Chicago White Sox: Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert dominate Oakland

The Chicago White Sox just wrapped up a big series with the Oakland A’s on Thursday. It was a 6-5 loss that was a nail-biter until the final out but the White Sox took three of four from the Athletics in a highly contested series. They are now going to head into the Tampa Bay Rays series with some momentum after playing very well against the A’s.

One big note from this series has been the play of Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez. They were both injured for an extended amount of time and the White Sox still somehow managed to stay in first place by a fair amount of games. After seeing the impact that they have now that they are back made that feat feel even more special.

They probably would not have had great success as a team without these two. They each impacted all four games in different ways which is nice to see. The pitching had to be on par of course too but a lot of the offense came off their bats. The best example was game three where they combined for 3 RBIs and won the game 3-2. It feels like a game where they lose 2-0 before they returned.

It is clear why they have been so impactful. Instead of guys like Leury Garcia or Billy Hamilton coming up with runners in scoring position, they are. They are better at being clutch than average players so it helps the White Sox score more runs as a result. It also helps make players like Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson, and Andrew Vaughn become more dangerous.

The Chicago White Sox is in a better place with Eloy Jimenz and Luis Robert.

There is not a safe spot in the lineup when these two are in there. They can be 1-9 deep which is not something every team in the league can say, even the good ones. The White Sox have something special brewing here and the way Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez impacted the A’s series shows that.

Everyone needs to be at their best in order for this team to succeed but these two being there is huge. It is rare to lose two players of consequence like that for that long but the White Sox pulled through. Now, it is up to them to take advantage of them being back.

One of the hardest stretches of the season is going on right now. They are 4-3 combined against the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees over the last seven games. Now they have the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays coming up who are great teams themselves. In order to get through that with more wins than losses, Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert need to be there at a high level. This A’s series is a good sign that they are fully back.