White Sox: 2019 Will Be An Up and Down Season
White Sox can’t seem to catch a break. As they had two chances to win their last series with the Indians, they failed to do so and are now four games under .500.
The Chicago White Sox had another chance to reach .500 this week as they got off to a good start in their four-game series over the Cleveland Indians. At 16-18 before Wednesday’s game, the Sox failed to move closer to .500 as poor bullpen management cost them their game.
On Thursday, the White Sox would not only move further from a .500 record, but they would also fail to win their series over the Indians. It appears every time this team takes a step forward this season, they take two steps backward. It’s becoming a theme of this season for the White Sox as 2019 is proving to be an up and down year for this team.
There have already been injuries to key young players such as Eloy Jimenez and Carlos Rodon. Rodon could be out for the remainder of this year as he’s been advised already by one doctor that he should get Tommy John surgery. For Jimenez, he should be returning soon but his defense in left field will still be a huge question mark as he’s shown to be a defensive liability for the Sox.
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Currently, the biggest weakness for the Sox is their starting pitching. Although Lucas Giolito and Ivan Nova had quality starts this week, there hasn’t been enough consistency in the starting rotation to help the Sox become a much better team this season.
Manny Banuelos who started on Thursday doesn’t appear that he’s ready to be anything more than a relief pitcher at this point.
Unfortunately, the Sox don’t have many internal options in the minors to strengthen their starting rotation. Dylan Cease isn’t ready for MLB and won’t be ready until at least after the All-Star break. The Sox likely won’t go after Dallas Keuchel either so their rotation will continue to remain the biggest weakness of this team possibly throughout the entire year.
Despite the weakness of the starting rotation, there have been some positive signs from many players on offense to start this year. James McCann, Tim Anderson, and Jose Abreu have each gotten off to great starts. Although Yoan Moncada got off to a hot start as well, he has cooled off recently but still provides solid defense at third base.
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Entering this season, expectations were low from Sox fans. No one expects this team to contend for the postseason this year. However, it is frustrating for fans to see a team flirt with reaching .500, only to continue to come up short over the past week. Maybe things turn around soon for the Sox, but I wouldn’t keep my hopes up Sox fans. At least 2019 isn’t as bad as 2018 was for the Sox.