This White Sox Player Continues To Give The Guardians Trouble
There's a player on every team that the opposition just doesn't want to see at the plate. Especially when those teams play in the same division and see each other more than anyone else on their schedule.
The Cleveland Guardians have found that play on the Chicago White Sox that they may rather just put on first rather than see him hit. Jake Burger has emerged as one of the American League's best power hitters and Cleveland pitchers' nemesis.
He's already hit three home runs against the Guardians in the first two games of their latest series. Burger had a multi-home run game in the opener hitting two homers off Tanner Bibee. He added that on the next game with another solo shot against left-hander Daniel Norris.
Burger has now hit 25 homers and has 53 RBI on the season. Cleveland and Chicago have only played each other eight times this year but a lot of Burger's production has come against the Guardians.
The power hitter is hitting .310 and slugging .897 against Cleveland pitching. This includes five homers and an OPS of 1.240.
Even as someone who hopes the Guardians beat the White Sox every time they play, you have to appreciate Burgers's underdog story.
He was set back in 2018 after rupturing his Achilles twice, had his minor league season interrupted in 2020, made his Major League debut in 2021, and split time between the minors and the majors for the rest of that season and in 2022, but has finally found a home in 2023.
Burger's bat has become one the White Sox have to keep in the lineup. So much so that they're playing him all around the diamond in positions he may not be accustomed to such as second base.
He isn't leaving the lineup anytime soon and the Guardians are going to have to pitch accordingly to Burger moving forward in order for him to limit this damage.
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