White Sox: 3 Excellent Takeaways from Winning Road Trip
White Sox accomplish a winning record during its road trip and come home to a seven-game homestand with a chance to climb over .500.
The Chicago White Sox were able to have a winning road trip as they won their series over the Toronto Blue Jays with two wins in three games. They split their four-game series with the Cleveland Indians although they should have won three of those four games.
With the winning road trip, the White Sox record sits at 18-21 and they will open a six-game homestand on Monday against the Indians. They will conclude their homestand with a four-game series against the Blue Jays.
There were plenty of positive signs throughout the Sox road trip. Despite losing three games, many players shined throughout the road trip and have again, changed the direction of this season even just briefly.
While there were some positive signs throughout the Sox winning road trip, some players continued to struggle. Jose Abreu is mired in a slump at the moment. Dylan Covey and Manny Banuelos have been unable to post decent outings since joining the rotation.
Those negative signs from the aforementioned players, however, didn’t prevent the Sox from moving closer to .500 thankfully. This Sox team might not contend for the postseason, but this most recent road trip should give fans more reason to continue believing in the current rebuild for this franchise.
Lucas Giolito Could Be Best Starting Pitcher for White Sox
Lucas Giolito was the worst starting pitcher in the majors last season. Over the course of the Sox winning road trip, however, he showed he might be the team’s best starting pitcher for this season. In his win over the Indians this past Tuesday night, Giolito pitched a season-high 7.1 innings while allowing no earned runs and recording eight strikeouts.
He would follow that outing up with another impressive start in the Sox 5-1 win over the Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon. Giolito was hit hard in the first inning of his start against Toronto and allowed an earned run. That would be the only earned run he would allow through seven innings pitched at the Rogers Centre.
Giolito would again record eight strikeouts and only allowed one walk. Through seven starts to begin this season, Giolito is 4-1 with a 3.55 ERA. Clearly, he’s the best starting pitcher the Sox currently have and it appears that he’s finally realizing his potential as a former top prospect in all of MLB.
This is a great sign for the Sox. They’ve needed some better outings from their starting pitchers this season and Giolito has provided the Sox with exceptional value on the mound. Giolito could be becoming the top-of-the-rotation starting pitcher many Sox fans envisioned when he was acquired via trade at the start of this current rebuild.
Tim Anderson Continues to Have Good Start to 2019 Season
Tim Anderson has been the topic of conversation in regards to bat flips and celebrating home runs. He hasn’t shied away from the spotlight, or the criticism he’s received from opponents of bat flips.
Anderson has also backed up his exuberant bat flips with continued success on the field for the Sox. This showed up most recently in the Sox series win over the Blue Jays. Sox television broadcast analyst Steve Stone predicted Anderson would hit two home runs during the series with Toronto and he was correct.
The 25-year-old shortstop hit two home runs against the Blue Jays. His second home run of the series was his most important of the series as it gave the Sox more breathing room with a four-run lead over Toronto on Sunday. Anderson also had some good plays on defense as he continues to become a solid player for the Sox.
Anderson’s emergence this season has been much-needed for the Sox. The franchise missed out on many free agents and they’ve struggled to remain relevant for the majority of this current decade. Anderson has brought good attention to the Sox and hopefully, he’s rewarded with his first All-Star Game appearance this July.
James McCann is The Best Free Agent Signing from This Past Offseason for White Sox
When the Sox announced the singing of James McCann to a one-year, $2.5 million deal this offseason, many fans were very unhappy with the news. There was a certain group of fans online that voiced their displeasure with the signing by the Sox through various social media mediums.
Fast-forward to entering the Sox 40th game of the season, McCann has supplanted Welington Castillo as the Sox starting catcher and continues to provide great value for the team. On the Sox winning road trip, there were many games where McCann was the best player on the field that day.
In his last seven games, McCann is hitting .409 with one home run and three RBI’s. He had a 4-for-5 game in the Sox win over the Blue Jays on Saturday to help the team end its three-game losing streak. In that very game, McCann also had a spectacular defensive play to help nail down a top prospect in a rundown to second base.
McCann has been the best free agent signing of this past offseason for the Sox. He wasn’t the flashiest of free agents that were signed, but he’s become one of the few solid players for the Sox in 2019. McCann is having a career year and it would be great to see if he can continue his hot start to this season.
Next. Starting Pitching Should Have Been A Bigger Priority. dark
The Sox needed a winning road trip after an embarrassing end to their last homestand in their series with the Red Sox. With a homestand against the same teams the Sox just played in their last road trip, this presents a great opportunity for more winning. For Sox fans, they would surely welcome more wins for their favorite team.