Chicago White Sox: Players shining on Player’s Weekend
The Chicago White Sox had a really successful weekend as they won three of four against the Texas Rangers and some players had a little extra to do with it.
The Chicago White Sox played some really sound baseball against the Texas Rangers in their four-game series over the weekend. The White Sox took the series as they won three of the four games. It was the type of series that they came together as a team and did what they needed to do. Winning the series improves their record to 60-70 and they are now 6-4 in their last ten.
At 60 wins, they are already two wins away from matching their total from all of 2018 and it isn’t even the end of August yet. That was the hardest year of the rebuild obviously, but showing improvement this year and avoiding 100 wins is ideal. They are showing glimpses of what they can be in the not so distant future pretty much every night.
With Minnesota and Cleveland so far ahead of them and then Detroit and Kansas City being so far behind them, it appears that they are going to be the third-place team in the American League Central. That is an improvement as well as they have come in fourth place in each of the first two years of the rebuild. This has been a strong stepping stone year and hopefully, it continues.
This was MLB’s Players Weekend and lots of them shined over the course of the weekend. Here are three players who exemplified that over this series with the Rangers for the White Sox:
The Entire Pitching Staff
We couldn’t narrow it down to which pitcher deserved to be on this list, so we just went with them all. Every White Sox pitcher, for the most part, did what they needed to do and the results showed. In the first game of the series the White Sox pitching staff only gave up one run as Ross Detwiler earned the win for the Sox. It was a great performance by him and the bullpen backed him up big time.
On Thursday, Dylan Cease served up a three-run home run in the first inning and it looked like it was going to be one of those nights. He would then go on to lock down the rangers and had a career-high nine strikeouts. He was locked in after that one mistake and the White Sox protected him and got him eight runs of support. The bullpen finished it off and the Sox looked to be cruising to a series win.
The only semi-bump in the road was the Saturday game. White Sox pitchers gave up two runs in the sixth and two runs in the seventh. They lost the game 4-0. Ivan Nova was credited with the loss but it is hard to win when you score zero runs. It wasn’t perfect by any means but it could have been worse. They made up for it on Sunday when Reynaldo Lopez and the bullpen combined to one hit the Rangers and won the game 2-0. It was a solid performance by Lopez as he had a no-hitter going before flu-like symptoms caused him to be removed from the game.
The Rangers averaged only two runs per game in the series as they had a total of eight runs in the four games. It was a solid performance all around by the pitching staff and it never even included Lucas Giolito. Hopefully, they can keep that up into 2020.
Yoan Moncada
Yoan Moncada was sensational in this series. It was his first series back from a long injury list stint that caused him to miss a few weeks. He is much needed in the White Sox lineup and it showed this weekend as his returned sparked offense in a bunch of different ways.
On Thursday he went 2/4 with a home run and two RBIs. It was his first game back and he came in with a bang. The home run put a stamp on the game and made the lead too large to overcome for Texas. His numbers were similar in game two. He went 2/5 and added yet another home run. It was also another two-RBI game for Yoan. These are the types of stretches Moncada is capable of having and should have for the next decade or more.
The latter two games of series saw Moncada go hitless but he did manage to get on base for a walk in the fourth game. It showed too because the White Sox were only able to get two runs in those two games combined so luckily they won one of them. Moncada is extremely important to the White Sox offense and it shows in the results.
He was one of the worst statistical hitters in 2018, but you were able to see the tools. He put those tools together this year because he is having a magnificent season. He is tied with Eloy Jimenez for second on the White Sox with 22 home runs. He is also second on the White Sox in RBIs with 63. He is batting .300 on the dot which is amazing for what that was last year. He also spent some time on the IL this year so these numbers would more than likely be even better had that not happened. He was a beast against the Rangers.
Jose Abreu
Jose Abreu had a monster series against the Rangers. It was also one to remember as he reached a few different milestones over the weekend. He collected his 1000th career hit and his 100th RBI of the season in the series. It was a strong effort all around for Jose.
He went 1/3 with an RBi in the first game, and in the second game he followed it up with a 1/4 performance but also chipped in another RBI. Even in the game that the White Sox managed to score no runs, Abreu managed to squeak out two hits.
Game four of the series was great for Abreu. You would have to call Jose the number one reason they won the game from an offensive standpoint. He had two RBIs and those two runs would go on to be the only two runs of the game as they won 2-0. Those were also the 99th and 100th RBIs for Jose so far this season. He is already at 100 with just over a month left in the regular season.
Abreu is now second in the American League in RBIs and tied for sixth in the entire league. His 100 RBIs and 28 home runs both lead the White Sox. Abreu is on an expiring contract so you would like to see him keep this up so the White Sox are confident in giving him a contract extension.
The White Sox should keep Jose Abreu. light. Related Story
These three players (or groups of players) were sensational for the White Sox over the weekend. It was a lot of fun for us fans to watch and hopefully, these guys can bring it for many more years to come.