Southside Showdown
Fansided

Three potential platoon partners for Nomar Mazara

By Joshua Finkelstein

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 12: Nomar Mazara #30 of the Texas Rangers hits a rbi single against the Oakland Athletics in the first inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington on April 12, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 12: Nomar Mazara #30 of the Texas Rangers hits a rbi single against the Oakland Athletics in the first inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington on April 12, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – AUGUST 30: Kevin Pillar #1 of the San Francisco Giants hits a sacrifice fly scoring Evan Longoria against the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the seventh inning at Oracle Park on August 30, 2019, in San Francisco, California. The Giants won the game 8-3. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – AUGUST 30: Kevin Pillar #1 of the San Francisco Giants hits a sacrifice fly scoring Evan Longoria against the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the seventh inning at Oracle Park on August 30, 2019, in San Francisco, California. The Giants won the game 8-3. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

2. Kevin Pillar

The outfielder was once one of the best defensive outfielders in all baseball, patrolling center field at a level that few others could replicate.  His bat, though, has never been too impressive with a .701 career OPS.

With diminishing defensive prowess that saw the San Francisco Giants play him in right field this past season, the outfielder appeared to lose his calling card. However, Pillar did manage to record 2 DRS and a 0.8 UZR over 222 innings in right field for the Giants.

He also still played a large majority of his time in center spent between the Giants and Toronto Blue Jays. His -5 DRS and -0.5 UZR over 1,170 innings is a far cry from his best days, but still was only slightly below league average.

Offensively speaking, Pillar had a career-high 21 homers and 83 RBI while slashing .259/.287/.432 to give himself an 83 wRC+ and 1.5 fWAR.

His splits make him a great fit for the White Sox, though, as he had a .823 OPS against southpaws in 2019.

The advantage of adding Pillar over Pence would be his ability to still serve as a solid defender at any outfield spot they put him at.

With the team relying on Luis Robert to play center field from the get-go, having Pillar as insurance in case he does not perform early on is a major plus.

On top of it, the White Sox were one of the worst defensive teams in baseball in 2019, so the closer they can get to league-average defense, the better.

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