Every Way the White Sox Have Sucked so far in 2023
The Chicago White Sox are lucky that they play in what many consider the worst division in MLB because although they’re one of the worst teams in the league they’re not the worst one inside their own division. Thanks to the Oakland A’s, the White Sox are also only the third worst team in the American League to begin the 2023 season. Don’t get it wrong, though, the White Sox have sucked a lot after three weeks of the regular season.
The sad thing is that yeah, the White Sox have already dealt with injuries, but by this point the team should be used to it because it’s been happening to the same players for three straight years. Plus, every team is going to go through adversity at some point during the season, but we have once again seen that the White Sox have not been equipped to handle the slightest bit of chaos thanks to a poor job of constructing the roster by the front office.
Following their fifth consecutive loss, starting pitcher Lance Lynn tried to make some sense of the frustrating beginning to the season while he appeared on the Foul Territory podcast.
A whole new hitting staff, new bench coach, new manager, new everything; there is just a way of going about our day-to-day business that has changed. When you have that, at this level, when you got things that are happening on the fly, it takes a minute for it to set in. Things are setting in, the work is getting done, and everyone is buying in. Now, we just gotta figure out how to make it translate to wins.
You can see more of Lynn below.
I mean, OK yeah, fair, but also, that’s good talk for a team that’s at the start or maybe in year two of a rebuild, not the White Sox who are supposedly in their window to compete for championships. The White Sox do not have the benefit of waiting for things to get fixed because by the time they are, it might be too late.
I’ve been wondering this since the first week of the season, what exactly are the White Sox good at as a team? I know, I know, it’s relatively early, but the answer is nothing to this point of the season, outside of a handful of individual performances.
So, here’s every way the White Sox have sucked so far in 2023, as they head into Tuesday’s schedule at 7-16, the fourth worst record in MLB. Only the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals and Oakland A’s have been worse.
Defense
(rankings heading into Tuesday, April 25)
Errors: 11 – 16th most
Fielding %: .986 – 18th
DRS: -2 – 21st
OAA: -3 – 21st
Wild Pitches: 9 – 8th most
Passed Balls: 2 – 2nd most
Stolen Bases: 23 – 3rd most
You know what, compared to the other aspects of the team, the defense isn’t the worst issue for the White Sox, except for the fact that every team is running on them and stealing bases at a nearly 80% success rate.
Offense
(rankings heading into Tuesday, April 25)
Runs Per Game: 4.17 – 20th
Batting Average: .235 – 20th
On Base %: .296 – 28th
Slugging %: .382 – 20th
OPS: .678 – 23rd
OPS+: 87 – 23rd
wRC+: 88 – 23rd
wOBA: .299 – 24th
Home Runs: 23 – 21st
Walks: 60 – 27th
Hits: 187 – 15th
Stolen Bases: 15 – 15th
The White Sox do have the third most doubles, so there it is, they’re good at hitting doubles. Of course, the issue is that they rarely have anyone on base, which leads to a bottom third offense in MLB. The White Sox are also tied with the Detroit Tigers for the highest ground ball percentage on offense at 47.6.
Starting Pitching
(rankings heading into Tuesday, April 25)
ERA: 5.00 – 24th
WHIP: 1.46 – 23rd
HR/9: 1.72 – 26th
BB%: 10.5 – 26th
FIP: 5.30 – 25th
xFIP: 4.73 – 23rd
Just imagine how much worse the rotation would be without Dylan Cease developing into one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Bullpen
(rankings heading into Tuesday, April 25)
ERA: 6.10 – 28th
WHIP: 1.71 – 30th
HR/9: 1.02 – 17th
BB%: 12.9 – 29th
FIP: 4.46 – 22nd
xFIP: 4.56 – 23rd
Yeah, Liam Hendriks hasn’t pitched yet this season, but it’s not like there is only guy dragging the entire bullpen down. It’s almost every reliever that hasn’t been consistent so far in 2023.
Can it get better? Sure. The guys on the injured list will come back and Hendriks will give the bullpen a boost, but that starting rotation is still the most concerning part and if that group doesn’t get better quick, then the White Sox will have another long season ahead of them.