The Chicago White Sox have won 3 of their last 5 games by scoring 9 or more runs, just got Munetaka Murakami back after the Home Run Derby, saw one of their guys hit the only home run at the All-Star Game, and now they might be BUYING at the deadline? They're still in first, they're over .500...they're a major player in the AL. They might be scouting for trades. YES, THESE GUYS. Just last year they were sellers and now they can actually afford to make some deals. How insane is that?
The really impressive part is that there's not a hell of a lot on this team that truly needs to be upgraded. The catching position's a little slow, but Kyle Teel was hurt for half the season so it's understandable. Maybe one more OF bat would help? Braden Montgomery's heating up, Tristan Peters is THE guy and Sam Antonacci's having a strong season, but is there a power guy that's a little more varied than Andrew Benintendi out there? Or was that just Murakami? It may need to be rotation depth honestly. Anthony Kay, Noah Schultz and Erick Fedde have done fine, but the drop-off is real. There needs to be somebody else that can supplant Martin and Burke. Maybe this is where one of the Royals guys goes? Maybe Michael King goes here? Who knows.
At the moment, the White Sox are coming off some very impressive offensive work, and though they got shut out by the Jays today, they scored 12 runs off of them yesterday, including production by both Montgomerys, Sam Antonacci, Tristan Peters, Kyle Teel...and Chase Meidroth, who's quietly having another nice season. Meidroth last year was a forerunner for a lot of the youth movement, he came in before Quero, Teel or Colson Montgomery got here and was strong when nearly no one else is. A better full-squad showing this year has allowed Meidroth to fade into the background a little more, but he's still hitting .271 with 7 homers and 32 RBIs. He's a nice, steady mid-lineup bat with defensive perks. The White Sox are piling up lots of guys like that and have finally given way to actual tentpoles [Murakami, Vargas, Colson Montgomery]. Which is why the team works now, an actual order and dichotomy has emerged, and it's not just 'young guy hits single x9'. Vargas has become the guy, Murakami has cornered the market on power, Antonacci and Meidroth have a niche as contact guys, and Colson Montgomery's the oddball clutch homer guy. It works a lot better.
The idea here is to keep ahead of Cleveland and ensure that the predictable outcome [of Cleveland or Detroit winning anyway] doesn't snap on. The White Sox do have the power numbers, and the pitching stability, to do it but the inexperience of this team still worries me, and still could keep them from going all the way. It's really good come down to how the White Sox manage the deadline, and if enough of this momentum holds.
Coming Tomorrow- An outfielder who always seems to get injured right before the door opens for him to start. Which has made this season, a solid and healthy one for him, a relief.
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