RADIO
Welcome to this look-in for Chicago White Sox as we enter May. As the RotoBaller writer responsible for the daily coverage of the White Sox, I decided to create a "one-stop shop" for all things South Sider thus far.
First, let’s get you the team numbers. Then we'll break down the hitters, starting pitchers, and relievers.
Team Record/Hitting:
| Record | Home | Road | Runs Scored | Runs Against | Differential | Team Average | Team BABIP | Team wOBA | Team wRC+ |
| 17-8 | 6-3 | 11-5 | 95 (t-15th) | 76 (5th) | +19 (t-8th) | .239 (t-17th) | .275 (25th) | .302 (19th) | 91 (t-19th) |
Team Pitching Stats:
| Team | ERA | WHIP | FIP | xFIP | SIERA | BABIP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | LOB% |
| White Sox | 2.72 (3rd) | 1.13 (4th) | 3.32 (4th) | 3.88 (10th) | 3.77 (10th) | .269 (7th) | 7.74 (22nd) | 2.72 (6th) | 0.69 (t-3rd) | 77.5 (23rd) |
| League Average | 3.98 | 1.31 | 3.98 | 3.98 | 3.87 | .293 | 8.15 | 3.30 | 1.06 | 73.6% |
One can definitely see that the White Sox have been carried by their fantastic pitching thus far (though they are over-performing). The offense has shown flashes, but a few cold streaks (notably for Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier) really hurt their production throughout the month. The White Sox rotation and bullpen have both pitched extremely well, and we’ll get into them in more detail later on. The team hasn’t really been bitten by any significant injuries either.
Hitters:
| Name | Position | Plate Appearances | Runs | Home Runs | RBI | Steals | AVG | OPS | BABIP | Career BABIP |
| Adam Eaton | CF | 107 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | .298 | .762 | .333 | .337 |
| Jimmy Rollins | SS | 80 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 2 | .243 | .652 | .274 | .283 |
| Jose Abreu | 1B | 109 | 9 | 3 | 13 | 0 | .229 | .657 | .264 | .338 |
| Todd Frazier | 3B | 107 | 12 | 7 | 17 | 2 | .229 | .778 | .211 | .285 |
| Melky Cabrera | LF | 102 | 12 | 2 | 7 | 0 | .278 | .756 | .284 | .308 |
| Brett Lawrie | 2B | 101 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 2 | .267 | .791 | .362 | .302 |
| Avisail Garcia | DH | 79 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .214 | .691 | .250 | .320 |
| Dioner Navarro | C | 54 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0 | .180 | .582 | .179 | .276 |
| Austin Jackson | CF | 85 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 1 | .218 | .573 | .274 | .350 |
| Jerry Sands | DH | 26 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .292 | .763 | .500 | .313 |
| Tyler Saladino | SS | 27 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .154 | .417 | .150 | .257 |
| Alex Avila | C | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .214 | .583 | .316 | .317 |
N.B. This is meant to roughly reflect the batting order, with platoon types in Sands, Saladino and Avila being tacked on.
Let’s tackle this from the top down.
Adam Eaton is doing leadoff things, though his overall numbers have suffered a bit thanks to the sluggers behind him doing poorly. He is still getting on base plenty and should enjoy good numbers the rest of the way as the mashers heat up.
Jimmy Rollins is serviceable in AL-only leagues, but the truth is that his age-37 body is going to be getting plenty of days off (where he splits with Tyler Saladino) and that dampens his value. He’ll hit some bombs and steal a few bases, but the average won’t be a plus.
Jose Abreu has had a very disappointing April, but much of his batted-ball profile speaks to him being pretty much the same hitter we’ve seen in the past two seasons. He had been very consistent until now and should not be viewed differently. Look for him to heat up with the weather.
Todd Frazier is delivering with the homers, but his average is suffering from some very poor luck. Just the other day hit laced a grounder that went off of the third baseman’s glove only to be perfectly scooped by the shortstop, who threw Frazier out. Frazier will be just fine.
Melky Cabrera and Brett Lawrie have been the White Sox most consistent hitters through April, just chipping in on a daily basis without doing anything overwhelming. Both are employing a more selective approach at the plate (especially Lawrie) and enjoying the results. Lawrie in particular will see his average drop a bit as his BABIP settles, but do know that there are some genuine improvements there.
Avisail Garcia has struggled to carry over his successful Spring Training where he looked to make Chicago confident in giving him the DH job with Adam LaRoche walking away. Garcia improved as the month wore on, but he’s given away some playing time to Jerry Sands thanks to the early season slump. You might remember Sands when he was an intriguing prospect on the Dodgers, but he’s just the “B” side of Chicago’s DH tape at this point.
Dioner Navarro and Alex Avila both started off slowly, and then Avila landed on the DL with a hamstring strain. Since then Navarro has started to turn around his horrid luck at the dish to produce some key hits for the White Sox. He is definitely the better of the two catchers.
Starting Rotation:
| Name | Record | Innings Pitched | Strikeouts | ERA | WHIP | SIERA | Swinging Strike % | BABIP | Career BABIP |
| Chris Sale | 5-0 | 38.0 | 32 | 1.66 | 0.68 | 3.31 | 9.9% | .186 | .289 |
| Jose Quintana | 3-1 | 30.2 | 32 | 1.75 | 1.11 | 3.25 | 9.5% | .321 | .308 |
| Carlos Rodon | 1-3 | 27.0 | 27 | 4.33 | 1.37 | 3.65 | 8.7% | .299 | .312 |
| Mat Latos | 4-0 | 29.1 | 15 | 1.84 | 1.09 | 4.92 | 5.3% | .228 | .280 |
| John Danks | 0-4 | 22.1 | 16 | 7.25 | 1.75 | 5.34 | 8.3% | .338 | .291 |
| Miguel Gonzalez | 0-0 | 5.1 | 6 | 8.44 | 2.44 | 3.93 | 13.3% | .526 | .275 |
The White Sox starting rotation has received incredible contributions from four of their five starters, with John Danks clearly lagging (he was actually DFA’d on May 3rd).
Sale is an unquestioned ace in this league. Any team would be lucky to have him as their anchor. He reportedly put on some more weight this offseason and is trying to pitch more economically so he can go deeper into games for the White Sox. As such, the strikeout ratio isn’t as high as it has been in the past, but you can’t argue with an undefeated record and those stats.
Jose Quintana is finally getting the love that he deserves. He has only gotten nine wins in each of the past three seasons despite an ERA in the mid-threes and over 200 innings in each season. This season he has ramped up the strikeouts a bit and is enjoying this improved defense behind him. 2016 looks to be year where he gets the respect he deserves.
Carlos Rodon has pitched better than his 1-3 record and 4.33 show. While he should see some regression towards his SIERA figure, it is worth noting that he’s sacrificed a bit of velocity from last season as he appears to be working on command. Continue to monitor this, but all of his pitches have taken around a 2-3 MPH hit. He’s also throwing his fastball much more (73% of the time compared to 60% last season) instead of the slider and changeup. We’ll see how this develops through May.
Then there is Mat Latos, who was truly not good last season and in Spring Training. So it’s only natural that he opened the season with a 4-0 record and an ERA under two. He is learning to work with less and does have a good relationship with Dioner Navarro, but do realize that regression is coming for those pristine ratios of his.
As we said, John Danks has been DFA’d after getting roughed up the whole month. Erik Johnson has been called up to take his spot in the rotation, and Miguel Gonzalez also looms in the minors. Neither of those two are particularly inspiring, as evidenced by Danks hanging around in front of them for as long as he did.
Relievers:
| Name | Saves/Holds | Innings Pitched | Strikeouts | ERA | WHIP | SIERA | Swinging Strike % | BABIP | Career BABIP |
| David Robertson | 8 Saves | 10.1 | 13 | 0.87 | 0.77 | 2.15 | 14.5% | .238 | .304 |
| Nate Jones | 7 Holds; 1 Save | 12.0 | 10 | 0.75 | 0.42 | 3.19 | 10.9% | .100 | .303 |
| Matt Albers | 6 Holds | 11.2 | 7 | 0.00 | 0.77 | 3.69 | 6.9% | .200 | .291 |
| Zach Duke | 6 Hold | 8.0 | 7 | 2.25 | 1.25 | 2.90 | 10.6% | .320 | .321 |
| Jake Petricka | 1 Hold | 7.2 | 6 | 4.70 | 1.83 | 5.40 | 8.6% | .273 | .309 |
| Dan Jennings | 1 Hold | 8.0 | 6 | 1.13 | 1.13 | 2.81 | 7.8% | .333 | .313 |
| Zach Putnam | 0 Holds | 9.2 | 11 | 3.72 | 0.93 | 2.41 | 18.7% | .261 | .302 |
Now we see the bullpen that has accepted the challenge of the starting rotation to see who can post a lower ERA. Their starters have a 3.18 ERA with a 3.99 SIERA while the bullpen sports a 1.69 ERA (28th) with a 3.26 SIERA.
David Robertson has proven to be an effective closer over the years and this season is no different. Nate Jones is staying healthy with his wicked fastball/slider combo. Matt Albers finally saw his streak of 30 scoreless innings snapped this month, though his ERA remains a cool 0.00 for those keeping track. They’re even getting solid contributions from the middle relief types. The shutdown pitching through April has been a true team effort.
15-Day Disabled List:
Alex Avila – Placed on 15-day DL on April 24 with right hamstring strain.
Kevan Smith - Placed on 15-day DL on April 26, retroactive to April 24, with sacroiliac joint dysfunction.
Daniel Webb - Placed on 15-day DL on April 29 with right elbow flexor inflammation.
Live Expert Q&A Chats - Every Weekday @ 1 PM and 6 PM EST (DFS)
Fantasy Baseball Chat Room
[iflychat_embed id="c-55" hide_user_list="yes" hide_popup_chat="no" height="400px"]
