Chicago White Sox: 5 players out of MiLB options
Conor Gillaspie – 3B
Aug 24, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; Chicago White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie (12) rounds the bases on his home run during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
I believe it is a safe bet to say that Gillaspie will be the starting third baseman for the White Sox when camp breaks for the regular season. Gillaspie is the winner of the battle for third base for the fact he really has very little competition at the position this spring.
Speaking of this spring, Gillaspie has played in nine games, compiling a .231 batting average with a .259 on-base percentage and .269 slugging percentage. His OPS is .529.
His numbers are worse than what he ended up with last spring with the White Sox, where in 18 games in ’14 he entered the ’14 season with a slash line of .264/.286/.528.
Gillaspie has just 17 days until Opening Day, so he might want to start getting everything on track, because if he doesn’t, the White Sox might find someone on the roster who will put up numbers at third base.
As for his regular season last year, Gillaspie batted .282, with seven home runs, 31 doubles and five triples. Gillaspie also totaled 57 RBIs last season.
I can’t say I’m against Gillaspie, but I would like to see him improve on his stats before the start of the season. With Gillaspie, he won’t have to lead the White Sox offensively or defensively, but it would be nice to see an improvement on his overall statistics as the White Sox continue this spring.
Gillaspie has the ability to be a quality major leaguer. He most likely won’t hit a lot of home runs, but that’s fine, because I think it will be more important to hit runners over or even bat them in for runs, rather than him rely on power to score runners.
Remember, in 2005, Joe Crede, the then-third baseman for the White Sox, had just 22 home runs in 132 games played. He did hit .303 that season and totaled 62 RBIs (21 doubles) in that World Series championship season of the White Sox.
If Gillaspie just improves his average by 10 or more points from last season, he can contribute the same way Crede did (stat wise) that championship season a decade ago.
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