The White Sox exploded for a season-high 19 hits and four home runs in a 13-9 slugfest over the Braves on Monday night, with a familiar bat sparking the offense’s biggest scoring outburst of the year.
Lenyn Sosa has emerged as one of the White Sox’s most reliable bats this season, and Monday night was no exception. The 25-year-old delivered two key hits, driving in four runs with an RBI single in the fourth inning before launching a three-run homer in the sixth.
It marked Sosa’s 17th home run of the season, the most of any White Sox player this season. His .274 batting average, 107 hits, .470 slugging percentage, .752 OPS, and 54 RBIs also lead the team.
Sosa has been making the most of his opportunity since earning regular playing time with the White Sox. He isn’t just one of the best hitters on the team; he is also emerging as one of the most productive bats in baseball.
Over his last 24 games, Sosa is slashing .286/.323/.560 with eight home runs and 20 RBIs, numbers that surpass both MVP candidate Cal Raleigh and Phillies All-Star Bryce Harper in average, on-base plus slugging, and RBIs over the same span. Only Raleigh has more home runs than Sosa during that stretch, with nine.
The key to Sosa’s success has been his ability to barrel the ball consistently. His 39.7% sweet spot rate—a metric that measures how often a player’s batted balls fall within the optimal launch angle range of 8 to 32 degrees—has been a major factor. The more frequently a hitter can find the sweet spot, the greater the likelihood of generating distance and power. Sosa ranks in the MLB’s 90th percentile in sweet spot percentage.
It’s resulted in a .286 expected batting average that places him amongst the top 11% of all MLB hitters, and a 90.8 mph average exit velocity that also ranks in the top third of the league. It’s a continuation from what Sosa was building on in 2024 when he posted a .278 expected batting average and slugged .566 with four homers in the final month of the season.
The White Sox as a whole have been much more patient at the plate this season, tied for 16th in the MLB in walks. While most of the lineup has benefited from seeing more pitches, Sosa appears to be an outlier.
His walk rate is just 3.4% and his 41 % chase rate is one of the highest in baseball. However, Sosa has still managed to find success even when behind in the count, with a .271 batting average in 0-2 counts.
He now owns a 0.8 WAR after entering the season with a career -0.9 WAR, despite some questionable defense across the diamond. Sosa has appeared at first, second, and third base, with the hot corner being the only position at which he has a positive Outs Above Average. His 11 errors this season are the most in the American League.
Sosa’s defensive struggles put the White Sox in an interesting position. The Venezuelan has certainly carved out a role that the White Sox can benefit from moving forward. The question is, where do you put him?
First base is a need that the White Sox need to address this offseason, and Sosa has shown he isn’t a viable option long-term at the position. Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery’s emergence makes it unlikely he will stick in the middle infield, making third base the most viable option. But with Miguel Vargas also being best suited for third base, it isn’t a clear-cut decision.
Sosa certainly benefits from providing defensive flexibility, but needs to find a defensive home. In the meantime, his offensive production has bought him time, with the third-highest barrel rate in the MLB since July 28th, behind only Kyle Schwarber and Shohei Ohtani. At the rate he is currently hitting, manager Will Venable has no choice but to continue finding spots for Sosa in the lineup.
