In less than two weeks, pitchers and catchers will report to Spring Training for the White Sox, officially transitioning to the 2025 season. It will signal the end of the dreadful 2024 season, allowing the players who still remain on the roster to purge the historically bad season from their minds.
The Opening Day roster will look very different than it did last year, and as the year progresses, some of the White Sox top prospects will join the roster as they earn promotions to Chicago. There are many variables to how a player will perform in a given season, but certain baseball reference websites try to give their best evaluation on how a player will perform for the upcoming season.
Each year, FanGraphs releases their Steamer projections on how they believe each player will perform in the upcoming year. We will be taking a look at each player’s 2025 projections as we approach Spring Training.
We will start off with the best player on the team, Luis Robert Jr. According to FanGraphs, their Steamer projects Robert Jr. to slash .244/.296/.434. They also project him to hit 29 homers, drive in 83 runs, and steal 27 bases, en route to a 3.1 WAR season.
Outside the average and the on base percentage, this would be an ideal season for Robert Jr. and the White Sox, as he would be back to his 2023 form with those kind of numbers. Last year was obviously a down year for Robert Jr., but he still managed to hit 14 home runs in just 100 games, while stealing 23 bases.
FanGraphs projects Robert Jr. to play in 150 games this season, which would also be a huge win for the White Sox, as that means he stayed heathy throughout the year.
I believe that the FanGraphs projections are spot on in terms of his run production and stolen bases, but if he is putting up those kind of numbers, his slash line will likely be better. In his all-star season in 2023, Robert slashed .263/.315/.542. They project him to be somewhere in the middle of those numbers and his 2024 numbers, but if he is hitting close to 30 home runs, it is likely that his average and his slugging percentage will be higher, as he clearly has the potential to hit for close to 40 home runs if he can stay heathy.
LUIS ROBERT JR. IS RIDICULOUS pic.twitter.com/cpUDDe4kpt
— Mike (@ChiSoxFanMike) June 11, 2024
FanGraphs clearly believes in Robert’s power and speed, but they aren’t keen on his ability to hit for average. Regardless, this would be a very good bounce back season for Robert and we could see him traded for a haul if he is hovering around .245 with 20 homers at the deadline.