2015 AL Central Preview: Chicago White Sox
2015 Projected lineup
Mar 27, 2015; Mesa, AZ, USA; Chicago White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton (1) dives back to first base in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs during a spring training game at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
CF Adam Eaton
LF Melky Cabrera
1B Jose Abreu
DH Adam LaRoche
RF Avisail Garcia
3B Conor Gillaspie
SS Alexei Ramirez
C Tyler Flowers
2B Micah Johnson
One of the biggest goals of the offseason was to surround Abreu with enough talent so that he couldn’t be so easily pitched around. To make that happen, Hahn added Cabrera (.301/.351/.458 in ’14) to hit second and LaRoche (26 HR and 92 RBI in ’14) to hit cleanup.
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In addition to Abreu’s monster rookie campaign, the White Sox also got strong years from Eaton and Ramirez. Eaton got on base at a high clip, and Ramirez led all American League shortstops in homers and RBIs. The question marks in the lineup are at catcher, second base, third base and right field.
Flowers is coming off of a strong year by his standards but could see his time go to backup Geovany Soto if he resorts back to hovering around the Mendoza like we have seen him do in the past. The White Sox love Johnson’s game changing speed, but he needs to have improvement with his glove at second.
There will be pressure on Conor Gillaspie and Garcia to produce in the heart of the order. Gillaspie can hit for average but lacks power and struggles against lefties. It is still unclear what the White Sox have in Garcia. He has yet to have an extended time period of good health.
Next: White Sox: Starting Rotation