The Chicago White Sox saw Dallas Keuchel come in and take a leadership role in one year.
There are some teams that build their organization the right way. The Chicago White Sox are one of the teams that have done that lately and there are a lot of great young players to show for it. With that said, every good team brings in great veteran leadership to help these young guys grow and the successful teams have success finding good leaders to help in that area. It is one thing to be great on the field, it is another to be great on the field and in the clubhouse.
Dallas Keuchel has been that for the Chicago White Sox ever since coming over. He was a fifth-place finisher for the American League Cy Young Award with his 1.99 ERA and a 1.089 WHIP so you know that the performance was never an issue. He helped even further than that by being a vocal leader for the team.
We all heard about the team dinner that he hosted at a restaurant during Spring Training where he talked about getting to the playoffs. Then, after the COVID-19 pandemic ended, he came in and showed everyone that it wasn’t just talking. During a little bit of a slump before the team really got hot, he publicly criticized the team’s effort and they responded well to it. It is amazing that he became a big leader on the team in just a short amount of time.
The White Sox need leadership. Most of their roster is young talented guys who haven’t even scratched the surface of their MLB potential. When those guys become leaders, they will really be a force to be reckoned with. For now, they have to rely on talent and the leadership of older players which includes the likes of Keuchel, Jose Abreu, and Lance Lynn. It is a very good group that has a chance to do something very special for the city of Chicago. It is nice to have a leader like Keuchel to rely on to help them get the job done.