White Sox: What’s Going Right On The Southside
The White Sox are firing on all cylinders right now and riding a hot streak. As a team that at one point held the leagues worst record, what has happened to help them go on a hot streak in the first place?
Going into the All-Star break at 33-62, it was easy for people to give the White Sox the cold shoulder, as they always do. But always remember: Ricky’s boys don’t quit. The team is giving these people a reason to pay very close attention.
Since July 15, the last day before the All-Star break, the White Sox are 20-18, one of the best records in MLB in that span. Everything seems to be clicking. How is that? How is a team that is smack-dab in the middle of a rebuild and has practically twice as many losses as wins be doing so well?
Pitching Performances
Carlos Rodon
When Chris Sale and Jose Quintana were dealt in the last couple of years, all eyes fell upon young southpaw Carlos Rodon to be the team’s ace.
Over the past few seasons, Rodon’s had his struggles with injuries. He has not pitched a full season since 2016. His best ERA was the one he recorded in his rookie year, a 3.75. Many doubted Rodon. That was until his last nine starts when he shut all the doubters up.
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Rodon has pitched nine straight quality games. Yes, nine straight.
After his first five starts, Rodon had a 4.29 ERA and was 1-3. He only had one quality start. But since July 11, nine starts, he’s lowered his ERA to 2.70, improved his record to 6-3, and added nine quality starts. In 14 outings this year, ten of them were quality starts. If those aren’t ace numbers, I don’t know what is.
Lucas Giolito
Another young pitcher with high expectations who started his 2018 sluggish and disappointed many was Lucas Giolito.
Since July, Giolito has held a 4.80 ERA. Although it may not seem really impressive, considering he started the year with a 6.55 ERA, he’s been improving.
He does still have a bit of a problem with giving up the long ball, but his strikeout numbers have increased. In July, he carved up 20, but in August he as recorded 32 strikeouts. He’s also walked less. Allowing 14 of them in July, only 10 walks in August.
He’s had three straight quality starts and finally seems to have found his groove.
Position Players Performances
Yoan Moncada
To say Yoan Moncada 2018 season has been a disappointment thus far is an understatement. Leading the league in strikeouts is not something you want from the guy you traded your Cy Young-caliber ace for.
Despite striking out 183 times, it seems Moncada has made some adjustments. And it shows.
In his last six games, he holds a .333 OBP and a .455 slugging percentage with an OPS of .788 and six runs batted in.
He still has some kinks to work out, but that’s baseball. There are ups and there are downs. With Moncada’s little hot streak as of late, it could be signs of a new and improved young player ready to help the White Sox contend in the coming years.
Tim Anderson
Another player that proved to be disappointing in the early part of the season is Tim Anderson. Fortunately for him and the team, he has seemed to have turned things around, however.
In his last twelve games, he is hitting a staggering .292 with a .327 OBP and a .563 slugging percentage. He’s hit two home runs, five doubles, a triple and driven in 10 runs.
If you add the fact that he has already swiped 25 bags, given he continues this offensive hot streak, he will turn what seemed to be a disappointing season into Timmy’s revenge.
Surprised Performances
Omar Narvaez
After Opening-Day starting catcher, Wellington Castillo was suspended for violating the league’s PED policy, the starting job behind the plate was awarded to Omar Narvaez.
Entering his third year in the league, Narvaez only had 124 games under his belt, primarily serving as the team’s backup. But now, allowed to play every day, he has turned some heads. This year, after 79 games, he holds a batting slash line of .288/.378/.438 with an OPS of .816.
With the starting catcher job for the contending stage of the rebuild still up for grabs, Narvaez is setting the bar pretty high with his recent impressive performance.
Daniel Palka
Another player to get a starting job to replace another player was Daniel Palka.
On April 24, Avisail Garcia was placed on the 10-day disabled list and Palka was called up. After Garcia came off the DL, Palka’s performance and skill set were valuable to have in the Majors and he was able to keep his roster spot.
Despite his .237 batting average and .283 OBP, he is slugging an impressive .471 with an OPS of .754. But it is his 19 home runs, 14 doubles, and 53 RBIs in 97 games that stand out.
He may not have pushed his name into the American League Rookie of the Year debate, but in a couple years when Palka is hitting 30-plus home runs and driving in 100 or more runs constantly, many will question why he was not.
Entering the final stages of the rebuild
On Aug. 21, the White Sox called up Michael Kopech to make his long-awaited major league debut. And he has performed just as well as many had predicted and hoped for.
In eight innings pitched, he’s only given up one run. He has struck out eight and has not allowed a walk yet (which is actually a pleasant surprise).
Seeing him show early signs of thriving in the MLB has only gotten fans more excited about the arrival of Eloy Jimenez.
Tearing it up in Triple-A Charlotte, it is expected that Jimenez will be called in the near future. If not for the September call-ups, he will definitely out of spring training next year
After Jimenez, the next big star prospect would probably be Dylan Cease or Luis Robert. But both of them seem to be two or three years away from making the 25-man roster, So Jimenez represents the closing of a stage of the rebuild, which may be the final stage to make the team contenders.
White Sox Win Series Against New York Yankees. dark. Next
After a slow start to the season, the White Sox seem to be clicking right now. There are a lot of pieces in the rebuild that are going right at the same time. It’s a tremendously great sign to see a team of young players playing solid baseball all at the same time. Everyone playing great baseball at the same time could even speed up the timetable of contending.