He showed up in the majors this year seemingly out of nowhere. Who is Lenyn Sosa?
- Born: January 25, 2000
- B/T: Right/Right
- 6’0″, 180-lbs
- Signed by the Chicago White Sox in 2016 out of Venezuela
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
That is one sea of red! Let’s see if we can focus on the greens, and see what that tells us:
The K rate is often green, and other than his brief major league exposure we can say that he gets the bat on the ball on a consistent basis: he’s hard to strike out.
But oh, that walk rate is poor year after year. Yup, this is a guy who swings, makes contact and gets on base — er, actually, he doesn’t get on base a lot. So he swings and the ball is fielded and he makes a right turn at first base.
So how did he get to the major leagues? Look at his 2022 Double-A line. It all came together, even his raw power suddenly showed up as game power. He got on base at a .384 clip, and even his walk rate was slouching toward respectability.
Then he goes to the majors, does little, is sent to Triple-A, does not as well as Double-A, gets called up to the majors, does little, is sent to Triple-A, end scene.
Against RHP in Double-A, he struck out 13% while walking 7%. OBP:.388
Against RHP in Triple-A, he struck out 15% while walking 8%. OBP: .345
Against LHP in Double-A, he struck out 16% while walking 6%. OBP: .373
Against LHP in Triple-A, he struck out 26% while walking 3%. OBP: .308
He does better against right-handers, something that has only gotten worse at Triple-A. Still, if the worst strikeout rate you can muster is 26%, that’s good bat control.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: #144 on their Top 400
- Fantrax: #183 on their Top 400
- Fantasy Six Pack: #123 on their Fantasy Baseball Prospect Top 407
- Imaginary Brick Wall: Not on their Top 472
Warnings
2022 was a good year, and it was at a good level (Double-A). It was impressive. But Triple-A was not as good, the major league (thus far) has been worse, and he never did it in any other year leading up to this year.
Conclusion
He is just 22, so this could be a step up from a growing young man. The scouting reports that said he had little power came before his Double-A breakout.
But nothing since then gives hope for more than a utility type role. A guy who can play the middle infield positions (not well, but passably), can come off the bench and get the ball in play, will have a role in the majors.
But unless we see power in the majors, and a better OBP, it’s not likely to be a starting role.