Finding At Bats for Jake Burger
In 36 games with the White Sox this year, Jake Burger has 10 HR, .893 OPS, and 138 WRC+. To state it another way, he’s been punishing the baseball and I love it. However, 15 of those 36 games have been at DH. As Eloy Jimenez returns from the Injured List it raises questions of how to keep Jake in the lineup.
Now, I think it needs to be said that Too Many Bats and Not Enough Holes, is not just a common plot in adult cinema but it’s also a great problem to have. Especially for a team that has struggled to produce runs this year. We’ll get to the second base idea in a bit, but first, let’s see where we can find some plate appearances for Jake without trying to destroy his ankles.
From the start of June to the All Star Break, the Sox have 34 games in 39 days. So roughly 1 off-day per week through June and the start of July. If we give Jake a day off a week, which is reasonable against a matchup that’s bad for him, we need to find 5 days of playing time for him.
Third Base
I haven’t been as afraid that someone is going to die of a strikeout as I am with Yoan Moncada, since I used to ingest a decent amount of Carlos Gomez at bats. Joking aside, I think anyone who has watched the Sox has seen Yoan grimacing or come up limping or just playing through pain. The guy deserves a day off every once in a while and I think once a week. Jake has done a lot of work over the past few years to go from being a butcher at 3B to serviceable. In 2022, he played 362 innings at 3B and was -7 Outs Above Average. This year, in half that time, he’s only at -1 OAA. Negative is still bad, but it’s reasonable to have a guy that costs you a little on defense if he mashes the ball. Jake certainly falls into this category. So we have 1 day at 3B locked in.
First Base
Jake Burger has played surprisingly little first base for the Sox or in the minors. However, we have seen him do it in Spring Training and once already this year. He’s seemingly fine there. But also, it is a place where it is reasonable to get him at least one at bat per week. For two very specific reasons:
First, it’s probably reasonable to give Andrew Vaughn some off days, considering how he has faded in September:
And before you say, that was because of left field! Remember that Vaughn sat out of Spring Training games with a sore back because of the workload they put on him:
“Andrew’s going to take a few days off,” Grifol told reporters on Saturday. “We’re going to err on the side of caution. He’s had a ton (31) of at-bats. He’s played a ton.”
Look, there is nothing inherently wrong with this, not everyone is Cal Ripken Jr. But if we know the guy is prone to back soreness when being overworked, let’s give him some rest.
And second, as mentioned Burger has a 138 WRC+ while Vaughn is sitting at 101. Burger is simply hitting much better than Andrew.
OK, so we have 1 day at 3B and 1 day at 1B. Three to go.
Designated Hitter
This is where he should get the majority of his days. In fact, he should probably split time with Eloy at DH. And yeah, that means Eloy would be out in Right Field. Now I know that scares a lot of you, as we saw in the poll we ran yesterday:
To be honest, I was in the GFY camp, because I don’t wanna see either. But if forced to choose right now, I would choose Eloy in RF. You’d be correct to question me on that because Eloy both presents an injury risk and a sub-par outfielder. However, the defensive fall off from Eloy to whoever would be there instead of him is not that large. Gavin Sheets is a little better than him and he’s actually about on par with Clint Frazier (yeah, I have no idea why the Sox are giving Frazier reps in CF). If you look at UZR/150, Eloy is the best of that bunch, but yes they’re all bad. The point is though, Eloy can fake RF just as much as these other dudes, but his bat is more valuable. And Sheets being left handed, they’ll find at bats for him and likely ones that will benefit him.
If we take 1 day at 3B, 1 day at 1B, and 3 days at DH, we’re at our goal. But yeah, I know what you want to talk about.
Second Base
The other day, a few of the beat reporters mentioned some interesting second base news. Here’s an example, including a quote tweet:
Not trying to pick on Ozzie Jr here (other people said the same thing), but they actually did try this a few years ago. In 35 innings in Charlotte at 2B he produced 2 errors. Not great, though a small sample. And if you’re looking for an eye test, Jim Margalus had a chance to watch Burger play 2B in the minors, here’s his take:
To me, this is the highest risk and lowest reward option. While 2B has not produced at the plate, it is a position that can cost you tremendously in the field. Especially now without the shift. It seems like a risk you don’t have to take, especially with the plethora of opportunities you’ll have to plug Jake in other places on an oft-injured team. It’s also a risk to Jake’s health. You might look at Eloy and think about his injuries, but don’t forget about the gap between 2017 and 2021 where we didn’t see Burger. And the fact that he’s also been on the IL this year. Why play him out of position when they know about those risks as well?
Last note on the topic, Daryl Van Schouwen also tweeted this:
Gonna guess they don’t end up getting many game reps there either.
At the end of the day, the White Sox need to find ways to get Burger at bats. There seem to be some very reasonable ways to do it and I don’t think we need to try to solve all of the White Sox’s problems with one guy who happens to be knocking the cover off the ball. Instead, let’s enjoy the fact that they might actually have some real bats coming off the bench, they might be able to rest some guys without having to play guys that couldn’t cut it in the Mexican League, and the bats we were promised might actually exist.
-Chorizy-E
About The Author
chorizy
Section 108 Row 13, Bassist for Barren Plains, Acclaimed drunkard