White Sox Season Review: Grading the Bench Players
By Matt Manetti
RF Jason Coats
Jason Coats in the next player we will analyze. Coats didn’t play in many games for the Sox. In 28 games, he managed just 10 hits in 50 plate appearances. By no means was he a key player off the bench. Coats was rarely used after he joined the team in June.
He had trouble adjusting to major league pitching. We can’t hold that against him completely, as it was his first trip to the majors. He definitely did the job against left handed pitching though. Coats had a home run and four RBIs against lefty pitching. In 25 appearances, he had nine hits, including four doubles. Against right handed pitching, he only mustered one hit. Clearly, he is a much better hitter against southpaws, which is fine. Typically lefties struggle against right-handed hitters.
However, I would like to see him start hitting righties more effectively. It is somewhat embarrassing that he went 1-for-25 for a .040 batting average against them. If Coats wants to take the next step in his career, he needs to be better at the plate. And not just against lefties. That will be a key for him if he wants to continue his major league career. He is still relatively young (26), so that shouldn’t be an issue. He just needs to get more experience against major league pitching. I would expect to see him in spring training with the team and maybe competing for a platoon spot.
That being said, he wasn’t all that productive at the plate but he did play decent defense. Had he played poor defense it would have been really hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. I’m willing to give him a shot on the roster next season, but he does have some things to work on.