Kyle Teel arrived at Rate Field around 11 a.m. Friday, several hours ahead of his big-league debut.
“When you walk in the locker room and you see your nameplate on your locker, it’s like, ‘Wow. I did it. I’m here and I’m ready to go,’” Teel said Friday afternoon.
The Chicago White Sox officially promoted the catcher to the majors ahead of the series opener against the Kansas City Royals. Reports of the move first surfaced Thursday evening.
“This is a dream come true,” Teel said. “I’m trying to soak it all in. It’s something I worked my whole life for. It’s really special.”
Teel, 23, is ranked the No. 2 prospect in the Sox organization by MLB.com, which also lists him as the No. 26 prospect in baseball.
He has a .295/.394/.492 slash line with eight home runs, 10 doubles, 30 RBIs, 34 runs and 30 walks in 50 games with Triple-A Charlotte. Teel reached base safely in 38 of his last 39 games for the Knights since April 10.
“I would just say that working hard and being consistent with my process every single day is what I did and I don’t expect that to stop,” Teel said. “Just keep the head down and keep working hard. I think that’s a big part of my game, just being a hard-nosed ballplayer. That’s what I’m going to do.”
General manager Chris Getz said of Teel’s promotion: “A lot of it was just Kyle’s production, quite honestly.”
“You’re always trying to fine-tune every aspect of your game and you look at what he was doing behind the plate from a receiving standpoint, the feedback from our coaches and players that the game-calling, the game management was in a really good spot,” Getz said. “And then you look at his offensive output, which has been really strong now for a stretch. He just continues to put together quality at-bats with power, getting on base, making good decisions.
“So you’re looking at a fairly well-rounded player. Obviously as he transitions to the major-league level, there’s always going to be adjustments. We feel he’s in a good spot.”
Teel joins Edgar Quero as options for the Sox behind the plate after the club optioned catcher Korey Lee to Charlotte.
“You’re talking about a tandem that’s a young tandem that’s probably one of the strongest in baseball,” Getz said. “It’s not easy to send down a player like Korey Lee, because he’s talented as well. You look at the catch and throw and the athleticism that he has.”
Photos: Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals on Mexican Heritage Night at Rate Field
Lee has a .250 average with three doubles, one RBI and seven runs in 14 games. He was on the injured list from April 10-May 27 with a sprained left ankle.
“He has made a strong impression and those conversations are never easy,” Getz said of Lee. “He was disappointed, as you would expect. I have the utmost confidence that he’s going to go down there and perform well and work on all facets of his catching game and certainly offensively.
“The catching position is what we feel like is a strength of the organization considering that we have two catchers at the major league-level and a catcher like Korey at Triple A.”
Manager Will Venable said Teel and Quero will split time.
“I think you may see them match up a little bit,” Venable said. “But we’re comfortable with (left-handed hitting) Kyle facing lefties and obviously (Quero) being a switch-hitter we’re comfortable with him on both sides of the plate.
“And excited about them catching all of our pitchers. So just understanding the demands of that position are extremely high, so I think just making sure that they can both split the load is the way we’ll go into this.”
Teel was one of the four players the Sox acquired — along with infielder Chase Meidroth, outfielder Braden Montgomery and pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez — in the December trade that sent pitcher Garrett Crochet to the Boston Red Sox. Meidroth and Teel were both in Friday’s lineup, with Teel at catcher and batting sixth.
“This is something I dreamed about since I was a little kid,” Teel said. “Everything I worked for comes up to this point. So, this is awesome.”
