The Chicago White Sox had what felt like a terrible first half. They were injured. Their manager was a disaster. They didn’t play well. Most importantly, they didn’t have the record that everyone thought they would coming into the All-Star break.
With all of that in mind, there are a lot of teams in the league that would sign up for their “terrible first half” as a 46-46 record and three games out of first place in the AL Central division. The White Sox are also 7-3 in their last ten games and trail two seriously flawed teams in the division.
Liam Hendriks and Tim Anderson went to the All-Star Game because they are so great. Dylan Cease and Jose Abreu were major snubbed as well so we can only hope that they are motivated in the second half.
They are starting to get a lot healthier and the players who were struggling early (Lucas Giolito, Liam Hendriks, Yoan Moncada, and Josh Harrison amongst others) are playing very well now. If they can carry this into the second half of the season, they will win a lot more games.
The Chicago White Sox can be great in the second half of the 2022 season.
The first half of the season was spent mostly playing the best teams in the American League while the Minnesota Twins feasted on the bad teams. Now, it is time to flip the switch as the White Sox has a very light schedule down the stretch.
A lot was said about this team during the first half that can all go away if they just start winning regularly. There are plenty of players on this team that can improve and it is fair to believe that they can be good again based on their careers.
Johnny Cueto joined Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, and Michael Kopech to be an awesome part of their rotation and he exceeded expectations so far. With Dallas Keuchel not there to blow games in the first inning anymore, Lance Lynn getting back to form would make it one of the best rotations in the American League.
This is it. It is time for a fresh start. At .500 and three games out, there is plenty of time to get back in first place and it starts with this series against the Cleveland Guardians. Giolito is on the mound looking to set the tone. The first half is gone and it is time to move on. They can absolutely do this.