2024 Chicago White Sox Preview

Shawn Childs is a legend in the fantasy baseball world and his advice is invaluable. A member of the NFBC Hall of Fame, Shawn has several top-5 finishes in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship as well as five NFBC auction championship titles under his belt. He also boasts several prominent in the high-stakes market and multiple huge DFS wins. Shawn’s process and evaluation are among the most thorough in the sport and his exclusive FPGscore metric is changing the game. This 2024 team preview and insight is courtesy of the brilliant mind of one of the sport’s best. 

This 2024 Chicago White Sox Preview is courtesy of Shawn Childs. Read Shawn’s expert fantasy analysis at his Substack.

After winning the AL Central in 2021, the White Sox had a sharp decline in play over the past two years. They finished 61-101 last season while giving up 200 more runs than they allowed. From 1994 to 2019, Chicago made the postseason only three times, with a World Series win in 2005. Our 2024 Chicago White Sox Preview analyzes if the Chi Sox can turn around those struggles.

The White Sox finished 29th in runs (641), 20th in home runs (171), and 29th in RBIs (617). They had the worst on-base percentage (.291) in baseball. Their baserunners stole 86 bases on 108 attempts. Chicago posted a 4.87 ERA (26th), with the same ranking for their bullpen (24 wins, 38 losses, 28 saves, 4.88 ERA, and 597 strikeouts over 591.2 innings).

In the offseason, the White Sox signed C Martin Maldonado, SS Paul DeJong, SP Erick Fedde, SP Chris Flexen, and RP Tim Hill. They traded for 2B Braden Shewmake, SS Nicky Lopez, SP Michael Soroka, and SP Jared Shuster in their deal with the Braves. Chicago parted ways with RP Aaron Bummer. The White Sox didn’t resign C Yasmani Grandal, 2B Elvis Andrews, SS Tim Anderson, SP Mike Clevinger, and RP Liam Hendriks.

The foundation of their offense has upside in five slots in their lineup – 1B Andrew Vaughn, 3B Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, and OF Oscar Colas, but the trusted window is running out on a couple of these players. 

There has been talk of Chicago moving SP Dylan Cease, leaving their starting rotation in rebuild mode. RP Gregory Santos has the first shot at saves. 

Starting Lineup

OF Andrew Benintendi

When at his best in 2017 and 2018 with the Red Sox, Benintendi hit .280 with 187 runs, 36 home runs, 177 RBIs, and 41 stolen bases. After a decent season in 2021 (.276/63/17/73/8 over 493 at-bats), he has been a losing investment in the fantasy market. 

His average hit rate (1.361) now ranks among the lightest hitters in baseball, and Benintendi has a sharp decline in his contacting batting average (.311 – .365 in 2022) in 2023. Surprisingly, he hit well with runners on base (RBI rate – 18), but his RBI chances (286) declined for the second consecutive year despite a three-year high in at-bats.

Last year, Benintendi had the same empty success against righties (.261 with two home runs over 440 at-bats) and lefties (.262 with three home runs over 122 at-bats). He never scored more than 15 runs a month or drove in higher than 10 runs. 

His strikeout rate (14.3) was the best of his career while posting a league-average walk rate (8.4). Benintendi finished with a new bottom in his exit velocity (86.6 – 88.3 in his career), with one of the worst hard-hit rates (27.0 – 38.7 in 2022 and 34.9 in his career) in baseball. In his best seasons, he barreled 31, 33, and 36 balls (only 14 last year).

Fantasy Outlook: His ADP (497) in mid-January in the NFBC puts Benintendi in the free-agent pool in all formats. Last year, the White Sox gave him 484 at-bats in the first or second slot in the batting order. As bad as his profile looks, he may be serviceable in some counting categories with a slight rebound in power. Benintendi signed a five-year contract in December of 2022, so pay attention to his bat in spring training with an eye on his exit velocity and power…

To finish reading Shawn’s EXTENSIVE 2024 FANTASY BASEBALL TEAM PREVIEWS…

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