Chicago White Sox: Three players making case for roster spot

1. Nicky Delmonico

The 27-year-old outfielder has had a scorching hot start to his spring as he’s 5-for-15 (.333) with three doubles and RBI so far.

Nicky Delmonico, 27, had a major issue with strikeouts in 2019 as he had a 36.8% strikeout rate over 21 games at the major league level (FanGraphs).

While that was a small sample size, it was enough to make the White Sox release him in June.

So far, Delmonico hasn’t been striking out a high rate at all, though, as he has two strikeouts in 18 plate appearances.

The left-handed hitter actually has more walks (three) than he does strikeouts early on, which could actually be a sign of major improvement for him.

It certainly is far from a given that he can translate that success over into the regular season given the fact he had a 128 wRC+ in 17 minor league games before registering an abysmal 49 wRC+ for the White Sox.

However, through the first week, Delmonico has shown some improvement which certainly puts him on the map with regards to his chances of making the team.

If they were to add him to the Opening Day roster, it would likely be as the team’s fifth outfielder/pinch-hitter if Leury Garcia becomes the team’s second baseman to start the season, which looks pretty likely right now.

That would also require the team to either option Danny Mendick or carry four bench players to start the season.

It would be hard for him to make the team out of spring training, but he could serve as insurance in case of injury.