Jake Burger

White Sox Promote Jake Burger, Option Yermin Mercedes

By Steve Adams | July 2, 2021 at 11:38am CDT

11:38am: The White Sox announced that they have indeed recalled Burger from Triple-A Charlotte. Chicago has also reinstated Adam Eaton from the injured list. In a pair of corresponding roster moves, they’ve optioned righty Zack Burdi and, most notably, designated hitter Yermin Mercedes.

The 28-year-old Mercedes was the talk of baseball when he started the season 8-for-8 and generally decimated big league pitching for the first six weeks of the season. Mercedes batted .368/.417/.571 through the season’s first 38 games, producing at a Herculean level even as hitters throughout the league struggled so extensively that MLB finally began to crack down on pitchers’ use of foreign substances.

In his next 31 games, however, Mercedes has seen his offensive production completely evaporate. The endpoint here, admittedly, is rather arbitrary, but Mercedes is hitting just .150/.220/.196 across his past 118 plate appearances. Understandably, the Sox have begun to cut back on his playing time, and he’s now Charlotte-bound, where the team will hope he can get a reset of sorts to round back into the form he displayed early in the 2021 campaign.

11:00am: The White Sox are calling up infield prospect Jake Burger for his big league debut today, tweets The Athletic’s James Fegan. Scott Merkin of MLB.com suggested last night (via Twitter) that Burger was likely to be with the club in Detroit this weekend, and the White Sox themselves have even tweeted a not-so-subtle indication that Burger is getting the call — though they’ve yet to make a formal announcement and reveal the corresponding roster moves.

It’s the culmination of a remarkable journey for the 2017 first-rounder, who has twice torn his Achilles tendon and endured grueling, months-long rehabilitations. Burger didn’t play in a single minor league game from 2018-19 (or in 2020, for obvious reasons). Making the jump from Class-A to Triple-A after a three-year layoff from competitive games is impressive in itself, but Burger has done far more than simply make that leap — he’s absolutely torn Triple-A pitching apart. In 185 plate appearances over 42 games, the former No. 11 overall pick has mashed at a .322/.368/.596 clip, swatting 10 homers, 15 doubles and a triple along the way.

Burger only recently turned 25, so despite the considerable injury hurdles he’s had to clear in his journey to this point, his age lines up nicely with the rest of an increasingly impressive core of young White Sox stars. He’s played primarily third base in the minor leagues, but the Sox began getting him some looks at second base when Nick Madrigal went down with a season-ending hamstring tear. For the time being, however, Burger could get a look at his primary position at the hot corner, as Yoan Moncada sustained a hand injury on a slide into third base yesterday.

Burger’s early performance could be pivotal for the White Sox. While they’re comfortably in command of the American League Central, they’ve still reportedly been discussing a trade centering around D-backs infielder Eduardo Escobar. While those talks have apparently slowed as other teams jump into the Escobar bidding, Burger’s performance could conceivably curb Chicago’s own interest.

If Burger storms out to a hot start and Moncada comes back healthy sooner than later, the Sox could just let Burger run with the second base role and forgo an infield upgrade entirely. Conversely, if Burger looks overmatched, the Sox might be more interested in pursuing a short-term upgrade at a clear position of need on a win-now club — be it Escobar or another trade candidate.

AL Central Notes: Civale, Buxton, Duran, Burger

By Steve Adams | June 21, 2021 at 10:04pm CDT

The Indians’ rotation depth has been tested already, and they could now be facing another injury. Right-hander Aaron Civale exited tonight with two outs in the fifth inning with an injury to his right middle finger. The Score’s Travis Sawchik notes, via Twitter, that the medical staff was testing the mobility of Civale’s finger as opposed to looking at a potential blister. There’s no official diagnosis, but for a Cleveland club that already has Shane Bieber (shoulder strain) and Zach Plesac (fractured hand) on the injured list, any injury scare for the club’s most proven starter is particularly noteworthy.

Cleveland has cycled through myriad young options in hopes of churning out another quality starter, as they’ve seemingly been able to do at will in recent years. However, each of Triston McKenzie, Sam Hentges, Logan Allen, Eli Morgan and Jean Carlos Mejia has an ERA north of 6.00 after multiple starts. Swingman Cal Quantrill gave the Indians a much-needed five innings of shutout ball his last time out but hasn’t had much success overall in four starts. The Indians are still nine games over .500 despite those injuries and an offense that ranks among the worst in MLB (88 wRC+), but it’ll be increasingly difficult to maintain that standing if questions about the rotation continue to mount.

More news from the division…

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton just returned from the injured list, but he exited tonight’s game against the Reds after five innings. Buxton was hit by a pitch on the left hand in his prior at-bat and played a couple innings of defense before ultimately exiting the game. Minnesota has won four straight games and can ill afford to lose Buxton if the team wants to cling to any faint hope of clawing its way back into the race. It stands to reason that the club would likely have Buxton undergo x-rays, even if his removal were deemed precautionary. They’ll presumably have an update after the game on Buxton, who is 4-for-10 with a homer and a double since returning from the IL two days ago.
The Twins have shut down top pitching prospect Jhoan Duran due to an elbow strain, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters (Twitter link via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). He’s undergoing imaging to determine the severity of the issue. Minnesota has been attempting to weather injury troubles for two of its top three starters (Kenta Maeda, Michael Pineda) while getting awful results from fourth and fifth starters J.A. Happ and Matt Shoemaker. The Twins’ miserable rotation performance is perhaps the primary reason for their surprisingly poor record, and an injury to Duran would rob the club of a high-profile prospect who entered the season as a candidate to make his MLB debut this summer. Duran ranked as the game’s No. 83 prospect at The Athletic and No. 86 at FanGraphs, but he’s been limited to just 16 innings this season. Duran allowed one run with a 14-to-3 K/BB ratio in his first seven innings but has since been tagged for eight runs on 11 hits and an alarming 10 walks in nine innings.
The White Sox are without Nick Madrigal for the remainder of the season, and while it appears they’re exploring the market for infield help, they’re also taking some looks at creative in-house options. Third base prospect Jake Burger is getting some work at second base in Triple-A, writes Vinnie Duber of NBC Sports Chicago. Burger, 25, is in the midst of his first season since 2017 after a pair of Achilles injuries wiped out his 2018 and 2019 campaigns. The 2017 first-rounder has left little doubt that he’s a talented hitter, batting .277/.320/.555 with eight homers, 12 doubles and a triple in 147 plate appearances in his first in-game action after a three-year layoff. The 6’2″, 230-pound Burger would be one of the larger players you’d see at second base, but manager Tony La Russa notes to Duber that with Yoan Moncada hitting so well at the hot corner, at-bats there won’t be easy to come by if Burger’s bat does force its way to the big leagues: “I think it’s really smart, and it’s smarter if you do it down there where it’s not such a microscope. … I like that they’re exposing him to second base down there.”

White Sox Claim Emilio Vargas, Add Three Others To 40-Man Roster

By Steve Adams | November 20, 2020 at 2:18pm CDT

The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve claimed righty Emilio Vargas off waivers from the D-backs and selected the contracts of infielder Jake Burger, right-hander Tyler Johnson and infielder Gavin Sheets. The moves leave the ChiSox with a full 40-man roster.

Vargas, 24, wasn’t included in the D-backs’ player pool in 2020. His 2019 season was spent primarily at the Double-A level, where he worked to a 3.78 ERA and 4.20 FIP with 7.4 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9 and a 42.6 percent grounder rate in 85 2/3 innings (17 starts). He wasn’t considered to be among the Diamondbacks’ 30 best prospects at MLB.com or FanGraphs, but he’ll give the club some rotation depth at the upper levels of the system — that is, of course, assuming he makes it through the offseason on their roster, which isn’t a given.

Burger, 24, was the 11th overall pick in 2017 and has had his career to date decimated by a series of left leg/foot injuries. Burger has twice torn the Achilles tendon in his left leg, and upon returning from that issue in 2019, a heel injury wiped out his entire season. He hasn’t suited up for a game since way back in 2017, the same year he was drafted, but the third baseman was a prolific college hitter who turned in a .263/.336/.412 slash with Class-A Kannapolis after being drafted.

Both Johnson and Sheets are considered to be among the White Sox top 20 or so prospects. Johnson posted a 2.59 ERA and punched out 43 hitters in 31 1/3 innings of minor league relief work in 2019. Sheets was a second-round first baseman out of Wake Forest in 2017 who posted a .267/.345/.414 slash in an extremely pitcher-friendly Double-A setting in 2019 (122 wRC+).

White Sox Add Jake Burger To 60-Man Player Pool

By Connor Byrne | August 19, 2020 at 4:32pm CDT

The White Sox have added third baseman Jake Burger to their 60-man player pool, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. He’ll join their alternate training site.

This is an important step for Burger, a recent first-round pick (No. 11 in 2017) whom injuries have ravaged during his professional career. Burger tore his left Achilles twice in 2018 and didn’t play at all that year. He also missed all of last season because of heel problems. Considering those serious issues, it’s encouraging that the 24-year-old is managing to work his way back yet again.

When Burger was actually healthy enough to play in the minors during his draft year, he logged a .263/.336/.412 line with five home runs in 217 plate appearances between rookie ball and Single-A. Baseball America then ranked Burger as the White Sox’s seventh-best prospect heading into 2018, making note of his impressive power and writing that “his leadership-oriented makeup is legendary.”

Quick Hits: Trade Deadline, Boras, Lynn, Smith, Padres, Burger

By Mark Polishuk | August 15, 2020 at 10:30pm CDT

There’s no doubt the 2020 trade deadline will be the most unusual in baseball history, and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) looks at some of the many unique aspects of the lead-up to August 31. Everything about how teams evaluate their own rosters, decide on being buyers or sellers, scout other teams’ talent, and potentially spend to acquire that talent will be in flux, plus there are some factors unique to the threat of COVID-19.

For instance, there might have to be some back-channel negotiations with trade candidates to ensure that a player wouldn’t opt out of the season rather than be dealt to an undesirable location. Just the idea of changing locations whatsoever also carries issues, as Rosenthal notes that intake testing could delay a new acquisition’s arrival to his new team by a few days (no small amount of time in a shortened season), and there is inherent risk in travel and in introducing the health x-factor of an unfamiliar player into a new clubhouse.

In regards to the latter concern, agent Scott Boras contacted Rosenthal with the following message (Twitter link): “So that deadline deals are not impacted by COVID, I am letting all owners know if any of our players are traded and asked to leave their existing teams’ protocols, we have arranged a private jet protocol to allow players to be safely transported (between clubs).”

Latest On White Sox Prospect Jake Burger

By Connor Byrne | June 29, 2019 at 6:39pm CDT

White Sox third base prospect Jake Burger didn’t play at all last year after tearing his left Achilles tendon twice, once in February and again in May. It turns out Burger will also miss this season, owing in part to a bruised left heel, general manager Rick Hahn told James Fegan of The Athletic and other reporters Friday.

The Burger news adds to a vicious week on the injury front for the White Sox, who also ruled injured pitchers Ryan Burr, Jimmy Lambert, Ian Hamilton and Zack Burdi out for the season Friday.

Like Burdi (No. 26, 2016), Burger joined the organization as a recent first-round pick. The White Sox selected Burger 11th overall in 2017 and then inked him for $3.7MM – almost $500K below slot – with the hope the ex-Missouri State standout would lock down third on the South Side for the foreseeable future.

The 23-year-old Burger could still emerge as a long-term building block in Chicago despite this injury-stunted start to his career. It may not happen at third, though, as Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs noted back in April he looked like a questionable fit for the position even before this awful run of left leg troubles. Nevertheless, McDaniel and Longenhagen ranked Burger 12th among the White Sox’s prospects and credited him with possessing a “sizable ceiling.” The Sox are hoping Burger will return for Arizona Fall League action this year and finally start showing off his potential in real games again.

White Sox Prospect Jake Burger Re-Tears Achilles

By Jeff Todd | May 9, 2018 at 10:59am CDT

White Sox prospect Jake Burger has re-torn his Achilles tendon, GM Rick Hahn tells reporters including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter links). The recent first-round pick was rehabbing a prior tear that occurred in late February.

Burger was already down for the year, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a significant new development in its own right. He will now have to start over in his rehab after undergoing a second surgical replacement. With a full-year absence required, that means there’s little hope that Burger will be ready for the start of the 2019 season.

Clearly, the 22-year-old was not going to be a part of the immediate plans for the Chicago organization even before the initial injury. But the successive procedures don’t exactly help his long-term outlook, though at this point there’s no reason to believe he can’t get back to full health.

The White Sox will ultimately have to wait quite a bit longer than originally anticipated to see a contribution from Burger, the 11th overall pick last summer out of Missouri State. He hit at a .263/.336/.412 rate in his 217 innings in the low minors last year, so clearly was still in need of significant seasoning. Now, he’ll need to work through quite a lengthy rehab process before re-starting his march toward the majors.

Jake Burger Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

By Jeff Todd | February 27, 2018 at 10:12am CDT

White Sox prospect Jake Burger has been diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon that will require surgery, per a club announcement. He’s expected to miss the entire 2018 campaign.

That’s obviously a highly disappointing development for both the player and the team. Burger, a third baseman by trade, was selected with the 11th overall pick in last year’s draft.

A highly productive collegiate power hitter, the 21-year-old Burger did not exactly dominate in his first professional season. He spent most of the year at the Class A level, where he slashed .271/.335/.409 with four home runs over two hundred plate appearances.

Despite the less-than-exciting debut, hopes remain high that Burger will become a part of a future core group. Unfortunately, his development will now be on hold for a season while he works back from this significant injury.

AL Central Notes: Twins, Naquin, Burger

By Steve Adams | February 26, 2018 at 5:30pm CDT

The Twins made a splash by upgrading their DH slot with yesterday’s addition of Logan Morrison, but Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com takes a look at the organization’s continued need for rotation help. While Minnesota has made one mid-level addition by picking up Jake Odorizzi, the team will be without Ervin Santana for as much as a month and still lacks certainty in the starting group as a whole. Castrovince points out that the Twins’ primary (and perhaps only) competition in the AL Central, the Indians, are hardly a flawless team. While Cleveland still seems an obvious favorite, it is certainly worth giving chase for the Twins given the state of the rest of the division.

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