Chicago White Sox: A strong finish is much needed for this team

The Chicago White Sox have played well this year, beating most expert’s pre-season expectations. They have won 85 games for the first time since 2012 and are on their way to clinching the AL Central with a magic number of 4. However, it would still be nice for the team to play better and finish strong with 13 games remaining.

The White Sox won 2 out of 3 over a bad Texas Rangers team, which isn’t bad. Unfortunately, they were unable to gain ground on the Houston Astros who have also won 2 out of their last 3. Getting home field against Houston for the first round will be crucial to the Sox advancing. To do this, the White Sox will need to put together a winning streak.

The White Sox haven’t really put together a winning streak all year. Their longest winning streak was only 6 games and they have done that only once this year. Despite a record of 85-64, a lot of them weren’t in the form of a streak. It’s hard to pinpoint what the reason for this is, although the main culprit is likely offensive inconsistency.

Another concern is that the Sox started an incredible 43-26 but have mostly treaded water since then by going just 42-38 which doesn’t exactly scream “World Champions”. Part of this decline could be because of the loss of Nick Madrigal or Dallas Keuchel’s struggles. Whatever the reason is, the White Sox need to start playing really well again as they head into the playoffs.

The Chicago White Sox is hoping that history repeats itself in the year 2021.

This season is somewhat similar to the White Sox last championship year of 2005. In that season, they started off hot but mostly trod water in the second half before putting together a winning streak at the end of the season.

This year’s White Sox could look to that team for inspiration. Putting together their first winning streak of seven or more games this year could be what they need to get home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

I’m hoping the White Sox can finish at least 10-3 in their final 13 games to finish with 95 wins. They will need to win at least four more games than the Astros for the rest of the year in order to get home-field advantage.