The Chicago White Sox are hosting the Minnesota Twins this week. It is the final series of the 2022 Major League Baseball season. It was a year that did not go well for the White Sox as they came in with World Series aspirations. Instead, they were just very mediocre.
There are plenty of reasons that this happened but that is a problem for a different day. Right now, the players that are there should focus on finishing strong so they can be ready for what may come during the offseason. It is also a good chance to feel good about their game going into 2023.
Minnesota didn’t come in with the exact same expectations as the White Sox but they believed they would compete for the postseason. They certainly did do that too as they were in first place of the American League Central for most of the season.
In typical Minnesota sports fashion, they blew that opportunity by falling apart in September. The White Sox weren’t much better but getting one win in this series will lock them into second place and the Twins third.
The Chicago White Sox have a chance to finish their tough season strong.
Game one of this series on Monday will be Johnny Cueto’s last start of what has been a great season for him. He came in with little expectations of him and he was arguably the second-best starter on the staff from the time he got there until the end.
It is unlikely that Cueto will be back in 2023 but that is something to think about after his final start. There is no doubt that finishing strong with this last game will go a long way in helping him get a contract for next year.
Cueto will face Bailey Ober of the Minnesota Twins who has also had a pretty nice season. His ERA is even smaller than Cueto’s which says a lot about how good he’s been when on the field.
At the All-Star break, it was assumed that this series would mean a whole lot more but it is what it is. Each team wants to finish strong so that the offseason doesn’t look as bleak as it currently does with the very young and very cheap Cleveland Guardians running the show. We can only hope that the White Sox takes care of business.