ST. PETERSBURG -- When Adam Engel was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte on May 6, he knew he had a decision to make. He could go to the Minors and mope, or he could use the time to up his game.

Engel joined the Knights ready to work and spent the past 2 1/2 months improving his approach at the plate. On Monday, the White Sox rewarded him for his efforts with a promotion prior to the series opener against the Rays, which the White Sox won 9-2. Engel went 2-for-5, including a triple, with one RBI and two runs scored, and impressing throughout the game with his speed.

“You never want to go backward, no matter what career you’re in, but I don’t think it was all bad,” said Engel, prior to Friday night's game. He hit .270 in 64 games with Charlotte and posted a .347 OBP. “I definitely could’ve gone down there with a bad attitude and just kind of packed it in. I looked at it as an opportunity to get at-bats every night and continue to work on things that I know I needed to work on in order to have success at the Major League level.”

Engel’s primary focus was fine-tuning his approach at the plate, a concept as simple, he said, as disciplining himself to “swing at strikes and take balls.” It’s not as easy as it sounds, and Engel admitted it took some time to trust the new plan as well as to get a feel for it in different situations. Once things came together, however, he grew confident his revamped approach will add pop to the White Sox roster.

The 27-year-old hit 13 doubles, four triples and nine homers for Charlotte, collected 29 RBIs and stole 13 bases.

“I think in this game you have to have a mindset of wanting to thrive. I don’t think you can have a survival mindset and have success,” Engel said. “I’m looking to come up here and play really good baseball and help this team win. I think any mindset less than that is cheating yourself.”

Engel took the roster spot vacated by Charlie Tilson, who was optioned to Triple-A on Sunday. White Sox manager Rick Renteria said he’s eager to see the results of Engel’s hard work.

“We’ve always loved his defensive prowess, and I think that one of the things we talked about when we sent him out was that we wanted his offensive game to coincide with his defensive game,” Renteria said. “Use the tools that he has, be able to put the ball in play, bunt, steal bases, do all the things that he has -- all those things he brings to the table with him -- and allow us an opportunity to see if we can take advantage of it in the big scheme of things.”