Jake Burger’s emergence as a legit major league player has been a pleasant experience to watch. After two devastating injuries after he got drafted in the first round, many didn’t think he would ever pan out. But, in 2023, six years after he got drafted, he has turned into a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat.
Burger Is In Elite Company
So far, Burger has hit nine home runs in just 75 at-bats. That means he is hitting a homer every 8.3 at-bats. That is elite stuff. To put that in comparison, that currently ranks sixth in the American League, and the record in a season is 10.61, currently held by Mark McGwire.
Now it is still very early in the season so he can obviously regress, but he has shown signs of consistent power. Even last year when he came up for Yoan Moncada he was able to provide a lot of power in only a few games. If he stays healthy, he will easily get up to 30+ home runs this year.
His advanced metrics are just as impressive, as he ranks as high as possible in max exit velocity, per Baseball Savant. That means he can hit the ball as hard as anyone in the league. That bodes well in terms of power because you need to hit the ball hard consistently to give yourself opportunities to hit home runs.
All of his advanced stats are up from last year, as he has been able to show improvement from his brief stints over the last two years. As a full-time player, he has proved that he belongs in the lineup every single day. He barely has a full season under his belt, so you can expect him to get even better as his career progresses.
Luis Robert Jr. Is Also A Power Threat
Jake Burger is not the only one that is showing immense power so far, as Luis Robert has emerged from his slump and has hit a homerun in four straight games. Becasue of this emergence, he now leads the American League in homers.
Robert Jr. has had an up and down season, but when he is hot, he is one of the best hitters in all of the game. Right now he is hot, as he has raised his total in the homerun category to 12, which is only five away from the most anyone on the Sox hit last year.
I don’t know which is crazier, the fact that Luis has 12 homeruns already, or the fact that the leader had only 17 last year. Regardless, it is good to see that someone will pass up that measly total from last year.
If Robert Jr. can maintain just half this production for the rest of the season he will be in the MVP conversation, as he has a 2.3 WAR already to this point. This is the type of player the White Sox figured they would see this year, and it is nice to see after a very bad slump.
nice to see after a very bad slump