White Sox: Starting Pitching An Area of Concern in May
By Matt Manetti
The White Sox had a rough stretch in the month of May. This team needs more consistency from their starting rotation if they want to compete.
The Chicago White Sox went 11-18 in the month of May. To this point is was their worst month of the season. What jumped out the most was their starting rotation had a combined 5.02 ERA. That won’t get the job done. It’s easy to see why they are in fourth place in the AL Central. If they want to compete in the division, they need better efforts from their starting pitchers.
And that begins with Derek Holland who is pitching Friday against the Detroit Tigers. Holland has been the Sox most consistent pitcher. He’s 4-4 with a 2.37 ERA. In his last start he allowed one run on seven hits in six innings of work. That was a 4-3 loss to Detroit last Saturday.
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To be fair, the Sox have had some injuries. Carlos Rodon has yet to pitch this season and James Shields is out after starting the season strong. Jose Quintana has been another disappointing story. He hasn’t lived up to expectations this season.
The starting pitching needs to improve if this team is going to compete. The bullpen has been good. They had a couple rough games, but overall it’s been the strength of this club. And offensively, they are still a work in progress. But they have made some strides in that area since the start of the season. Avisail Garcia is having an All-Star worthy season and Matt Davidson has been a pleasant surprise. Most importantly, Jose Abreu is showing remnants of his old self.
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Starting pitching will be what holds this team back this season. If they can find a way to improve that area, this team should be much better going forward.