White Sox struggles vs. Phillies make glaring trade deadline need even more obvious

When White Sox first-baseman Munetaka Murakami injured his hamstring against the Tigers, it seemed like runs were going to be hard to come by for the team over the next four to six weeks. After all, Murakami leads the White Sox in home runs, and has proven to be a star in the middle of the lineup. But the story has been quite different in the nine games since Murakami’s injury, and the White Sox recent series loss against the Phillies has made the team’s needs abundantly clear. 

Since Murakami’s injury on May 29th, the White Sox have a 5-4 record, and the offense is averaging 5.33 runs per game. The White Sox season average in runs per game is 4.77, so the offense has actually been more effective in the nine games without Murakami. 5.33 runs per game matches the total for the Washington Nationals, who lead baseball in that category. All that to say, the White Sox offense has not been a problem over the past ten days, even without their star slugger. Instead, the back-to-back series losses at the hands of the Twins and Phillies are largely due to struggles by the starting pitching. 

Outside of Erick Fedde’s five scoreless innings on Wednesday against the Twins, all of the White Sox starting pitchers struggled in their last trip through the rotation. Anthony Kay wrapped up a stellar May with a rough first outing of June, and both Sean Burke and David Sandlin struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark. Even Davis Martin, who has been one of the standouts for the White Sox early this year, turned in his worst outing of the year on Tuesday in Minneapolis. It’s a problem that White Sox fans feared at the beginning of the season that is beginning to come to fruition now. 

The biggest White Sox trade deadline need has become clear

As the summer moves along and the calendar gets closer to the August 3rd trade deadline, White Sox fans have begun to focus on potential trade targets for the team. Questions remain about the White Sox outfield, and the team could certainly use another right-handed bat to hit against tough lefties, but the biggest need is easily pitching. Noah Schultz’s injury and David Sandlin’s struggles have left one rotation spot in flux, and inconsistency from Erick Fedde and Anthony Kay raise questions about two more. Lefty Hagen Smith’s debut should be imminent, and the White Sox will hopefully get Shane Smith, Mason Adams, and Tanner McDougal back at some point this season, but a veteran starter needs to be on the docket. 

ESPN’s Jeff Passan mentioned Angels lefty Reid Detmers as a fit, which makes plenty of sense in my opinion. Rockies right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano has posted strong numbers in a hitter-friendly park and could be a good veteran addition on a short term deal. Other arms like Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan may cost more, but would provide high-upside options that could be pencilled into a playoff rotation. There are likely several names available that aren’t being talked about. 

Regardless of where the White Sox look for pitching help, the need is clear. The White Sox have a solid young roster that should get even stronger when players begin to return from injury. As it stands right now, however, I don’t think the White Sox have the pitching to make a serious playoff run this season. With just under two months until the trade deadline, Chris Getz has the time and resources to make it happen. 

We’ll see what he has up his sleeve.

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