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  • Here Come the White Sox

    Matthew Taylor

    By Matthew Taylor

    After a miserable start to the season, the Chicago White Sox have been on a roll and are quickly closing in on the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central.

    Image courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

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    The Chicago White Sox had about as bad of a start to the 2023 season as you can have. Through the first six weeks of the season the Sox found themselves with a 14-28 record — nine games behind the first place Minnesota Twins in the American League Central. Their  poor record featured a 10-game losing streak and talks of trading their young stars had already begun.

    Since their 14-28 start, the White Sox are 13-7 with a +23 run differential. Chicago has won five of their last seven series, including a series win that they just capped off on Thursday evening in the Bronx against the New York Yankees. Their recent run of wins, coupled with the struggles seen by the Twins have helped the White Sox dig out of a nine game deficit in the American League Central and now find themselves just three and a half games back of the first place Twins.

    The Chicago White Sox recent surge has come largely due to their tremendous pitching. Since May 15, the White Sox are third in all of baseball with a 3.13 ERA. This includes a starting rotation that ranks sixth in baseball with a 3.63 ERA and a bullpen that ranks fourth in baseball with a 2.35 ERA.

    On the hitting side, the White Sox have struggled all year. In fact, the White Sox rank 17th in baseball in runs scored this season, just one run more than the Minnesota Twins. Typically strong hitters like Andrew Benintendi and Tim Anderson have to find their groove at the plate and their once powerful lineup ranks just 20th in baseball with 67 home runs on the season.

    Similar to the Twins, the Chicago White Sox have struggled with injuries for much of the season, however Chicago’s recent surge has coincided with many of their injured players getting healthy again. Hitters such as Eloy Jiménez, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Jake Burger have all found themselves on the injured list this season. Injuries have also struck the pitching side with players like Joe Kelly and Mike Clevinger being shelved for parts of the year. And then there’s their stud closer, Liam Hendriks, who made his emotional return back to the White Sox on Memorial Day, following his cancer recovery.

    Now healthy, the Chicago White Sox might just be the most dangerous team in the American Central. The Twins should fear the White Sox more than other rival teams like the Guardians and Tigers because of the amount of star power that Chicago can put out on the field every night. With players like Luis Robert, Andrew Vaughn, Eloy Jimenez and Lucas Giolito in addition to struggling stars like Dylan Cease and Tim Anderson who are primed for rebounds, the White Sox have the upside of a team that can hit and pitch with the best teams in the American League.

    After the first six weeks of the season, the American League Central looked as if it would be a two-team race between the Twins and the Guardians. After the Detroit Tigers made a brief appearance as a possible threat to the division crown, we’re now looking at a three-team race between Minnesota, Cleveland, and perhaps the most dangerous of them all…the Chicago White Sox.

    Do you fear the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central? Leave a comment below and start the conversation!

    Matthew Taylor has been a writer with Twins Daily since 2020. If you can't find him at Target Field you'll most likely find him at the movie theater.
    Follow Matthew Taylor on Twitter: MatthewTaylorMN

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    LastOnePicked

    LastOnePicked 2,644

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Here's what I think about the resurgent White Sox: Good. The Twins need more fierce competition, not less. If the Twins can't hang in this division, go rebuild. If they can, they should prove it against major league caliber competition. Who wants to win a joke division? Better competition will make the Twins better over time. It seems to have had that effect on the AL East.

     

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    wabene

    wabene 4,939

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    1 hour ago, rwilfong86 said:

    I think on the last day of the season, the Twins finish in 3rd place again. 

    Let's see now you are up to 3 predictions.

    1. Under 500 and out of first place by May 1.

    Nope

    2. Under 500 and out of first place by June 1.

    Nope

    3. 3rd place at season's end.

    Hmmm, things are looking up Twin's fans! 

     

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    gman

    gman 1,290

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    With the Twins lack of hitting, and they show no signs of changing that dynamic,  they will be fading by the all star break. More fading then they are doing now. I think they have enough talent on the roster, but not enough productive talent.

    I have been watching that  lead over the Sox fade for a few weeks and the Twins just don't seem strong enough to turn the ship around. I think they Sox can easily run away (win by 2 games or more) the division.

    I agree I don't think are strong enough to win a playoff series even if they actually win a playoff game. But do they become sellers by the end of July?

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    KirbyDome89

    KirbyDome89 4,669

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    34 minutes ago, wabene said:

    Let's see now you are up to 3 predictions.

    1. Under 500 and out of first place by May 1.

    Nope

    2. Under 500 and out of first place by June 1.

    Nope

    3. 3rd place at season's end.

    Hmmm, things are looking up Twin's fans! 

     

    He wasn't really all that far off on No. 2 was he? 

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    mikelink45

    mikelink45 12,544

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Yes, the twin should fear them and every other team in the division. Unless we get our act together. Drop some of these dead weight. Batters and go with the best we can put out. Glad to have Julian but also want to have Wallner 

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    weitz41

    weitz41 1,120

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    With how bad the offence has been the Twins should fear every MLB and AAA team. That being said, I truly expect the offense to improve. Not anything special, mind you, but decent offensive production. I'll give it 2-3 weeks before I worry about any specific team.

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    Shobae

    Shobae 108

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    7.3% chance for them to win the division according to fangraph playoff odds, say I do not care. Though tbh I think the projections are a little high on the twins even though they've slipped down to a 65% chance to win the division. I think the actual threat as was the case last year is the guardians. Sure, the white sox have been playing winning baseball since may but they were bound to get some in because they weren't as bad as that disasterclass april. But that team is about as deep is a puddle, one or two key injuries and they're going the way of the Tigers. 

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    Squirrel

    Squirrel 40,817

  • Gold Caretaker

    • Posted

    8 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

    Here's what I think about the resurgent White Sox: Good. The Twins need more fierce competition, not less. If the Twins can't hang in this division, go rebuild. If they can, they should prove it against major league caliber competition. Who wants to win a joke division? Better competition will make the Twins better over time. It seems to have had that effect on the AL East.

     

    The Twins have, I'd say, held their own against better teams. So ... I think there is a lot to be said for this. The Twins do need more fierce competition. In lieu of that, I hope they find a way to give it to themselves because I don't think they have a bad team. (Doesn't mean I think the team is great, but that this team has always had potential, imo.)

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    rwilfong86

    rwilfong86 2,673

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    13 hours ago, weitz41 said:

    With how bad the offence has been the Twins should fear every MLB and AAA team. That being said, I truly expect the offense to improve. Not anything special, mind you, but decent offensive production. I'll give it 2-3 weeks before I worry about any specific team.

    I worry that the offense doesn't improve and due to the added pressure on the pitching staff, they begin to struggle down the stretch, and like last season this one ends in disappointment. I hope I am wrong and that last night is the game that turns it around.

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    rwilfong86

    rwilfong86 2,673

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    10 hours ago, Squirrel said:

    The Twins have, I'd say, held their own against better teams. So ... I think there is a lot to be said for this. The Twins do need more fierce competition. In lieu of that, I hope they find a way to give it to themselves because I don't think they have a bad team. (Doesn't mean I think the team is great, but that this team has always had potential, imo.)

    Even with getting swept by Tampa, 2 of the games were close. And winning 2 of 3 so far against a good Toronto team on the road is a good sign. We'll see if this trend continues since they have 9 games against Atlanta and Baltimore before the All Star break. 

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    Squirrel

    Squirrel 40,817

  • Gold Caretaker

    • Posted

    4 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

    Even with getting swept by Tampa, 2 of the games were close. And winning 2 of 3 so far against a good Toronto team on the road is a good sign. We'll see if this trend continues since they have 9 games against Atlanta and Baltimore before the All Star break. 

    They also held their own, imo, against the Dodgers. But they do need to start winning more of the close games to turn the tide. I think and hope they can as I do think they have a good team, albeit perhaps not great. They also can’t lose many to bad teams going forward. All I can say is ‘Go Twins’ and hope for the best.

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    rwilfong86

    rwilfong86 2,673

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    1 hour ago, Squirrel said:

    They also held their own, imo, against the Dodgers. But they do need to start winning more of the close games to turn the tide. I think and hope they can as I do think they have a good team, albeit perhaps not great. They also can’t lose many to bad teams going forward. All I can say is ‘Go Twins’ and hope for the best.

    Winning the majority of the 10 games against the Tigers and Royals before the All Star break will be important down the stretch. 

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    JD-TWINS

    JD-TWINS 1,499

  • Silver Caretaker

    • Posted

    20 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

    No team in this division should be feared. 

    Absolutely correct! No team other than the Twins. Our starting pitching stacks up with anyone across baseball. The Pen is far from perfect but on the whole it seems to be adequate over long stretches (occasional disappointment for sure).

    2-0 after 2 games in Toronto winning in two completely different ways. 10 game home stand starting Tuesday. No reason to think the White Sox, at 27-35 are going to close on us in the near-term. If Sox go 13-7 again in next 20 games, unlikely, they will be 40-42. Maybe by late August they could be a threat but there are a lot of things that can happen between now & then.

    Guardians staff, line-up, & their culture worry me way more than the Sox!

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    stringer bell

    stringer bell 17,426

  • Gold Caretaker

    • Posted

    I could make the comments I'm going to make in a lot of other threads, but I'll put them here. The Twins, much like last year have been ahead of a mediocre field in the AL Central. The Royals are already out of it, IMHO, and Detroit is on a long losing streak and probably won't contend either. That leaves three teams with a chance to win the Central. The focus of this thread is the White Sox. Let's cover them:

    Chicago has quite a bit of front-line talent. Moncada, Anderson, Vaughn, Robert, Jiménez and Binentendi make a better foundation for a lineup than either the Twins or the Guards. Their starting staff has been inconsistent this year, but Cease, Giolito and Kopech are a nice trio who could throw a shutout at any time. Their bullpen has been poor, but Hendriks is back and that will help a lot. The Sox have weathered early injuries and a tough schedule. I expect that they will be pretty formidable (by AL Central standards) going forward. BTW, the Pale Hose defense isn't bad overall, but they have tended to break down when it matters.

    Cleveland is in second place. They have the best position player in the Central in Ramirez and Josh Naylor has been a great clutch hitter for them in the last year and a half. Their pitching is off from what is was last year, both the rotation and the bullpen. The Guardians have made more late inning rallies than their competitors and Francona is a definite plus as a manager. If they can get their second tier of players to improve as they did last year, they'll be right there. 

    The Twins have the best rotation 1-5 in the division and it isn't close. Their closer is also the class of the division, but that is close. They have a roster dotted with guys who get injured and if they could find good health, there is a lot of talent there. The high strikeouts are unsustainable, but they have the talent to beat anybody. Improved health and the establishment of some young players (Kirilloff, Lewis) would keep them on top.

    My thought going forward is whoever does the best in the division will win it. The Twins have six games left with  Cleveland and seven with Chicago. If they win a majority of those games, I think they win the Central. They will need to win low-scoring games and continue to out-homer their opponents. Finding key bullpen arms and keeping the starters and Duran healthy are essential.

     

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    KirbyDome89

    KirbyDome89 4,669

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    5 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

    Absolutely correct! No team other than the Twins.

    I highly doubt Chicago or Cleveland fans fear the Twins, nor should they. There are plenty of warts on this Twins squad and opposing fans (similar to your view of Chi and Cleveland) are looking at them and thinking their team will win the "race." 

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    SwainZag

    SwainZag 6,470

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

    On 6/11/2023 at 9:33 AM, stringer bell said:

     

    Chicago has quite a bit of front-line talent. Moncada, Anderson, Vaughn, Robert, Jiménez and Binentendi make a better foundation for a lineup than either the Twins or the Guards. 

     

    Are we really going to call Moncada, Anderson and Binentendi front line talent?  

    Moncada is 28, and yes he has been injured quite frequently, but in this last 2 seasons in 576 PA he has a line of: 15 HR, 64 RBI to go along with a triple slash line of .217/.275/.358.  Good for an OPS+ of 77.

    For those curious, Mr. Kepler, who is only 2 years older, has 603 PA in the same time period with 16 HR, 61 RBI to go along with a triple slash line of .217/.304/.355 for an OPS+ of 88.

    Benintendi has been all but average with zero power and in line to make $17 per year for the next 4 years.  Larnach has a better OPS+ than he does.  

    Tim Anderson is 30 and his bat has declined now for the 3rd year in a row.  His power he once did have seems to be gone, with his slugging down to .311 this year.

    Robert, Vaughn and Jimenez are nice players but even with the Twins stars struggling in the early months, they have still scored more runs than the White Sox have in less games.  

    I would say pretty confidently that Correa, Buxton, Polanco, Lewis and Kiriloff make up a better foundation than the Sox have.  

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