White Sox playing poorly on all fronts
The American League Central is all over the map. At the outset of the 2015 Major League Baseball season, the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox were supposed to make runs toward the division title. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins were guaranteed to lose 100 games while the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers fought to remain relevant.
Flash forward to June 19, and the standings are nothing like we expected. The Royals are clearly the best of the bunch to this point, notching a 38-25 mark and potentially sending every one of its starting position players to the All-Star Game in Cincinnati (the fans in Kansas City have been stuffing the ballot boxes in epic fashion). Most shockingly, the Twins are sitting only three games out of first, riding the momentum of first-year manager Paul Molitor.
On the other end of things, the White Sox are an absolute mess. Chicago, which was one of the most active teams in the offseason, has been a giant flop in the Windy City. At, 28-38, the White Sox are 11.5 games behind Kansas City and playing horrible baseball on the road, totaling a 12-23 mark. Overall, Chicago has managed a -70 run differential, the worst in the entire American League. Only the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers are worst across the majors.
So what has gone so terribly wrong?
For starters, the pitchers have been an underwhelming disaster. Only the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox have allowed more runs, and this is due in large part to a poor rotation outside of star southpaw Chris Sale. Sale has posted a 6-3 record with 10 quality starts in 13 chances, along with a 2.73 ERA and 119 strikeouts in only 88 2/3 innings. To say Sale has done his part would be an understatement, as the lanky lefty will most likely be an All-Star.
Behind him, Jose Quintana and Jeff Samardzija are not doing their jobs. Quintana was supposed to take a major step forward in 2015 after a promising 2014, but has only been mediocre. Quintana has a 3-7 record and has allowed 110 hits in 94 2/3 innings. Samardzija has a brutal 4.67 ERA, only posting eight quality starts in 14 opportunities. If both don’t start throwing the ball better, it’s light out for the South Siders.
Offensively, the club has been sub-par as well other than slugging first baseman Jose Abreu. Shortstop Alexei Ramirez was supposed to be a key for the club, but is hitting .222 with a ridiculously bad .242 on-base percentage and two home runs. Adam LaRoche was acquired this offseason in free agency and has proven to be terrible thus far with a .227 average to go with eight homers and 24 RBI. In fact, only Abreu is hitting over .275 out of the typical starters and is the only White Sox play with double-digit homers.
Chicago has been one of the most disappointing clubs in the league. Unfortunately for their fans, there is no quick fix to this mess.
