Can the 2019 White Sox be the 2018 Atlanta Braves?

Analyzing Possible White Sox Equivalents

Are there any 2019 White Sox equivalents? Well, a couple are easy. The first step in the White Sox being the 2018 Braves would be Eloy Jimenez has to be the guy that he has been rumored to be. He has to fit that Acuna role. If he isn’t a middle of the order bat, the offense won’t improve much and the Sox are in trouble immediately.

Abreu needs to get back to the hitter he was before 2018. Improvement from Yoan Moncada and Tim Anderson would be absolutely huge to give the lineup more depth. With Jimenez taking at-bats from Nicky Delmonico, the 2019 White Sox should score more runs.

That’s not the biggest issue though. As shown here, the biggest issue with the 2017 Braves wasn’t their bats, it was their pitching. They could rarely get consistent innings to put the game in the hands of their solid bullpen. The 2018 White Sox had a similar issue. They allowed the second most runs in baseball in 2018.

The White Sox had just 74 quality starts from their pitchers last season. James Shields was a terrible trade decision and was a laughing stock on the south side for his White Sox career, but he tied Lopez for most quality starts on the team. Hopefully, Ivan Nova can be an upgrade over Shields, but that is not a certainty.