More, Please

Jake Burger drove in the last two runs of Saturday’s game at Tropicana Field and the first two on Sunday, both White Sox wins. I could get used to this. Burger hit two doubles yesterday. In his last nine games, the sometimes-Sox third baseman has himself ten RBIs, virtually all of them meaningful, including a three-run homer in a 3-1 win against the Red Sox; a walk-off single last Sunday against the Cubs; and a two-run pinch-hit homer to lift the Sox over the Rays on Saturday. Not bad for a guy who spent half of May back at Triple A. But what happens, or should happen, moving forward? As ever, it pays to follow the sage advice of Ozzie Guillen, who advised Sox fans during yesterday’s postgame show that Burger “isn’t going to hit .392 with fifty homeruns and 125 RBIs. Maybe .382.” Our resident savant went on to say what the Sox have to do is to let Burger play now and see what happens. Agreed. Which leads us to Yoan Moncada, an ostensible cornerstone of this South Side rebuild. Moncada had a breakout 2019 season (.315 BA/25 homers/79RBIs) followed by COVID in 2020 and a so-so campaign last year (.263/14/61). As bad as 2020 was (.225 BA), it sure looks better than this season (.135). Will the real Yoan Moncada please stand up? The smart thing to do is play the hot hand. Right now, that’s Jake Burger, and if only in this one regard, Tony La Russa looks to be doing the smart thing.