The White Sox Are Good

I saw the White Sox lose tonight on a historical Saturday night. Seby Zavala highlighted the

action for the Sox, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit his first 3 home runs in the

same game. The Sox put up 11 runs on the night, 6 coming off the bat of the #4 catcher for the

team coming into the year.

While I don’t expect Sox fans to be riding the Zavala wave come October, his performance last

night is just another example of what it’s taken to get this team to where they’re at.

Heading into August the White Sox sit 8 games ahead of their current opponent, the soon to be

Cleveland Guardians. The teams gone nearly the entire year without star sluggers Eloy Jimenez

and Luis Robert, and are currently riding a 12-9 stretch since losing starting catcher Yasmani

Grandal. Jose Abreu has not performed like an MVP, and despite a solid OBP all year, fans

have expected more from the bat of Yoan Moncada.

Logically, this leads to the question of how the team has managed to get here. Starting pitching

has helped, but outside of that, does it really matter? The bullpen hasn’t been great but it is sure

to improve, largely in part to the addition of future HOFer Craig Kimbrel. The team added 18

home runs with the addition of Cesar Hernández and will add the potential for many more when

the team is back to full health.

The white Sox have had upwards of a 99% chance to make the playoffs for a while now, and

with Hall of Famer Tony LaRussa at the head of the ship, I don’t expect this run to be a short

one. If 2/3s of a AAA roster can dominate a division like this, then a healthy Sox roster should

be the last thing a team wants to see in October. The Sox lost an electric 23 run game last night

and had plenty of flaws exposed by a poor Cleveland team, but this team is set up to move past

games like that. This team is damn good.