Tag Archives: White Sox

Is It Time The White Sox Move On From Eloy Jimenez?

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Back in the summer of 2017, the White Sox made a trade with their cross-town rivals, the Chicago Cubs. The Sox would send starting pitcher Jose Quintana to the Cubs and they would receive a package of prospects that included Dylan Cease and Eloy Jimenez.

Within two years, Jimenez had made his way through the Sox minor league system and was rewarded with a six-year, $43 million contract before he had ever seen a pitch in the major leagues.

In his first season, he would play 122 games and record a .828 OPS with 31 home runs. While his defense was terrible, this was good enough for fourth in the rookie of the year voting. The Covid shortened 2020 season saw more of the same as he had an .891 OPS and fourteen homers.

Injuries Arise

With the explosive nature of his first two seasons, the excitement around Jimenez was at a fever pitch entering 2021. Unfortunately, he would tear his pectoral trying to rob a home run in a spring training game causing him to miss the first three months of the season.

Upon returning, the power was evident once again as had ten home runs in 55 games. However, somewhere along the way, the power dissipated. Never was this more evident than in 2021. Before being injured once again, he had a career high 66.7 ground ball percentage.

The Dilemma

Of course, the injuries are the biggest issue in Jimenez’s career right now. Alas, his overall skill set is perhaps more worrisome. When Eloy Jimenez is hitting home runs, he is one of the most impactful players in the entire Chicago lineup. Alas, his ground ball percentage makes his bat expendable. In fact, he has just one extra-base hit throughout his lengthy stay in Triple-A.

Another issue that Jimenez creates is redundancy. Both he and Andrew Vaughn profile as good, right-handed hitters who are terrible in the outfield. Alas, there is only one designated hitter spot which forces one of the two into the outfield and weakens the team’s defense.

When Jimenez finally returns to the White Sox, it is widely expected he will strictly be the DH as they do not want to risk further injury in the field. This creates all sorts of problems as now Vaughn, a natural first basemen, will take his spot in right field. It also prevents him and Abreu from taking days off from the field as Jimenez can only DH.

In totality, Jimenez is a fan favorite player who may not have a spot on the White Sox roster any longer. With four more years of team control, he may still have enough trade value based on his past to net the Sox a big fish at the deadline. It may be unlikely, but Chicago has proven in the past they can win without his bat.

The White Sox Have A Tony La Russa Problem

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Think back to the end of the 2020 season. Yes, the Dodgers would end up winning the World Series but as the off-season came there was one team firmly in the spotlight: the Chicago White Sox. One of the hottest young teams in the league, it seemed as if they could have any manager they wanted. Eventually, Jerry Reinsdorf and the White Sox settled upon Tony La Russa. To say that La Russa is accomplished would be putting it lightly. In fact, he was already a Hall of Famer when he was hired by the White Sox for the second time.

Under La Russa, the White Sox were promised a competitive advantage by having one of the game’s greatest managers in the dugout. So, despite the obvious concerns about how a 77-year-old would manage a team loaded with young talent, ownership promised results.

Ruining The Lineup

In 2021, the White Sox fielded one of their best teams in recent history. So while they dealt with the occasional La Russa blunder none of them were enough to slow Chicago. While the mistakes were plentiful, fans were convinced they could win in spite of their manager.

In 2022, La Russa has seemingly made it his mission to prove otherwise. Now his mistakes pop up in seemingly every avenue possible. Even the basic act of setting the lineup has become a spectacle for Southside fans.

In fact, over the last seven games, the White Sox have had the same lead-off hitter for back-to-back games just one time. In the absence of Tim Anderson, La Russa has often employed Leury Garcia as the lead-off man. While he is a fine utility man for any team, he does nothing at the plate. His .184 batting average and 29 OPS+ should make that clear, but not for La Russa who appears to only see that he is a switch hitter.

The constant reshuffling of the lineup this season has been curious, to say the least. Some days Andrew Vaughn will hit second, sometimes he will hit seventh. Perhaps Garcia will hit first tonight or maybe he will hit ninth. The only consistency in the lineup is no consistency.

Bullpen Management

It could be argued that, for the White Sox front office, nothing is more important than the bullpen. Between Joe Kelly, Liam Hendriks, and Kendall Graveman, Chicago will spend over 28 million dollars in 2022. This will be well worth it however as they are all highly valuable members of the team.

Despite having loads of bullpen talent, which also includes Reynaldo Lopez and Aaron Bummer, La Russa has preferred to use lesser players in huge spots. The most blatant instance came against the Yankees.

With a lefty up in Anthony Rizzo, La Russa appeared to be bringing in fellow lefty Tanner Banks to deal with him. After Kelly was clearly rattled, it only made sense. However, La Russa evidently planned to use Banks for the next hitter. Who was that hitter you may ask? None other than the red-hot Giancarlo Stanton with the bases loaded.

Stanton quickly smoked a single that scored and then fellow righty Josh Donaldson stepped up and hit a three-run homer. A manager’s job is to put his players in the best position to succeed. Alas, La Russa appears content giving the other team the advantage. 

The Final Straw?

After a litany of questionable decisions, the Tony La Russa madness reached a new level during Thursday’s White Sox versus Dodgers game. After allowing Freddie Freeman to get on, left-hander Bennett Sousa was slated to face Trea Turner. One of the league’s best players, this was always going to be difficult. However, Sousa got up in the count 1-2 before Freeman advanced to second on a passed ball.

It was then that La Russa decided that he was going to intentionally walk Turner in a 1-2 count with two outs already in the inning. This indefensible decision was immediately followed by a three-run home run by Max Muncy that turned a two-run lead into a five-run lead and effectively ended the game.

If there was ever an example of a manager costing his team games, La Russa is it. Of course, he is one of the game’s greatest managers there is little debate about that. However, the game has clearly passed him by. While the correct time fro the White Sox to fire La Russa has come and gone, Reinsdorf can not continue to hold their fans hostage.

Is It Time To DFA Josh Harrison?

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Mid-season, Josh Harrison is starting to raise some questions for the White Sox. In the 2022 off-season, the White Sox had a few major holes to address. With starting pitcher Carlos Rodon departing, they elevated Michael Kopech to the rotation. Once again they would have a hole in right field as well which they filled through the trade a trade with the Dodgers that netted them, A.J. Pollock.

The last major hole was at second base. After creating this hole by trading away Nick Madrigal, the White Sox hoped to have filled it when they traded for Cesar Hernandez at last year’s deadline. The move was a flop however so Chicago was forced to test the free-agent market.

The big fish on the market was former Blue Jay Marcus Semien but he elected to sign with the Texas Rangers. As such, the White Sox settled for Josh Harrison. After spending 2021 with both the Nationals and the A’s, Harrison finished with a .279 batting average and a .741 OPS.

Not Living Up To Expectations

Expected to hold down the starting second baseman job for the White Sox, Harrison has started 21 of his 36 games at the position. The statistical numbers are paltry with a .181/.265/.276 slash line. His OPS+ currently sits at 58 which is obviously way under the MLB average of 100.

A black hole in the White Sox lineup, he has a skill set that is easily replaceable on the White Sox roster. In fact, Chicago may have already replaced him with the hot bat of Danny Mendick. While he is being forced to play shortstop in the absence of Tim Anderson, his line of .318/.362/.455 is much more impressive than Harrisons. Of course, they also have utility man Leury Garcia.

Perhaps most enticing is the potential replacements in the minors. The most obvious of these is Yolbert Sanchez. Splitting time between both AA and AAA, Sanchez has a batting average of .341 to go along with a .783 OPS. Another option could be the 22-year-old Lenyn Sosa. Although he has only played in AA thus far, he is hitting .342 with eleven homers.

The time has certainly come to DFA Harrison. Simply, he does not have a spot on the team anymore. He doesn’t hit for average or power and this is reflected in his Baseball Savant page which has more blue than a basket of blueberries. Firmly in the middle of a championship window, the White Sox need to have higher standards.

Baseball Needs Tim Anderson

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Photo Credit: AP Photo

Since 2016, the Chicago White Sox have been led by a confident, energetic shortstop who is looking to change baseball for the better. This, of course, is Tim Anderson. One of the premier shortstops in the MLB, Anderson has been at the center of controversy numerous times. Despite this, he is exactly what baseball needs.

For a younger generation of sports fans, it is easy to understand why baseball may be considered boring. While the average length of an MLB game isn’t much different than basketball or football, the pace of play is drastically different. Deemed “The Thinking Man’s Game”, it can be a slow process to even finish just one inning. After all, there is no clock in baseball so the game goes as the pitcher and batter go.

In addition to the slow pace, baseball is known for its bevy of “unwritten rules”. Most of these are put in place to make sure the players act or look a certain way when on the field. This leads to things such as bat flips, celebrations, or adding to a big lead being frowned upon. In many instances, the other team will retaliate by hitting the offender with the baseball.

Of course, if you are a baseball fan you know all of this already. However, it is crucial to point all of this out to show why younger fans may not be as interested in the great game. In the social media age where fans can consume media in an instant, baseball will always have a hard time competing with football and basketball. It just isn’t as consistently exciting. Unfortunately, that’s how the players like it.

Changing Of The Guard

However, not all players fall into this line of thinking. One of the first to buck this trend was Tim Anderson. Although his basketball playing days are in the past, it is clear that the showmanship of the sport has never left him.

While he was always a talented hitter, it was a bat flip that initially put him in the national spotlight. After hitting a two-run home run off the Royals Brad Keller, he celebrated by launching the bat.

Keller would retaliate later in the game by hitting Anderson with a pitch. However, the precedent was set: baseball can be exciting. Going forward, Anderson never stopped being himself. Whether it was a walk-off to beat the Tigers or the magical ending in the Field of Dreams game, he was always going to have fun.

Backing it up

While he was breaking the unwritten rules, he was also becoming one of the league’s best players on the field. The stats are impressive, with a batting average of over .300 and an OPS of over .800 in each of the last three seasons. Currently, he leads all shortstops in hits, total bases, batting average, OBP, slugging, wRC+ and WAR.

However, it is the way he gets these numbers that helps him achieve his goal of making baseball fun. In an era where the home run reigns supreme and strikeouts are more common than ever, Anderson takes a different approach. Rather than always looking to pull the ball, he has no problem poking the ball into the opposite field. Simply, he puts the ball in play often and, with an otherwordly BABIP of .345, he has tremendous success doing so.

Anderson has found a perfect middle ground between being aggressive and smart. A bit of a throwback as a contact hitter who can steal bases, he is a fantastic leadoff hitter for Chicago.

A Face Of The Game

This is why baseball needs Anderson. He is young, confident, and exciting which will appeal to younger fans all over the globe. At the same time, he plays the game similarly to the legends of years past. He is changing the game every time he steps on the diamond.

Perhaps Anderson explains himself the best: “I kind of feel like today’s Jackie Robinson. That’s huge to say, but it’s cool man because he changed the game and I feel like I’m getting to a point where I need to change the game.”

So, after the Yankees Josh Donaldson attempted to use these words to hurt Anderson on Saturday, the White Sox rallied around him and defended him at all costs. In the end, it would be Anderson who got the last laugh over Donaldson and the Yankees after hitting a three-run home run in the eighth to seal a White Sox win.

Although Anderson may have been quieting the fan as he crossed home plate, it is becoming impossible to do anything but talk about him. While he may not be the perfect player, he is perfect for modern-day baseball. And that is why this sport needs Tim Anderson.