Aye, there’s the catch (-er, that is)
Yes, the White Sox do really have a strong point
Among the many bad quandaries facing the White Sox, there’s actually one that’s good — catching.
Baseball-Reference keeps a statistic called Wins Above Average, or WAA, which is kind of bWAR, but with a higher-level requirement to get above zero. They keep WAA by position by team, which makes it particularly useful for a team like the White Sox, where there’s a high turnover of who’s playing where for most positions.
As you might guess, the Sox fare very badly in such a comparison, but they are doing quite a bit better than last year. In 2024, not only was the team dead-last in WAA overall, as you’d expect, but it was also last at catcher and overall outfield, next-to-last at second, third, short and right, and 28th in left. The only position that was above average at all was starting pitching, and of course the two who led that score are gone.
This year, the White Sox are all the way up to 27th in WAA overall (thank you, Rockies, Marlins and Angels!). And they’re not dead-last at any position, and only next-to-last in two (shortstop and first base). Short, of course, is down there because it has been played by any available live body, and the only capable defensive shortstop (Jacob Amaya) is hitting less than the average college basketball score. First base has been almost all one person, whom we shall address later.
Meanwhile, on the good side, third base is a wash, right at MLB average despite MIguel Vargas’ bad start. Same goes for center field, ditto slow start for Luis Robert Jr. Starting pitching, which has seemed to be good, actually rates just 21st.
But catching? Catching is just fine, thank you, fourth in MLB, ahead of such stars as Adley Rutschman and Salvador Pérez, who are having rough starts, and even Will Smith, who has been excellent. The three teams ahead of the White Sox are the Cubs, with Carson Kelly hitting .368 (all stats are as of morning of May 4) and backup Miguel Amaya with a .747 OPS; the Reds, with José Trevino hitting .319 with an .887 OPS and backup Austin Wynns chipping in an OPS of 1.141; and an expected one, the Mariners, where Cal Raleigh is leading the majors in homers.
The White Sox rate fourth because Edgar Quero is hitting .326 since being called up, Korey Lee was 5-for-15 before spraining his ankle on April 9, and even though Matt Thaiss is only hitting .212 his OPS is .729 because he has walked in more than a fifth of his trips to the plate. And meanwhile, Kyle Teel is doing just fine in Charlotte, with a .755 OPS.
How is that a quandary? Because the Sox will likely only carry two catchers, and while they’ve suspiciously stretched Lee’s IL stint for what they say will be another two weeks (the Sox have had players for whom a burst pimple means a month off, but catchers are made of much sterner stuff — especially catchers fighting for their jobs), He’ll eventually have to be back, meaning someone has to go.
Or do they?
LET US NOW GO TO A POSITION WHERE THE WHITE SOX ARE TRULY AWFUL
You can’t very well put a catcher at shortstop, but the other truly dismal slot is first base, where the Sox are in Year 5 of making excuses for the non-performance of Andrew Vaughn. First it was lack of minor league time because of COVID, then playing out of position (though being anywhere on a baseball field is out of position for Vaughn, who is at the very bottom of first base fielding rankings, a level so low only batting stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso and Paul Goldschmidt can usually stay employed while fielding so badly), then an excuse-of-the-month plan. This year, it’s: He’s hitting the ball hard and just having bad luck.
The thing with the bad luck excuse is that while some stats indicate it may be true, it doesn’t explain the previous four years of having a total bWAR — that’s all four put together — of 1.1, which is now down to zilch because he’s been so bad this season. Even ESPN said this week it’s time for the White Sox to move on from him.
The first choice in moving on would seem to be Tim Elko, who in addition to having the excellent name anagram of Toe Milk is absolutely tearing up Triple-A, hitting .347 while leading all the minors in homers. The prospect rating pros don’t like him for some reason, and apparently neither do Sox honchos.
Is it defense? He can’t be worse defensively than Vaughn. Heck, Charles Comiskey, who was a first baseman in his playing days, couldn’t be worse — and he’s been dead since 1931. Offense? Is he deemed just a AAAA hitter, as has so often been the case with players in the Sox system? Maybe. but isn’t it worth a try, worth giving him a shot over the guy in the majors who is so truly awful (and who a recent Sox minor-leaguer says has lousy, lazy offseason work habits).
BUT IF NOT ELKO, HOW ABOUT ONE OF THE CATCHERS?
There’s no guarantee one of the catchers will hit better than Vaughn, especially Lee, who had a rough time in 2024. But again, isn’t it worth a shot? As for defense, a catcher subbing there couldn’t be worse than Vaughn, even if they wore a catcher’s mitt out there.
Quero has no experience at first in his record, but Lee has 33 games listed in pro and amateur play, and Thaiss played first for one inning this year and in 31 games with the Angels between 2019 and 2024. Teel has played some outfield in college and summer leagues, but never first.
Pick one, give him a shot, so you can keep three on the roster.
TOO MANY CATCHERS IS A NICE QUANDARY TO HAVE, BUT ...
But while it’s one of the few things for White Sox fans to enjoy, wouldn’t it be even nicer to put it to use by thinking outside the (catcher’s) box?