3 White Sox players who'll will be better in 2023 and 2 who won't
The Chicago White Sox were incredibly mediocre in 2022. Now, they are hoping to be a much better team again in 2023 which might be asking a lot.
In order to get better, there are some things that need to go right for them. If they don't have a little bit of luck, they won't be as good as they need to be.
One thing that they need to rely on is some players that weren't good in 2022 having bounce-back years in 2023.
There are a few of them that you can bet on to have good years and there are a few of them that might be a sunk cost. These are three players that should be better and two who won't be:
Better - Yoan Moncada
Expect Yoan Moncada to be a better player for the Chicago White Sox.
It might literally be impossible for Yoan Moncada to be as bad in 2023 as he was in 2022. He has all of the tools to be a great player but was only good in 2019 and 2021. Every other year has been a bust for him.
As of right now, we just have to hope that he proves to be one of those players that is good in odd-numbered years. That would mean that he gets back to form in 2023. They don't need Moncada to be the superstar that we were promised either. He just needs to be better than last year at this point.
The hope is that he doesn't begin the year injured because that set him off on the wrong foot in 2022. That wasn't an excuse for how bad he was but it is a sign that things might be able to improve for him again this year. Again, we can only hope he is good but it is impossible for him to be worse.
Better - Yasmani Grandal
The White Sox don't pay Yasmani Grandal all that money to be that bad.
Until Andrew Benintendi signed his contract this off-season, Yasmani Grandal was the highest paid player in the history of the franchise. Of course, they need Benintendi to live up to it too but that doesn't mean that Grandal is not still a nicely paid player.
The White Sox need so much more out of him. Listen, he was MVP-caliber in the second half of 2021. It might be impossible for him to be as good as he was for that run but it also might be impossible to be as bad as he was last year. He really has no other option other than to be better.
Grandal was one of the best catchers of his era and you can claim that he was the number one best. However, he didn't play like it in 2022. He is getting older so you don't need him to be the best anymore. At this point, the Sox would just take a mediocre season out of him.
Having a mediocre season would make him "better than last year" which is all they need and why he makes this part of the list. He can hit for power and draw lots of walks which will help the offense if he gets back to it. He has a chance here to prove a lot of people wrong.
Better - Tim Anderson
White Sox SS Tim Anderson is going to be very motivated this season.
Tim Anderson was, unlike Yoan Moncada or Yasmani Grandal, far from bad last year. In fact, he was very good most of the time. His defense needs some cleaning up again but he was good enough to be the starting shortstop for the American League All-Stars.
The problem for him was that he played under 80 games because of the injury that he sustained early in the second half of the season. He wasn't at full strength before the injury either which caused some of his numbers to be a tad bit lower than we normally expect to see from him.
Now, you can expect Tim to be much better again in 2023. He is sure to be motivated after what was a long off-season that followed that horrific year that they all just went through. If there is someone that is going to be the most offended by it, it is Tim Anderson.
Expect him to come into this season as mad as he can possibly be. If that is the case, the White Sox are going to have a terrific leadoff man playing shortstop for them. The team goes as he goes so we can only hope that he improves again this year in addition to staying healthy.
Not Better - Joe Kelly
Don't expect much from Chicago White Sox pitcher Joe Kelly this year.
Joe Kelly was a big free agent signing that the Chicago White Sox made last year. Unfortunately, he was just terrible for them during the entire 2022 season. He missed the first portion of the season due to an off-season injury that he was recovering from.
Unfortunately for him, he came back and was just terrible. His stuff was there as he still managed to have a good strikeout rate but he became a batting practice pitcher more often than not for the White Sox. To say that his contract is rather disappointing would be a complete understatement.
Kelly is an incredibly experienced and accomplished pitcher. He has won the World Series with two different organizations (Red Sox and Dodgers). He might bring good playoff experience for this group but you have to get there in order to make use of that and he didn't help them in that regard.
Maybe Kelly will prove everyone wrong and his injury troubles were the issue last year. He has great stuff, as mentioned before, but his command was absolutely terrible.
You know he is having an off-season loaded with practice so he can try and be good again but it doesn't feel likely. Again, everyone hopes that they are wrong about him because a good Joe Kelly would really help this bullpen succeed.
Not Better - Leury Garcia
Don't expect much from Leury Garcia for the White Sox this season.
Romy Gonzalez is set to be the starting second baseman for the Chicago White Sox in 2023. Lenyn Sosa is expected to be one of the options backing him up. Of course, that is not an ideal pair for a team trying to win the World Series based on things that they've said over the last few years.
The only good thing about that bit of information is that it means that they don't plan on using Leury Garcia at the position anymore. He is nothing more than a bench utility piece on this roster right now. Hopefully, that also means that he is the 6th man on the roster.
He is the longest tenured player on the roster which is a terrible thing to think about because he doesn't deserve that distinction. He would have gotten a Minor League deal with a chance to crack a roster if the White Sox didn't give him a multi-year extension following the 2021 season.
Tony La Russa was a big fan of his so he got the extension. Clearly, the White Sox are mostly an unserious organization with this guy. Don't expect him to be much better this year. We can just hope that he has a lot smaller of a role this year.
Next. The White Sox should consider a trade for Max Fried. dark