Gavin Sheets has seemingly revitalized his career since leaving the White Sox.
After spending four seasons on the South Side, the White Sox non-tendered Sheets over the offseason, after showing a sudden decline in power over the last three seasons and an inability to hit left-handers.
Sheets slashed .230/.295/.385 during his time with the White Sox, hitting 46 homers and driving in 175 RBIs. During that stretch, he slashed .168/.216/.242 slash line against southpaws compared to a .239/.306/.405 line against righties.
However, since joining the San Diego Padres on a minor league deal, Sheets looks like a new player. In his first 154 plate appearances, he is enjoying the best season of his career, hitting .27/.325/.451 with six homers and 23 runs driven in.
Sheets recently spoke with the San Diego Union about the change of scenery and admitted that he lost his love for baseball during his time with the White Sox.
“Yeah, it was tough. You know, 2022 we were right in the mix of things. And then Tony [La Russa] left because of health problems at the end of the year and him and I were really close. And in ‘23 and ‘24 was kind of a whirlwind, for me personally and for us as an organization in Chicago,” Sheets told Annie Heilbrunn. “ I definitely lost my love for baseball a little bit. It just became a dark cloud showing up to the ballpark every day for multiple different reasons. It was hard. It was hard to produce, hard ti, you know, to think about ‘Is this still what I want to do? And that was something that I took a step back from this offseason. Got my love for baseball, and coming here was a true blessing.”
When Gavin Sheets burst onto the scene in 2021, he looked like he could be a productive left-handed bat for the White Sox. In just 54 games, he hit 11 home runs, drove in 34 RBIs, while hitting a respectable .250. He followed that up with four hits in the ALDS.
In 2022, he hit a career-high 15 homers and 53 RBIs in 124 games but dropped his average to .241. Since then, his production has plummeted.
In 2023, he slashed just .203/.267/.331 with 10 homers and 43 RBIs. During the White Sox historic 141-loss season, he struck out 106 times with a .233 batting average and .660 OPS and once again only hit 10 homers. Across the board, Sheets' offensive numbers were below league average. He ranked in the league's 35th percentile in slugging percentage (.389), 23rd in average exit velocity (87.8%), 24th in chase rate (32.4%), and 22nd in hard-hit percentage (35.3%).
Adding insult to injury is his subpar defense. Sheets is a first baseman by trade. However, early in his career, the White Sox experimented with him as an outfielder to fit him in the lineup with Jose Abreu and Andrew Vaughn blocking first base. The experiment was a disaster, resulting in 10 errors,-22 Defensive Runs Saved, and -13 Outs Above Average in 1,618 innings patrolling the outfield. However, his work at first base still left much to be desired In 2024, he owned an OAA of -8, which ranked in the MLB’s fourth percentile.
While Sheets once promising career with the White Sox fell flat, he was a very easy player to root for. He rarely complained despite being put in uncomfortable positions by the organization and contributed to an AL Central Title. One of his most memorable moments with the organization came on July 19, 2021, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Twins. With the White Sox trailing 3-2 and down to their last three outs, Sheets drilled a walk-off three-run homer off of Jose Berrios to secure a 5-3 victory and salvage a doubleheader split.
The 29-year-old is set to enter arbitration this offseason, as he continues to make the most of his opportunity in San Diego.
