White Sox News: Mike Clevinger was excellent in his debut

The Chicago White Sox bounced back from the previous two games with a 6-3 win against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. The White Sox split the series in Houston against the reigning World Series champions.

All in all, the White Sox played entertaining baseball for the entire series. A split with arguably the best team in the MLB at their home ballpark should be considered a success for the south side.

The starting rotation was excellent throughout the first three games of the series and that continued Sunday afternoon when Mike Clevinger took the mound as a Chicago White Sox pitcher for the first time in his career.

The Chicago White Sox need Mike Clevinger to have a very good year.

Although Clevinger let on more guys than he wanted to via the walk or hit by pitch, there was no damage done on the right-handed starter.

Clevinger has his velocity up higher than usual and had his slider/other off-speed pitches working for him throughout the five innings he pitched.

It was a terrific start for all four starting pitchers in the first four games and if that continues, wins will correlate. This is collectively an excellent starting rotation staff and could arguably be the best one in the American League Central.

Clevinger felt great but, most importantly, healthy. He was quick to mention how great the Houston Astros are and for him to execute against them led the White Sox to an impressive win.

Overall, he seemed impressed with himself. Hopefully, that continues because the White Sox will need him to be the best version of himself.

Skipper Pedro Grifol was also impressed with Clevinger Sunday afternoon, claiming that Clevinger made the pitches he needed to throughout his entire start.

It was a tremendous effort for the Chicago White Sox, both offensively and defensively. The bullpen showed signs of improvement from the previous three games.

The offense combined for seven doubles along with two home runs. One home run came from Luis Robert Jr. and the other from scorching-hot Yoan Moncada.

The White Sox will travel back home to take on the San Francisco Giants in their home opener Monday afternoon at 2:10 central time.

Michael Kopech will make his first start of the 2023 season, A.J. Pierzynski will throw out the first pitch, and most importantly, baseball is back on the south side of Chicago.