La Russa's Confidence In Sheets Growing Before Playoff Roster Cuts

Gavin Sheets is locked in at the plate. On Tuesday, Sheets hit a home run that cleared the 400-foot mark. Then he tacked on an RBI single for good measure. Tony La Russa rewarded his efforts by throwing him back in the lineup on Wednesday. That wasn't the initial plan, however. Andrew Vaughn was originally penciled in to be the designated hitter on Wednesday. But that's what erasers are for. After watching Sheets at-bats on Tuesday La Russa decided to change course. "But I felt like with what Gavin Sheets did yesterday you've got to give him at-bats today. So he earned them," La Russa explained after Wednesday night's 6-1 victory against the Reds. Sheets rewarded the skipper's confidence with 3-RBI and another home run. In the bottom of the third inning Sheets opened the scoring by attacking a 92 mph sinker from Sonny Gray and sending it into the left-field seats. It is Sheets' 11th home run of the season despite appearing in just 51 games.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Gavin Sheets stepped up to the plate with two outs and runners in scoring position. With two strikes he took an outside fastball the other way for an RBI single. It marked Sheets 31st RBI of the season. Tony La Russa said that the RBI single was his favorite hit of the night. Sheets agreed. OnThet Tony La Russa showed faith in Sheets by calling for Leury Garcia to lay down a bunt. This moved the runners in scoring position and gave Sheets an RBI opportunity. "Obviously the home runs are awsome-I'll take a home run every night obviously," Sheets said. "But to come up big with runners in scoring position, especially last night after Leury Garcia got the bunt down and showed confidence in me to get the job done, is more rewarding than anything."

With the regular season winding down, final tune-up at-bats before the playoffs are becoming increasingly valuable. Especially for guys like Gavin Sheets who are fighting for a spot on the playoff roster. Tony La Russa informed reporters that he is scheduled to sit down with Rick Hahn on Friday and discuss the final roster with Game 1 of the ALDS only a week away. Leury Garcia and Gavin Sheets have been on a hot stretch recently. Their production at the bottom of the lineup has been key in the White Sox recent offensive production. Their contributions have not gone unnoticed by the White Sox Hall of Fame manager. "The ability to score each inning, nowadays that's a requirement if you want to get to October," La Russa told reporters. "Because you're going to face other teams like that. That is definitely something that we can feature as well." Andrew Vaughn has been struggling as of late, opening the door for a platoon situation at DH in the playoffs. With Adam Engel healthy the White Sox won't need Vaughn or Sheets to play in the outfield leaving their only path to cracking the roster at DH. Sheets has killed left-handed pitching all season, batting .254. However, when he faces southpaws, he has struggled to the tune of a .111 batting average. Meanwhile, Andrew Vaughn is hitting .274 against lefties but only .220 against righties. Both of these young hitters can provide the White Sox valuable power. Their splits lead you to believe a platoon situation would be in the White Sox's best interest. The White Sox need to drop two players from their active roster for the postseason. If Sheets and Vaughn each make the cut then that means someone like Billy Hamilton or Brian Goodwin are the odd men out. Or the White Sox could opt to get rid of two relief pitchers. Only time will tell but Sheets is making a very convincing case in his final push to play October baseball.