White Sox fans didn’t enter the new year with a second surprise Japanese signing after star pitcher Tatsuya Imai signed with the Astros on New Year’s Day.
But the Munetaka Murakami signing alone was reason for Sox fans to rejoice about this offseason. There’s some positive aspects of the organization for the first time in a long time. The infrastructure throughout the organization has improved, and the young players improved over the course of last season. In a weak American League Central, the Sox should start to make strides next season to being competitive with the other teams in the division, being relatively inactive in free agency.
The young core was a selling point for Murakami signing with the Sox.
“We feel like we’ve been able to create a significant amount of momentum from last season, especially now that we’ve had a lot of our young players from the minor leagues get up to the big leagues, get acclimated, [and] winning some baseball games [in] the second half was a great example of that,” general manager Chris Getz said in December. “Now, using that momentum to take us into the offseason and attract even more talent speaks to the work that’s been done and the determination to continue to improve.”
But there are still some questions surrounding the Sox, and with SoxFest Live happening at the end of the month, now is a great time to look at some questions the Sox are facing with spring training inching ever so closely.
What’s next for Montgomery?
Things were bleak for shortstop Colson Montgomery in April of last year. He was striking out at a 41.7% clip and was sent from Triple A to Arizona to work with director of hitting Ryan Fuller and reset.
After the interregnum, Montgomery hit .270/.353/.574 with eight homers over 32 Triple-A games and getting called up to the majors. Montgomery’s ability to change games with one swing became evident immediately, and he played a good shortstop — he finished eighth in defensive runs saved among shortstops.
But there’s room for Montgomery to improve after posting a 31.5% whiff rate with a 29.2% strikeout rate.
“I think he’s going to continue to take steps forward at the plate and continue to control the zone, making contact, manager Will Venable said.
“I think a real opportunity for Colson is to make progress in his baserunning. [There were a] couple mistakes out there that I think he wants back. But with as natural an athlete he is and as instinctual a baseball player as he is, he should be an excellent baserunner in my opinion. That’s another area where I think we can take steps with Colson.”
Does the bullpen have enough arms?
The Sox’ bullpen finished in the middle of the pack last season in ERA (4.16), which isn’t a high figure considering the unit threw the second-most innings among bullpens in the majors last season (657 ⅓ ).
Mike Vasil was a revelation as a Rule 5 draft pick that the team acquired before the start of the regular season. His ability to give the team lengthy outings was paramount because the rotation outside of Shane Smith and Davis Martin were question marks.
Right-hander Jordan Leasure brought much-needed velocity and started to figure things out in the second half, posting a 3.26 ERA in the second half. The Sox aren’t in their competitive window, so spending a lot of resources on big-name options wasn’t going to happen. But if Leasure, Vasil and right-hander Grant Taylor can build on their success, the bullpen could be a solid spot.
Who’s playing the outfield?
If Luis Robert Jr. is still on the White Sox come Opening Day, he’ll be the team’s center fielder. But there are a lot of question marks when it comes to the corner outfield spots, especially after Getz said that it’s likely that Andrew Benintendi spends more time at designated hitter this season.
The Sox have made numerous minor trades and signings to address the outfield, but they’re mostly lottery tickets.
So far, the Sox have acquired former top prospects in Everson Pereira and Jarred Kelenic, a veteran in Derek Hill and a defensive option in Tristan Peters. Pereira and Kelenic are intriguing options as the Sox see if their hitting staff can get more out of them after having some marginal success with Miguel Vargas.