Chicago White Sox: Three biggest weaknesses

1. Reliance on Young Players

The White Sox definitely have a lot of young, exciting talent which is by no means a criticism of the team.

Having young stars like Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, Lucas Giolito, and Eloy Jimenez in addition to upcoming top prospects Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal is something that most teams can only dream of having.

That being said, they are asking for a lot of from their young roster and the backbone of this team is them.

Without those players performing at the levels they are expecting, this team won’t go anywhere in 2020.

Moncada, Anderson, and Giolito all had career years in 2019 and it is very reasonable to envision regression from any or even all three of them.

Sure, the likelihood is they won’t become bad players, but considering the team went 72-89 with those career-years, even slight regression from them could make a major impact on a team looking to compete for a playoff spot.

Jimenez, meanwhile, is expected to continue his progression as an every day left fielder in the big leagues. Many young players struggle in their sophomore campaigns, though, which should be taken into account.

The White Sox did make strong additions in Yasmani Grandal and Edwin Encarnacion to counter that issue, but those two hitters plus Jose Abreu might not be enough to carry the lineup if the younger hitters struggle.

As for the rotation, Dallas Keuchel is not the same pitcher that won an AL Cy Young Award in 2015 anymore.

Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez won’t be able to carry the rotation if Giolito regresses and/or some combination of Dylan Cease, Reynaldo Lopez, and Michael Kopech can’t step up in 2020.