As expected, various rules and regulations for the 2022 season are still hardening into place due to the shortened spring and condensed schedules. Taking some cues from similar circumstances in 2020, Major League Baseball is reinstating a couple of preventative measures.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post says MLB and the Players Association has reached an agreement in two areas. While doubleheaders revert to two nine-inning games, the Manfred Man will return for extra innings with aims of preventing any draining 15-inning affairs.
More significantly, active rosters will expand from 26 players to 28 through May 1. That buys starting pitchers more time to ramp up their workloads without a cascade effect through the rest of the staff, and creates two more jobs that weren't there before, even if only for a few weeks.
Sherman says that while teams will be limited to 13 pitchers during the season, that cap won't apply for the first month. I'd take that to mean that teams will probably lean toward adding two more arms while the luxury is there, but the White Sox have one position player in particular who might benefit from an unplanned space.
Before we get to the members of the White Sox organization most helped by this news, we may as well take a moment to sketch out a 26-man roster, or at least what one would look like by the middle of April.
Twenty-five of those 26 spots look pretty firm right now (and so does the 26th while limits are squishy). The uncertainties mostly stem from offseason injuries and surgeries, because I don't think there's much in the way of open competitions if everybody is healthy enough. Feel free to quibble if you see a spot going in a different direction.
Starting pitchers (5)
The only question is whether the White Sox and Lucas Giolito will go to trial over a $200,000 difference, as he's the lone player who hasn't agreed to a 2022 contract with the team. When I first saw these figures, I assumed the two sides filed blindly and didn't expect their numbers to be so close.
But according to Giolito today, their numbers were even closer before the filing.
Rick Hahn must really want that belt.
Relievers (8)
Joe Kelly is the reason this exercise is for mid-April, rather than Opening Day. He isn't supposed to break camp with the White Sox due to his recovery from a nerve issue in his bicep, but he's progressing on schedule this spring, moving from flat ground to the mound. Everybody else is on target for April 8.
Catchers (2)
Perhaps the White Sox will roll with Seby Zavala instead, but whether it's those two, Carlos Pérez or Nick Ciuffo, the second catcher is probably going to look like a third catcher until further notice.
Infielders (6)
Gavin Sheets could theoretically start the year in Triple-A if the White Sox found a more stable presence in right field, but he should be in the mix for regular DH work until that point.
Outfielders (4)
Adam Engel needed offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He says he should be ready for Opening Day. His track record says we should be skeptical, but new year, new benefit of the doubt.
That leaves the White Sox with two roster spots, and they could very well fill them with two pitchers and call it a day. Teams might treat that as the safer call, and not just because of limited pitch counts. In a new rule, players can only be optioned five times in a season. Combine that with the minimum time for roster options and injured-list stints expanding to 15 days, and that might inspire a team to hold off on that first option until May 1.
But that'd be boring if we just said "Ryan Burr and Matt Foster" and called it a day. We'll just use them to start the discussion.
Ryan Burr and Matt Foster: Burr probably has more of a case based on his late-season body of work and less damaging contact, but both figure to be part of the mix at various points of the season, so why not now?
José Ruiz: He navigated his first season without options without much difficulty, even though he faltered in most situations where the word "leverage" was even a consideration. A second such season looks tougher after the recent additions of Kelly and Velasquez. Sometimes the need for extra arms arises quicker than anybody expected. I'm considering him the 26th man to open the season, even if he looks like the 14th arm on the roster. Give him three weeks to hang around, and he might be able to get through the season as a seat-filler.
Micker Adolfo: It's not terribly unusual for a player to have a higher batting average than OBP in a small sample, but you don't often see it when a player has drawn a walk. Adolfo's broken the formula the hard way because he's collected too many hits. He boasts a .556/.545/1.222 line because he went 5-for-9 in his at-bats, and 1-for-2 in his plate appearances, which drags his overall OBP closer to .500.
He also has two homers while striking out in 36 percent of his plate appearance, so he's the Mickest possible Adolfo at the moment. That's the kind of player who wouldn't survive waivers if the Sox tried sneaking him to Charlotte at the end of the spring, which is why the Sox might try breaking camp with him. There isn't much of a role for him regardless of Engel's status, but after three weeks of sporadic appearances and active rosters consolidating by two members at the end of the month, they might have more luck outrighting him by the end of April.
Romy González: Should Adolfo head elsewhere due to waivers or a trade, González could step in as a bench option who handles all the infield positions, freeing up García for more regular outfield duties.
Yermín Mercedes: Last year's Mr. April is off to a 3-for-7 start this March, and playing left field in the latest attempt to find some sort of position for him. He's also attempting a humbler approach to his craft, because Chuck Garfien says Mercedes ended up validating some of the long-running concerns about him during the rise and fall of the Yermínator.
Off the field, a different story was taking place inside the White Sox clubhouse. During his unforgettable start, Mercedes at times rankled some of his teammates when he put “me” over “we” as his popularity grew. Arriving late to the clubhouse on game days was one sticking point in particular. In an interview with NBC Sports Chicago, Mercedes admits that he got caught up in the sudden fame and attention that was directed his way, and vows to be a better teammate in 2022.
“I have a new mentality. I have the teammate mentality. To play for my team. Everything I’m doing right now, I’m doing it for the White Sox. I do it for my teammates,” Mercedes said. “They are my family. I’m a new baseball player now because I had a good experience in the major leagues. Right now I just need to be focused and do the best I can do for my teammates, for my team, for everybody here at the White Sox.”
It still remains to be seen whether Mercedes can fend off fastballs better, but if he looks like an asset off the bench in controlled situations, La Russa might appreciate having his nominal catching abilities around, as he could DH Yasmani Grandal without fear.
