Jake Burger making most of time with White So youth atlanta braves hoodie x, fueling feel
April 20, 2022
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Jake Burger was sitting in front of his Camelback Ranch locker one day this spring, a few weeks after sorting out his top-of-the-head sunburn issues caused by the mesh-back spring training caps and a few weeks before the delayed regular season was scheduled to kick off.
Burger didn’t know exactly what his immediate baseball future looked like — he was in the White Sox’s plans, though essentially as a wild card — but he was happy. Heck, he was healthy, and that’s what mattered.
“With everything I’ve been through,” he told The Sporting News with a grin, “I just want to play. It doesn’t matter where. Just have fun and play the sport I love.”
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That’s continCarlos Rodon Giants Jerseys ued into the regular season. Burger is with the big club, batting .300 with a 144 OPS+, one homer and four RBIs in six games. But we’ll come back to that. First, his “everything I’ve been through” journey to this point is worth a second look.
Burger was drafted by the White Sox with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft out of Missouri State and spent most of that summer with the Single-A Kannapolis Intimidators, batting .271 with five homers in 200 plate appearances.
Not a bad introduction to pro ball. But he would not play in another official game until 2021.
No, seriously. He tore his Achilles tendon and missed all of the 2018 season. Wait, let’s clarify. He torn his Achilles twice in 2018, once in spring training and again in early May, just walking in his backyard. A heel injury kept him out all of the 2019 season. And, as you know, thMLB Blanketsere was no minor league season during the pandemic 2020 season; Burger spent his time at the White Sox’s alternate site with the other minor leaguers.
First-round pick in 2017, zero regular-season games in 2018, 2019 or 2020. There isn’t much precedent for that. Was he done? How would he revive his career?
“Last year was one of those years where they were basically like, ‘Hey, get your feet under you. You’ve just got to play innings,’” Burger said.
It’s unlikely that anyone expected what can only be looked at as a massive success story. In 2021, Burger spent most of his season with Triple-A Charlotte, hitting 18 homers to go with an .845 OPS and 5 atlanta braves mitchell ness jersey 4 RBIs in 82 games. He spent most of July, though, with the parent club. He had two hits in his MLB debut and had an .807 OPS in 42 plate appearances when he was sent back down late in the month.
Jake Burger and Jace Fry (Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights)
The offseason was a strange one, of course, what with the lockout and all. But for Burger, his objectives were clear: If he wanted to increase his chances of sticking around in the majors, he had defensive work to do. The problem with sticking around in the majors on a team like the White Sox — winners of 93 games in 2021 and the clear AL Central favorites in 2022 — is finding a spot in the lineup.
“That was a focus this offseason, being able to play multiple positions and being ready to go wherever they needed me,” Burger said. “It’s a great lineup we have, and it’s awesome getting to work with all these guys. You don’t get this opportunity often, to get to work with some of the greatest players in the world, so getting to learn from them has only helped me.” atlanta braves outfits
His natural position is third base, but that’s manned by Yoan Moncada, who has produced 5.2 and 4.0 bWAR numbers the past two non-pandemic seasons.
Burger spent the offseason working a bit at first base b atlanta braves jersey olson ut mostly at second, where he did play a few times with Charlotte last year.
“It’s a different throw than third base, where you can get your feet going towards the bag,” Burger said. “When you’re turning a double play at second base atlanta braves jersey 5t , it’s not as much momentum going to first, so you’ve got to rely on your arm a little bit more, rely on your hands. I worked on that all offseasBuster Posey on, so I feel really comfortable.”
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He also made sure that, regardless of the lockout, he was ready to go once camps finally opened.
“In Nashville, with the guys I worked out with,” Burger said, “I know we were doing basically spring training days on our own, getting some liveShohei Ohtani at-bats against some of the guys we worked out with. Most guys were ready to go.”
Burger batted .300 with a pair of homers and a 1.033 OPS this spring. Without a position, Burger was sent back to Charlotte to start the season, and he reached base five times in seven plate appearances over two games: two hits, two walks and one hit by pitch.
Then, o atlanta braves swanson jersey pportunity arose. The Sox placed Moncada on the Injured List with a strained oblique and called up Burger. Moncada is expected to be out less than a month, and the third-base job is his, obviously, when he returns. But if Burger keeps hitting the way he is, he’ll force the White Sox to make a decision.
Do they send him back to Marcus Semien Rangers Jerseys Triple-A to get regular at-bats, or do they keep him in the bigs — where he’s shown he belongs as a hitter — and find him at-bats here and there, maybe allow him to show off all that hard work at second base? The problem is, the White Sox already have an established, versatile player on their roster in veteran Josh Harrison, and both Danny Mendick and Leury Garcia can play multiple positions, too.
That depth behind stars Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Moncada and Jose Abreu is part of the reason the White Sox are the team to beat in the Central, but it’s also part of the reason why it’s hard to predict Burger’s playing time in the bigs this season.
For perspective, though, it’s hard not to think back to the first thing he told The Sporting News this spring: “With everything I’ve been through, I just want to play. It doesn’t matter where. Just have fun and play the sport I love.”