Grading the White Sox: Romy González

At midseason, the SSS staff graded the 46-46 White Sox, from the head of the class Dylan Cease down to Dallas Keuchel. We invented a WARsss metric that could very well be just a cute way to trot out our special site grades — but really for all you know could be the product of years of research in a stats lab.

Our expanded report card will take us through everyone who saw time in uniform for the White Sox, plus some front-office types. Most of our writers will take on a couple of players, with final grades and short writeups, running through the end of November. Enjoy!

Romy González
Infielder
Midseason: N/A
Final: 2.0 WARsss

Although this 2022 White Sox season was riddled with injuries, managerial changes, and an overwhelming overload of mediocrity in trade deadline acquisitions and the like, a silver lining of sorts appeared in Romy González. He was called up from the Charlotte Knights on August 18 and stayed with the White Sox for the remainder of the season. Breaking down his positions for 32 games, he primarily served as a second baseman for 25 games, shortstop for three, right field for two, and left field for one. Among several highlights in the field, on August 31 González made a leaping catch at second against the Oakland Athletics, robbing Nicky Lopez of a single.

All in all, Romy’s defensive plays balanced out his bat on offense. Out of 109 plate appearances, González scored 15 runs with 25 hits. He slashed .238..257/.344 with four doubles, one triple, two home runs, 11 RBIs, and two walks — and 39 strikeouts.

But let’s not focus on that. Romy’s first career home run with the White Sox occurred in a 13-0 victory against the Twins on September 3. In Oakland, he had a great night at the office on September 8 with a four-hit night, including his second home run, and three RBIs. González had some strong defensive plays, including one that earned him the Play of the Week on October 5, against the Twins, in a 10-1 loss for the White Sox: A throw to first from his knee to get Jermaine Palacios out at first, thanks to Andrew Vaughn keeping his foot on the bag, while Palacios did his best attempt at trying out to be a Vikings linebacker by nearly tackling Vaughn at the base.

Regardless, González’s performance as a whole was above the expectations set out for him. His fielding was above-average, especially compared to his fellow second basemen, Leury García and Josh Harrison. He proved himself and held his own both at the plate and as an infielder. He earned his stay for the rest of the 2022 season. He managed to defy my own expectations of him, and as far as spring training 2023 goes, González has earned an opportunity to break north out of camp.

2022 White Sox Grades

Romy González, IF, 2.0
Aaron Bummer, LHRP, 1.8
AJ Pollock, OF, 1.3
Matt Foster, RHRP, 1.2
Yoán Moncada, 3B, 0.92
Lenyn Sosa, SS, 0.85
José Ruiz, RHRP, 0.83
Mark Payton, OF, 0.6
Carlos Pérez, C, 0.399
Lucas Giolito, RHSP, 0.392
Adam Engel, OF, 0.237
Vince Velasquez, RHP, -0.4
Reese McGuire, C, -1.1
Kyle Crick, RHRP, -1.65
Joe Kelly, RHRP, -1.75
Daryl Boston, 1B Coach, -2.0
Anderson Severino, LHRP, -2.2
Jerry Reinsdorf, OWN, -2.321
Jake Diekman, LHRP, -2.366
Rick Hahn, GM, -2.401
Bennett Sousa, LHRP, -2.425
Frank Menechino, BAT COACH, -2.469
Yasmani Grandal, C/DH, -2.549
Leury García, UTIL, -2.7
Adam Haseley, OF, -3.146
Joe McEwing, 3B Coach, -3.167
Ryan Burr, RHRP, -3.4
Tony La Russa, MGR, -3.5
Dallas Keuchel, LHSP, -3.9