Chicago White Sox: Season preview of outfielders

Season Roster Preview starts with an in-depth analysis of the projected White Sox outfielders that will be on the 26-man roster March 26, Opening Day.

One of the league’s youngest outfields with the highest potential is all coming together. From an on-the-edge-of-breaking out prospect to one so dang close to breaking out it is mind-wrenching to wait for this short amount of time that feels like an eternity.

With the outfield spots acting almost as revolving doors to players in the past few years, it seems the White Sox have been able to build a foundation and expand off the strong infrastructure.

There are two key differences in this outfield that separates it from the one that played in 2019.

One is a trade that seemingly came out of nowhere to check a lot of boxes the team had. This difference is a low-risk/high-reward situation with the faith placed on a 25-year-old left-handed hitter that has four years of experience and just the right amount of pop.

Another difference is the addition of not only the league’s number three prospect in center, but the addition of the league’s number three prospect that is under team control for the next six years. This prospect has been highly anticipated ever since his original signing with the team. It will be interesting to see how he performs under this pressure, if there even is any.

Throw a young stud expected to be a star that provided a solid rookie year with a hot second half and a bench tool that can provide key upgrades late when the game is on the line into the mix of the two key additions, then the White Sox got themselves a very scary outfield.

Eloy Jiménez

One of the biggest stories emerging near the end of the 2018 season was the fact that the White Sox were not going to call up a prized prospect who is obviously ready for major league competition just because of service time complications.

Fortunately, these issues are quickly submerged and forgotten. Clearing up a situation that could have ended in a number of terrible ways lead to prized prospect Eloy Jiménez up to the Chicago White Sox.

After a slow first week of April, Jiménez exploded. Not only did he hit his first home run at Yankee Stadium on April 12, but he hit his second home run that same day making it also his first multi-home run game. He would later hit his second multi-home run game just two weeks later.

And of course maybe the highlight of his rookie year. Playing against the team that drafted him and then traded him for the first time, Jiménez hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth to put the White Sox up 3-1. This was a sweet moment for Jimenez, but he is able to share it with the fans because in a special way because the fact that it is the Cubs makes it that much sweeter.

He would end his rookie season with 31 home runs, 79 RBIs with a slash of .267/.315/.513 placing him at fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year race. After a few moments of blind and biased anger that Jiménez did not win, many, including myself, realized his amount of strikeouts, lack of walks and low OBP just was not capable of topping Yordan Álverez’s fantastic season. But still, fourth…?

Regardless, Jiménez is a lock at left. His ability to hit for average and power and drive in runs is why he was brought in. And he is starting to display those abilities. He can only get better.

Nomar Mazara

In a trade made out of nowhere this offseason, the Texas Rangers sent their once prized prospect right fielder Nomar Mazara to the White Sox for outfielder Steele Walker.

First reactions of the trade were skeptical at first, as I explain in this article posted prior to the trade. But after some key additions following the trade answers to questions we had were answered and holes that were still present were getting filled.

Mazara is a 25-year-old right fielder who has been in the league for four years already. He is a career .261 hitter with a career .320 OBP and .435 slug. He can hit at least 20 home runs in a season and hit quite the number of doubles. He is also under team control for the next two years.

His defensive game is above average and he does have a strong arm out of right field. He also checks multiple boxes the team had on their checklist going into the offseason: a right fielder and a lefty with pop.

Adam Engel/Other Options

Rounding out the outfield as the backup is projected to be Adam Engel. To those who dislike Engel, at least he is not starting and he is on the bench now.

On the bench, Engel provides Gold-Glove-like defense that can be substituted into the game late as a defensive upgrade. He also provides a good amount of speed as a pinch-runner who can score from first on a gapper. The bat may not be there, specifically referencing his .215 career batting average, he is a great upgrade in the other three tools off the bench.

He is, however, fighting for his job as that bench piece. Along with the at least three names on the current roster, there are a few prospects in the system that can do those same three tools effectively and maybe even one or two more.

Among those names is Leury García. When Nick Madrigal gets is inevitable call-up sometime this season, García will be pushed back and he will be the best overall player coming off the bench. He could be used as the fourth outfielder over Engel or any other outfield option.

Those options include Nicky Delmonico, who the team just brought back this offseason, Micker Adolfo, Blake Rutherford, and Luis Alexander Basabe.