MINNEAPOLIS — Micah Johnson fielded ground balls early Friday afternoon at Target Field while several White Sox coaches dotted the field to observe the rookie second baseman.
More often than not in recent weeks, Johnson has gone through this pregame “tune-up,” with manager Robin Ventura standing next to him to offer instruction as Johnson does what he feels is the requisite work to stick in the major leagues.
“I try to get here as early as possible and put in as much work as I can so I feel prepared going into the game,” Johnson said. “… So if I fail, I didn’t fail because I didn’t give it a shot. I just failed that day because it’s baseball.”
A month into his first Sox season, Johnson said he is still finding what works for him in the majors.
With center fielder Adam Eaton out sick Friday night during the Sox’s 1-0 loss to the Twins, Johnson led off. He struck out in his first two at-bats and went 0-for-4 to bring his average to .250.
The Sox offense was flat overall, totaling just six hits to negate a solid start from left-hander Jose Quintana, who allowed one run on six hits over seven innings. The Twins scored on a wild pitch in the fifth.
“At first he’s trying to impress, but you get to the point where you’re comfortable in your own skin being out there and just playing the game,” Ventura said of Johnson. “He is confident that he’s a big-leaguer and you just go from there.”
The pregame defensive sessions started so Ventura and third-base coach Joe McEwing could work with him on how he carries his glove when going after ground balls.
“When you’re running, breaking and getting off the ball, you want to be free,” McEwing said. “You want your hands and hips and feet to be free. He was locking himself out with a stiff arm and not allowing himself to get complete range and mobility.
“He’s so athletic he’s going to get to a lot of balls and he’s going to get himself in position — a lot of awkward positions at times — because of how quick he is and what good jumps he gets. But it’s just to smooth it out and be more fundamentally sound.”
Johnson isn’t the only one who needs to clean up on defense. After a sloppy loss Thursday, Ventura said he is trying to address mistakes individually and as a group.
“We don’t want to hurt ourselves,” McEwing said. “We take a lot of pride in that. When it doesn’t look as clean as it should be, it reflects on all of us as a ballclub and as a coaching staff, and we take it to heart.”
On it: Sox pitchers Jeff Samardzija and Chris Sale had bad back-to-back starts, combining to allow 15 earned runs over eight innings, something pitching coach Don Cooper said can “take the wind out of your sails.”
“Not only do I expect it to be better, I’m guessing it’s going to be better,” Cooper said. “There is some inconsistency there. We are on it.”
Cooper said Samardzija and Sale are working on getting their sliders up to par. He said Samardzija’s is down about 2-3 mph, something they will address in a bullpen session Saturday. He said Sale’s is behind because the left-hander missed most of spring training with a fractured foot.
Quintana plugged the leak Friday with one of his best starts of the year.
“He pitched great,” Ventura said. “He got in a couple of binds there but battled through it.”
A concern: Commissioner Rob Manfred addressed fights while on a visit to Wrigley Field on Friday. The Sox brawled with the Royals last week, for which Sale and Samardzija were suspended five games, pending appeals.
“We have had a couple of incidents this year that are a concern to us,” Manfred said. “They seem to have escalated a little bit and it’s something we’re paying really careful attention to.”
Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan contributed.
Twitter @ChiTribKane
