Gavin Sheets entered Friday’s night’s game against the Mets as a White Sox rarity in 2024 — a hot hitter.
Sheets, in fact, not only was the hottest hitter on the team — the lowest of bars, no doubt — but one of the hottest hitters in the American League. In 18 games since Aug. 7, he was hitting .385 (25-for-65) with five doubles and a home run — a .902 OBP. Only the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (.397) and the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez (.397) had higher batting averages in that span.
“The biggest thing is trying to finish strong and put together a decent season,” said Sheets, who improved his average from .211 to a team-leading .240. “The biggest thing for me has been using the whole field and taking what the pitcher gives me. Just trying to not do too much.”
But while Judge and Alvarez are playing for first-place teams, Sheets is playing for a team on pace to be the worst in baseball history. The Sox were 31-104 (.230) entering Friday night’s game, on pace to finish 37-125 — which would break the major-league record for most losses in a season (the 1962 Mets were 40-120) and the lowest winning percentage in a season (the 1916 Athletics were 36-117, .235).
So while this might look like a classic salary drive, Sheets’ rally is a victory of perseverance. His hot streak started the day after the Sox broke their 21-game losing streak — a chapter of ignominy that connected Sheets with his father, Larry Sheets, who had played in every game of the 1988 Orioles 21-game losing streak to start the season.
“I think it’s been tough for everybody,” Sheets said. “There’s been a lot of things we can learn from this. And a lot that we want to learn from this and move on to next year. But it’s been a mental grind. The baseball season in general is a marathon. To be going through this as well has been a lot. But I think we’re all learning from it.”
Sheets’ hot streak also has coincided with Grady Sizemore replacing Pedro Grifol as the White Sox manager.
“I was pretty high on Gavin from the beginning,” Sizemore said. “I just liked the makeup of the guy. He came in outworking everybody, playing the position that he’s not comfortable with in right field. He held his own. He was holding down the middle of the lineup when a lot of our big guys were hurt and he’s a tremendous leader in the clubhouse. We’re fortunate to have him.”
Truth be told, the offseason can’t come soon enough for the White Sox. They’ve earned every bit of their historically poor record. Their best players — pitcher Garrett Crochet and centerfielder Luis Robert, Jr. — could be traded in the offseason. Their immediate future is not bright. And most — if not all — of the players on their next contending team are likely in Charlotte, Birmingham, Winston-Salem, Kannapolis or in college or high school right now.
But Gavin Sheets has at least earned the right to believe he’ll be a better player for having gone through a season like this.
“Absolutely,” Sheets said. “I think there’s a lot of things we can take from this year — mentally, physically, everything. It is what it is. And we’ve gone through it. Now we’ve got to learn from it and get better from it.”
Is that even possible?
“I think you can use this [season] to an advantage,” Sizemore said. “Continuing to fight when you’re having a frustrating year and to look for opportunities to get better.
“Our next four series are all playoff teams. This is a challenge to compete with some of the better teams fighting for a [playoff] spot and we get to fight back and try to wreck their path to the playoffs. That’s the challenge and we’re going to try to compete with these playoff teams and not just be an easy win.”