Chicago White Sox: 5 things to hope for this season
By Todd Welter
White Sox rookies Oscar Colas and Lenyn Sosa are contenders for AL RoY.
The Chicago White Sox have had nine different second basemen start on Opening Day since 2014. They have also had nine different right fielders start the season opener since Jermaine Dye retired in 2009.
Those two positions have been a hole in the lineup. No matter what the Sox have tried to do to address these positions, it has never worked. Instead of chasing another veteran free agent, Hahn is going to go with a couple of prospects to solve these position problems.
Eloy Jimenez could see some time in right field. Considering he was a subpar left fielder; it would not be the greatest idea to move him to an outfield position that is tougher to play.
Although, if he misplays a ball, the worst it can be is a double. Then again, Jimenez has also gotten hurt playing in the field so it is probably better to hide his glove and keep him at DH.
Colas is ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects and is considered the Sox’s second-ranked prospect.
The 24-year-old Cuban player comes with experience playing in Japan’s minor league system. He got all the way to Triple-A in his first year in the Chicago White Sox farm system. His slash line was .314/.371/.524 with 23 home runs. He posted a .927 OPS at Double-A. Plus, he hits left-handed.
https://twitter.com/BhamBarons/status/1590445567125037057?s=20&t=15GuMczWXhkueVVLsWvbug
It looks like Romy Gonzalez and Lenyn Sosa will battle it out in Spring Training for the starting second base job. Thankfully, it seems like Leury Garcia will not be in the mix to start.
The Chicago White Sox plan on having Oscar Colas play right field.
— Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) December 21, 2022
The plan is also to use internal options for second base. Romy Gonzalez is option 1 with Lenyn Sosa as the backup option.
Leury Garcia is NOT an option, fully a utility bench piece now.
Gonzalez is going to bring power to the position as he smacked 46 career homers in the Sox minor league system. Sosa can also drive the ball. Both got a cup of coffee with the team last season. Although, Sosa did not get a whole of playing time.
Going with prospects is interesting for a team with World Series aspirations. This is normally the time in a contention window when a team would issue checks to a veteran to fix a position issue.
Rick Hahn is going to hope two of these three guys reach their potential. The Sox are going to need these two to play at a high level if they hope to keep pace with the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins in the division.
It would be great for the Sox hopes to return to the AL Central throne if Colas and Sosa turn out to be AL Rookie of the Year contenders. Plus, having these two (or Gonzalez) finally fill this position hole would be great for keeping the contention window open.
Sosa has a better glove than Gonzalez. With the shift being banned, the Sox are going to need someone with range to man that position regularly. That is why there is backing for Sosa to succeed over Gonzalez.
The White Sox cannot afford to go through a season filled with two rookies struggling. These guys need to hit the ground running for the Sox to get back to the top of the AL Central.