White Sox ‘not giving up’ on Lenyn Sosa

BALTIMORE — That infielder Lenyn Sosa came up through the White Sox farm system and is struggling with the fundamental elements of fielding is not lost on interim bench coach Doug Sisson.

‘‘It’s on us,’’ Sisson told the Sun-Times. ‘‘He came through our system, and I’m in charge of it. I take it personally. This is stuff that shouldn’t be happening at this point in his career, so we have to keep pounding on it.’’

While playing primarily second and third base, Sosa has mishandled throws from the outfield and hasn’t always been crisp when starting potential double-play grounders. He has miscommunicated with outfielders on fly balls and with infielders on grounders.

Sisson, who began his seventh season as the Sox’ field coordinator on the player-development staff, joined the coaching staff when manager Pedro Grifol and three coaches were fired Aug. 8. He said Sosa has been taught these things ‘‘countless times.’’

‘‘I’m not big on talking; it’s drilling, it’s working on things,’’ Sisson said. ‘‘Can’t give up on him. Not going to give up on him. We’ve got to clean it up, though. We have to tighten up his game.’’

Sosa, 24, has appeared in 78 games, which ranks seventh on the team.

‘‘No excuses,’’ Sisson said. ‘‘It’s not ‘a different level, the game is going too fast, the game is speeding up on him.’ There’s no giving up. I want the kid to be a good player for us.’’

The Sox see Sosa as a versatile infielder with pop in his bat. Studio analyst Frank Thomas is a fan of his offensive potential, so there’s something to be said for that. But he’s batting .214/.247/.292 with 11 home runs in 494 plate appearances in parts of three seasons and is a minus-1.8 wins-above-replacement player this season, according to Baseball Reference. His career minor-league hitting line (.279/.321/.435) is significantly better.

In a game last week against the Rangers, Sosa wasn’t looking when catcher Chuckie Robinson’s warmup throw struck him in the face. It’s a scene that will be one of the snapshots of an ugly season. Sosa was momentarily dazed but avoided serious injury.

Toussaint DFA’d; Foster recalled

The Sox designated right-hander Touki Toussaint for assignment and replaced him on the active roster with right-hander Matt Foster, whom they recalled from Triple-A Charlotte. Foster had appeared in two games with the Sox this season, allowing no runs in three innings, and pitched two scoreless innings against the Orioles.

Toussaint (7.43 ERA) allowed 19 earned runs, 35 hits and 18 walks in 23 innings in 11 relief appearances this season. In the Sox’ 13-3 loss Monday to the Orioles, their 11th defeat in a row, he yielded four runs, seven hits and two walks in 2‰ innings.

Foster has a 4.28 ERA in 110 games in his career with the Sox. His appearance Aug. 16 against the Astros was his first since coming off Tommy John surgery. He had a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings this season at Charlotte.

Eloy vs. Sox

Eloy Jimenez, whom the Sox dealt to the Orioles at the trade deadline, didn’t play in the series opener Monday but was the designated hitter Tuesday.

Jimenez, who walked on four pitches against Sox starter Nick Nastrini in the second and finished 2-for-4, smiled before the game at the thought of facing the Sox.

‘‘I never expected it because of how my numbers were [not good],’’ he said of the trade. ‘‘But God has another plan.

‘‘It’s not the way I wanted to end with the White Sox, but for me, yes, it was a good thing. For both sides.’’