In this train wreck of a 19-games-under .500 White Sox season, Jake Burger is keeping his game on the rails.
While far from a finished product, Burger is enjoying an emergent first full season, wielding a valuable power bat.
Burger is batting .214/.270/.504 going into the Sox’ two game series against the Cubs, a team he is 6-for-13 against with a home run in three games. It’s far from a head-turning hitting line, but Burger’s .774 OPS and 107 OPS+ rank third on the team behind Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez.
What’s more, Burger’s 21 home runs rank second, but better yet, his average of one homer every 12.71 at-bats is second in the American League to Shohei Ohtani for batters with a minimum of 275 at-bats.
Burger is also 6-for-13 with a homer in three games against the Cubs, which could curry favor from chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, a disdainer of most things Cubs. Adding style points to his 2023 resume, Burger has thwacked three batted balls at 116 mph or more, second most by a Sox player in the Statcast era behind Daniel Palka in 2018, and his 461-foot homer in Atlanta on July 17 was the longest by a Sox this season.
“His power, sheesh,” Sox third base and infielders coach Eddie Rodriguez said. “You can hear it. It’s a different sound. You know it where he hits it. He’s a strong human being.”
Burger can also run well, especially for someone 6-2, 230 pounds. His sprint speed of 28.1 feet per second is at 139th in the majors, behind only Robert (28.5) and Zach Remillard (28.2) on the Sox.
Oh, and one more thing for what it’s worth: When MLB Network went looking for a White Sox to bring in studio when the Sox were in New York, they tracked down Burger.
His happy face and endearing backstory of former first-round draft pick who overcame a devastating Achilles injury and depression also makes Burger one to root for.
But back to the player. After not making the Opening Day roster, Burger capitalized on third baseman Yoan Moncada’s injury, and now that Moncada is returning from the injured list as soon as Tuesday, manager Pedro Grifol said he has to find a way to keep Burger in the lineup. Designated hitter, first base and second base are all possible. Grifol said Sunday it could be second base, where Burger has appeared briefly in only four games in his career.
“I know we have Yoan here,” Rodriguez said, “but Jake’s bat plays, so to get his bat in the lineup you may have to get creative. Is that [second base] an exploratory thing? It sure is, because if what he’s done at third base starts translating to anywhere on the field, then we really have something.”
Rodriguez can see Burger’s confidence in the field growing. Burger sought out Rodriguez a week before spring training wanting to improve his defense. He’s not Moncada with the glove, but it has looked better in recent weeks to where Rodriguez characterizes Burger as “above average.”
“I am definitely very proud of where I got to defensively and offensively,” Burger said. “It’s one of those years where I got a lot of information on myself and learned a lot about myself.
“It gives me a looking-forward mentality of I’m proud of what I accomplished after not making the team out of camp. It’s a stepping stone season. Some areas I need to cleanup and polish. The possibilities are limitless in my opinion.”
Burger’s focus at the plate is not expanding the strike zone, laying off pitches he shouldn’t swing at and taking walks when presented.
“It excites me when I start talking about that stuff,” Burger said. “With my injury history and the adversity I dealt with. I get more excited about conquering a new feat, for sure.”
CUBS AT SOX
Tuesday: Kyle Hendricks (3-4, 3.38 ERA) vs. Michael Kopech (4-8, 4.29), 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH, Marquee, 1000-AM, 670-AM
Wednesday: Marcus Stroman (10-7, 3.09) vs. Lance Lynn (6-9, 6.18), 7:10 p.m., NBCSCH, Marquee, 1000-AM, 670-AM