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

After getting blanked by the Athletics Sunday, the White Sox offense found its stride Monday and Tuesday. Will these two performances be a regular occurrence in the regular season? Short answer: yes.

Disclaimer: Spring Training can be an accurate indicator of where players and teams are at in terms of their preparation for the coming season. It can just as well be completely irrelevant when it comes to predicting regular season outcomes.

Over the past few games, the White Sox offense has been firing on all cylinders.

Now that that’s out of the way, what should we think about the Southside’s offense these last two games?

What about this team?

First, the White Sox organization is loaded with mashers, speedsters, and hustlers. The farm system is stacked with athletes, ranking as the third best system in MLB. It stands to reason there is a surplus of those three traits. Anecdotally speaking, speed, power, and hustle translates to a formidable offense. More importantly, those traits often translate to wins.

When the cylinders all fire together

For example, the 2005 White Sox offense had sluggers Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, and Carl Everett accounting for 116 of the team’s 200 home runs. Almost anyone, at any point in the lineup, was a danger to go yard. The team was also third in the American League with 137 steals in ’05. Scott Podsednik‘s 59 lead the way. However, Aaron Rowand (16), Tadahito Iguchi (15), Pablo Ozuna (14), and Willie Harris (10) ensured opposing batteries never felt safe. Rowand, Juan Uribe, and perhaps most famously, AJ Pierzynski, all epitomized hustle. Yes, I mean when AJ stole first base.

Power, speed, and hustle do not guarantee success, or postseason berths, or championships. But, they certainly open the door for the possibility. The Texas Rangers of the late 2000s and early 2010s hit for average and power, but didn’t have much pitching support. It takes all pieces working together to win. However, a potent offense, especially on a rebuilding team, is a great place to start. Let’s take a look at what the White Sox offense has at both the major and minor league levels.

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.

These guys can run

At the major league level, the White Sox offense has more speed than most. This was recently detailed by Southside Showdown’s Kristen Bentley.

Adam Engel went first to home during Tuesday’s offensive outburst, and it felt like he stepped on home plate about an hour before the ball made it back to the infield. The guy who doubled him home, Yoan Moncada, has about as much speed as anyone on the team.

Tim Anderson, Moncada’s double-play partner, looks like a wide receiver streaking across the middle infield. Anderson’s long strides make the 90 feet from base to base look like nothing. The defense also benefits from this speed, as Engel and Charlie Tilson can seemingly catch anything ticketed for outfield grass, and possibly destined for the seats, too.

Ryan Cordell is much faster than he appears. Guys like Jose Abreu, Avisail Garcia, and Nicky Delmonico are deceptively fast. I’m using a loose definition of “fast” here, but they’ve been known to sneakily steal a base from time to time. Abreu told reporters earlier in the spring he wants to steal more bases, and given the team’s overall speed, more stolen bases are a distinct possibility. Don’t forget about Leury Garcia, who ranks near the top of the team’s most fleet-footed list.

Shout out to Luis Alexander Basabe. This dude covers ground in the field and on the basepaths as quickly as anybody. Chances are, however, he’ll spend more time in the minors than the others.

Full of hustle

Ricky Renteria accepts nothing but 100% hustle from his players. He expects full effort on defense, and the team obliged in 2017. The White Sox lead the major leagues in Out of Zone plays (OOZ) last season. Players tend to feed off this type of energy. If a guy gives every defensive chance his all, teammates feed off the hustle.

Players with non-stop motors push teammates to do all sorts of things on and off the field. Yolmer Sánchez treats each at-bat and defensive chance as if it’s to win the World Series. He challenges his teammates to do the same. Yolmer also has an ability to loosen things up, especially with teammate Tim Anderson. This is also evidenced by a dugout piggy-back ride this spring (Anderson on top of Little Big Man Sánchez).