Earlier today we looked at the probable 2018 White Sox rotation. Now we shift our focus to the lineup. The 2018 White Sox lineup will feature pretty much the exact same players from 2017 plus the addition of catcher Welington Castillo, although the order of those players figures to be a little different. In my opinion, the Opening Day starting lineup will look something like this:
1. Yoan Moncada-2B
2. Avisail Garcia-RF
3. Jose Abreu-1B
4. Matt Davidson-DH
5. Nicky Delmonico-LF
6. Welington Castillo-C
7. Tim Anderson-SS
8. Yolmer Sanchez-3B
9. Adam Engel-CF
The Reasoning Behind The Lineup
Yoan Moncada has openly stated that he feels most comfortable out of the lead-off spot. He will see more pitches and get more at-bats, which will lead to him getting on base at a higher clip where he can use his speed to punish defenses and get into scoring position for…
Avi Garcia. He was a man on a mission last season posting career highs in essentially every offensive category. Skeptics will say it was a fluke year, but even if he doesn’t hit in the .330’s, he can definitely hit in the .290’s. His contact rate plus his mix of power and speed make him an ideal no. 2 hitter in any lineup.
Jose Abreu is going to be Jose Abreu. You can essentially plug him in for his 100+ RBI’s and 30+ home runs. And if the first two guys in the order can get on base for him, then the White Sox should be scoring early and often.
Matt Davidson comes with some huge swing and miss concerns, but if you like to go off of spring training numbers, then you are in luck. Davidson has cut down on his strikeout numbers by more than 10 percent so far in spring. He has stated that his main goal is to draw more walks and hit for more contact. He has enough raw power to where he could lead the team in home runs. Last season he had 26 in 118 games played. He missed a big chunk of time with a wrist injury, so if he can stay healthy, look for those home run numbers to spike into the 30-35 range.
Nicky Delmonico burst onto the scene last season, getting on base almost at will. He ended the year with a .373 OBP. That should drop a bit once pitchers adjust to him, but then he will have the opportunity to adjust right back. That’s all baseball is in a nutshell. A game of adjustments. If he can still hit .260 and get on base at a .350 clip, that’s good enough for me from the 5-hole. Honestly, you can pretty much flip Delmonico and Castillo in the 5/6 spots in this lineup. I have Delmonico here because of his lefty bat behind Avi and Abreu, who are right-handed batters. (Moncada is a switch-hitter).
Welington Castillo was the main addition the White Sox brought in this off-season. Not only did he set new career highs in home runs (20) and runs scored (44), he also threw out a league-leading 44 percent of would-be-basestealers, all while playing only 96 games. His veteran presence behind the plate will also help the younger White Sox pitchers.
Tim Anderson will look to bounce back from a forgetful 2017. So far his head seems to be in the right place and there should be much less pressure on him batting 7th as opposed to 1st or 2nd. Fans will just have to accept his aggressive approach and the fact that he will never be a big on-base guy. Once he gets on he has the speed to swipe bags, go 1st to 3rd on shallow hits, and pick up some easy doubles. He has deceptive strength where he can go for 20 home runs on a yearly basis. Add in 20 doubles and 20 steals and you’re looking at great production from the 7-hole in the lineup.
Yolmer Sanchez is the perfect fit at 8 behind Tim. In fact, Sanchez would be a great 2-hole hitter and will probably get some looks there throughout the season. Yolmer is a contact hitter, so if/when Tim gets on in front of him, hit-and-run opportunities will pop up. Yolmer’s main job here is to move runners up with solid contact and/or produce productive outs, i.e fly balls that allow the runners to tag. When Yolmer gets on, he can be a decent base stealing threat, but won’t wow anyone with his speed.
Finally we have Adam Engel. While a freak of nature in center field, he had an ugly year at the plate last season. “Ugly” is actually underselling it, but you get the point. This off-season, Engel has been working tirelessly on fixing his swing. He has added a leg kick that seems to be helping him find a consistent rhythm at the plate. Even if he can hit in the .230 range, fans will take it granted he batted .166 last year. He has absolute wheels although he needs to refine his base stealing technique to truly tap into his potential of another 20-steal threat. If he can get on he essentially becomes a second leadoff man for Moncada back at the top of the lineup.
To Wrap Up
When you look up and down this potential lineup, it really isn’t that bad. Teams could certainly do worse that is. The first full season of Moncada should be an exciting one to say the least. There is a healthy mix of speed and power from top to bottom, and more should be on the way by the name of Eloy Jimenez and some other mid-level prospects such as Ryan Cordell. They definitely aren’t going to be one of the top offensive teams in the MLB, but they have enough talent to stay in games and grind out wins. In year 2 of a rebuild, that is more than enough.
