GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Lenyn Sosa is coming off the best of his four seasons with the Chicago White Sox. And his future is murky at the moment.
Sosa led Chicago with a career-high 22 homers and 75 RBIs in 140 games last year. But the rebuilding White Sox signed Munetaka Murakami in the offseason, creating a logjam in their infield.
Sosa plays first, second and third base. Barring injury, Miguel Vargas (third), Colson Montgomery (shortstop), Chase Meidroth (second) and Murakami (first) are expected to be Chicago's regular infielders. The designated hitter job likely will be filled by Andrew Benintendi or one of the team's young catchers most of the time.
That leaves Sosa with no clear path to regular playing time.
“My goal, my mindset every year, is to get better,” Sosa said Saturday through a translator. “To improve my game all around. Trying to find ways to help this team win games. And that’s my focus. I don’t really pay attention to what my role is. It’s just trying to get better every day and do the best for me every day.”
The 26-year-old Sosa was signed by the White Sox as an international free agent in 2016. He made his big league debut in 2022.
Looking to build on last season, he played winter ball in his native Venezuela.
“The focus was on my defense, I worked on my defense to improve my range,” Sosa said. “But mostly just to have fun, playing there. Just playing there for my family, just to give them the chance to see them play there. Just enjoy it. That was the most important thing for me.”
Sosa's defensive work included agility drills designed to help with the speed of his first step.
On the offensive side, Sosa is planning to stay with his aggressive approach. While setting career highs with a .264 batting average and .434 slugging percentage in 2025, Sosa struck out 127 times and finished with just 18 walks.
“The plan for this year is to be even more aggressive,” he said. "What I mean with that is just trying to really crush pitches that are in the strike zone. Last year, a pitcher was attacking me with pitches that were outside the zone. I was being aggressive with the pitches. Then he threw strikes, and I kind of changed my approach. Now I know I have to have my approach since first pitch.
"If I’m able to take that approach and be consistent with that approach, I can bring damage being as aggressive as I can."
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FILE - Chicago White Sox's Lenyn Sosa in action during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass,File)
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — The pressure is on Arsenal after Manchester City cut its lead at the top of the Premier League to two points on Saturday.
Second-place City beat Newcastle 2-1 to turn the heat up on the title race.
Victory at the Etihad Stadium piles the pressure on leader Arsenal ahead of Sunday's north London derby against Tottenham.
Nico O'Reilly scored both goals for Pep Guardiola's team and extended its unbeaten run in the league to five.
“The win was the most important thing. Try to close the gap as well as apply as much pressure as possible, but (I'm) also very happy with the two goals,” O'Reilly said. “It’s a lot of games to go, we just need to take each game as it comes.”
City also moved further clear of third-place Aston Villa, which drew 1-1 with Leeds. Chelsea is fourth after a 1-1 draw with Burnley.
City is the team chasing down Arsenal, which has stumbled in recent weeks with only two wins in its last seven.
By contrast, City is finding form at the right time for a title run and ground out victory against Newcastle.
Guardiola and his players appeared to acknowledge how important the result could be as they embraced each other after the final whistle.
Aston Villa's title challenge was hit after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to relegation-fighting Leeds on Saturday.
It took an 88th-minute equalizer from substitute Tammy Abraham to rescue a point for Villa — but the draw means Unai Emery's team could be cut further adrift of Arsenal and Manchester City at the top of the standings.
“There are two sides — one is that we lost two points, or that we won one point,” Villa coach Unai Emery said. “We have 51 points. Today, we lost two, or we won one. At this point, hopefully, we can get the next matches, understanding this point better.”
Villa's draw leaves it seven points behind Arsenal and continued its shaky recent form of just one win in four in the league.
It could have been worse after Aton Stach put Leeds ahead from free kick in the 31st.
Abraham, a January signing from Besiktas, came on in the 75th and leveled from close range for his first Premier League goal since his move to Villa Park.
Leeds is seven points clear of the relegation zone.
Zian Flemming scored in the 93rd at Stamford Bridge to salvage a draw for second to last place Burnley.
Joao Pedro's goal in the fourth looked like being enough for the home team, which went down to 10 men when Wesley Fofana was sent off in the 72nd.
“You need to be ruthless in this league because if you don’t defend set plays well then you get punished," Chelsea coach Liam Rosenior said. “I felt we were very happy — and it’s not the way I want to play — just to maintain possession, I want us to go for more goals."
The point moved Chelsea up to fourth — above Manchester United on goal difference, having played a game more. But the race for Champions League qualification could be even tighter by the end of the weekend with Liverpool now having the chance to move level on points with Chelsea if it beats Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
United plays Everton on Monday.
James Milner played his 654th game in the Premier League to set a new appearance record for the competition.
The 40-year-old Milner surpassed the previous benchmark set by Gareth Barry, which had stood since 2018. And he doesn't sound like he's ready to call it a day yet.
"I’ll keep pushing, let’s see where that takes us,” Milner said after Brighton's 2-0 win, which delivered a setback to Brentford's Champions League challenge.
Goals from Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck put Brighton in control before the break at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Brentford is five points off the Champions League places.
U.S. international Tyler Adams was back on the field for Bournemouth — making his first appearance since tearing his left MCL on Dec. 15.
Adams was in the starting lineup for the 0-0 draw against West Ham and played for 66 minutes before being replaced by Ryan Christie.
It’s now just one loss in six for West Ham as its battle to avoid the drop continues to gain momentum.
West Ham, in 17th, is two points away from safety, but has played a game more than its closest rival Forest.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly hugs Manchester City's Erling Haaland after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchetser City nad Newcastle in Manchester, England, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly celebrates after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchetser City nad Newcastle in Manchester, England, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchetser City nad Newcastle in Manchester, England, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Brighton and Hove Albion's Danny Welbeck scores their side's second goal of the game past Brentford's goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher during their English Premier League soccer match in London Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Peter Tarry/PA via AP)
Burnley's Zian Flemming celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during their English Premier League soccer match against Chelsea in London, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)
Burnley's Maxime Esteve, left, and Chelsea's Cole Palmer battle for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match in London, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)
Aston Villa's Tammy Abraham celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during their English Premier League soccer match against Leeds United in Birmingham, England, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
