Jake Burger is actually pretty interesting

[caulfield12]

10 minutes ago, wegner said:

I remember running into Kenny Williams on the floor at Soxfest and I actually asked him "hey who did we get for Chad Bradford?"  He said "a nice young catcher named Miguel Olivo...I think you're gonna like him."  And damn if he wasn't right.  Thanks Kenny.

Harrelson loved that guy’s arm…and, in general, all things Miguel when he first came up. He later soured on him a bit, as he was wont to do.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Gonna go all Caulfield here and say if Yermin got a burger named after him  so can Burger. The Everything is Jake Burger burger.

[Quin]

When Adolfo turns into the right field version of Teen Wolf, you'll regret this bmags.

Also, like I said before, it is scientifically impossible to root against Jake Burger.

[caulfield12]

1 minute ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Gonna go all Caulfield here and say if Yermin got a burger named after him  so can Burger. The Everything is Jake Burger burger.

What A Burger…don’t they have any franchises in Chicagoland to sponsor him, NIL deal?

[Chisoxfn]

I like Burger a lot. Burgers too. Dude can hit and I think he finds a way to get more at bats than people think. Dude is also much better athlete than I ever thought.

[caulfield12]

2 minutes ago, Quin said:

When Adolfo turns into the right field version of Teen Wolf, you'll regret this bmags.

Also, like I said before, it is scientifically impossible to root against Jake Burger.

Who was the poster chronically getting on him about his weight, being out of shape, not taking enough pride in himself as an athlete, playing video games at home all day and social media posting, etc.?

[pcq]

I would rather watch Romy than old man Harrison. Waste of money.

[zisk]

57 minutes ago, bmags said:

I think we should just prioritize making RF the worse defensive position in baseball instead of 2b AND RF.

I think you're missing the signs with this guy. He is a good defender at third and I've been saying for a long time he runs pretty well.

Out of Vaughn, Sheets and Burger- he'll be the best defender of the bunch by a lot. Jake is also a natural hitter. If we trade him to fill 

a hole, we will regret it quickly.

[ron883]

It's time we move Moncada to 2B and put Burgdawg Millionaire at 3B. It makes the most sense. 

[wegner]

15 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Who was the poster chronically getting on him about his weight, being out of shape, not taking enough pride in himself as an athlete, playing video games at home all day and social media posting, etc.?

Wasn't there a picture of him at a Packers game?  I mean he probably had 5 layers on if he was up in Green Bay during the winter.

[ptatc]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

ACTUALLY

I think our experiences with players like Daniel Palka make us rightfully weary of putting too much in an encouraging debut - especially when paired with players not very interesting to prospect writers.

But there was some BA article referencing Burger and then I was just absolutely berating @Quin ruthlessly about how being a burger boy is better than an adolfo amigo and looked up the statcast numbers and this stuff is interesting

1. Burger hit the absolute crap out of the ball consistently in his (short) time up last year

      - His 60% hard hit rate (in this small sample) would be the best hard hit rate in baseball. Judge was at 57%. Hard hit rate is EVs over 95 mph and he did it in 14 of 23 batted balls.

      - His 115 mph max EV put him in the 90th percentile

      - Hitting the ball hard is good, imo

2. He's faster than I expected 

      - His 65% percentile speed is better than I expected, as was his athleticism

3. He walked 10% of his ABs, and his prior history makes me believe his 33% k rate should come down with more reps (as would hard hit rate but ...)

Basically I think it makes more sense to prioritize getting Burger at bats than Micker, and we should just bite the bullet on micker and hope he still ends up in Charlotte.

Ratings

Burger ? Adolfo ?

When he was drafted, RH said much if the reason was his consistently high EV

[tray]

I have a view of corner outfield defense vs offense that I am sure is in the minority here. It seems to me that HRs are of increasing importance to winning.  One 3 run HR in the middle innings and that could decide many games.  HR are also important to momentum within a game for the team and for Home field fans.  I think fans are probably more inclined to go to games to see a team that mashes the baseball than one where an outfielder makes a diving catch.

So..I am fine with Eloy in LF and Vaughn (or Burger) in RF with Sheets at DH, if the Sox get 25 + HR from each corner OF position and 15+ from the DH spot. Outfield errors will cost some games but at the same time 75+ HR are going to going to win  a lot of games and create a lot of excitement for fans.

[FoxForce2]

I like Burger a lot - on a different team, playing his natural position and bringing an equal talent to the Sox at another position.

[Harry Chappas]

Burger is taking at bats away from Leury Garcia. 

[poppysox]

1 hour ago, almagest said:

At this point put Vaughn in RF, Burger at 2B, Sheets DH, Leury/Engel IF/OF subs and roll with it. At least it'll be interesting and/or hilarious. Watching Harrison hit .220 with an average 65 mph exit velocity will not be.

Some of us wouldn't mind giving that a try.  That lineup would be fun to watch.

[Polar Bear]

From my White Sox Top 20 Prospect List:

4. Jake Burger: there is no one who deserves to be here more.  Either by sheer perseverance or skill, Burger missed 3+ seasons because of a couple torn achilles and the pandemic but he still managed to prove there is a legit mlb caliber player ready to star.  Burger hit .274 with 18 HR at AAA and looked comfortable hitting .263 with 1 HR over 15 games in the bigs.  He is only going to get better with further health and time to actually hone his skills.  I fully believe if the Sox ever trade him or man up and give him a playing time, he is a .275 hitter with 25+ HR potential.      

He definitely is primed to break ST with the team with expanded rosters.  The Sox better give him a shot at 2B if he can be serviceable in the field bc the bat will play big time imo. 

[bmags]

1 hour ago, ChiSox59 said:

Too bad he can’t play RF and doesn’t bat left handed. 

The definition for playing RF continues to be re-written (by the white sox)

[bmags]

56 minutes ago, zisk said:

I think you're missing the signs with this guy. He is a good defender at third and I've been saying for a long time he runs pretty well.

Out of Vaughn, Sheets and Burger- he'll be the best defender of the bunch by a lot. Jake is also a natural hitter. If we trade him to fill 

a hole, we will regret it quickly.

Don't worry I already started fighting with myself minutes later.

[tray]

13 minutes ago, poppysox said:

Some of us wouldn't mind giving that a try.  That lineup would be fun to watch.

I could see starting the season at least with  Vaughn in RF, Sheets DH and Burger at 3B with Moncada moving to 2B.

Burger lacks the footwork and range for 2B.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

6 minutes ago, tray said:

I could see starting the season at least with  Vaughn in RF, Sheets DH and Burger at 3B with Moncada moving to 2B.

Burger lacks the footwork and range for 2B.

 

I think the only guy I would have moved Moncada off of 3B for was traded to the Jays.

[chitownsportsfan]

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

Who was the poster chronically getting on him about his weight, being out of shape, not taking enough pride in himself as an athlete, playing video games at home all day and social media posting, etc.?

I think you're conflating several posters but I was def a hater. I have said many times over the last year that he turned his career around and I'm thrilled. When he posted the picture of himself in England during his rehab he looked out of shape and in a different world mentally. That was the genesis of most my posts on his mental and physical state. People change and athletes especially are made of sterner stuff most of the time than us mere mortals.

[runtheballdown]

Burger almost reaches the concourse with his first home run. Lol

 

[A-Train to 35th]

2 hours ago, bmags said:

I think we should just prioritize making RF the worse defensive position in baseball instead of 2b AND RF.

It won't be the worst if Engel can stay health

[VAfan]

I said last year I thought Burger could end up being just as good of a hitter as Andrew Vaughn, but perhaps without the dramatic splits Vaughn has at the moment.  He's certainly got much more potential than Harrison or Garcia.

So where to put him?  

1. 2B?  The comp I was thinking of was DJ LeMahieu, who is 6-4, 220 to Burger's 6-3, 230.  But who knows how heavy Burger is now?.  Lot's of reports of him losing weight.  I don't know about his ability to pivot, but as a 3B, he has more than enough arm, and should have the glove ability given the ball takes longer to arrive at 2B than it does to 3B.  If he's got the speed, perhaps his range would be good enough?  The Sox have tried him there already.  Still, it would probably take an injury to Harrison or Garcia for them to give him enough ABs to see if he sticks.  Best chance to play 2B would be to go to AAA and play there regularly to start the season.

2. DH platoon with Sheets?  If he's only facing lefties, this would mean Vaughn would move to RF.  Vaughn crushes lefties. so Burger isn't taking those ABs away from Vaughn.  But that means using Burger rather than Engel.  Not the best move if Engel is healthy.  Engel gives you the best fielding lineup, and may end up hitting lefties better than Burger.  

3. 3B with Moncada moving to 2B?  I floated this idea myself for a while.  But it's not happening.  Moncada is a better 3B than he was at 2B, and we need him to not worry about fielding and get his bat back to 2019 levels.  

4. Depth hitter instead of Danny Mendick.  This may be the most likely option.  When the rosters come back down to 26 and the Sox have 13 pitchers, their 13 position players will include Moncada, TA, Harrison, Abreu, Grandal, Eloy, Robert, Engel, Sheets (DH), with reserves Garcia, Collins or Seby, and Vaughn.  There's room for 1 more guy.  It could be Burger.

Conclusion: Burger's offense isn't polished enough yet to force out Harrison/Garcia at 2B, so he's almost certainly headed to AAA to get regular playing time.  But if anyone is hurt, he would likely get tapped as their best minor league bat at the moment.  

[poppysox]

1 hour ago, tray said:

I could see starting the season at least with  Vaughn in RF, Sheets DH and Burger at 3B with Moncada moving to 2B.

Burger lacks the footwork and range for 2B.

 

I know that would seem to make the most sense at face value.  My memory of how bad Moncada looked at 2nd the first time is what makes me nervous about it.  As always, I trust the manager and coaches to figure it out.