The White Sox lack of hitting lead to a rough week against divisional foe Kansas City and the always-tough Houston Astros.
After going 5-3 the week before, the Chicago White Sox went 2-4 as a follow up last week. They didn’t play that badly last week, but they just didn’t play that well either, so the losses piled up again. The White Sox averaged 2.5 runs a game, though they scored 3 runs three times and 4 once. In the other two games, the Southsiders scored only one run. The pitching wasn’t all that bad either. They gave up an average 4.1 runs a game, but that was buoyed by a 9-1 loss against the Kansas City Royals. The rest of the games were a 4-2 win and a 4-3 loss against Kansas City as well as a 5-1 loss, a 3-1 win, and a 4-3 loss against the Houston Astros.
The games were close but just not quite enough offense or not enough defense showed up to get the wins. Dropping three out of four to the last place Royals is simply self-destructive to the team’s chances.
White Sox Offense
Compared to the winning formula of the week before, the White Sox were way off the mark. Last week, The White Sox batted .218, over 20 points below their season average of .243 (16th in MLB). During their winning week, they hit .292. The White Sox hit 6 home runs last week compared to the 12 they hit the week before. After collecting 52 RBI’s the first week of May, the White Sox hit 15 RBI’s last week. Even taking into account that they played two fewer games, that is still a stark difference.
It wasn’t that all of their main offensive weapons were black holes, they were all just equally mediocre. SS Tim Anderson and OF Andrew Benintendi batted .250. 1B Andrew Vaughn batted .173 (with one home run) and 3B Yoan Moncada returned to the lineup to hit around .270 last week (11 plate appearances). C Yasmani Grandal hit .300 albeit with only 10 at-bats.
3B/DH Jake Burger returned from the IL along with Moncada and went 2-4 in his return with a home run. Some combination of Burger, Vaughn, and Grandal need to replace DH Eloy Jimenez’ production while he is recovering from appendicitis.CF Luis Robert, Jr stayed hot. Robert went 8 for 19 with 7 RBI’s and an astounding four home runs. Robert is now tied for fourth in home runs in MLB with 11, just three behind Mets 1B Pete Alonso and Dodgers 3B Max Muncy.
White Sox Pitching
The White Sox ERA for last week was 4.29, which is 1.15 runs less than their season average. On the season, the White Sox still sit at second to last in ERA, but 4.29 would put them in 16th place across the league. Almost all the starting pitches had better weeks than their season average: SP Mike Clevenger gave up three runs in six innings. SP Lucas Giolito gave up just two runs in six innings against Kansas City but gave up four in six against Houston. Ace SP Dylan Cease had a big bounce back week by pitching six shutout innings. SP Michael Kopech got in on the fun, as well, giving up just two earned in 4 and 2/3 innings (he walked six, generating a high pitch count).
And finally, SP Lance Lynn was the lone holdout, giving up seven runs in five innings against the Royals. While Giolito’s stock is rising as he has had a few solid weeks, Lynn cannot seem to find the right formula.
The bullpen was even better. Between RP Joe Kelly, RP Reynaldo Lopez, RP Kendall Graveman, RP Aaron Bummer, RP Gregory Santos, and RP Jimmy Lambert, they pitched 15 innings with a 3.00 ERA. Kelly, Graveman, and Bummer each gave up zero runs.
One thing of note is that the White Sox are extremely overpowering this year from the mound. The White Sox are second in MLB in strikeouts, only behind the Minnesota Twins. Strikeouts are keeping the opposing run total down. If the offense can add an extra run or two a game, losses become wins very quickly.
This Week
The White Sox still stand in fourth place, just two games ahead of Kansas City for fifth. Sitting 9.5 games out of first sounds like a tough hill to climb, but there is quite a bit of baseball to go. For the next couple of weeks, the White Sox schedule bounces back and forth between winnable and difficult series. This week, the team will host the Cleveland Guardians for three games and Kansas City for three.
The week after, the White Sox go to Cleveland and then visit the Detroit Tigers. The White Sox need to right the ship by executing on the pitching and offensive side…at the same time.
