Burger’s Bat Shines, But His Glove Gives White Sox A Dilemma

On Saturday afternoon Jake Burger did what he does best. Crush baseballs. He tied the game at one in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly to center field. He tied the game at four in the sixth inning with a 402-foot, two-run homer to left field. He hit a 104 mph line drive that was caught by Anthony Santander in the eighth inning and then moved the winning run to third base with a single to right field in the tenth.

The White Sox needed someone to step up. They were in the midst of a three-game skid and desperately needed a win. Burger was one of the guys to answer the call.

“I was pretty upset about Bournemouth beating Tottenham today, so I had to take out some aggression on the ball today,” said a smiling Burger after the game. “It’s controlling what I can control and not trying to get too big. And it’s been fun. Hopefully, I just keep it up and keep it going.”

Burger Continues To Crush Baseball’s

It provided yet another reason that Burger deserves to be on the major league roster. Since getting recalled from Triple-A, Burger has been hitting .353 with a 1.368 OPS. He also has three home runs and six RBIs in his first 17 at-bats. 

His solid showing comes as no surprise. When Burger squares up the baseball, he can hit it as hard as anyone in the major leagues. Literally. In 2021 and 2022, he ranked in the MLB’s top five percentile of max exit velocity. This year he has the highest in the MLB through 15 games at 117.5 mph.

His scorching exit velocities even leave his teammates in awe. 

“Even during [batting practice] we’re usually in the same group, and watching him hitting in BP is impressive,” Oscar Colás said of Burger through interpreter Billy Russo. “Now seeing him in the games is more impressive.”

All this comes after being left off the Opening Day roster in favor of Romy Gonzalez and Hanser Alberto, despite batting .250 with eight home runs, 26 RBIs, and a .760 OPS the year before. 

Does His Offense Out Weight The Lack Of Defense?

There is just one problem. He can’t play defense. Given his size and injury history, there are also some questions about his range and mobility. Last year he had a -7 OAA and -5RAA at third base. Burger made six errors at third base in just 91 chances. 

For a team that consistently finds itself in the bottom half of the league in almost every defensive metric having Burger playing the field regularly could be problematic. 

But the White Sox have consistently shown they don’t care about defense. They played Andrew Vaughn in right field for an entire season despite the fact he had never played there before just to get his bat in the lineup. They played Gavin Sheets in the lineup for the same reason. 

Burger has been more productive than each of them in 2023. There is no reason they can’t put him in the lineup, whether that means making him the designated hitter or biting the bullet and playing him at first base. Another solution would be to trade Sheets or Vaughn to get a reliever in return.

Through the White Sox’s first 15 games, Burger has more home runs, RBIs, and extra-base hits than Sheets. The only thing keeping Burger off the roster when tough decisions need to be made is the huge question mark on defense. 

But his game-tying home run in the sixth on Saturday adds to his growing reputation of clutch hits. Last June, he hit a 427-foot game-tying pinch-hit home run against the Tampa Bay Rays. He also had the game-winning home run against the Boston Red Sox and a walk-off hit in extra inning against the Cubs in May. 

No Stranger To Adversity 

Whatever the roadblock, Burger is not a stranger to overcoming adversity. There is no reason to think he can’t put in the work to improve his defense. 

 He missed the entire 2018 season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered during a spring training game in February. During a lengthy rehab process, he re-ruptured it in May.

In 2019 he missed the entire season for the second straight year due to a bruised left heel. When he was finally ready to retake the field, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the minor league season in 2020. He spent the entire season at the Schaumberg training facility.

There was a time in October of 2019 when Burger had a conversation with Chris Getz about quitting baseball. His passion for the game was gone, and he felt burned out. However, his parents convinced him to stick with it.

Burger dedicated the 2020 offseason to his body. He improved his diet and lost a significant amount of weight, making him lighter on his feet. His improved body allowed him to be more versatile in the field. The hard work finally paid off when he was called up in July 2021.

When looking at the White Sox’s current roster, there are two bench guys, Romy Gonzalez, and Hanser Alberto, that stand in the way of Burger. Moncada will obviously get his starting job at third base back once he returns. The White Sox like Alberto and Gonzalez because of their versatility. Versatility is great, but when you look at a guy like Alberto, there is nothing he does better than Burger. He isn’t a good defender, and he doesn’t produce at the plate at the rate Burger does.

If you are not going to trade Sheets or Vaughn then Alberto or Gonzalez have to be the odd man out. Burger has earned his spot on the major league roster. It’s time he stays there for good.