Achilles injury ends another slog of a season for White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi

NEW YORK — Score it another disappointing season for the White Sox’ highest-paid player.

Outfielder Andrew Benintendi’s season officially ended a week early as the Sox placed him on the disabled list Tuesday with a flare-up of the Achilles injury that slowed much of his third year on the South Side.

Benintendi tied the career-high he set last season with 20 home runs but in 19 fewer games, while batting a modest .240/.307/.431 with 63 RBI.

The 31-year-old had been on a .294/.365/.500 run with six homers over his last 30 games, but “it’s gotten to a point now where running and jogging is pretty painful,” Benintendi said.

He’s the first Sox player since Jose Abreu to hit 20 homers or more in consecutive seasons — a grim reminder of the unrealized potential of Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert Jr. in the short-lived contending window that Benintendi was supposed to help open.

“As a team, for this year, I think we’ve seen a lot of improvement, especially this second half," Benintendi said. "Everybody in here enjoys each other. It’s fun to be a part of.”

The Sox signed Benintendi to a five-year, $75 million deal in 2023, and they figure to stick with the former All-Star who had an “overall good” season, by manager Will Venable’s estimation.

“There was some streaky stuff at the plate where we saw some really good stretches and then some lulls,” Venable said. “His contributions in the clubhouse, what he did on the field — he’s one of our guys, there’s no doubt about it.”

The Sox selected the contract of Triple-A outfielder Corey Julks (.300/.374/.477 at Charlotte) to fill Benintendi’s roster spot.

Closing in on 100 losses

Shortstop Colson Montgomery launched a 428-foot, two-run homer onto the right-field concourse at Yankee Stadium and fellow rookie Shane Smith struck out eight over five innings of one-run ball, but New York walked off the Sox’ bullpen 3-2 to punch their ticket to the postseason.

That means the Sox (58-99) will have to win out to avoid a third straight 100-loss season, a tall order with two games remaining against the high-powered Yankees before visiting lowly Washington for three.

Still, the historically bad 2024 Sox went 5-1 to close out that dreadful campaign.

Teel’s homecoming

Rookie catcher and Ridgewood, New Jersey, native Kyle Teel snagged 60 tickets for friends and family members to attend his Yankee Stadium debut.

“When I went out for early [batting practice], and I was on the field, I was like, ‘Dang, it's a lot different from this point of view than in the stands,’” said Teel, who grew up a die-hard fan idolizing Derek Jeter. “I'm just more excited.”

Teel went 1-for-2 with a single and two walks, scoring on Montgomery’s homer.

Cue the attendance jokes

The Sox’ final homestand of the season last weekend put their 2025 home attendance total at 1,445,738.

That’s an increase of almost 5% from their historically bad 2024 season, when they drew 1,380,733 to 35th and Shields, the lowest total since 1999.

But this year’s modest increase in Rate Field crowds still marks their second-lowest non-COVID season attendance this century, and promises to keep them among MLB’s cellar dwellers.

The Sox last cracked 2 million paying customers — a decent barometer for the American League average — in 2022.