At the season halfway point, the White Sox find themselves down in the standings with no easy way to turn the season around.
The Chicago White Sox have very consistently remained in fourth place for most of the 2023 season. Though they have had a few different win streaks, they always rebound with losing- or split-series streaks that cause them either to lose ground in the standings or just stay completely static. Seeing as the AL Central is the least competitive division in the American League –first place Minnesota would be in last place in the AL East and fourth place in the AL West–it is hard to see the Pale Hose making a deep run in the playoff even with a second half surge.
Like the last White Sox Scorecard discussed, this situation poses a difficult decision for the White Sox front office at the trade deadline. 2023 would mark the third or maybe fourth disappointing season in a row which could trigger a Chicago Cubs-like sell off (when they traded SS Javier Baez, 3B Kris Bryant, 1B Anthony Rizzo, and CP Craig Kimbrel at the same time) at the deadline. Or the White Sox could try to at least salvage the season.
The White Sox’ problem is that, other than young players like CF Luis Robert, Jr. or RF Eloy Jimenez, they only have pitchers to sell, most notably relief pitchers. All playoff-bound teams could use some bullpen arms and the White Sox relief has been stellar in the first half of the year.
First Half Offense
The biggest issue for the White Sox has been run production. Looking at any of the key metrics for the causes or reasons for poor run production, the White Sox tell a simple tale:
- The South Siders .234 team batting average is 23rd in MLB
- The .291 OBP is last in MLB
- 322 runs scored to date is 22nd
- 315 RBIs is 22nd
- Though the White Sox are tied for 12th in home runs…
- …they are 23rd in slugging
The home run total is buoyed by Robert with 22 (fourth in the league) and DH Jake Burger with 17 (tied for 13th). After that, it is pretty thin, especially with SS Tim Anderson at zero home runs and LF Andrew Benintendi with one home run.
Anderson and Benintendi are not supposed to be power hitters, but Benintendi’s .344 OBP is 53rd and his .372 slugging puts him at 131st. Meanwhile, Tim Anderson is 48 points below his career average of .284 and his career average is now at least 16 points below his batting average for the last four years (he hit .335, .322, .309, and .301 from 2019-2022). Anderson’s .275 OBP is 39 points under his career average and his .282 slugging is 154 points below his career.
The calculus is simple: very few hitters are on base to score runs and very few hitters are knocking multi-base hits to bring in runners. Though it is a team game (Moneyball and all that), a team needs a couple of superstars to propel them into the playoffs. At this point, Robert is a possible All-Star substitute, but it is hard to see any other position player in the All-Star Game. The White Sox have no .300 hitters and no OPS over .900 (Robert is at .897 and Burger is at .807).
If the White Sox want to upgrade the lineup for a playoff run, almost any type of player would be helpful. Either a consistent power hitter or an OBP specialist would elevate the lineup considerably. The issue is that they probably need more than one.
First Half Pitching
The White Sox pitching staff is as streaky as it comes. The starting rotation has episodes of being unhittable and then some weeks with the exact opposite. The relief pitching has been mostly an elite core, though there have been leaks lately, and the ‘pen has blown some games. With an offense that will typically not carry a game, the pitching staff needs to be elite every day, and they are starting to show some wear and tear at the halfway mark. As a team, the White Sox are:
- 22nd in ERA.
- 21st in WHIP.
- 6th in most home runs.
- 6th in batting average against.
- 1st in strikeouts.
Those team stats tell the entire story. The White Sox are exceptional in many categories and sub-par in several others. The schizophrenic nature of the pitching staff is as confounding to fans as it is to the front office and on-field management.
The starting rotation has four pitchers with over 90 strikeouts (SP Lance Lynn 109, SP Dylan Cease 110, SP Lucas Giolito 99, SP Michael Kopech 94), which puts all of those players in the top 25 in MLB. Conversely, Lynn has a 6.40 ERA and Cease has a 4.04 ERA. Only SP Mike Clevinger (3.88) and Giolito are under a 4.00 ERA.
White Sox Bullpen
For most of the season, the White Sox bullpen has been an immovable object. Over the course of 2023, the bullpen has had many scoreless streaks, unearned-run streaks, and hitless streaks. Individually, players like RP Kendall Graveman, RP Aaron Bummer, RP Reynaldo Lopez, and RP Joe Kelly have all had double-digit appearance scoreless streaks and some have had major hitless streaks as well. RP Liam Hendriks came back from beating cancer, but found himself on the IL with arm issues just a few games later.
Graveman, RP Gregory Santos, RP Keynan Middleton, and RP Jesse Scholtens all have ERAs under 3.00. Graveman, Middleton, Santos, and Kelly could be considered All-Stars at the halfway point. Consistency has been a problem as of late. May was an amazing run for the bullpen only to lose several games in June.
Kelly has stayed consistent, giving up four earned runs in May (in fact four in the last two games of May), and only three in June. Conversely, Graveman gave up zero runs in May (11 appearances) but gave up three in his 11 appearances in June (two blown saves). Middleton gave up zero runs in May (11 appearances) and has given up four earned runs in June. Of course, these scoreless streaks can’t last forever, but it shows how small the margin of error is for the White Sox bullpen.
The bullpen is so deep that these players are the White Sox best trade chips. Graveman, Kelly, Middleton, and Santos are consistently brought up as top trade opportunities.
White Sox Fans
Well before Oakland fans started their “sell the team” campaign, the White Sox fans were chanting it earlier in the season. Sooner or later, fans reach an exhaustion point blaming general managers, coaches, and even players. The only thing left standing is Jerry Reinsdorf’s long time ownership. Though the White Sox won a championship in this century, a dynasty did not persist. Recently, some predicted the young lineup core of the White Sox and talent of the pitching staff to reach epic heights. However, the team has not advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs.
The White Sox are 24th in attendance per game. St. Louis, who is last in the NL Central, is 2nd in attendance, so attendance is not always directly related to performance.
In 2022, the White Sox were 19th in attendance. In 2021, the White Sox were 14th in attendance. Fans are tuning out the White Sox as frustration and aggravation are turning into downright anger. If the front office decides to not make any moves at the trade deadline, there could be an all-out revolt.
