4 White Sox players that can lead off in place of Tim Anderson
Tim Anderson has been suspended for the first two games of the 2022 regular season. As a result, he will miss Opening Day when the Chicago White Sox takes on the Detroit Tigers.
Anderson’s suspension stems from an incident from last season when he bumped umpire Tim Timmons during a bench-clearing scuffle in Detroit. Timmons was trying to push Anderson away from the mass of bodies when the shortstop shoved him away.
Anderson tried to appeal the suspension since Timmons initiated contact. He was allowed to play in the postseason but his suspension will now bleed over into this year. His appeal reduced the three-game suspension to a two-game suspension.
Missing two games out of 162 is not the end of the world. However, it leaves Tony La Russa with an interesting decision to make. Who will be the leadoff hitter in Anderson’s absence?
Tim Anderson has been the ultimate table-setter for the White Sox. When he missed time last season, his absence from the lineup was felt across the board. The MLB average for leadoff men in 2021 was 262/.332/.431, with a .763 OPS. Tim Anderson’s slash line as a leadoff man was .309/.338/.469 with a .807 OPS.
The Chicago White Sox will certainly miss Tim Anderson for the first two games.
What Tim Anderson provides at the leadoff spot is a spark plug for the rest of the offense. He hits for a high average. He won the batting title in 2019 and finished second in 2020. During that stretch, he owned a .331 batting average.
In 2020 he also slashed .361/.384/.651 with five home runs when leading off an inning. On top of that, he tied for second in the American League with three leadoff home runs. He is a threat on the basepaths as well as he led the White Sox in stolen bases in 2021 with 18.
You combine all these elements and you have the ideal leadoff man for an offense. Those are some big shoes to fill. Luckily, the White Sox have a deep roster with plenty of guys capable of doing the job if Tony La Russa wants to get creative.
Luis Robert
Luis Robert is going to have an amazing year for the 2022 Chicago White Sox.
Luis Robert has shown he is talented enough to hit anywhere in the lineup. He has the speed and consistency to bat leadoff and the power to be placed in the middle of the order.
Robert batted in the one spot a couple of times last season. One thing is for certain, he is the most talented hitter in the White Sox lineup. By batting him at the top of the order you are ensuring that he is getting the most plate appearances possible.
Robert was beginning to settle into a groove at the end of the 2021 season. During his final 43 games of the year, he had 12 home runs, 31 RBIs, and slashed .350/.389/.622.
These totals could have been even higher had he not suffered a right hip flexor tear on May 2nd. That injury cost him a good chunk of the season. However, he made up for the lost time in the postseason by going 7-for-15 in the ALDS. He was one of the few bright spots on offense for the South Siders.
La Pantera has been doing this ever since he joined the big league club. In 2020, he owned the highest home run exit velocity in the league at 109.2 mph. He also led all MLB rookies in stolen bases in 2020 which adds to his value as a leadoff man. He can turn a single into a double very quickly.
Yoan Moncada
The Chicago White Sox needs a lot from Yoan Moncada going into 2022.
The White Sox have made Moncada the leadoff man before so this role would not be strange to him. While Moncada’s power numbers dipped last season, he showcased a keen eye at the plate.
Moncada drew 84 walks. He set a career-high in OBP at .375 and had the third-highest total in the American League. Moncada’s .375 OBP also placed him .050 points above the MLB average.
What makes him an interesting option as a leadoff man is his ability as a switch hitter. Moncada is capable of driving the ball out of the ballpark as well. His 70 home runs in a White Sox uniform are the third-highest total by a switch hitter in franchise history. At the top of the order, he presents a matchup nightmare for opposing pitchers.
Moncada’s best offensive season came in 2019. He gave White Sox fans a glimpse of what he can come if he strings together some more consistent production. That year, he slashed .315/.367/.548.
His 25 home runs and 79 RBIs remain his career highs. He also had the 10th best offensive WAR in the AL with a 5.0 mark. You can’t go wrong with having Moncada at the top of the order.
Yasmani Grandal
The Chicago White Sox needs Yasmani Grandal to provide a lot of power.
Yasmani Grandal is not your prototypical leadoff hitter. On the surface, he looks like a terrible candidate.
Grandal batted just .240 last season and also happens to be a career .240 hitter. But that does not tell the entire story. Leading off is all about getting on base. Nobody on the White Sox does that better than Grandal.
Grandal led the White Sox with a 23.2 walk rate. His 87 walks were the seventh most in the MLB, despite the fact that he only played in 93 games due to injury. He also owned a stellar .940 OPS
Unlike most leadoff hitters, Grandal has an abundance of power. He hit 23 home runs which ranked second on the team.
The White Sox also averaged the most runs per inning when Yasmani Grandal was leading off the said inning. He can serve as a table-setter. Grandal also dealt with knee issues early in the year. When he was fully healthy he went on an offensive tear in September.
Grandal batted .320 with a .470 OBP. If he can carry that over to 2022, the White Sox lineup will be very difficult for opposing pitchers to navigate.
Speed would be a concern but having a guy that is able to draw a walk at the beginning of the game or launch the ball 350 plus feet is very intriguing.
AJ Pollock
The Chicago White Sox could lead off with their new hitter to start the year.
The newest face of the Chicago White Sox lineup has shown an ability to hit for average throughout his career. Last season the 34-year old hit .297 with 21 home runs.
At times, he looked like the Los Angeles Dodger’s most consistent hitter, which is saying something considering the talent in that lineup. After the All-Star break, he hit .324. Over the past two seasons, Pollock has manufactured an OPS+ of 135 and 37 home runs.
He showed he can lead off an inning with a bang in the NLCS last season. In the second inning of a do-or-die Game 5 for the Dodgers, he sent a Max Fried fastball into deep left field for a home run that gave the Dodgers life.
Pollock probably isn’t cut out to be a long-term leadoff hitter but he can hit for average and has the type of power that can jump-start an offense. One could also argue that the White Sox don’t have many other guys cut out to be a leadoff hitter.
Leury Garcia spent some time there in 2019 but Pollock is a much better hitter and there is no guarantee Garcia will even get the Opening Day start. They need Tim Anderson badly and should be so happy that it is only two games.
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