The White Sox are signing outfielder Austin Slater to a serious league deal, per a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Submit. The phrases of the settlement should not but identified. Slater will must be added to the membership’s 40-man roster when the deal is made official, although Chicago has house accessible so a corresponding transfer won’t be vital.
Slater, 31, was an eighth-round decide by San Francisco out of Stanford throughout the 2014 draft. The outfielder spent greater than a decade within the Giants group as he made his huge league debut in 2017 and remained with the membership by way of final season. Within the first three seasons of his profession, Slater was a good however unspectacular fourth outfielder for San Francisco, slashing a mixed .254/.335/.368 in 544 complete plate appearances throughout that point. Whereas primarily an outfielder, he additionally obtained occasional time at first base and even made token appearances at each second and third base off the Giants’ bench.
The outfielder broke out throughout the shortened 2020 season, nonetheless, with a 150 wRC+ and a .282/.408/.506 slash line in 104 journeys to the plate whereas showing in 31 of the membership’s 60 video games. That leap ahead offensively earned Slater an expanded position over the following few years, and from 2021 to 2023 he turned an everyday for the Giants in opposition to left-handed pitching. Whereas he was nonetheless typically shielded from righties, Slater slashed a decent .257/.345/.412 in 343 video games from 2021 to 2023. That’s good for a decent 113 wRC+, and throughout these 838 plate appearances he walked at a ten.5% clip, swatted 24 homers, and swiped 29 bases regardless of frequent journeys to the injured record chopping down on his enjoying time through the years.
Sadly for Slater, his manufacturing cratered in 2024. The outfielder hit simply .209/.321/.266 (76 wRC+) total in 212 journeys to the plate this 12 months whereas bouncing between the Giants, Reds, and Orioles. Much more surprisingly, the outfielder really carried reverse splits this 12 months after years of feasting on left-handed pitching. Whereas he loved a 141 wRC+ in opposition to lefties from 2020 to 2023, Slater hit simply .188/.310/.231 in opposition to them in 142 plate appearances this 12 months. Dismal as that total manufacturing final 12 months was, there’s a silver lining in Slater’s efficiency. As soon as he arrived in Baltimore on the day of the commerce deadline, he seemed rather more just like the participant he’s been all through his profession. In 79 plate appearances with the Orioles down the stretch, Slater hit .246/.342/.333 (102 wRC+) total and posted a 114 wRC+ in opposition to southpaws.
That late-season rebound may encourage extra confidence in Slater’s potential to return to kind in 2025 and past. That seems to be what the White Sox are betting on, and Slater makes loads of sense for the membership as a left-handed platoon possibility. Veteran lefty bat Andrew Benintendi is entrenched in left area, whereas the membership additionally employs a number of left-handed kids in proper area and at DH together with Zach DeLoach, Dominic Fletcher, Gavin Sheets, and Oscar Colas. Of that group, solely DeLoach (in a pattern of simply 79 huge league PAs) lacks a big platoon cut up.
Mixing in Slater in opposition to left-handed pitching ought to be an enormous increase for a Sox offense that produced an MLB-worst 74 wRC+ in opposition to left-handed pitching final 12 months, even when he merely recreates the manufacturing he provided the Orioles moderately than bouncing again to the wonderful kind he confirmed from 2020 to 2023. Whereas even a wonderful short-side platoon bat isn’t going to make the White Sox contenders in 2025 following a 121-loss season this 12 months, Slater was sufficiently enticing as a commerce piece this summer season to get dealt not as soon as, however twice previous to the deadline. If he can garner that stage of curiosity amid a down season, it’s straightforward to think about the White Sox recouping some worth for his companies subsequent July within the occasion he bounces again.
