White Sox roster a mix of steadiness, upside

CHICAGO -- The White Sox remain in the midst of a rapid rebuild that has many on the roster feeling optimistic about the club's competitiveness, but the churn of player development didn't cause much confusion in picking the 25-man roster that will open the 2018 regular season.
Our pre-Spring Training guess for the 25-man roster was almost perfect, minus two relievers. Here's a look at the final roster heading into Thursday afternoon's season opener in Kansas City.
Catcher (2): Welington Castillo, Omar Narváez
Kevan Smith, who capably shared catching duties with Narvaez last season, also was in the mix. But he will start on the disabled list due to a left ankle sprain.
First base (1): José Abreu
Abreu is the clubhouse leader, the voice of the team and is trying to extend a streak of four straight seasons in which he's hit at least 25 home runs, 32 doubles, 100 RBIs, a .290 average and a .468 slugging percentage. Abreu also worked diligently in 2017 to improve defensively at first.

Second base (1): Yoán Moncada
Moncada's 2017 was a valuable learning experience for the 22-year-old switch-hitter and former top prospect in baseball. His first true test comes in '18 as the team's everyday second baseman. Barring injury, Moncada will receive upwards of 600 plate appearances, and he will begin the season in the lineup's leadoff spot.

Third base (1): Yolmer Sánchez
With career highs in games played (141) and plate appearances (534) last season, Sanchez produced personal bests in average (.267), triples (8), home runs (12), RBIs (59) and runs (63). Sanchez played at least one game in five positions last year, but he will settle in at third in 2018. Matt Davidson also will get action at the hot corner, as will Tyler Saladino.

Shortstop (1): Tim Anderson
Anderson focused on family for the bulk of this offseason in order to help clear his mind for the 2018 season. The shortstop admirably dealt with personal struggles while playing his first full season in '17, finishing with 17 homers and 15 steals.

Utility/DH (3): Davidson (DH), Leury García, Saladino
Saladino has the ability to play across the infield, while Garcia can play both infield and outfield, not to mention pitching, if needed. Davidson, who crushed the ball during Spring Training, and Nicky Delmonico could see time at designated hitter, with an outfield featuring Garcia in left when Delmonico is at DH.

Outfield (3): Delmonico, Adam Engel, Avisaíl García
Engel provides Gold Glove-caliber defense in center field and tinkered his swing over the offseason after a rough rookie season at the plate in 2017. He had strong results in Cactus League play, hitting .383/.453/.702 with four home runs. Garcia had a breakout All-Star campaign last year, hitting .330 with career highs in homers (18), runs (75) and RBIs (80).

Starting pitchers (5): James Shields, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López, Miguel González, Carson Fulmer
Fulmer struggled during Cactus League play, but the White Sox never appeared to move off the right-hander as a fifth starter. But this group will change with the eventual return from the disabled list of Carlos Rodón, who began a throwing program after SoxFest as part of his rehab for arthroscopic left shoulder surgery in September. The rotation could also change when the White Sox top pitching prospect, Michael Kopech, is deemed ready.

Bullpen (8): Nate Jones, Joakim Soria, Luis Avilán, Danny Farquhar, Juan Minaya,  Héctor Santiago, Aaron Bummer, Gregory Infante
Santiago wasn't with the team when the preseason predictions were made, or else he would have been a lock. The White Sox had veteran non-roster options such as Jeanmar Gómez, Bruce Rondón, Robbie Ross Jr. and Xavier Cedeño, not to mention Chris Volstad, who was nearly perfect all spring. But they opted to go with younger talent in Infante and Bummer, along with three southpaws in an eight-man bullpen.