The first half of the 2021 season for the Chicago White Sox was not as kind as you’d like it to be. There were some highlights and lowlights. Despite enduring critical blow after critical blow, this team prevailed and kept winning. By the sheer power of will, the Southsiders sit atop the American League Central with a comfortable nine-game lead over Cleveland.
While the Sox’s 59-40 record looks good on paper, the record against competitive teams is not ideal. The team has faced ten teams over .500 so far this season, and they are 16-22 against those teams. They are 10-12 in one-run games as well. This team is good but could benefit from upgrading via the trade market. They have enough to make it to October, but questions arise when talking about a deep run.
The Chicago White Sox has some needs to address before the trade deadline.
The 2020 bullpen saw a few players take a step forward and helped propel the team to October. Unfortunately, the shut-the-door ‘pen has been a bit shaky in 2021. Acquiring dependable relief pitching would do wonders for this team. It might even be the deciding factor in a game seven or something.
The loss of Nick Madrigal for the season was tough to endure. However, there may be a trade piece or two that could fill the gap. They are no Nicky-Two-Strikes but will give better production than the team’s current options.
Staying healthy has been a struggle with this 2021 team. A silver lining among the barrage of first-half injuries is second-half returns. Come October, this first-place team would have gotten even stronger.