Gavin

Sheets

It sounded like Sheets might head to Asia after being cut by the White Sox, but nothing materialized there. The 28-year-old Sheets is a career .230/.295/.385 hitter with no defensive value. Maybe he’ll pull a Ryan O’Hearn and figure something out in a new organization, but he’s been a liability to date. The Padres should keep trying to do better in the DH slot.

The 28-year-old slugger hit a disappointing .233/.303/.357 with 10 homers and 45 RBI over 501 plate appearances with the White Sox in 2024. He was projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $2.6 million via arbitration and Chris Getz and company must not have felt like his production was worth that much. He’s a guy who should draw plenty of interest on the open market this winter.

Two wins in a row for the White Sox? In this economy? Sheets got Chicago off to a strong start with a two-run homer in the first that gave the White Sox a 3-0 lead. It puts Sheets into double digits with 10 roundtrippers, and his RBI total climbs to 45.

This time, he’s sitting even though the White Sox are facing a left-hander. No matter how badly Vargas has performed since being acquired from the Dodgers, we can’t imagine how it makes any sense for the White Sox to give Gavin Sheets at-bats over him against a lefty. Still, that’s what they’re doing. Sheets, for the record, has hit .162/.214/.222 in 168 career plate appearances against southpaws.

Sheets put the White Sox on the board with a solo homer off Will Warren in the second inning. He drove in a second run with a base hit in the fourth, bringing Chicago’s only two runs in to score. The 28-year-old is slashing .234/.310/.379 with eight homers and 37 RBI across 387 plate appearances.

It’s the first time all year that the White Sox have beat a team by double digits, and it only took 120 games. Sheets was a big part of that demolition; driving in runs on all three of his doubles. The 28-year-old has not had a great season — no hitters for Chicago have, obviously — but this did improve his slash to .231/.309/.367 with 35 RBI.

Pham started his career with the Cardinals in 2014 and played four seasons there before being traded away. He’ll now return to St. Louis after hitting .266/.330/.380 in 70 games for the White Sox with five home runs, six steals, and 33 runs scored. The 36-year-old figures to play frequently in left field, with Alec Burleson spending most of his time at DH and Brendan Donovan returning to a super-utility role. However, the Cardinals love to play matchups and rotate their lineup, so Pham may not start as much as he did with the White Sox, even though he gets a major upgrade in team context. The White Sox will now have right field available for Gavin Sheets, though he’s been playing most of the time anyway.

Sheets was pulled from Wednesday night’s battle against the Dodgers after jamming his left heel while rounding second base after his double. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the White Sox give him a day off on Thursday, but don’t expect the 28-year-old slugger to require any sort of extended absence.

The severity of the injury — as well as how much time (if any) Sheets may miss — are not yet known. He’ll head for further evaluation and the White Sox should have an update on his status at some point before Thursday’s battle against the Braves.

Sheets has been something of a bright spot in what’s otherwise been a very dim White Sox season. His strikeout rate has gone down for the fourth consecutive season and his .739 OPS leads the team.