White Sox offense explodes: Will it translate to regular season?

Respect the power

Get used to Jason Benetti’s home run calls. We will hear them quite often this season.

Jose Abreu averaged 36 home runs per year in his first four years. As long as yesterday’s injury is nothing serious, expect more of the same from him in 2018. I’m willing to bet he tops 40 homers for the first time in his career. Avisail Garcia will likely fall in the vicinity of 20 HR, and a full, healthy season for Nicky Delmonico should yield similar results.

The starting middle infield, Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada, should account for 30-40 dingers. Welington Castillo, who recently admitted he believes the 2018 White Sox are more advanced than the 2014 Cubs, should fall in the 15-20 homer range as well.

Don’t forget, Matt Davidson continues to destroy baseballs this spring. He’s doing this with an improved K/BB ratio, albeit in a minute sample size. Even if Davidson continues his “all or nothing” approach, he’ll donate plenty of souvenirs. All told, the projected opening day lineup has the potential to mash.

The minors are raking, too

There is no power outage in the minors, either. Eloy Jimenez proved his strength during a brief stint in major league camp. Luis Robert has been pegged as a five-tool player, with raw strength standing out as one of his biggest skills. Players like Matt Skole, Ryan Cordell, and Matt Rose all have a track record of solid power numbers during their respective minor league careers. Skole homered in yesterday’s game against San Diego, too. Conor Gillaspie’s younger brother, Casey, has shown a penchant for some pop throughout his career as well. As these players receive the call to the show, the power will continue to replenish.