Control Yourself: White Sox Must Emphasize Limiting Walks in 2023

No matter how you look at it, the 2022 White Sox pitching staff simply allowed too many free baserunners. The staff did a number of things well last year, including ranking eighth across baseball in terms of K/9 and fewest HR/9. But issuing ball four was an all too common occurrence for the starters and relievers alike.

There was a sizeable jump in the team's BB/9 totals from 2021 to 2022. It's a major part of the reason why the team went from allowing the fourth-fewest runs in the sport in 2021 to 20th a year ago. This, coupled with the atrocious defense that I examined earlier this week, are major areas of concern that must be improved upon when the regular season starts next Thursday.

Getting It Started

The Sox' strike zone issues weren't segmented to one area of the pitching staff. Starters and relievers were snakebitten by the free pass in 2022. It's made the 2021 AL Division Championship team's performance seem like an aberration when analyzing the data across the competitive "window."

Anyone that has watched this team for the last three years has come to the realization that the starting staff isn't comprised of pitchers like the '90s Braves. They fall behind hitters too frequently, or worse in some cases, fail to put hitters away before issuing those free passes. Yes, they still strike out a ton of hitters, but the rate at which they allow baserunners without contact needs to be halted.

Dylan Cease, for all the positive growth we saw from him last year, issued the most BB/9 of any qualified starter in the entire league. Possessing the explosive natural stuff that he does, he has the ability to pitch around those walks. However, if he is able to control the strike zone more regularly, it will allow him to work deeper into games and just be a more effective pitcher, generally speaking.

But Cease wasn't the lone conductor of the ball-four train a year ago. Lucas Giolito saw his BB/9 balloon from 2.62 in 2021 to a robust 3.40 last season. That increase was a leading culprit of the big right-hander's struggles. Far too often he would compound his struggles by allowing hitters to reach base without the need for contact. When a pitcher's mechanics are inconsistent, as was the case for Giolito in 2022, it can result in poor control and command, leading to sub-optimal production.

Before he was thankfully jettisoned away from the South Side in May, Dallas Keuchel saw one of the biggest jumps in BB/9 across the entire league. He was a middle-of-the-road 3.28 BB/9 in 2021, and that number skyrocketed to a ghastly 5.63 BB/9 in his short stint in 2022. Thankfully that nightmare came to an end, and despite what he will tell you, much of it was his own doing.

Relief Needed

One of the worst things a relief pitcher can do upon entering a game is immediately put runners on base by not controlling the strike zone. Up and down the White Sox bullpen, this was a major issue last year, and it was a troubling uptick for a relief corps that had been top 10 in the league in terms of fewest walks allowed the prior two seasons.

The group averaged 3.57 BB/9, which ranked 18th a year ago. Comparatively, the team's relievers were eighth in the league in terms of fewest walks allowed in each of the prior two seasons. This sizeable jump was spread across the board, but many of the new faces in the "super pen" added fuel to the fire in the worst of ways.

Joe Kelly (5.25 BB/9), Kendall Graveman (3.60 BB/9), Jimmy Lambert (4.69 BB/9), Jose Ruiz (4.90 BB/9), and Jake Diekman (5.59 BB/9) all had walk rates above league average when looking at relievers. For all the hype that has surrounded the bullpen and resource allocation to the group over the last two years, one would think that they would be more efficient when toeing the rubber.

Overall, the Sox still had an above-average bullpen, but they got themselves into too many jams that were of their own making. For a team that had no margin for error a year ago, the bullpen simply wasn't able to be relied upon the way it was hoped to be. To see several fresh faces to the team be so ill-equipped at controlling the strike zone speaks, perhaps, to some significant flaws in scouting and player evaluation.

Even premier closer Liam Hendriks fell victim to the walk bugaboo last season. He saw his BB/9 rate almost triple from 0.89 in 2021 to 2.50 in 2022, although still a respectable number. Unfortunately for Hendriks, those walks had the propensity to come at inopportune moments that would end up costing the team in the end.

Pound The Zone

Is limiting walks going to be the end-all-be-all to help the White Sox pitching staff in 2023? Certainly not, but it's not a coincidence that eight of the top 10 teams in terms of fewest walks allowed reached the postseason in 2022. As outlined above, the Sox don't have a staff that just pumps strikes. The team's pitchers simply throw a lot of pitches, and a higher percentage of them are out of the strike zone than one would like.

For all the positivity that surrounds him right now, pitching coach Ethan Katz must find a way to help his hurlers improve in this area. If the team is able to become more adept at throwing strikes and limiting free baserunners, the positive effects on the pitching staff will be evident. Seemingly every night on Sox On Tap postgame shows, I talk about the importance of pitchers working ahead in counts, and I'm going to continue to beat this point into the ground.

Working ahead and dictating the path of an at-bat is the single most important thing a pitcher can do when he has the ball in his hand. I'll continue to harp on this point, and hopefully we see significant improvement from the team in 2023. Given how MLB is trying to force batted ball action with new rule changes, a competitive team simply cannot allow opponents to have free baserunners.

During my ill-fated playing days, walks were the bane of my existence. I would include reminders to myself under the bill of my hat in, let's just say colorful language, that they simply couldn't be afforded. I think it would behoove the 2023 White Sox pitching staff to have the same mindset. If Sox hurlers are able to turn the tide and limit the free passes, this staff has the potential to be one of the best in the league.