Everson Pereira breathing some life into White Sox outfield

PHOENIX — It’s starting to click for White Sox outfielder Everson Pereira.

The 25-year-old has posted a 1.015 OPS entering their series opener at Arizona. He’s playing a reliable right field — no small feat for a team that had fielded a rotating cast in recent years — and he’s injecting some excitement to the Sox roster with his power and his penchant for showing some passion on the field.

The encouraging early returns have come after fits and starts to Pereira’s young career — and all it took was a little breather.

“Basically, the main thing was for me to be calm and to breathe, and find a stance that I feel comfortable with,” Pereira said through an interpreter before another multi-hit day at the plate over the weekend against the Athletics.

He's smacked three homers and four doubles in his first 10 games with the Sox, a promising introduction (11-for-37, 12 strikeouts, three walks) that was interrupted by a stint on the injured list with a sprained ankle. But his arrival so far has been a breath of fresh air for the Sox, who need more pop in the batting order beyond Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery.

Pereira credits Sox coaches with helping him find the swing he couldn’t consistently produce during short-lived big-league stints with the Yankees in 2023 (.151/.233/.194 in 93 at-bats) and the Rays last year (.138/.219/.246 in 65 at-bats).

If he can rein in the strikeout rate and keep slugging, it’ll make the Sox’ offseason trade with Tampa Bay look all the more fruitful. General manager Chris Getz acquired Pereira along with utility man Tanner Murray in exchange for swing man Yoendrys Gómez and reliever Steven Wilson.

“He's a really toolsy guy. He can do a lot of things out there,” manager Will Venable said. “Obviously, the power is one of the things that leads his skillset. You know if he touches it, it goes. So I really like what he does out there.”

Big swings are nothing new for the Venezuelan outfielder, who clubbed 83 homers across five minor-league seasons.

“My goal has always been to hit the ball hard, ever since I was a kid. That’s what I focused on,” Pereira said. “I’m pretty good with my swing right now. They found a position for me to feel more comfortable with my stance, and what I did was put my hands a little further or higher, and from there I feel more comfortable. It’s an easier path [for] my swing to the ball.”

While it didn't pan out for Pereira as a top-100 prospect ascending New York’s system, the opportunity is there for the taking on a rebuilding squad like it is for plenty other fliers the Sox have taken on their roster.

“We want these guys to be comfortable and be themselves,” Venable said. “Some of these guys are guys who have had opportunities in other places that maybe didn't work out, and they're going to have some runway here. So we just want to give them that confidence and that comfortability to go out and be themselves and perform with their best.”

“He's a good defender, good arm, and does some nice things on the bases. So he's been a big part of this,” Venable said of Pereira, who’s trying to keep things simple and appreciate the ride.

“I’m just enjoying this moment. I’m enjoying being in the major leagues,” Pereira said. “Before, for whatever reason, I wasn’t able to do it, and before the season I said, ‘You know what, I have to enjoy it.’ That’s why you can see all the emotions that come out when I do something.”

And he thinks that attitude is catching on in the clubhouse.

“I’m going to spread my love for the game with everybody. And even if I have a bad game, I just want to support my teammates and do everything I can to keep the hype,” he said. “I’ve [been] able to do it this year. That was a switch I was able to turn on.”