The Chicago White Sox were swept by the New York Mets and New York’s starting rotation had a lot to do with the White Sox struggles.
The Chicago White Sox were swept once again and this time by the red hot New York Mets. The Mets have been the hottest team in baseball over the last little stretch after what was a frustrating first half for them. The Mets went into the series wondering if two of their three scheduled starters would even make it to their games as a member of the team still.
Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, and Zack Wheeler all got their scheduled starts as the Mets stood pat at the deadline. It came back to hurt the White Sox because they all got in and dominated. It was a well-pitched series by both teams, but the Mets starters had a little bit more help from their lineup
Syndergaard, deGrom, and Wheeler gave up a combined two runs to the White Sox in the three games. They were sensational and proved that the Mets could very well have one of the best rotations in all of baseball. The rest of the team has its issues but the starting rotations is as good as any team in Major League Baseball.
What makes a baseball team elite is being able to get through those types of rotations. You won’t ever win a playoff series if you can’t compete with this level of competition. The thing is, the fact that the Sox were swept doesn’t tell the whole story. The White Sox starters kept up with the Mets starters. Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez were equal to the task as Syndergaard and de Grom who are all world pitchers as the game came down to the ninth inning or later both times. Dylan Cease had one bad inning against Wheeler who didn’t give up a single run.
The point is that they are close to being able to compete with this type of rotation. The bats need to be able to help a little more and they will be just fine. It isn’t a matter of if this team will turn the corner, but a matter of when. The way the starting lineup was dominated by Mets pitching isn’t fun, but how the Sox starters reacted to the matchups is very encouraging.