3 surprise White Sox players who performed better than expected in 2023
The Chicago White Sox ended up being the fourth-worst team in Major League Baseball in terms of record. At 61-101, they were 40 games under .500 as they became just the fifth White Sox team to ever lose 100 games. They were truly awful all season long.
A lot of players underperforming is a big reason for this bad season that the White Sox unexpectedly had. A fear that they won't bounce back and play well following this bad year is a big reason that people are skeptical about the White Sox as a whole.
With all of this in mind, there are a couple of players who finished the year with a bit of positivity. There are a handful of guys that can say that they played well this year.
Perhaps, even a few of them were better than anyone would have expected when the season first began. These are the three players who had surprisingly good years in a White Sox uniform:
1. Gregory Santos
Gregory Santos came in and had a great year with the Chicago White Sox.
Gregory Santos was a career Minor League player coming into this year with the Chicago White Sox. However, he found something while wearing this uniform that helped him start to pitch well on a regular basis.
Coming out of the bullpen, Santos had a 1.3 WAR with the White Sox over 66.1 innings pitched. He had 66 strikeouts, an ERA of 3.39, and a WHIP of 1.296. These aren't superstar pitcher numbers but they were good enough for a White Sox team looking for a spark most of the year.
He started to get more playing time once the team finally got rid of Jake Diekman and Jose Ruiz and he took full advantage of his opportunity. We'll see if he is able to make an impact in 2024.
2. Touki Toussaint
Touki Toussaint was a very nice starting pitcher for the White Sox in 2023.
Touki Toussaint is someone who did not come into this season expecting to be part of the 2023 Chicago White Sox starting rotation.
With injuries to certain players in addition to Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn being traded away in July, this team needed people to make starts for them.
Toussaint was given that opportunity and he ran with it. There have been some tough games but he mostly did a good job getting through a fair amount of innings to help the White Sox reach the end of the season.
His ERA of 4.97 isn't good but it isn't horrific either. It is also well below his 5.21 career ERA which was much higher before the season started. He had a 1.0 WAR this year which is pretty good for a player that didn't foresee time in the Majors this season.
His career WAR is 0.3 so he was negative before the year began which is crazy. His rise to play well in the big leagues should make him feel great.
3. Luis Robert Jr.
Luis Robert Jr. ended up being better than what the White Sox thought.
The Chicago White Sox always wanted Luis Robert Jr. to become a superstar player. When they first signed him, they knew he had the ceiling of an MVP-caliber player.
In the first few seasons of his MLB career, however, he has had flashes of brilliance but injuries seemed to stunt his development. It also felt like it was going to bleed into this season.
Now, the White Sox know that he is extra special. He had a season for the ages as he was healthy for the full season for the first time ever. He was even better than the White Sox could have hoped.
In 145 games, Luis Robert Jr. had a WAR of 5.1 thanks to some elite play in centerfield along with an amazing year at the plate. He hit 38 home runs, had 80 RBIs, and 90 runs scored. He also stole 20 bags which is not bat either considering the White Sox don't do that often as a team.
It will be interesting to see if Robert Jr. can duplicate that season or perhaps even get even better. If he does, the White Sox will have a legit star to build around which is absolutely necessary.
Next. The 15 worst contracts in Chicago White Sox history. dark