After a White Sox home run, hitting coach Derek Shomon yells — among other things — ‘‘Booked him!’’
What does that mean?
‘‘Over the years, when we went over pitchers that we were facing, somebody in the advance meeting would be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I got him; he’s in the book,’ ’’ said Shomon, who is in his fourth season as a big-league coach. ‘‘So I started yelling that a few years ago.’’
He yelled it a lot on the Sox’ trip last week through hitter-friendly Sacramento and Phoenix, during which they homered 16 times in six games, including Sam Antonacci’s inside-the-park round-tripper. (That also merited a ‘‘Book him!’’ even though it didn’t clear the fence.)
Back home in a cooler climate, however, the Sox have gone cold, hitting one homer in three games. The weather eventually will get warmer at home, and maybe then the Sox can recapture their power stroke. Until then, they’ll have to make do with what they have.
And what they have might get a needed jolt. The Sox called up outfielder Austin Hays from Triple-A Charlotte on Monday, ending his rehab from a strained right hamstring. The move was made necessary by a shoulder injury to Tanner Murray that will sideline him for four to six months.
Hays, whom the Sox signed to a one-year, $6 million contract in February, has some pop in his bat. He has hit at least 15 homers in four of his last five seasons, and he had one in nine games with the Sox before coming up lame while running down a ball in left field April 6. Last season with the Reds, he slashed .266/.315/.453.
But considering the Sox had to call up Hays sooner than they anticipated, he’ll need some time to reacclimate.
‘‘We can’t just jump right into playing every day out there for nine innings,’’ manager Will Venable said. ‘‘Probably have his first start against [Angels left-hander Yusei] Kikuchi in Game 3 [of the series] and us
