For the first time this season, Korey Lee was in the starting lineup when Garrett Crochet was on the bump during the White Sox 6-3 loss to the Twins on Wednesday night. White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said the decision was made because “our responsibility is to put the best lineup out there we think can win baseball games.”
Anyone who has watched the White Sox this season already knows that Lee is giving the White Sox a better chance to win. The 25-year-old catcher is arguably the most improved player on the roster after spending the offseason slimming down, getting more explosive, and elevating his offensive game.
His hard work this offseason has paid off. Lee was floundering near the end of the 2023 season. He slashed .077/.143/.138 and struck out in 28.6% of his at-bats after getting traded to the White Sox. This season he is batting .256 with a 122 OPS+ and has cut down his strikeout rate to just 19%. In his first 39 at-bats, he already has a pair of home runs and five RBIs which have surpassed his 2023 totals.
On Wednesday he sent a ball 422 feet into the upper deck at Target Field that had an exit velocity of 105.4 mph. His next at-bat he worked a six-pitch walk. Seeing any sort of offensive production is a breath of fresh air for White Sox fans.
Martin Maldonado has served as Crochet’s primary backstop for the bulk of the season and has started 15 of the White Sox first 25 games. Maldonado was never much of a hitter. However, the 37-year-old is a former World Series Champion and Gold Glove winner. White Sox general manager Chris Getz added him this offseason to help guide the young White Sox pitching staff and bolster the defense up the middle. Neither has happened.
Maldonado owns a -52 OPS and just two hits in 42 at-bats this season. The defense has not been much better. Maldonado ranks in the bottom 21st percentile in blocks above average while also ranking in the MLB’s bottom five percent in caught stealing above average and pitch framing. Not only is he not providing offensive support, but he is also allowing runners to get free bases left and right. He may know how to call a good game behind the plate but his presence in the lineup has not benefitted the pitching staff like the front office had envisioned.
Lee on the other hand has been solid behind the plate. His blocks above average rank in the top half of the MLB while his caught stealing above average ranks in MLB’s 77th percentile.
Lee was back at it on Thursday afternoon, making a sliding catch in front of the White Sox dugout in the bottom of the second inning on a short popup of the bat of Carlos Santana. He then slapped a single to left field in the fourth inning and another single to right in the ninth inning for good measure.
His play this season could force the hand of the front office who initially planned on having Max Stassi and Maldonado as the primary catchers. Stassi is still on the injured list but when he returns someone is going to have to get sent down. Lee still has options remaining and the White Sox value Maldonado’s veteran presence. He ranks second among MLB catchers in games played and innings caught since 2017.
But at some point, you have to reward the play on the field. The White Sox spent Spring Training boasting about the competition in camp. Lee has shown he can be a viable catcher for the South Siders moving forward. He has earned more innings behind the plate.
