The Chicago White Sox made it to the playoffs in two of the last three seasons. The season that they did not win was last season: 2022. The unfortunate story of the White Sox off-season was not how good or bad the front office performed, but the health of superstar closer Liam Hendriks, who announced in January he has Non-Hodgekin’s lymphoma. The good news is that the native Australian is reportedly upbeat and his recovery is going well. As a result, the White Sox are opening the 2023 season with Hendriks on the 15-day IL rather than the 60-day IL.
Garrett Crochet is another injured White Sox player but is nearing a return from Tommy John surgery. He is also on the 15-day IL.
Now that all that is out of the way, we can get on with the good stuff. But the bad news doesn’t seem so bad for the White Sox after all.
Projected 2023 White Sox Rotation
| Number | Player | Throws |
| 1 | Dylan Cease | R |
| 2 | Lance Lynn | R |
| 3 | Lucas Giolito | R |
| 4 | Mike Clevinger | R |
| 5 | Michael Kopech | R |
Mike Clevinger is a new addition to the White Sox and signed for $8 million in 2023 with a $12 million mutual option for 2024, along with a team buyout for 2024 for $4 million. Clevinger had a 4.33 ERA, 1.198 WHIP, and 7.2 K/9 in 2022 for the San Diego Padres. Clevinger, in his career, has not given up many home runs (1.1) per nine innings. The White Sox will certainly want him to bring that facet of his game with him to Chicago.
2023 White Sox Bullpen
| Player | Throws |
| Liam Hendriks* | R |
| Garrett Crochet* | L |
| Aaron Bummer | L |
| Joe Kelly | R |
| Jake Diekman | L |
| Jose Ruiz | R |
| Reynaldo Lopez | R |
| Jimmy Lambert | R |
| Kendall Graveman | R |
| Gregory Santos | R |
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The White Sox acquired Gregory Santos from the San Francisco Giants in the offseason. Santos, 23, was great this spring, amassing a 1.93 ERA, 1.071 WHIP, 0 home runs allowed, and a strikeout rate of 7.7 K/9 in 9 1/3 innings.
SP Johnny Cueto is gone, along with RHP Kyle Crick, and swingman Vince Velasquez.
White Sox Opening Day Lineup
| No | Player | 2022 Slash Line | 2022 OPS / OPS+ | 2022 HR, 2B, 3B, RBI, SB |
| 1 | Tim Anderson | .301/.339/.395 | .734 / 108 | 6 HR, 13 2B, 0 3B, 25 RBI, 13 SB |
| 2 | Luis Robert Jr. | .284/.319/.426 | .746 / 109 | 12 HR, 18 2B, 0 3B, 56 RBI, 11 SB |
| 3 | Andrew Vaughn | .271/.321/.429 | .750 / 111 | 17 HR, 28 2B, 1 3B, 76 RBI, 0 SB |
| 4 | Eloy Jimenez | .295/.358/.500 | .858 / 140 | 16 HR, 12 2B, 0 3B, 54 RBI, 0 SB |
| 5 | Yoan Moncada | .212/.273/.353 | .626 / 108 | 12 HR, 18 2B, 0 3B, 51 RBI, 2 SB |
| 6 | Andrew Benintendi | .304/.373/.399 | .772 / 120 | 5 HR, 23 2B, 3 3B, 51 RBI, 8 SB |
| 7 | Yasmani Grandal | .202/.301/.269 | .570 / 64 | 5 HR, 7 2B, 0 3B, 51 RBI, 1 SB |
| 8 | Elvis Andrus | .271/.309/.464 | .773 / 116 | 9 HR, 8 2B, 0 3B, 28 RBI, 11 SB |
| 9 | Romy Gonzalez | .238/.333/.238 | .609 / 71 | 2 HR, 4 2B, 1 3B, 11 RBI, 0 SB |
A White Sox fan who didn’t follow the offseason will likely notice two things. The first is that the 2020 AL MVP Award winner is gone. Jose Abreu signed a three-year deal worth 58.5 million with the World Series champion Houston Astros.
The second is that Andrew Benintendi is now on the team. Benintendi was an all-star for the first time as a member of the Kansas City Royals in 2022. He won a Gold Glove the season prior with the Royals. So the White Sox lost an MVP first baseman but gained an all-star outfielder.
More Changes to the White Sox Roster
Additionally, the White Sox released center fielder Leury Garcia. LF AJ Pollock, SS Danny Mendick, CF Mark Payton, and CF Adam Engel elected free agency after the 2022 season and are no longer with the White Sox.
OF speedster Billy Hamilton signed a minor-league contract with the White Sox, so ChiSox fans may look forward to seeing him at some time in the future.
2023 Season Outlook for the White Sox
The White Sox are hungry for postseason victories after losing in the first round in each of the most recent two playoff appearances. They lost a few good players in the offseason, but most of the starting lineup is returning. All of the starting pitchers are healthy and they are looking to dominate the AL Central Division.
Liam Hendriks is out, hopefully not for too long, but Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman can fill in while Hendriks recovers. Overall the bad news is not so bad for the White Sox and they hope to first make it into the playoffs and then they hope to advance deep into the playoffs. Perhaps Hendriks making a strong recovery and returning to the mound will provide extra motivation for the White Sox to perform in the 2023 season. Time will tell and we shall see.
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