A stat that confused me the other day is that the Chicago White Sox are the fifth-winningest first place team in the league right now. There was a period where they had the best record in the league, now only the Mets have less wins than they as far as division leaders are concerned. So what happened? Are the White Sox human now?
Well...series' with Houston and Seattle brought them down a little bit last week. And look, neither of those are bad teams, but considering that both the Mariners and now the Astros have been famously conquered by the last place Orioles this season, it looks slightly suspect. But, considering they just kicked the shit out of the Twins yesterday, I'm thinking they're back.
The biggest asset right now is probably the rotation. Lance Lynn is having another incredible season, with a 2.06 ERA and a 7-3 record. Carlos Rodon's having the best year of his career with a 2.06 ERA and a 6-3 record [heh]. Dylan Cease won all 6 of his home starts thus far, tying a record set I believe by Jose Contreras. Lucas Giolito has come around, and has 111 strikeouts to show for it at least. Yes, Dallas Keuchel is still the runt of the rotation, like he was in Houston in 2018, but even he has a 6-2 record despite his inability to strike people out. Hendriks is a great closing options, Kopech is a stellar swingman, Burr, Ruiz and Crochet are having great seasons, and up until recently this team wasn't exactly giving up runs.
The one problem the Sox have yet to really find a solution for is the cure to the outfield injury pileup. Eloy Jimenez started the season on the IL, Luis Robert joined him after a month, and now Adam Eaton has joined them both. The White Sox outfield is currently Andrew Vaughn, Leury Garcia and either Billy Hamilton or Brian Goodwin. Gavin Sheets has been impressive in his first few games in the majors, but we don't know if he's the answer either. Perhaps it's worth trading for somebody? It's a question of how long they'll need someone. Even still, as the injuries spread to the infield [Madrigal first, then Moncada might be heading to the IL], the Sox need to figure out how to keep the momentum going.
This team thankfully has Yasmani Grandal, Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu, Leury Garcia and Yoan Moncada, injury notwithstanding, all rolling. The holes in the lineup are either temporary or will hopefully be covered up soon. This is a great team that still has a lot of pitching momentum, and a lot of big pieces that are still healthy. I sincerely hope they can ride this stretch out and stay on top, because an Indians 1st place year would be way too boring. Like, they don't even have any healthy pitchers right now!
Coming Tomorrow- That guy that came from out of nowhere to hit all those home runs in Chicago last month.
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