Two weeks ago, the White Sox appeared to be open for business. But something unexpected has happened in Chicago. In spite of the apparent tension between manager Ozzie Guillen and GM Kenny Williams, the team has gone on an extended hot streak and won ten of its last 12 games, including its last six. Sure, that six-game streak came at the expense of the Pirates and Nationals, but wins are wins. The 34-34 White Sox are 5.5 games behind the Twins in the AL Central and Guillen and Williams are presumably asking the same question everyone else is:
Are the White Sox for real?
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The Sox are by no means a complete team. But, when they’re right, that rotation is as good as any team’s in the league. Any time you can throw out Peavy, Buehrle, Danks, Floyd, and even Garcia on a day-to-day basis, you give yourself a chance to win a lot of games. There isn’t a dominant team in that division. It’s too early to give up when you’re 5 games out in June. As long as they’re playing well, why not make a run for at least another month?
I agree completely. It all comes down to pitching, especially once you get into the dog days of late summer. I’m not saying that all of the problems are fixed, but when you sit back and think about it, the bullpen has been lights-out for close to a month now, and that starting 5 has obviously pitched extremely well (9-1 with a 1.95 over last 12) of late. And hitting is contagious. Most of the year, the Sox have had a miserable case of offensive flu. If that starts to heal, watch out for this team.
Agree. The bullpen has been a key to this turnaround too. If you can get this performance from your entire staff, you don’t need to hit like the ’27 Yankees to win games either. But it does need to get a little better at least.
One thing to add to that. The Sox HAVE to beat the Twins head-to-head this year to have a chance.
Speaking of the best rotation in the western world, what’s the real deal with Peavy? As good as his last start was, he had to skip his turn the week before and go for an MRI. He’s a guy with a substantial injury history, so I’m not sure if the good start can be seen as reassuring or if he gutted through one even though things are starting to fall apart again. Time will tell, but that’s even more reason to stay the course for another month.
Peavy is definitely a concern. The strikeout rate is down, which is to be somewhat expected when you change leagues and face the DH instead of the pitcher. And the homerun per flyball rate is up too — which may be a factor of playing at the Cell rather than Petco. Ideally, you’d like to line him up against the opposition’s top pitchers and then overmatch teams with Danks and Floyd against most teams 3-4 starters. But I’m not sure he’s that kind of pitcher anymore between the injuries, league change, and park change. What the Sox may have is a lot of guys who are 2 and 3 starters which is still very, very good, but in the playoffs it helps to have that ace at the top of the rotation to match up with the Sabathia’s of the world. I have some serious doubts as to whether Peavy is that kind of ace now.
Peavy didn’t skip a start, he was supposed to start Thursday or Friday, I think it was Friday, and it was pushed back to Saturday, so it was pushed back 2 days at most. He had an MRI which showed he had fluid in his elbow, I’m guessing it was drained, and he was able to pitch a gem on Saturday. His last few games have been pretty good too. I’m not worried about him yet.
Peavy had a little fluid in his shoulder. MRI revealed no structural damage.
They have the great rotation, as crunchy1 said, and if their offense stops underperforming (though some might argue it was built to underperform, but that’s another matter), they might have a shot. Specifically, Beckham and Quentin need to pick it up. Their bullpen is great. But if only they had resigned Jim Thome – he would be a difference maker in that dump of an offense. More ABs for Kotsay and Vizquel as DH – not a good idea, anybody could have seen that.
In my opinion, more ABs from Visquel and less from Tehean and Kotsay is a big part of this win streak. It seems like Omar has extended a few rallies this past week, where Tehean and Kotsay (along with Nix, Quentin and sometimes AJ Przyinski) have killed any offensive momentum the rest of the team had been scraping up all year long. I hope Vizquel stays in the lineup when Tehean gets back!
To be honest getting Teahen out of KC was one of the highlights of the off-season for me. Not to say Getz and Fields are all that, but Teahen struck out too much and fails in clutch situations more than he succeeds. He’s a great baserunner and a nice guy, but I’m glad he’s not here any more because he couldn’t live up to expectations.
The White Sox and Phillies are both 5.5 games out and in third place. Maybe it’s time for a “Are the Phillies a contender poll”? I’m sure nearly everyone thinks they are but it’s an interesting thought.
That’s a great point. It’s not how you start….it’s how you finish.
Before the All Star Break is too early to count just about anyone out, so I say yes. The only team in the MLB that I fully consider screwed is the Orioles.
I’d also say the NL Central is pretty much screwed besides the Cards and Reds. And the D-backs are out I’d say.
The Sox might as well wait until closer to the deadline before they make the determination but at this point it looks like they should probably be buyers. They’ve played their way out of the bottom of the division so if they think this is their real ability there isn’t any reason to give up on the season at this point. Unless they falter again before the deadline they should consider going for it.
They are in the AL Central. Everyone is a contender. Except the Royals. And Cleveland. So yes, they are contenders.
In baseball you have to get wins against the teams you SHOULD beat. The sox have done that the last two weeks. But they still have a lot of games left against good teams. If they are still close come September, with their schedule, it’ll be very interesting.
I’m inclined to say no. I think the Tigers and Twins are better. The Wild Card isn’t an option.
The Tigers and Twins ARE better. But that doesn’t mean the White Sox aren’t contenders. Baseball, baby.
The Twins are above and beyond better than the White Sox. Considering how the Wild Card will be between the Rays and Yankees (get back to me on the Red Sox when they start playing non-slumping, +.500 teams again. Yeah I know they swept the Twins and Rays earlier on. Don’t think they would now.), the White Sox should sell.
is your last name rauch?
If only, right? Lol, it’s my yahoo name I made like years ago since my Discus name got banned for w/e reason.
I don’t know that I’d say they are “above and beyond” better than the White Sox. Offensively? Absolutely. But pitching staff? Still no stud for the Twinkies, and their vulnerability was shown glaringly this weekend with the back to back 1 2/3 inning starts. I’m not saying the Sox are great shakes, by any means. But neither is any other team in this division.
Pavano looked great Sunday
I just don’t see the Sox taking that division. Their pitching has gotten on track recently, but I don’t believe that their offense is enough to take over the Twins.
No one is going to win the AL Central easily, the Sox are going to be buyers at the deadline. I would love to see them get Adam Dunn since the Nats need to retool their offense anyway
We will know a lot more this week when we take on the Braves
The choices for the answers are poorly constructed. I mean, of course we will know more than a month. And “don’t let 6 games fool you” is misleading because they have been playing great for 12 games including winning a series against Detroit. So as a Sox fan, I am enjoying this run. Peavy, Buehrle and Floyd have all pitched below expectations but may have turned the corner. In fact Floyd pitched out of his mind against the Tigers, Cubs and Nationals. And the Tigers and Nationals are not poor hitting clubs by any stretch. A little correction to the norm for AJ, Quentin and Beckham (meaning they need to be less horrible offensively) and it’s not unreasonable to think this team can make a run. It’s June 21.
This is funny I’d be shocked if the sox win their division as for them having one of the best rotations in baseball is funny too….all I have to say is freddy garcia enough said.
Yea Freddy Garcia is REALLY bad and his stats show it. I mean, winning your last five starts in a row is awful. Even worse is the fact that he has only lost one game in his past ten starts (eight of the ten are wins). He is really holding the White Sox back with such poor performances.
Do you people even think before you speak? You may not like the guy, but the FACTS say recently that when Freddy takes the mound the White Sox walk away with a win.
Not bad for a guy who’s supposed to be your 5th starter.
You probably should have tried to say something else, then. This makes no sense.
You do realize sweaty Freddy is 8-3 right….
Though I am a Tigers fan, and think that Freddy Garcia is a decent fifth starter, a pitcher is not best judged by his wins total. I guess Roy Oswalt is not that desirable because he has only two wins, and Roy Halladay has lost three straight, so maybe Garcia is having a better year… Also, I think the Twins are by far the best team in the division, and that the Tigers are better then the White Sox. I just don’t understand why Chicago is going defensive first at DH, especially in such a hitter friendly home ballpark. Maybe Harold Baines can come out of retirement.
Are they contenders yet?
What about now?