Hard to envision Nicky Delmonico sticking with the 2019 White Sox

The White Sox activated Jose Abreu from the disabled list for Monday night's game against the Kansas City Royals.

The Sox's first baseman and best hitter hasn't played since Aug. 20, and his three-week-long absence opened the door for Nicky Delmonico, Matt Davidson and Daniel Palka to get more consistent playing time.

With Abreu back, one of these guys is likely to sit more often. It's probably going to be Delmonico, who hasn't done enough this season to make his 2017 success seem like anything more than a fluke.

I was reminded of what a rough time Delmonico has been having as I watched Sunday's game, a 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels that capped a gloomy 3-7 homestand for the Sox.

Delmonico was summoned to pinch hit for Ryan LaMarre with runners at the corners and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Angels manager Mike Scioscia made an unorthodox countermove, knowing the Sox had no right-handed hitters left on the bench. He pulled his closer -- right-hander Blake Parker -- and replaced him with left-hander Jose Alvarez, who did not have a single save all season.

Well, Alvarez has one save now after striking out Delmonico on five pitches -- all of them breaking balls. The first two pitches were both hangers, begging to be hit hard somewhere, if not into the seats. Despite the lefty-lefty matchup, Delmonico had a great chance to be a hero, but he fouled off both hangers and dug himself an 0-2 hole in the count that he never recovered from.

Missed opportunities have become a trend for Delmonico, as he's been a combination of injured and bad throughout the 2018 season. His season statistics are lingering behind those of Davidson and the surprising Palka, who was an afterthought coming out of spring training.

Delmonico: .215/.301/.389, 8 HRs, 24 RBIs, 11 2Bs, 4 3Bs in 279 ABs
Davidson: .235/.330/.451, 20 HRs, 58 RBIs, 22 2Bs, 0 3Bs in 436 ABs
Palka: .237/.285/.469, 21 HRs, 55 RBIs, 14 2Bs, 3 3Bs, in 382 ABs

None of these three players provide much in the way of defensive utility. Both Delmonico and Palka are substandard corner outfielders. At least Palka has enough arm to play both left and right field. Delmonico never moves off left field, other than the occasional appearance at first base. Davidson is a below-average defender at both corner infield positions.

In short, all three of these men need to hit to justify their roster spots. Davidson and Palka both are flawed players, but they have brought more to the table offensively than Delmonico this season. Palka has the highest batting average and slugging percentage. He has hit a team-best six home runs in the ninth inning. Davidson has the highest on-base percentage. Both Palka and Davidson are challenging Abreu (22 HRs) for the team's home run lead.

Granted, Delmonico has had fewer at-bats -- a broken bone in his hand earlier in the season limited his playing time. But his production just wouldn't compare even if you gave him another 100 to 150 at-bats or so to bring him equal with the opportunities Palka and Davidson have had.

I do not see a roster spot available in 2019 for Delmonico. He can't make the team ahead of other fringe guys such as Davidson and Palka, and with Eloy Jimenez on the horizon and Abreu and Avisail Garcia both likely to return next season, it's looking as though there aren't any more spots for corner outfielders and 1B/DH types, especially ones that can't punish a hanging slider with the game on the line.

Buck Showalter, Matt Williams named Managers of the Year

So, Ned Yost guided the long-suffering Kansas City Royals to the World Series this year, but he still didn't win American League Manager of the Year.

Instead, that honor went to Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter. Can you tell the voting was done after the conclusion of the regular season, but before the playoffs?

Based upon the regular season, Showalter deserved the award. His Orioles won 96 games, an 11-game improvement over 2013, and captured the AL East title. Until Baltimore got swept in the ALCS by the Royals, it had not lost four consecutive games since May, nor had it dropped consecutive home games since June 28-29.

Avoiding long losing streaks is a good way to win a division, and that kind of consistency always reflects well on a manager. In addition, the Orioles were without catcher Matt Wieters and third baseman Manny Machado for long stretches of the season, and first baseman Chris Davis was a combination of bad and suspended throughout the year. Baltimore overcame all that and won its division going away.

Showalter was rewarded by receiving 25 of the 30 first-place votes on the Manager of the Year ballot. He finished with 132 points, ahead of Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels, who had four first-place votes and 61 points. Yost finished third with 41 points.

On the National League side, Matt Williams of the Washington Nationals joined Houston's Hal Lanier (1986), San Francisco's Dusty Baker (1993) and Florida's Joe Girardi (2006) as the only men to win Manager of the Year in their first seasons as a major league manager.

I thought Williams inexperience showed in a four-game NLDS loss to the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants. Some of his pitching moves didn't make much sense to me, but again, this award is based upon the regular season.

You'd have to say Williams did as good a job as any NL manager during the regular season. He guided the Nationals to a league-best 96 wins, and his club destroyed the NL East, winning the division by 17 games.

Williams received 18 first-place votes and totaled 109 points in the balloting. Pittsburgh's Clint Hurdle, the 2013 NL winner, garnered eight first-place votes and finished second with 80 points. San Francisco's Bruce Bochy was third, collecting three first-place votes and 30 points.