The Chicago White Sox had a lot of their pitchers play poorly this season. There were also a couple that weren’t terrible. Lance Lynn doesn’t really fit into either category when it comes to his 2023 season with the Chicago White Sox.
Lynn had some good starts and he had starts that made it seem like he was no longer an MLB-caliber guy. By the time the trade deadline came around, however, plenty of teams were ready to take a chance on him.
At the trade deadline, the White Sox sent Lance Lynn to the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were adding another good pitcher to their rotation as they had some injuries there. They didn't do very well in the postseason this year but Lynn had a chance to succeed after starting the season with this bad Sox team.
As a member of the White Sox in 2023, Lynn had an ERA of 6.47 which suggests that he didn't have that good of a year. The White Sox were not very good around him as this record was 6-9.
Lance Lynn was much better after leaving the Chicago White Sox.
When he went to the Dodgers, however, it was clear that Lynn was given a burst of energy. He had a 4.63 ERA with them so it came down. He also went 7-2 which makes sense considering that he was in a much better situation there. His grade here reflects his time with the Chicago White Sox in 2023 only.
2023 Player Grade: D-
You can make a claim that Lynn deserves an F but a D- feels more accurate because of the fact that he did put together a handful of good starts. He struck out batters at a high rate with the White Sox too as he had 144 in 119.2 innings pitched.
However, his strikeout rate came down with the Dodgers and his overall game improved so it was just a weird situation overall. There is no doubt that Lance Lynn can be better no matter how you put it.
2024 Outlook:
The Chicago White Sox are not going to have Lance Lynn on their team in 2024. He has a team option with the Los Angeles Dodgers so it will be interesting to see if they pick it up. For regular season purposes, it might be smart for them to do that. If they don't, he will find a job.