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The Chicago White Sox have gamely kept themselves in the American League Wild Card race so far in 2016. They are one of four teams above .500 in their division. Unfortunately, their lack of power in the first half of the 2016 has been a big weakness.
This team ranks third lowest in home runs in the AL. Todd Frazier, the defending home run derby champion, has 24, but after that the next biggest number is a duo, Jose Abreu and Brett Lawrie, with 11. That’s it. After that no one else on the team has double digits. This is an AL club with the DH. Then again when your primary DH is Avisail Garcia maybe power isn’t what your offense is after.
It is more than home runs that is holding down this team, though. This team is short on slugging power in general. They have the third worst slugging percentage in the AL, behind two different teams than the ones they trail in home runs. They’re also the third worst in OBS because of this. This lack of power is keeping the Sox offense in the middle of the pack.
They aren’t helping themselves in other ways, either. They are average when it comes to walks and strikeouts, not taking advantage of weak pitching. They also rank in the middle of the pack in average. This combination places them just below average in runs scored.
Top prospect, Tim Anderson, may help to be the answer. He is second on the team in OPS at .784. His OBP is below .300, but it should shoot up once he gets settled in at short. That’s why they let Jimmy Rollins go.
The White Sox hope to make the playoffs this year. They replaced John Danks with James Shields in the rotation. Now they just need to replace some singles with some home runs or their biggest weakness in the first half of 2016 will become the biggest reason they are sitting at home in October.
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