Yesterday, the White Sox completed what is mathematically the halfway point in the season. Thus far, its been a pretty tumultuous year for the Sox, as they have been forced to battle pretty much every type of setback possible. They have struggled through injuries, inconsistent pitching, poor fielding, and offensive dry spells that make the Sahara Dessert look like a tropical resort. Even in light of all these issues, the Sox have hung in there and have really been firing on all cylinders of late. They are currently 42-20, only 2 1/2 games back of the Tigers. Here's a closer look at the what has worked and what has not.
The Good:
1) The Pitching - Oh boy has the pitching been good. The Sox staff currently boasts a 3.97 ERA, which is 2nd best in the AL and 7th best in the league. They also have the 3rd best BAA in the AL (.253), the 5th fewest walks (263) in the league, and allowed the 7th fewest earned runs (319) in the league. All of this speaks to how the staff is making other teams really work for and earn their runs. The guys who have shined the brightest are Mark Buerhle (8-2), Jon Danks (7-6), and Gavin Floyd (6-6). All 3 have double digit quality starts (10/10/11) and respectable ERAs (3.09/3.76/4.33). Further, the reemergence of Jose Contreras after his short stint in the minors is definitely a good sign. In addition, the bullpen has been solid and all the way around. Dotel, Carassco, Linebrink, Jenks, and Thornton all have ERAs under 3.35 (Thornton and Linebrink are under 2.8) and K/BB ratios around 2.5-3:1 (Jenk's ratio is almost 5:1). Clearly, the Sox pitching is once again dominating.
2) Gordon Beckham and Scott Podsednik- Both of these guys started off slow but have really come on to give the White Sox lineup some added pop at at both the top and bottom. Beckham didn't get his first hit until his 13th AB, but what I was most impressed about was that he went up to the plate swinging the bat. Further, much of his contact was good solid contact but just hit right at a fielder. More recently, he has been on a tear, raising his average 80 points in just over a week. He went 8-11 in the series against the Tribe, hitting 1 HR and driving in 5. He continues to demonstrate his amazing abilities by dominating in the pros after great displays in high school, college, and the minors. On the other side of the coin, Scott Podsednik has really revitalized his career again with the Sox. He's currently hitting .311 and has swiped 12 bases. While it would be nice to see him swipe some more bases and have a higher OBP, you can't argue with the fact that he is starting to get on track and get on base for those hitters behind him (namely Dye and Thome). Also, he's been using a variety of different maneuvers to get on base (normal swing, bunt, and even a slap hit while slide stepping in the box) and has really started to use his speed to his advantage again (now that he's finally completely healthy). This more cerebral approach to the game will surely help the Sox going forward. ASIDE: Jermaine Dye has also been a big force for the White Sox this year hitting .291 with 20 HRs and 51 RBIs. Though, I chose to speak here about Beckham and Podsednik since they are both having breakout/turnaround type years.
The Bad:
1) Bartolo Colon/Clayton Richard - Let me start by saying, yes, Contreras was bad at the beginning of the year. But he seems to have righted the ship for now, hence why he goes under 'The Good'. Though, depending on how he pitches from here on out, he could very well wind up back here. Anyway, The Bartolo Colon Experiment seemed promising this year since it was a veteran who we hoped could simply eat some innings as the 5th man in the rotation and pitch for a .500 record. Early reports looked favorable, as he had a good spring. Unfortunately, that was the end of that. Colon started 11 games and ended up with a 3-6 record. Batters hit .284 against him and he gave up 12 HR in only 55 innings. What's worse is that he made it only 3 times at least 6 innings and 3 times he didnt even make it out of the 5th. This was a disaster that was not made any better by plugging in Richard. Richard is now 3-2 after 11 games started and seems to have obtained a case of Bartolo Colon-itis as 5 of his 11 starts have resulted in his exiting before the end of the 5th inning (3 of his last 4 starts have gone this way). The worst though is his susceptibility to walking people (1.83:1 Strikeout-to-walk ratio).
2) Fielding - The White Sox have committed the 6th most errors (59) in the league. This is just plain unacceptable as it gives the opposing team extra outs with which to work. Wilson Betemit turned out to be a total bust offensively and only hurt the sox by committing 5 errors in only 13 games this year. Add to this mistakes by Beckham (5 in 26 games) and Alexei Ramirex (10 in 76 games), and the Sox just continue to shoot themselves in the foot. I think that the most worrisome part is that 1 of every 3 errors came from players on the left side of the infield (Beckham and Betemit at 3rd base and Ramirez at shortstop). With a predominantly right handed league where balls are constantly pulled to the left side, this becomes a major problem. Hopefully, for the sake of all White Sox fans, these are just growing pains (with Beckham having just been called up and this being Alexei's first full season at SS).
The Ugly:
1) 20-1 Loss vs. Minnesota - The Sox were helpless in this game as Colon lasted only 2 innings and gave up 8 runs. Lance Broadway and Jimmy Gobble couldn't stop the hemorrhaging either as each gave up 6 runs. The only bright spot was D.J. Carassco coming in for 2 2/3 innings of work who gave up only 1 hit.
2) 6-5 Loss vs. Cubs - The Sox looked like they were going to steal 2 from the Cubs at Wrigley. Unfortunately, they wasted a 7 inning, 5 hit, 1 ER outing by Gavin Floyd and gave up 5 runs in the 8th and 9th to lose to the dreaded crosstown rivals.
Looking Ahead:
I think that the White Sox have a good chance to make a run at the Division crown. They are only 2 1/2 games out right now and are showing that they can put the hitting and pitching together (e.g. 7 game win streak). Getting Carlos Quentin back at some point would only add some more pop to their lineup. The question though is where to put him with Podsednik playing well and currently playing Left field. The most likely change is to put Quentin back in Left and move Pods to Center. We'll see though. Also, the pitching needs to remain solid and the hitting must continue at all parts of the lineup (especially the production from the bottom) in order for the Sox to muster enough runs to support their pitching. The Sox must take advantage and beat the teams that they should (e.g. 6 games left against KC and 9 left against the Tribe). If they do all that, they've got a chance.
Prediction:
The Sox will finish either 1st or 2nd in the division and with a record of 86-76. In either event, it should be a tight race and fun one to watch come the end of September.
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