3 players that need to step up for the White Sox to contend in 2024
The Chicago White Sox are in the middle of an abysmal year. With about a month and a half to go before the season is over, they are already looking ahead to the future.
The Sox were massive sellers at the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline. That means that the team looks wildly different than it did a few weeks ago and that is okay.
2024 is a year that is going to be bad but Rick Hahn seems to think that they are going to contend again. If he is right, it would be a miracle.
It would also mean that these three players really stepped up big and played to their potential again:
1. Dylan Cease
Dylan Cease is having a good year but not a great year for the White Sox.
Dylan Cease was one of Major League Baseball's three best pitchers in 2022. On a very mediocre White Sox team, he came in second place for the American League Cy Young.
It took an incredible comeback season from Justin Verlander to keep Cease from winning this thing. Well, in 2023 he has been good but he hasn't been great.
The White Sox need Cease to be great in 2024 if they are going to compete. If he gets back to being elite, it will be proof that coming down from 2022 and this bad year brought him down a little bit.
We always knew that Dylan Cease had the talent to be a very good pitcher but now it is time for him to continue being elite year after year. If he does that, the White Sox will have a true ace in a year that they are trying to win.
2. Andrew Vaughn
We can say that the Chicago White Sox need more from Andrew Vaughn.
The Chicago White Sox made Andrew Vaughn the third overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. Coming out of Cal, he was the best young power hitter in the country.
His development was stunted a little bit because of the COVID-19 pandemic as he didn't go through the minor leagues as most other top prospects do.
After the whole Taxi-Squad season in 2020 where the season was shortened to 60 games ended, we knew Andrew Vaughn would be coming.
He made his Major League debut in 2021 and hasn't looked back. It wasn't fair to make him switch his position a bunch during the 2021 and 2022 seasons as that probably hurt his development as well.
Now in 2023, he is finally playing his natural position of first base on a daily basis. His offense has been up and down but it is fair to say that he hasn't lived up to expectations yet.
He hasn't been bad by any means but the White Sox need more from him. If the White Sox actually think they are contending in 2024, they are banking on a big Andrew Vaughn season.
3. Michael Kopech
Michael Kopech's 2024 Chicago White Sox season is very important.
The Chicago White Sox are in the middle of a very bad season. Part of the reason that things haven't gone right is the fact that Michael Kopech hasn't reached his potential.
He had the arm to become an elite ace in this game. He still very well might. However, lots of factors on and off the field have kept him from reaching that ceiling.
Now, there are questions as to whether or not he should be a starter, a long reliever, or a closer. There are good arguments to be made for him in all of those roles.
Regardless of the outcome there, the White Sox should do what they can to get Kopech on the right track in 2024.
If he is able to have a good year, no matter what his role is, the White Sox could see their win total come up a little bit. He has all of the talent in the world but he needs to go out there and use it.
All three of these guys are good players that could be elite players if they just put it all together. Hopefully, we start to see that happen for them soon.
dark. Next. The 15 worst contracts in Chicago White Sox history