Lenyn Sosa has made headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. A couple of nights ago, the 24-year-old infielder had a game for the ages, and not in a good way. Not only did he fail to field a ground ball that led to a Rangers rally, but he also got called for interference after hitting a pop-up and not running it out. If those two mistakes were not bad enough, he got hit in the face with the ball in between innings as he was not paying attention. He was the laughingstock of the baseball world that night.
While baseball is a game of redeemers, Sosa’s struggles did not end there. The very next day, he inexplicably fielded a grounder hit directly to shortstop Nicky Lopez. It would have likely been a routine play for Lopez, but Sosa drifted to the left side of the infield from second base, took control for some unknown reason, and failed to throw out the runner at first. He also went hitless in three at-bats at the plate, adding salt to the wound. Sosa’s last few games have certainly not been his best.
Unfortunately, as time passes, it is increasingly evident that Sosa is a prototypical AAAA player. He is too good for AAA but not good enough for MLB. He has had no problem at the AAA level throughout his career despite being several years younger than the average player at that level. In just 24 AAA games this season, Sosa has eight doubles, six home runs, and an .860 OPS.
Yet when he steps on an MLB field, he is an entirely different player. It is almost like the game speeds up for him, and he is like a deer in headlights. He has no idea where he is on the field at any given time when he wears a White Sox uniform. He routinely almost collides with outfielders on pop-ups, and his communication with his fellow infielders is not much better. Sosa has a career fWAR of -1.7, meaning he is not even close to being just league average. He has been substantially worse than replacement level with the White Sox.
Sosa has shown flashes of being a productive player in the big leagues. From the beginning of June to early July this season, he was hitting much better and looked like he belonged at the MLB level. After all, Sosa is still a very young player with limited experience. Unfortunately, he has not been able to keep that momentum going. His numbers with the bat have fallen off a cliff again and he looks awkward in the field too. Growing pains are expected. There is a big adjustment from the minor leagues to MLB. However, Sosa has enough MLB games under his belt at this point that he should be showing signs of improvement. He is not.
The good news for Lenyn Sosa is that he has a consistent path to playing time for the rest of the season. He has been playing a lot recently, and Nicky Lopez being placed on waivers could give Sosa even more of an opportunity if Lopez does end up departing. At the same time, however, the White Sox have a lot of infield options moving forward. Sosa will have to show something soon or else his spot in the White Sox infield carousel will get murky fast.
