The Chicago White Sox have a chance to make their division rivals’ road to the playoffs very difficult just by playing well this week.
The Chicago White Sox are about to start a three-game series with the Cleveland Indians tonight. It is a series that will take place in Chicago and be the second to last series at home for the White Sox. This is the last week of the regular season for all of Major League Baseball, and the White Sox have a lot to look forward to.
Before we start digging into what 2020 can be, it would be a lot of fun to put a damper on a division rivals’ playoff chances. Cleveland currently sits at 92-64 and are .5 games out of the second Wild Card spot in the American League. It is a three-team race with them, the Oakland Athletics, and Tampa Bay Rays. The White Sox play three with them and a couple of wins would make their final series of the year extremely pressure-filled. The Indians also close out against a good Washington Nationals team while the A’s and Rays play non-playoff teams to end the year.
Keeping the Indians out of the playoffs would be fun to see for the Sox, but it is not the only reason to be excited about this series. Tim Anderson currently leads all of Major League Baseball in batting average, Jose Abreu is tied for the league lead in RBIs, and Eloy Jimenez is in an intense battle for American League Rookie of the Year. These are three significant achievements that each guy can have and it is going to be fun to watch as fans.
The White Sox will pitch Hector Santiago, Ross Detwiler, and Dylan Cease in this series. The Clevland Indians will use Mike Clevinger, Shane Bieber, and Aaron Civale to pitch for them. The matchups largely favor Cleveland on paper, which means nothing as all the pressure is on them. It is a series worth watching for both teams and should be a lot of fun.