Fixing the 2023 Chicago White Sox - Without Trades

White Sox Pitcher Dylan Cease Frustrated After Giving up a Homerun

Coming into the 2023 season, expectations were high for the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox signed Andrew Benintendi to the biggest contract in their franchise’s history, and also acquired a key utility man in Hanser Alberto. While 2022 had been disappointing, many fans chalked it up to the number of injuries and overall adversity the team had to face as being the sole responsibility for their struggles.

So far this season, however, the woes of the 2022 season have leaked into this season, as the White Sox currently sit at 9-21, which is good for 4th place in the weak AL Central.

So it begs the question- what’s wrong?

There are a multitude of problems with the White Sox, in both their hitting and pitching departments. From a lack of productivity from key players and poor managerial decisions, to a lack of effort on the field, the White Sox have been a mess.

Credit: BehindThePlay: Youtube Channel

With the season slipping away, I have decided to create an outline for how the White Sox can improve this season, WITHOUT MAKING ANY TRADES

Hitting:

Old Lineups

Opening Day vs Lefty

Tim Anderson – SS

Luis Robert Jr. – CF

Andrew Vaughn – 1B

Eloy Jimenez – DH

Yoan Moncada – 3B

Andrew Benintendi – LF

Yasmani Grandal – C

Elvis Andrus – 2B

Romy Gonzalez – RF

First Game vs. Righty

Tim Anderson- SS

Luis Robert- CF

Andrew Benintendi- LF

Eloy Jimenez- DH

Yoan Moncada- 3B

Gavin Sheets- 1B

Yasmani Grandal- C

Oscar Colas- RF

Elvis Andrus- SS

Proposed Lineups

Vs. Lefties (Career Ops.):

Tim Anderson- SS (.873)

Luis Robert- CF (1.010)

Jake Burger- 3B (.994)

Yasmani Grandal- C (.796)

Eloy Jimenez- DH (.761)

Hanser Alberto- 2B (.790)

Adam Haseley- RF (.724)

Andrew Vaughn- 1B (.704)

Andrew Benintendi- LF (.705)

Vs. Righties (Career Ops.):

Andrew Benintendi- LF (.804)

Gavin Sheets- RF (.789)

Andrew Vaughn- 1B (.813)

Jake Burger- 3B (.764)

Eloy Jimenez- DH (.835)

Yasmani Grandal- C (.780)

Luis Robert- CF (.730)

Tim Anderson- SS (.720)

Elvis Andrus- 2B (.723)

While these proposed lineups may be unconventional in many peoples’ eyes, they provide the best opportunity for the White Sox to have success hitting.

With these lineup designs, the White Sox should expect to see significant improvements in their run scoring. These lineups provide the right balance of power hitting with contact hitting, without stacking too many similar types of hitters together. Players who consistently get on base will be playing against the pitchers who they see best, thus leading to far greater success not only for them but also for the team.

The White Sox have not utilized any of these lineups before, and by putting their best players in the best position to succeed, they may be able to break out of their hitting funk.

These lineups, however, do not have some of the young players in them (Lenyn Sosa, Romy Gonzalez). While it is important to develop young players, these individuals are not yet ready to pay in the big leagues. Sosa has a -0.6 WAR this season, which is second worst amongst hitters on the team, only better than Romy Gonzalez. Thus, instead of putting these players out on the field everyday, the White Sox should look to send them down and allow them to develop more in Triple-A.

Bullpen:

Without making trades, the pitching staff for the White Sox will more than likely remain the same. Currently, the White Sox have been atrocious in their bullpen, as they have a 1.59 WHIP, which is the second worst in the league behind the 6-23 Athletics. They also have the third worst xFIP (4.70) in the league.

The White Sox have no pitching prospects in the top 100 prospects in baseball, so it is unlikely that they will call anyone up who will provide great play for them. They also have minimal flexibility with their bullpen pieces, as they are due to owe their bullpen almost $50 million dollars this year.

Despite this lack of flexibility, the White Sox still have plenty of talent.

In 2022, the White Sox were devastated by injuries, yet were still able to place 9th in the league with a 3.77 xFIP. xFIP is a measurement used to measure pitching, independent of the fielding. It is also based on home-run rate instead of home runs allowed.

They also placed 2nd in xFIP in 2021 (3.83), only behind the New York Yankees. The White Sox still have a large majority of their bullpen pitchers from these seasons, displaying what they are capable of doing as a unit. There was one key common denominator in both of these seasons, however. This is none other than star closer, Liam Hendriks, who has recently been cleared from his bout with cancer.

Hendriks is expected to begin a rehab assignment soon, and when he is able to get back on the field, the White Sox should be able to find significant help. This year, the Sox have 62% Save Rate this year, and with Hendriks coming back soon, they should see that number increase drastically. Not only should they expect to see their save conversion rate increase, but they should also see significant improvement from all of their bullpen pitchers, as roles will begin to be created for their pitchers. If they are able to create roles for all of their bullpen pitchers, they are due to see success.

To showcase the impact of creating roles, I present the example of the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies:

In 2022, from April-May, the Philadelphia Phillies were the 8th worst team in bullpen ERA and 5th worst team in xFIP. However, after manager Joe Girardi was fired, new skipper Rob Thomson quickly established roles for all of his bullpen pieces for when they would enter into games. He created roles for late inning and long-relievers, and the Phillies saw far greater success in the production of their bullpen from May through the entirety of the playoffs, with the only acquisition within that time frame being David Robertson.

While creating designated roles for players may seem simple on paper, the effects of doing so can be monumental, not only for pitchers, but also the hitters. When all 26 men on the roster know what is expected of them everyday, only then can the team develop chemistry and embark on the grueling stretch that is the 162 Game MLB season.

With these simple changes, the White Sox should be able to turn their season around for the better, and hopefully bring playoff baseball back to the Southside of Chicago.