Chicago White Sox: 5 reasons they will beat the Houston Astros

CHICAGO - AUGUST 31: Jose Abreu #79 of the Chicago White Sox celebrates with teammates during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 31, 2021 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Ron Vesely/Getty Images)
CHICAGO - AUGUST 31: Jose Abreu #79 of the Chicago White Sox celebrates with teammates during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 31, 2021 at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Ron Vesely/Getty Images)
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Chicago White Sox, Carlos Rodon
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

4. Every starting pitcher is awesome

The starting rotation has been a strength of the Chicago White Sox in 2021.

The White Sox starting pitching has not only been consistently very good the entire season but it has gone through stretches of the season as spectacular. Both Carlos Rodon and Lance Lynn led the way as they were legit first-half Cy Young candidates. At the All-Star break, Lynn had an ERA of 1.99 and Rodon had an ERA of 2.31.

Lucas Giolito turned on his jets after the All-Star break and is back to being the great pitcher he was in 2019 and 2020. Then we have Dylan Cease who has finally put it together as the complete pitcher. Steve Stone has said he has the best stuff on the entire White Sox pitching staff.

Cease’s stuff has given him 226 strikeouts for the season. He also has been quite good when pitching at home as he has an overall record of 13-7 but is 6-1 at home. So given that we know Giolito is starting game two, it makes lots of sense to expect the veteran Lynn to pitch the first game in Houston.

Then, Cease will start the first White Sox home playoff game of these playoffs. For the vast majority of the season, their starting pitching has not let the team down so there is no reason to expect it will let them down in these playoffs.

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