3 ways for the Chicago White Sox to get back on winning track
Everybody that follows baseball closely knows that the Chicago White Sox are the most talented team in the American League Central Division. They also have the worst manager in the division to go with the worst injury luck in the division which is why they are 6-9.
Going forward, it would be smart to believe that they will turn it around because of the players that they have in the clubhouse. There is plenty of reason for optimism because of what we saw earlier in the year along with everything that happened in 2021.
When a good team is struggling, there are a lot of things that can lead to why. The players playing better baseball sounds the most obvious but it is also the most accurate. If the White Sox players that we know are elite start playing like it again, the team will win a lot more games.
Another thing for them to do is to stay positive about themselves. After losing seven in a row, they still don’t even have the worst record in the division up to this point. They are also only 1.5 games out of first place in the AL Central which does figure to be a little bit stronger than the year before.
The Chicago White Sox need to turn their season around in short order.
This White Sox team is nowhere near out of it. People who give up on them are going to feel foolish by the time September rolls around and they are cruising to their third straight playoff appearance. If the White Sox fix these three things, the rest of the regular season will go the way that they had hoped:
Tony La Russa
Tony La Russa needs to do a better job managing the 2022 Chicago White Sox.
Early in 2021, Tony La Russa was not well received by the Chicago White Sox community. He was the 10th best option available to them after firing Rick Renteria and was coming off his second DUI charge. It was not a good look at all.
Then, once the season came around, they had a bumpy start just like this one. There were a lot of things that made Tony La Russa look like a manager that was sleeping at the wheel just like this year as well.
We need to hope that these things change over the next few weeks as they did last season. By the end of the year, Tony La Russa was fine but it took a while for the fanbase to finally be on board. His leash appears to be shorter this year.
The White Sox are absolutely not going to fire him so you can forget about that possibility. What you can hope for, however, is that he starts to pick up on these strategic mistakes that he keeps making.
There have been quite a few decisions that have had a helping hand in the Chicago White Sox losing. One of the biggest areas of complaint has been the lineup card. Leury Garcia has absolutely no business batting in the top half. He also simply needs to be better with his in-game judgment.
Hitting Better
The Chicago White Sox need to really get their offense going and score more.
The Chicago White Sox have a batting lineup that is filled with stud hitters. We’re talking Tim Anderson, Jose Abreu, Luis Robert, Yasmani Grandal, Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, AJ Pollock, Andrew Vaughn, and Gavin Sheets amongst others. All of those guys can rake.
Moncada has yet to play this season but will be back soon. Jimenez has a hamstring injury and will be out for a while but will return in a couple of months. Those are tough losses but the rest of the group is there and ready to go.
Luis Robert took a few games off as well because of an injury but he should be back tonight against the Kansas City Royals. He is the most well-rounded player on the team and can really spark this offense when things are going well for him. Hopefully, he gets hot again upon his return.
The rest of the group needs to be better too. These guys all have the tremendous ability. They just need to put together better at-bats in order to get the most out of their abilities. It should come in time as they didn’t have a full spring training but it needs to come soon.
Their offense has been straight-up bad for over a week and they won’t win more until it corrects itself. That starts with thier best hitters producing like thier best hitters. There are MVP caliber players in this lineup that need to go out there and act like it.
Staying Healthy
The Chicago White Sox needs to simply do a better job of staying healthy.
As mentioned before when talking about the offense, the White Sox are not the healthiest team of all time. They have dealt with injuries over the last two years worse than any team in Major League Baseball. The most consequential players on the roster have missed at least some time.
Last week, Eloy Jimenez hurt his hamstring and is going to be out for a long time. Luis Robert was out with a groin issue all weekend but will return to the lineup this week. AJ Pollock has also missed time but is back. It also looks like Yoan Moncada is going to be back in action soon enough again soon as well.
This injury bug hasn’t just hurt the offense either. It started with the pitching staff when it came out that Garrett Crochet is going to miss the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Following that, we learned that Lance Lynn will be out until about mid-May.
On Opening Day, Lucas Giolito pitched so well out of the gate but left the game with an injury and didn’t return until this last Sunday. It just seems to be neverending with this team right now. It might slow down eventually but nobody can count on it. However, that is a big key to them finally getting back to their winning ways.
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