Ranking the 2021 Sox hitters by wRC+

[VAfan]

This ranking only includes players who are still on the Sox.  So no Hamilton, Lamb, Eaton, Hernandez, or Goodwin.  I also didn't include Mercedes or Burger or Romy.  

Against lefties.  Plate appearances in parentheses.

1. Robert (68) 231
2. Grandal (96) 184
3. Abreu (153) 161
4. Vaughn (141) 156
5. Anderson (143) 125
6. Harrison (141) 114
7. Moncada (135) 99
8. Garcia (139) 91
9. Engel (49) 76
10. Zavala (30) 74
11. Eloy (59) 60
12. Collins (57) 57
13. Sheets (19) - 26

Against righties.

1. Engel (91) 154
2. Grandal (279) 150
3. Sheets (160) 143
4. Robert (228) 135
5. Moncada (462) 129
6. Anderson (408) 118
7. Abreu (506) 116
8. Eloy (172) 116
9. Garcia (335) 101
10. Collins (172) 101
11. Harrison (359) 99
12. Vaughn (328) 68
13. Zavala (74) 63

Aside from the small samples for several of these players, what would I draw from this? 

1.  Sheets/Vaughn are a tremendous platoon pairing, whether it's DH, 1B, or RF (or LF).  

2.  Sheets should get full-time duty against right handed pitching, as the 3rd best hitter against them on the team.  

3. Andrew Vaughn will need to be eased in against right handed pitching.   At the moment, he's only hitting them better than Seby Zavala.  Yet he crushes lefties at the 4th best rate on the team, so sending him to AAA doesn't make much sense.  

4.  Adam Engel might be a better hitter than we give him credit for.  He had reverse splits last year, but has hit lefties better in the past.  If he can stay healthy and put up the kind of offensive numbers he has put up the last two years (121 and 127 wRC+), he should get a lot of time in RF. 

5.  Harrison and Garcia are pretty well matched as a platoon as well.  But it's close enough that Harrison could be the primary 2B. 

6.  Garcia shouldn't get as many ABs as he had last year.  But he probably will come close, given TLRs preferences.  

7. Eloy isn't going to hit this bad or rank this low.  If he does, our offense will be in trouble.  

8.  The Sox need 2019 Moncada back. His wRC+ numbers were 121 against lefties and 147 against righties.

9.  The numbers for Luis Robert are artifically low because they include the first half.  In the second half, his overall blended wRC+ was 173 compared to 125 in the first half. 

10.  Jose Abreu is still crushing lefties.   

[CeaseAndExist]

Last year =/= "at the moment". People like you keep trying to do this with Vaughn, and I don't get it.

He'll be one of the best hitters on the team most likely. 

[MackowiakYakYak]

31 minutes ago, CeaseAndExist said:

Last year =/= "at the moment". People like you keep trying to do this with Vaughn, and I don't get it.

He'll be one of the best hitters on the team most likely. 

I don’t know if this is trashing Vaughn too much? It makes him look bad, but the poster recognized that Vaughn will probably improve over time with righties. Maybe the adjustments were made over the off-season or maybe we will see it a the season progresses. I don’t think it’s someone talking trash when it’s just pointing out what we’ve seen from him so far. Everyone knows he’s got upside but it’s a matter of creating the best future Vaughn

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

1 hour ago, CeaseAndExist said:

Last year =/= "at the moment". People like you keep trying to do this with Vaughn, and I don't get it.

He'll be one of the best hitters on the team most likely. 

People like us do it to all players. We all have different ways of using data. For example the most popular thing I see regarding Sheets is that his AB's were cherry picked.

Yet I have never once seen a person who said that show me ,with data, that cherry picking AB's existed. Now if they wanted to say he's LH and most pitchers are RH therefore he has the same advantage as Vaughn does against LHP only on a more frequent basis I can accept that.

[Chicago White Sox]

“5.  Harrison and Garcia are pretty well matched as a platoon as well.  But it's close enough that Harrison could be the primary 2B.”

• Leury Garcia (2019 to ‘21): 83 wRC+ vs. RHP | 106 wRC+ vs. LHP
• Josh Harrison (2019 to ‘21): 83 wRC+ vs. RHP | 103 wRC+ vs. LHP

I’m not seeing how these two are “well matched” for a 2B platoon.  They look like completely redundant players who do nothing to address our weakness against RHP.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Chicago White Sox

[PorkChopExpress]

7 hours ago, VAfan said:

This ranking only includes players who are still on the Sox.  So no Hamilton, Lamb, Eaton, Hernandez, or Goodwin.  I also didn't include Mercedes or Burger or Romy.  

Against lefties.  Plate appearances in parentheses.

1. Robert (68) 231
2. Grandal (96) 184
3. Abreu (153) 161
4. Vaughn (141) 156
5. Anderson (143) 125
6. Harrison (141) 114
7. Moncada (135) 99
8. Garcia (139) 91
9. Engel (49) 76
10. Zavala (30) 74
11. Eloy (59) 60
12. Collins (57) 57
13. Sheets (19) - 26

Against righties.

1. Engel (91) 154
2. Grandal (279) 150
3. Sheets (160) 143
4. Robert (228) 135
5. Moncada (462) 129
6. Anderson (408) 118
7. Abreu (506) 116
8. Eloy (172) 116
9. Garcia (335) 101
10. Collins (172) 101
11. Harrison (359) 99
12. Vaughn (328) 68
13. Zavala (74) 63

Aside from the small samples for several of these players, what would I draw from this? 

1.  Sheets/Vaughn are a tremendous platoon pairing, whether it's DH, 1B, or RF (or LF).  

2.  Sheets should get full-time duty against right handed pitching, as the 3rd best hitter against them on the team.  

3. Andrew Vaughn will need to be eased in against right handed pitching.   At the moment, he's only hitting them better than Seby Zavala.  Yet he crushes lefties at the 4th best rate on the team, so sending him to AAA doesn't make much sense.  

4.  Adam Engel might be a better hitter than we give him credit for.  He had reverse splits last year, but has hit lefties better in the past.  If he can stay healthy and put up the kind of offensive numbers he has put up the last two years (121 and 127 wRC+), he should get a lot of time in RF. 

5.  Harrison and Garcia are pretty well matched as a platoon as well.  But it's close enough that Harrison could be the primary 2B. 

6.  Garcia shouldn't get as many ABs as he had last year.  But he probably will come close, given TLRs preferences.  

7. Eloy isn't going to hit this bad or rank this low.  If he does, our offense will be in trouble.  

8.  The Sox need 2019 Moncada back. His wRC+ numbers were 121 against lefties and 147 against righties.

9.  The numbers for Luis Robert are artifically low because they include the first half.  In the second half, his overall blended wRC+ was 173 compared to 125 in the first half. 

10.  Jose Abreu is still crushing lefties.   

Abreu needs to sit more against righties this year.  

[Two-Gun Pete]

8 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

“5.  Harrison and Garcia are pretty well matched as a platoon as well.  But it's close enough that Harrison could be the primary 2B.”

• Leury Garcia (2019 to ‘21): 83 wRC+ vs. RHP | 106 wRC+ vs. LHP
• Josh Harrison (2019 to ‘21): 83 wRC+ vs. RHP | 103 wRC+ vs. LHP

I’m not seeing how these two are “well matched” for a 2B platoon.  They look like completely redundant players who do nothing to address our weakness against RHP.

Nah, don't worry about this one.

Once Harrison is DFA (think Memorial Day-ish) RH can either putz around, then trade for another guy in decline, or get another RP we don't need.

 

Then, at year's end, some posters will b**** and complain as to why this team can't sign the next top FA, as geezing geezer Harrison continues to get paid.

 

The cycle of White Sox.

[VAfan]

On 3/24/2022 at 12:54 AM, Chicago White Sox said:

“5.  Harrison and Garcia are pretty well matched as a platoon as well.  But it's close enough that Harrison could be the primary 2B.”

• Leury Garcia (2019 to ‘21): 83 wRC+ vs. RHP | 106 wRC+ vs. LHP
• Josh Harrison (2019 to ‘21): 83 wRC+ vs. RHP | 103 wRC+ vs. LHP

I’m not seeing how these two are “well matched” for a 2B platoon.  They look like completely redundant players who do nothing to address our weakness against RHP.

You ran 3-year numbers for them.  I only ran last year.   In 2019, Harrison had a TERRIBLE year for Detroit, but he was also apparently hurt.  So why include that?  

Meanwhile, Garcia was league average against righties last year, and Harrison just a tick below.  Either way, they are likely our 9th place hitters.  If the Sox get league average out of the 9th slot in the lineup, I can certainly live with that.  

The way for the Sox to improve this year against righties is to get a full year out of Sheets and a full year out of Eloy, who has hit righties better than lefties over his career.  And if Engel shows his numbers are not just a factor of sample size, he should get plenty of ABs there as well.  

[VAfan]

On 3/24/2022 at 12:57 AM, PorkChopExpress said:

Abreu needs to sit more against righties this year.  

In favor of whom, exactly?  Everyone above him on the chart will also be in most games against right handers. 

[Rowand44]

“Aside from the small sample from several of these players…”

There ya go, didn’t have to carry on after that. 

Edited March 25, 2022 by Rowand44

[Chicago White Sox]

27 minutes ago, VAfan said:

You ran 3-year numbers for them.  I only ran last year.   In 2019, Harrison had a TERRIBLE year for Detroit, but he was also apparently hurt.  So why include that?  

Meanwhile, Garcia was league average against righties last year, and Harrison just a tick below.  Either way, they are likely our 9th place hitters.  If the Sox get league average out of the 9th slot in the lineup, I can certainly live with that.  

The way for the Sox to improve this year against righties is to get a full year out of Sheets and a full year out of Eloy, who has hit righties better than lefties over his career.  And if Engel shows his numbers are not just a factor of sample size, he should get plenty of ABs there as well.  

The Sox are very unlikely to get league average hitting out of a Leury / Harrison platoon at 2B given their career track records against RHP.

And if our plan to improve against good RHP simply involves playing more of a second year guy who was never a top prospect and is almost certain to regress to some extent, then I must question how impactful that plan will be if everything goes right.  Even Rick Hahn said this was a need that needed to be addressed, so there is no need to underscore the issue with “if Adam Engel is healthy and suddenly good against RHP”.

BTW, I’m glad you’re an optimist and there is plenty to be excited about, but it’s never fun having to hope your players can overcome incompetent decision making at the front office level.

[oldsox]

Yesterday, all the Talking Heads on MLB.com had Eloy in the top 5 of all left fielders.

[Balta1701]

2 hours ago, oldsox said:

Yesterday, all the Talking Heads on MLB.com had Eloy in the top 5 of all left fielders.

 

[Dominikk85]

It was Vaughn's first year and he lost 2020 so essentially he went from high A to MLB. 

Sure there was the alt site but it is not the same when you face the same pitchers over and over again.

You don't make a top30 prospect a platoon in his second year unless you are the dodgers who platoon everybody. 

Let him figure out RHP in the majors, maybe sit him once a week against a very good righty. 

Depends on his situation of course but at keast the first two months play him 5 times a week at least. 

[Squirmin' for Yermin]

11 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

 

Yikes, that's a rough position group lol 

[FoxForce2]

1 hour ago, Dominikk85 said:

It was Vaughn's first year and he lost 2020 so essentially he went from high A to MLB. 

Sure there was the alt site but it is not the same when you face the same pitchers over and over again.

You don't make a top30 prospect a platoon in his second year unless you are the dodgers who platoon everybody. 

Let him figure out RHP in the majors, maybe sit him once a week against a very good righty. 

Depends on his situation of course but at keast the first two months play him 5 times a week at least. 

RE: Vaughn, the Sox have the advantage of playing in the rebuilding ALCD (Correa will provide some wins but Twins still a work in progress), combined with a lack of a proven RF/LF leaves the opening(s) for AV. If either of those two conditions didn't exist, there would be real benefit in sending Vaughn to Charlotte to hit as many righties as possible and get as many innings in LF/RF as he could stand for 2-3 months.
Seeing that those two conditions do exist - yeah AV going OJT in the bigs is probably the best choice.   
At least some of this is psychological. Vaughn appears to have the maturity and character to handle it, but it's still not a sure thing.

[VAfan]

Updating this given the addition of AJ Pollock today.  

Against lefties.  Plate appearances in parentheses.

1. Robert (68) 231
2. Grandal (96) 184
3. Abreu (153) 161
4. Vaughn (141) 156
5. AJ Pollock (139) 132
6. Anderson (143) 125
7. Harrison (141) 114
8. Moncada (135) 99
9. Garcia (139) 91
10. Engel (49) 76
11. Zavala (30) 74
12. Eloy (59) 60
13. Collins (57) 57 -- sent to AAA
14. Sheets (19) - 26

Against righties.

1. Engel (91) 154
2. Grandal (279) 150
3. Sheets (160) 143
4. AJ Pollock (283) 140
5. Robert (228) 135
6. Moncada (462) 129
7. Anderson (408) 118
8. Abreu (506) 116
9. Eloy (172) 116
10. Garcia (335) 101
11. Collins (172) 101 - sent to AAA
12. Harrison (359) 99
13. Vaughn (328) 68
14. Zavala (74) 63

Based on this, I would expect the lineup to be something like:

1. Anderson 125/118 - SS (with Garcia backing up)
2. Robert 231/135  - CF (with Engel and Pollock backing up)
3. Abreu 161/116 - 1B (with Grandal, Sheets and Vaughn backing up)
4. Grandal 184/150 - C (with Zavala backing up)
5. Jimenez 60/116 (skewed numbers) - LF  (with Pollock, Vaughn, Sheets, and Engel backing up)
6. Moncada 99/129 - 3B (with Garcia and Harrison backing up)
7. Pollock 132/140 - RF (with Engel, Vaaughn and Sheets backing up)
8. Sheets/Vaughn 143/156 - DH (with Grandal, Abreu, and Jimenez also getting time here)
9. Harrison/Garcia 114/101 - 2B (with Vaughn the emergency backup)

I expect Moncada to hit better this year, and Eloy to excel again.  If they do, the Sox could have an above league average bat at every position, with quite a few players well above league average.