Chicago White Sox: 3 reasons to call up Jake Burger

Jake Burger of the Chicago White Sox has put up a great slash line in AAA.

For a player who has been out of baseball since 2017, a slow start is what to expect. They have not faced any type of professional pitching since then and might have a hard time readjusting. Not Jake Burger, though.

In the 2021 spring training, Burger was 4-13 in seven games. With only one double and RBI, he did not perform well enough to make the team. He would have had to put up Hall of Fame type numbers to have made the team out of spring, so it was expected he would start his season as a Charlotte Knight. What was not expected was how quickly he would get to work.

In his first 15 games back in baseball and 62 at-bats, Burger is slashing .274/.318/.661 with an OPS of .979. He has 15 runs batted in while scoring 11 times himself. His six doubles and six home runs make up more than half of his 17 hits, as seen in his .661 slugging percentage.

Defensively, he has been surprisingly well for someone recovering from two Achilles injuries. In 118 innings of work at third base, Burger has 26 assists and ten putouts with only four errors. In his 40 defensive chances, he has a fielding percentage of .900. Not great, but still pretty good.

Of course, his value is in his bat right now and he is swinging a hot one. With 17 strikeouts, however, plate discipline is something he will have to work on before getting promoted. This could be overlooked, considering he is also hitting well situationally and driving in runs.