Lenyn Sosa, Future Contender?

Lenyn Sosa has been a bit of a surprise for the 2025 Chicago White Sox. He has always struggled with patience at the plate, which has been the same story this season. He ranks in the first percentile in chase rate and the second percentile in walk rate, all while still holding a below-average strikeout rate.

However, he has the uncanny ability to still navigate his way on base without walks. Yes, his OBP is below .300, which is not great, but his xwOBA is .322, which is definitely serviceable. He ranks in the 74th percentile in Squared-up Percentage, 77th percentile in Average Exit Velocity, and the 95th percentile in Launch Angle Sweet-Spot Percentage. He can hit the ball hard, and he routinely gets on base with hits. His .277 batting average against a .279 expected batting average proves that he is not getting lucky.

One area he has improved dramatically is his groundball rate. In 2024, he held a 40.4% groundball rate and only hit 59.6% of balls in the air. In 2025, he has improved those numbers to 29.1% and 70.9%, respectively. Simply put, he is elevating the ball and hitting it hard, which are both more than encouraging signs.

Thus, his Barrel Rate, Hard-Hit Rate, and expected slugging percentage have all increased.

Now, his BABIP is .345, which is a tad concerning, but his approach with two strikes might be leading to some “luck” in the eyes of these statistics.

With two strikes, Sosa has a .282 batting average, .257 expected batting average, and .291 xwOBA. Most hitters typically will have their backs against the wall with two strikes. By comparison, the league average is .170 for batting average, .174 for expected batting average, and .240 for xwOBA. Sosa’s BABIP is high with two strikes, but he still seemingly maintains his power with seven doubles and three homers in this scenario. He is not scared to go deep in the count, even though he does swing at basically everything.

Sosa is about a league-average hitter in terms of wRC+ (99), but his fWAR is 0.8 at about the halfway point in the year. This would, at the very least, put him on track to be an above-average player in total.

No, Sosa is not going to wow everyone on the field, but he could be a piece on the roster when they are contenders once again. He is flying under the radar with the improvements he has made at the plate, so let’s hope to continue to see further strides made with his approach. If so, he could be on the field for the Sox in the long run.