After yesterday’s rain out, the White Sox made a flurry of roster moves this afternoon in advance of the series opener against the Minnesota Twins:
- Placed Jake Lamb on the 10-Day IL
- Optioned Luis Gonzalez to AAA Charlotte
- Reinstated Billy Hamilton from the 10-Day IL
- Recalled Gavin Sheets from AAA Charlotte
Interestingly enough, none of these moves involved Jose Abreu, who was injured on Sunday afternoon after taking a sinker to his left knee. X-Rays were negative, and Tony La Russa mentioned that Abreu had been fighting to get into the lineup on Monday before the game was cancelled.
Hopefully, Jose Abreu is healthy enough to continue to contribute to the lineup.
In any potential absence, we are likely to see a combination of Yasmani Grandal, Andrew Vaughn, and newcomer Gavin Sheets over at 1B. Sheets was called up earlier this year but still has not made his major league debut. He is slashing .292/.352/.472 in Charlotte this season with seven home runs and 33 RBI. He has been much stronger against RHP (.900 OPS) than LHP (.659 OPS) and has struggled away from Charlotte (1.036 OPS at home vs .617 OPS on the road). Sheets will look to fill the role of a left-handed power bat against RHP in a White Sox lineup that has historically struggled against righties – a role that Jake Lamb had been filling pretty well before his IL stint. Lamb likely hurt himself while catching a fly ball out in LF over the weekend.
Billy Hamilton also makes his return to the roster in the midst of a pretty solid offensive season (by his standards). His 75 wRC+ is – shockingly – his highest mark since 2016, and he currently has a 154 wRC+ against LHP. This is important because the White Sox announced that Hamilton, a switch-hitter, will only hit right-handed upon his return from an oblique injury.
His speed in the outfield will also add a boost to a team that’s had some *interesting* defensive lineups in the outfield this season.
Luis Gonzalez had a short stint in Chicago but made the most of it, going 2-for-8 with two doubles and three walks. If any injuries occur later in the season, there’s a chance we see him again in 2021.
As currently constructed, the White Sox have a lot of platoon-type players on their roster. It will be up to Tony La Russa to maximize the effectiveness of this roster with the limited resources he has until reinforcements will arrive.
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Even though I wanted Sheets up instead of Gonzalez, I’m still surprised Gonzalez is being sent down so fast, especially after performing fairly well. Either give him a chance or don’t. Nice game for Sheets, though.
How come the Sox have not played Mercedes at catcher all season. It would give them another option should Abreu, Collins or Grandal go down. With the injuries hits they are talking this season, that would help alot.