Not that it's going especially badly for him specifically. Burger has been a really hot power hitter lately, with a team leading 24 home runs and 55 RBIs. That's some very big numbers for a guy who always felt overshadowed in Chicago. The problem is that now Burger's one of the only horses in town for the Marlins. So many people have left that it's really down to Burger, Jesus Sanchez and Xavier Edwards right now, and that's basically it. People have called the White Sox a triple-A team this year, but the Marlins are getting very close just with the amount of Jacksonville-tier players that are being truly relied upon right now.
Like, to give you an example, with all the rotation options either hurt or traded away, the Marlins are now getting creative with who's around to start games. You've got some people you might guess would be in the mix, like Edward Cabrera, who's had some really nice starts lately, and Roddery Munoz who's been up since roughly May. But then things get interesting. You have Max Meyer, who had 3 really good early season starts and didn't make it back til midyear, for a reason still unclear to many. You have Adam Oller, who bottomed out with the A's a few years ago and isn't doing much better here. And, most intriguingly, you've had some excellent material coming from a guy who'd otherwise be stuck in Jacksonville, a sharp 24-year-old named Valente Bellozo, who's got a 2.45 ERA in 6 starts and has the highest probability of any of these guys to actually factor into the future of the team. Cabrera too, but even then you never known when he'll be pawned for parts.
And so Burger really hasn't had trouble standing out, because he's still decent enough even if the Marlins aren't. But if you look at the White Sox, their first baseman isn't having the same luck.
Andrew Vaughn was given 1st base when Jose Abreu left, which is a pretty big deal. Forget that he was primarily a DH before, he was given the green light to be that power 1B type in Chicago after Abreu. This hasn't happened. Vaughn has been an extremely okay corner bat, the answer to the question 'What if Jim Thome went on Ozempic', and he's just sort of...lazed on by. Dude's hitting .242 with 14 homers and 52 RBIs. Even for the White Sox that's boring. Robert has that many homers in 70 games. And yet Vaughn hitting .242 is still probably one of the higher averages on this team, because nobody's hitting. People are gonna do studies as to how Andrew Benintendi completely deteriorated in Chicago. He was not like this even in New York.
Similarly, Brooks Baldwin, hitting .222 over 26 games, has made it into the top 7 WAR earners of the White Sox. He's done very little. He's been a step up on defense and he's had some power moments, and that alone has brought him over the majority of the team statistically. This is just a dire group, even with Crochet and Robert still here.
And yet I think Burger's still better off in Miami. They're probably gonna compete again sooner than Chicago, and they have enough pieces that could be immediately relevant before the next rebuild. Plus, the Marlins get Sandy Alcantara back next year, and Eury Perez. That is at least something, and it's more than they had this year. The White Sox, meanwhile, get Yoan Moncada and Jesse Scholtens back next year. Have fun with that.
Coming Tonight (?): He nearly won a Cy Young last year, and even if his team's still struggling to stay in the wild card race, he's giving his all even now.
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