting .302 with two home runs and eight RBIs in 11 games with Triple-A Charlotte. He’s been working his way back from a left ankle sprain suffered in early April.
“Korey’s in a good spot down there,” Venable said. “He’s feeling really good and continues to play well. Happy with everything that he’s done this whole year.”
Charlotte catcher Kyle Teel, one of the players the Sox acquired from the Boston Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade, earned International League Player of the Week honors on Monday after slashing .500/.636/1.188 (8-for-16) with two doubles, three home runs, six walks, six RBIs and seven runs. He had a 1.824 OPS during five games against Round Rock from May 20-25.
“Super excited for Kyle and what he’s done,” Venable said. “He always seems like he’s doing well. And to see the good results is awesome, too.”
Sox general manager Chris Getz has been impressed by the group’s progress.
“We’ve got a handful of catchers that are playing well,” Getz said Friday at Rate Field. “Kyle Teel has really shown some progress here recently. We knew at some point we were going to perhaps have, I don’t want to say a catching problem but a catching group deserving of more playing time or being at the major-league level. But Korey is doing well, is productive, he’s ending the end of his rehab and we’ll make a decision on that shortly.
“Edgar has been really solid up here. Matty has been productive as well. Kyle continues to progress. There are so many clubs out there on constant pursuit to fill that position and we’ve got a handful of options.”
