Early Grades for All of the Chicago White Sox's Offseason Acquisitions
Following one of the more aggressive offseasons in recent memory, the Chicago White Sox were picked by many to contend for a spot in the postseason.
Twelve of the 45 ballots cast over at Baseball Prospectus before the year began, for example, predicted the club would be playing baseball in October. That’s what happens when guys like Melky Cabrera, David Robertson, Zach Duke and Jeff Samardzija are brought in.
Well, an 8-10 start has dampened some of the fanbase’s enthusiasm. Fact is, if you scroll through the Twitter feeds, the White Sox have many at the brink of exasperation.
How do the new additions grade out, though? Have they hurt or helped the overall cause?
Let’s break down the contribution of each one of the seven new arrivals and grade them.
Emilio Bonifacio, UT
1 of 7
Perhaps the lack of playing time Emilio Bonifacio has been getting is due to his poor production. Perhaps his poor production is due to the lack of playing time.
Whatever the case, Bonifacio has only appeared in nine contests (two starts), slashing out at .077/.143/.077 in the process. It’s been woeful.
With that said, Bonifacio will hopefully settle into a rhythm as the season progresses. That is, of course, if he can find the field on a regular basis.
Grade: D
Melky Cabrera, LF
2 of 7
After slashing out at .162/.162/.162 over his first nine games, Melky Cabrera has turned it on, putting up a .400/.472/.467 slash line over the eight games prior to the matinee against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, reaching base safely in each contest. He also delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Cleveland Indians on April 20.
When we look at the larger picture, his production in the two-hole is critical.
Not only is he responsible for moving leadoff hitter Adam Eaton into scoring position, but he is tasked with ensuring that Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche and Avisail Garcia have as many run-producing opportunities as possible by getting on base.
Frankly, it's a large responsibility, but it seems Cabrera is up to the task.
To be sure, he will not maintain his current pace. That said, a .290/.350/.380 slash line is not out of the question. And that would be just fine with everyone involved.
Grade: B
Zach Duke, LHP
3 of 7
It’s early, but the only metric that has discernably gone up from last season for Zach Duke is the number of walks he's issued per nine innings (2.61 in 2015 versus 4.32 this season).
He has maintained a sparkling ERA and FIP just over 2.00, is striking out over 10 batters every nine innings and has allowed a batting average on balls in play within .001 point of last season’s mark, per FanGraphs.
It’s remarkable.
He’s also proving to be a workhorse, leading the bullpen in appearances going into action Wednesday, and has pitched on no rest three times. And in only one of those outings did he allow a run or more than one baserunner.
With Duke setting the stage in the eighth inning, the White Sox bullpen is at a clear advantage over most opponents. Solid move by Rick Hahn.
Grade: A
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Dan Jennings, LHP
4 of 7
When Dan Jennings came over from the Miami Marlins in exchange for Andre Rienzo, there were question marks.
Sure, the left-hander was coming off a season during which he put up a 1.34 ERA over 47 outings, but he’d also finished with a 1.537 WHIP and walked 3.8 batters every nine innings. None of those metrics are very good, especially for a reliever.
Digging deeper, Jennings was absolutely terrible in high-leverage situations, allowing a .333 batting average against with a .993 OPS last season. For what the White Sox gave up, though, it was a good move.
Well, Jennings still has a propensity to issue too many walks (six in nine innings this season), but his WHIP is a respectable 1.222 and he’s averaging nine strikeouts per nine innings.
Grade: B-
Adam LaRoche, DH/1B
5 of 7
Of all the acquisitions Hahn made this offseason, Adam LaRoche is, by a wide margin, having the toughest time.
In all, he's hitting .200 with a .369 slugging percentage. Not good. More concerning, though, is the fact that his on-base percentage sits at a meager .297.
And while he was brought in as left-handed protection for Jose Abreu, perhaps his greatest strength at the plate over the course of his career has been his ability to consistently reach base at a high rate.
If he can find a way to lower his 37.8 percent strikeout rate, the issue should work itself out. After all, if he is going to continue to swing at pitches out of the zone, he’s going to continue to see offerings he can’t connect with and fail to draw enough walks.
That is, of course, easier said than done. It's going to take a lot for LaRoche to dig himself out.
Grade: D-
David Robertson, CL
6 of 7
David Robinson (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 SV) has been nothing short of spectacular this season.
Perhaps pitching coach Don Cooper summed it up best following Robertson’s first save of the season (3 K, 1 IP) against the Minnesota Twins when he said, “I was fired up,” per the Chicago Sun-Times’ Daryl Van Schouwen.
That’s about right, Coop. Robertson has been on-point all season, striking out 17 with a 0.500 WHIP over eight innings pitched. Oh yeah, he’s also converted all three of his save opportunities this season.
And coming out of spring training, there was legitimate concern that he wasn’t quite prepared. After all, he dealt with forearm soreness for a large part of the spring and wasn’t able to unleash his full arsenal in any one appearance, according to Van Schouwen.
Shame on the doubters. Robertson is proving worthy of the hype.
Grade: A+
Jeff Samardzija, RHP
7 of 7
Going into Wednesday’s matchup with the Baltimore Orioles, Jeff Samardzija had tossed 14 innings of one-run ball over his prior two starts, lowering his ERA from 6.23 to 3.33 in the process. Sure he labored during his start against the Cleveland Indians on April 22, but things were looking up.
Then the Orioles showed him what was what.
In all, they torched Samardzija for eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits over five innings. It was ugly.
To be sure, outings like that are bound to happen, but it marked the third time in six starts that Shark gave up four or more earned runs, and he has allowed at least eight baserunners each time out.
Will he bounce back, though? It’s likely. After all, Samardzija has proven over the past three seasons to be a capable starter.
The only question is: Will he be the guy that put up a 3.81 ERA in 2012 or the guy who finished with a 2.99 ERA last year?
Time will tell, of course. For the moment, though, Samardzija isn’t living up to expectations on the South Side.
Grade: C
Unless otherwise noted, all traditional, team and advanced statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference.com. Transaction, injury and game information are courtesy of MLB.com.
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