Chicago White Sox: Three players who need 2020 baseball
The Chicago White Sox have some players who really need there to be some games played in 2020 for the sake of their careers.
The Chicago White Sox are going to play some ball! It has been a really tough time for baseball fans over the past few weeks listening to the results of the labor dispute between the players association and the league but we are done. They are going to play ball for us finally. The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to our world but now baseball (and sports) have a chance to give us a sense of normalcy.
It was especially disappointing for White Sox fans because this was the year. After the momentum that they had in Spring Training, it was clear that things were different. Maybe they weren’t going to win the World Series but they had the makings of a team ready to start putting it all together. It is going to be more challenging with a 60 game schedule as 162 games would have given them much more time to learn and figure things out.
With that said, this new challenge is something that they should embrace by putting their best foot forward. They aren’t going to get much respect from the national media at first until they start winning because they haven’t proven anything yet. This is an organization that has been in a decade long slumber and it is time to wake up.
There are some players in the organization who absolutely needed baseball this year. Their careers might not have depended on it but you can make the claim that they would be significantly impacted by not playing. Players need to play and some are in need of that diamond right now more than others. These are the three White Sox players who absolutely needed this 2020 season to happen:
player. 128. . SP. Chicago White Sox. Michael Kopech. 34
The Chicago White Sox have some seriously high hopes for Michael Kopech. He has an amazing fastball that moves like no other and that pitch is going to help the White Sox win a lot of baseball games. Kopech hasn’t been on a professional mound in a “game that counts” type situation in almost two full years now. He had Tommy John surgery at the end of 2018 that shut that year and all of 2019 down for him. He is now healthy and ready to go.
Kopech needed baseball for a lot of reasons in 2020. He made his personal battles off the field known during Spring Training and pitchers need to pitch. He has had a longer layoff than most Tommy John patients have and that is good because he is ready to go with no setbacks but he also needs to get back to pitching in games. He made a Spring Training game start and was an electric factory that has White Sox fans all excited.
Michael Kopech was likely going to get a few starts with AAA if this was a normal season. The logic probably would have been that he should get some starts in fewer pressure situations to get the real game feel back. Well, that isn’t happening this year so now the question remains about how the White Sox are going to use him. Will they still roll five starters with the 60 game schedule even? A lot still has to be figured out but fans should be excited to watch Kopech play once again. 2020 is big for him.
Dylan Cease. 84. player. 128. . SP. Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox absolutely robbed the Chicago Cubs in the Jose Quintana trade. It doesn’t feel weird to say that anymore because it is so obvious. Eloy Jimenez is a budding superstar both on and off the field and Dylan Cease has the makings of a really good starting pitcher. Cease has a long way to go but playing baseball is going to be very good for him.
Cease made his MLB debut in 2019 and was okay. There were games that he showed some struggles but he did always seem to battle back. This year is going to be big for him because he will make a decent amount of starts for a 60 game season.
The White Sox deserve a lot of credit if Cease becomes a good starter for them because of where he was at when they acquired him. When he was with the Cubs organization they didn’t know if he would be a reliever or a starter but the White Sox are now almost certain he will be a starter for them in the long term.
2020 is a year that Dylan Cease needs to show something. He was pretty good in Spring Training so that might be a sign of things to come. He wasn’t bad by any means in 2019 but there is a lot of room for improvement. Remember when Lucas Giolito was the worst pitcher in all of baseball for 2018? He certainly turned it around and Cease wasn’t even close to as bad as Giolito was. Getting starts in 2020 is huge for Cease and he should be happy about baseball coming back.
128. . C. Chicago White Sox. James McCann. 33. player
The Chicago White Sox have two very good catchers. Yasmani Grandal was signed in the offseason to come in and partner up with James McCann to form one of the league’s best catching duos. Grandal is better than McCann and will get way more starts but that is in no way saying that McCann can’t be extremely valuable to this team once again.
McCann was an American League All-Star in 2019 because he was so good for the White Sox. That earned him another year with the team but his contract is up once again after this year. He needed baseball in 2020 because of the fact that he needs to show that 2019 wasn’t just a one-hit-wonder. He just turned 30 earlier in June so he has a whole lot left in the tank. The White Sox need to make sure this position stays as stable as it currently is and maybe McCann will be a part of that.
Related Story. It is finally time to watch the White Sox play baseball again. light
2020 is coming and McCann is going to be a big part of it for the White Sox. He doesn’t even need to have that all-star level of production that he did in 2019 but he just needs to be a solid backup catcher for this team. Both sides will benefit from that in the long term if it happens. 2020 baseball is happening and we can’t wait to see these players show their stuff.