When you think about it, every Zoom call with the general manager is like a hostage video because they are constantly trying to tell you things they don't feel comfortable saying outright.
In that vein, it would have been imprudent for Chris Getz to declare Dominic Fletcher his starting right fielder upon his arrival last weekend. He just made note that he has more demonstrated major league success than fellow new arrival Zach DeLoach, and has punished righties enough (.369/.423/.523 in 72 PA last year) to fuel optimism that he could be the strong side of a defensive-minded platoon. At which point, Getz made an 'oh, by the way' mention of adding the right-handed and viable-against-left-handed pitching Kevin Pillar to a minor league deal.
Demonstrating an early ability to suss out his role on an organizational depth chart, Fletcher seems to be picking up on the path the White Sox are laying out ahead of him.
"[It's] just a better opportunity, kind of being stuck behind Corbin Carroll in Arizona and having a shot to compete for a spot," Fletcher said Friday on a Zoom call. "I went from pretty much trying to earn a spot on the team as possibly a fourth or fifth outfielder to having a chance to compete for a spot. That’s really exciting for me and my family and my career."
The way certainly appears clear enough. It's suddenly very on-brand for a new White Sox addition to emphasize their defense first, and the equally on-brand malady of fracturing his left index finger on a bunt attempt last August was resolved in time for Fletcher to have been available as an injury replacement during the World Series -- had he been needed. Certainly none of Fletcher's immediate competition is coming off a major league showing as impressive as his .301/.350/.441 cameo in 28 games.
Batted-ball data does not think the short-but-stout Fletcher had the contact quality to maintain that clip. The shape of his production (gangbusters start, cooling off as playing time becomes sparse, getting his job stolen by that scamp Corbin Carroll) could lend itself to the perception that the league adjusted to his love of sinkers and started pounding him upstairs. Fletcher pushed back on that notion by effectively saying it's not them, it's me.
"I had maybe a week and a half or two weeks where I struggled. I don't think that had too much to do with the pitching," said Fletcher, who hit .252/.380/.504 in Triple-A after he was demoted for good in July. "I think they were pretty much throwing me the same way. I think that had more to do with me and adjustments in my swing. I feel like when my swing and my approach are in the right spot, it doesn't really matter who's throwing out there. I tried to stay focused on me for the most part, just being selective and controlling the zone is something I need to continue to do."
Fletcher's body allows for a short, compact swing, and he posted above-average contact rates, both overall and within the strike zone. While his chase rates look pedestrian for a White Sox hitter, they were above the mean and lend credence to the idea that if Fletcher -- who walked at a 12.6 percent clip at Triple-A Reno -- can rein in some rookie eagerness, then his vulnerable points are manageable.
The degree to which Fletcher has trained to give himself more power than his short stature would suggest has been written about plenty, and he certainly looked like he was filling out his clothes on Zoom. But he also acknowledged trying to drive the baseball with more authority being a conscious element of his approach and swing plane.
"It's a fine line and it's one of the toughest things to do," Fletcher said. "I definitely don't want to sacrifice my ability to get on base to be able to hit more home runs. You want to obviously be a player that can do both. I'm definitely sticking to a lot of the same stuff that I have been doing in previous years and implementing some new stuff that might allow me to hit more extra-base hits. But kind of still sticking with most of the same approach and the same ideas going into the box. So not too much different, but maybe a little bit more focused this offseason on elevating some balls pull side."
Fletcher has reached double-digit homers (but not much beyond) for each of the last three seasons, so it's more comfortable assuming he will have to fill out some sort of hybrid role where he bounces between the strong side of a right field platoon and backing up center field than it is marking him down as a long-term solution. In that sense, his track runs parallel with the team's. It's more comfortable writing off the White Sox as a rebuilding club that is using roster spots to give up blocked prospects prolonged tryouts, instead of buying into spring talk of importing a Diamondbacks ethos of fundamentally sound aggressive baseball and suddenly becoming greater than the sum of their parts, after back-to-back seasons of being decidedly less.
But players on the precipice of career-changing opportunities to play at the highest level tend to not be in the business of placing skeptical limits on the heights they can reach. Nor are they typically inclined to cast doubts on a roster group that includes basically the model for the player they aspired to be at Arkansas (Andrew Benintendi), a WBC teammate (Nicky Lopez), or even guys they remembers as stud teammates on the Team USA amateur circuit (Andrew Vaughn, Braden Shewmake). Hell, Fletcher doesn't even see himself as a platoon player.
"Just having good vibes in the locker room is a key to success on almost every team," Fletcher said. "As a player, you don’t really look at it as a rebuild. I think we have a lot of good players on the field. You look through the roster, there’s plenty of talent to go out there and win. That’s something I’m big on. I like to win whatever I do. I like to go out there and compete. I don’t think we look at it as a rebuild, it’s more of, 'We’ve got the players around us, let’s go do it.'"
