Jun 28, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura signals for a pitching change during a conference at the mound in the White Sox 4-3 win over Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
• Overall Team: D … There are some great spots in the lineup of the Chicago White Sox, as there is rookie All-Star first baseman and slugger Jose Abreu, along with fellow All-Star Alexei Ramirez at shortstop and the third White Sox All-Star in ace Chris Sale.
Besides the three All-Stars, Conor Gillaspie has had a good year for the “Good Guys,” batting .326 in his 70 games played. In those 70 games he’s collected 84 hits, with 23 being doubles, along with three triples and four home runs.
One plus for the White Sox this year was they had a four-game winning streak. One of the negatives is they have been shut out six times and the longest losing streak of the season is five.
Also for this team, they’ve yet to sweep a three- or four-game series on the road. They’ve had seven walk-off wins, but they also have five walk-off losses.
What brings down this grade for the White Sox, besides their overall record, is the bullpen and back end of the rotation starters, as they been anything but reliable this season, but more on them later.
It is just tough to praise a team that is six games under the .500 mark and over 10 games out of a division lead. I do see improvement coming, but probably not this season.