Chicago White Sox: Three players who could lose their 40-man roster spot
Ah, the end of March. Spring Training draws to a close and Opening Day creeps closer and closer by the second. Position battles are being claimed and roles are being determined as 26-man and 40-man rosters are being finalized. The Chicago White Sox still has a few question marks.
There are some things that the Chicago White Sox still needs to address.
The DH, backup catcher, and fifth starter all need to be addressed. The winners of those position battles have been assumed, but not much has been set in stone by the man himself, Tony La Russa.
The DH is assumed to be Andrew Vaughn. In 46 plate appearances this spring, Vaughn has been maintaining a .413 on-base percentage and .887 OPS with two dingers five RBIs, and seven walks to go with.
As for the backup catcher, Jonathan Lucroy may win the job. This spring, he has a .802 OPS in 18 plate appearances. He has also been talked about in high regard by just about everyone in spring training. There is a problem, however. The pair are currently not on the White Sox 40-man roster which is full at the moment, meaning two players are going to lose their spot.
One of the biggest, and most legitimate, fears surrounding this team involves the lack of depth beyond the elite group of starters. Removing any player from this 40-man roster is a difficult decision considering it is stacked with high-ceiling players who could come back to haunt the team.
Despite that, it must be done. The White Sox already has a full 40-man roster so two players must lose their spots to make room. Here are three potential players who could lose their 40-man roster spot.
José Ruiz is in danger of not making the Chicago White Sox 40-man.
Signing as an international free agent in 2011 with the Padres as a catcher, José Ruiz converted to pitching in 2016 to finally make San Diego’s 40-man. He made his debut in 2017 and the first player he struck out was Yoenis Céspedes but he was DFA’d at the end of the season.
The White Sox claimed Ruiz in 2017 and he wore the black pinstripes in 2018. The most innings he pitched came in 2019 when he took on 40 innings and struck out 35. His 5.63 ERA, however, is not something you want to see. In four innings in 2020, he allowed just one run with five strikeouts. It was a small sample size but five K’s in four innings is impressive. It may just not be enough.
Last week it was announced that Jimmy Cordero underwent Tommy John surgery and he will be out for the season. If healthy, Cordero might not have made the initial 26-man roster. He is more reliable than Ruiz so odds are he won’t make the cut.
At 26, Ruiz has yet to break out. He may not have more than 50 innings in the majors but in his service time (52 games) he holds a 5.11 ERA with a 1.85 WHIP. He has struck out 47. In five innings of work this spring, Ruiz allowed five earned runs on three walks and eight hits.
His 9.00 ERA looks weird next to the 10 strikeouts he recorded. Two-thirds of the hitters he faced he put down on strikes. It is clear that Ruiz has the stuff to succeed but he has yet to put it together and the Sox need a DH this year more than an extra pitcher.
Micker Adolfo has a very small chance of playing for the 2021 Chicago White Sox.
Probably one of the biggest disappointments in terms of talked-about potential not panning out is Micker Adolfo. In 2013, the White Sox signed the 16-year old Dominican as an international free agent. At the time, Rick Hahn was using the same rhetoric he uses when talking about Luis Robert except the talent hasn’t shown in Adolfo.
For so long we were promised of his potential but we have yet to see it on display. Adolfo is still young (only23 years old) but he has been in the minors for nearly seven years. He just finally earned a promotion to Double-A Birmingham in 2019.
A string of injuries has been the most recent reason that has been holding him back from taking the next step. In the summer of 2018, Adolfo underwent Tommy John’s surgery and underwent another surgery on his right elbow almost a year later.
Before his season was cut short in 2018 at Winston-Salem, Adolfo was batting a .282/.369/.464 slash with a .833 OPS. He hit 11 home runs and drove in 50 runs in 79 games. In 2019, he struggled at Double-A Birmingham ham hitting an abysmal .205 with an OPS of .632 and zero home runs. He just had 16 hits in 95 plate appearances before his arthroscopic surgery in May that season.
Adolfo’s primary and secondary positions are the two positions the White Sox need help at the most which are right field and DH. With no DH named, Adolfo had a chance to go into this spring training and make the team but here we are at the end of March, and nothing yet. In 16 at-bats this spring, Adolfo has gotten only two hits and struck out seven times. He did walk three times which makes his .313 OBP look good but his .154 slugging and his average do not.
Seby Zavala is not going to be one of the Chicago White Sox 2021 catchers.
In the 12th round of the 2015 draft, the White Sox snagged catcher Seby Zavala. In his senior year at San Diego State, Zavala posted a .936 OPS with 14 home runs and 13 doubles in 64 games. At the time it was safe to assume a player who put up those numbers that were taken in the 12th round was a steal but some things just never pan out.
Zavala has made his way through the White Sox farm system and even made his debut in 2019 at age 25. He only played in 5 games when the team was dealing with some injury issues. In the minors, he has been solid. He impressed with a 1.029 OPS in 35 games at the White Sox rookie league after he was drafted in ‘15.
As he earned his way up the farm system his numbers took a dive. Despite dominating Single-A, Zavala struggled at AA and AAA offensively in 2018. He really saw his struggles at Triple-A Charlotte. In 48 games he hit a.243/.267/.359 slash and a .626 OPS, a career-worst.
While maintaining a .767 OPS as a Charlotte Knight, Zavala’s name was called when Wellington Castillo went down with a head injury. Somehow, he was worse than Castillo as he only recorded one hit in 12 at-bats while striking out nine times. This spring, Zavala has not seen much action. He only three at-bats with a hit but two strikeouts.
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Even with the backup catcher roll up for grabs, there are a few players more capable of doing a better job with major league experience. Now at age 27, Zavala is yet to break out and his time could be running out on holding that 40-man roster spot.