In a November tradition that dates back to last decade, it's time to crack open the latest edition of The Bill James Handbook to see what esoteric information it reveals about the 2019 White Sox.
One note: Baseball Info Solutions is revising its Defensive Runs Saved methodology for infielders, shifting the onus of positioning from an individual stat to a team one. The upcoming edition of the Fielding Bible will go into more detail.
Offense
*Jose Abreu had the most RBI opportunities in baseball with 302, which, combined with a respectable .407 RBI percentage, allowed him to lead the league in runs batted in.
*For all of Eloy Jimenez's struggles closing on balls in the outfield, he finished with 12 net bases gained. Leury Garcia led the Sox with +26, while Abreu trailed the Sox at -25.
*Yoan Moncada finished with the third-lowest percentage for grounding into double plays at 1.02 percent. Cavan Biggio and Jason Castro were the only ones ahead of him, and they both avoided GIDPs entirely.
*Moncada's projection seems bearish: .257/.331/.454.
Pitching
*Lucas Giolito's breakout season moved him from 108th to 24th in the Starting Pitcher Rankings.
*White Sox pitchers posted an Unearned Run Average of 0.40, which is pretty good considering they dealt with the second-highest error total in the American League. The league average was 0.38, while the league average error total was 97. The White Sox committed 117.
*Jimmy Cordero stranded 21 of 22 inherited runners, which makes his 2.75 ERA look even better. Kelvin Herrera allowed 12 of 19 inherited runners to score, which makes his 6.14 ERA look even worse.
*Giolito led all qualified pitchers with pitches in the strike zone (46 percent) and changeup frequency (26 percent).
Defense
*Positioning seemed to be a problem for the White Sox, who took a biggest hit the modified Defensive Runs Saved when positioning was shifted from an individual liability to a team total. They lost 14 runs, falling to 26th in the league at -63.
*Yolmer Sanchez is the lone individual standout defender for the Sox, and led all second basemen in pivot percentage on double plays at 73.4 percent.
*James McCann overcame below-average framing to grade out at 5 Defensive Runs Saved, with his slowing of the running game playing a prominent part. Welington Castillo at -10 to drag the position down with the rest.
*After shifting more than any other American League team in 2018, the White Sox returned to the middle of the pack this year, although it served them well by saving 11 runs.
Miscellaneous
*The White Sox were one of two teams with more hits gained from the shift (96) than lost to it (85). The Rockies were the other.
*Rick Renteria led baseball in intentional walks called (30), as well as the number of those with poor results (14).
*Renteria also increased his sacrifice bunt attempt total from 28 to 35, which is well above average, yet well behind Terry Francona's output.
*Guaranteed Rate Field was an incredible park for left-handed home runs, as its index of 155 was 20 points higher than the second-most favorable stadium, which was Nationals Park.
