Series Preview. White Sox vs. Mariners

The White Sox are riding an 8 game winning streak into their next series against the Mariners. The Mariners are coming off scoring 21 runs in Texas. It's easy to see that both of these teams are playing great baseball right now. The White Sox are obviously the hotter team because they are 9-1 in the last ten and the Mariners are only 4-6 in their last ten, but that doesn't tell the whole story and won't dictate who will win this series. The White Sox did sweep the Mariners the only other time that these two teams have faced off so far this year. That does not mean it will happen again, but there is a good chance. The Sox are sending out some of their best pitchers against the Mariners who until lately have not been a great offensive team. The toughest game will probably be when the Sox have to go against Felix Hernandez in the first game of the series. The best thing about baseball is that you never know who is going to win any game on any night.

Game 1
Jake Peavy (6-1 3.07 ERA) vs. Felix Hernandez (4-4 3.17 ERA)
Both of these pitchers are great pitchers and their sort of high ERAs don't really show how good they can be. Peavy's ERA was excellent until he had a bad game against the Indians. He still got the win as he got great run support. Hernandez is storied for not having run support, but with the Mariners scoring 21 runs maybe that offense is ready to do some good things.

This is going to be the game that the White Sox are the closest to losing. The White Sox can still win this one if they get the offense going again and Peavy throws another gem like has been doing this entire year. The Mariners aren't going to be easy for the Sox and the White Sox will have to work hard and do a better job with runners in scoring position. If the offense can click again, the Sox can win.

Game 2
Gavin Floyd (4-5 5.02 ERA) vs. Hector Noesi (2-6 5.01 ERA)
You look at these two guys' ERA and you expect this game to be a high scoring game. That might be true, but both of these pitchers are capable of having really good games. We all know as Sox fans that Gavin Floyd is probably the most inconsistent pitcher in all of Major League Baseball. If Floyd has a good game, he gives the Sox a great chance to win the game. If he has one of his bad games, the White Sox will have to work hard to get the win.

I think the Sox have a great shot to win this game as long as Floyd doesn't put them in a really bad position. One again, the White Sox have to be better than they were in the last game of the Rays series with runners in scoring position. They can't leave runners on and then lose by a few runs. One of these games, leaving the bases loaded with no outs is going to bite them in the butt. They have to stop failing in those situations and need to score a ton of runs off of those situations. Continuation hitting is one of the reasons that the Sox beat the Rays in the second game and they need to play like that to beat the Mariners and other teams.

Game 3
Chris Sale (6-2 2.34 ERA) vs. Kevin Millwood (3-4 3.56 ERA)
Chris Sale has been one of the best White Sox pitchers this year. In his last game, he threw 15 strikeouts and completely dominated a good Rays lineup. If he can do something like that again for the Sox, he gives them a really good chance to win. Millwood isn't a great pitcher, but his ERA isn't terrible and it's not going to be easy for the White Sox.

For a final time I'm going to say it, the White Sox have to succeed when they have runners in scoring position especially when there is less than two outs. Right now AJ is the best player on the team with runners in scoring position and he will probably be playing tomorrow, but who knows how many of these three games he will play because he hasn't had rest in awhile due to how well he's been playing.

White Hot Sox

Check out my epic photoshopping, am I right?

Another sweep for the White Sox and they've won 8 in a row! There's no doubt that the White Sox are playing great baseball right now and they're finding ways to win games no matter what obstacle they're facing. The Sox have swept in 3 of their last 4 series; they are 9-1 in the last ten, and they don't seem to be stopping any time soon. The starters have pitched well, the bullpen has been solid, and the White Sox are playing great on offense right now. Not much is going wrong for them other than umpires throwing people out without a warning, but that's not a big deal. Right now the Sox are winning games and that's all that matters.

One of the biggest differences between this year and last year is that the White Sox no longer rely on Konerko to lead the team by having a big game every game or else the Sox lose. Konerko went 2-13 this series and the Sox still swept and scored 13 runs. That would have never happened last year. Now that the offense doesn't depend on Konerko for everything, the pressure is off of Konerko and he can just focus on playing his game. I think that is one of the reasons that this year has been different from every other year that he has played so far. If the White Sox offense keeps it up, Paulie will keep it up as well.

Another big difference in this series is that the White Sox did not depend on the long ball. Obviously it is how they won in Game 1, but that was a different game than the other two. The White Sox only had one home run in the last two games of the series and they still scored 11 runs. The White Sox offense has something that it hasn't had in awhile. That is the ability to hit in succession and score runs without necessarily hitting the ball out of the park. This is a big difference because when you depend on the home run ball, you're going to lose a lot of games when the ball just isn't going out. Now the Sox can win both with the home run and in other ways like they did on Tuesday.

Up next the Sox will play Seattle and will have to face King Felix in the first game of the series to try to improve their win streak to nine games. The series will be tough as the Mariners just put up 21 against the Rangers today, but the Sox can win this series and keep it rolling while staying in first place.

Weekly Links

As the blog is getting more and more active throughout the season, I decided to start a once a week link post. Basically giving you links to some of the things that I've read this week and some links on the White Sox action over the past week. 

• Konerko mania is going full blast right now especially after he hit his 400th homer in a White Sox uniform. Not only that, but he is floating around the .400 batting average mark which has gotten him a lot of press recently too. 
• Head over to Southside Showdown (a White Sox blog) to get a week in review of the entire AL Central. 
• Baseball Prospectus had a great article about the Indians and the difference between this year's hot start and last year's hot start. 
• Danks got sent to the DL this week, but should be back soon. For info on his trip, go here.
• South Side Sox, one of my favorite White Sox blogs, recently put out a great piece on Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko and how they compare to other 3-4 combinations in the league. 
• Everything you need to know about sabermetrics was put into a nice article by the ladies over at Aerys Sports. Check it out. 
• Last but not least, Snoop Dogg threw out the first pitch at the White Sox game on Thursday night. 

White Sox Pitching

Heading into this season, nobody thought that the White Sox pitching staff would be doing anything remarkable. Now that we are 45 games into the season, I think we can say that the White Sox rotation has gone above and beyond the expectations set before them at the beginning of the year. They may not be the most conventional group, but they each know how to get things done. As a team, the White Sox have a 3.88 ERA which is 18th in Major League Baseball. They aren't the best, but they are a unit that can get things done. At some times they can be inconsistent, but there are games when each and every one of these pitchers can shut a team down.

John Danks got a big extension this offseason and went into the season expected to be the ace of the staff. So far this season, he has not delivered in that role, but the recent announcement that he is headed to the DL for shoulder soreness could be the reason that he has been struggling. Looking at the past few seasons, fans can see that John Danks has the stuff and ability to get batters out and win games. He hasn't done that stuff yet this year, but he has the potential and if he is healthy then he can be the ace that everyone expected him to be at the beginning of the season. 3-4 with a 5.70 ERA is not what the Sox expected from their ace at the beginning of the year, but in the past two seasons he has ended with 8-12 4.33 ERA and 15-11 3.72 ERA. 2010 was his best year that he has ever had. Since then he has degressed, but his struggle the last two seasons has been understandable. If the conditions are right and he is healthy, Danks can be a successful ace for the White Sox.

Jake Peavy has been a great story this year. Ever since being traded to the White Sox, he hasn't had the same stuff as he did when he played for the Padres. This year is the one year where he has been pitching like he's back in San Diego. So far this season he is 5-1 with a 2.39 ERA. To prove my point that he hasn't pitched this way since he was playing in San Diego, go look at the stats. The last time that his ERA was close to what it is right now is his last season with the Padres. Peavy's comeback year is perfect timing for the White Sox because of the fact that Danks hasn't been the ace that the Sox needed him to be and because Floyd has been one of the most inconsistent pitchers I've ever seen. The Sox needed Peavy to step it up this season and he did just that in a very big way.

Gavin Floyd has been the biggest pitching disappointment for the White Sox this year. Every year, he has those starts when fans say "Hey, maybe this is the year that he'll figure everything out and finally be that guy." and then the next time he pitches, fans are swinging baseball bats at anything in swinging distance. Floyd can be the pitcher that the White Sox want, but he has to go out to every game he starts knowing that he can be that pitcher and he needs to execute every single time. The one thing that has been consistent is his bad ERA. Floyd hasn't had an ERA below 4.00 since 2008. He's going to need to be consistent and get better if he wants to stay in Chicago and stay as the 3rd starter in the rotation.

This is Chris Sale's first year as a starting pitcher and he has been the second best pitcher in the rotation this year. He has great stuff and many of the batters he faces haven't faced him yet, so he has that advantage over them. He was drafted to be in the Sox rotation and he has already accomplished that. His last start was a great showing of what he can do. He pitched well and got himself the win. I'm looking forward to the many years of Chris Sale as a White Sox starting pitcher to come.

Phil Humber is an odd case. He has games when he completely dominates the other team (perfect game) and he has games when he is just another pitcher in the rotation. I love him as the fifth pitcher of the rotation because he pitches well enough to be that guy and sometimes he pitches better than that guy has to which is a nice surprise when it happens. If the Sox can get a number one and number three guy, this rotation can be one of the best in the league. I like what Humber has done so far this season and it has been a reassurance that his breakout year last year was not a fluke and that Humber will be good for the Sox for years to come.

The White Sox rotation is not the best in the league, but it gets the job done. With a little maintenance, this rotation can be one of the best because they have some of the best pieces of a rotation. Each guy can give a quality start and with the help of the offense can win games. 

Series Preview. White Sox vs. Indians

The White Sox start a three game series against their division rival Indians today. This is a very important series because the Indians are leading the central right now and the White Sox are not that far behind them in the race. The Indians are a hot team coming off a sweep of the Tigers and they are 8-2 in their last 10 games. The White Sox are also hot as they are 7-3 in their last ten and just won a series against the Twins. This will be a tough series and will be a test for both teams in all three parts of the game. Whichever team wins the series will have a great advantage in the division heading forward.

Game 1
Jose Quintana (0-0 0.00 ERA) vs. Jeanmar Gomez (3-2 3.19 ERA)

Jose Quintana will get his first major league start because John Danks was recently put on the DL for having shoulder soreness. In AA, he pitched 35.1 innings and had a 3.06 ERA, 26 Ks, and 11 BBs. He made his big league debut in the bullpen for the White Sox and will now have a chance for his first start. Nobody knows whether or not he will have a good start, but the White Sox can hope that he comes out confident and by having stuff that none of the players have seen, he can fool some of their batters.

Gomez has been pretty good recently. In his last three starts he is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA. He had a pretty strong start against the Marlins on Saturday and hasn't allowed a run in his last 16 innings. The last time that he pitched against the Sox, he gave up 6 runs in one inning. His pitching could go either way against the Sox and if players like Konerko, De Aza, and Rios keep up their hot streaks the White Sox can easily win this game.

The key to this game will be whether or not Quintana has the stuff to beat a major league team. The White Sox offense will have to back him up by scoring quite a few runs, but I think the Sox have a great shot to win this game.

Game 2
Jake Peavy (5-1 2.39 ERA) vs. Derek Lowe (6-2 2.15 ERA)
Jake Peavy has probably been the best pitching story of the year. He had a terrible year last year and came back this year and is dominating teams. He isn't up to the level he was when he won the Cy Young, but he is doing a great job being the second pitcher in this rotation. In his last three starts, he is 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 16 strikeouts. If he continues to pitch like he has previously, he gives the Sox a great chance to win this game.

Derek Lowe has pitched well this season and recently. He's had two quality starts in a row, one in which he pitched a complete game shutout. In his last three, he is 2-1 with a 2.71 ERA and 5 Ks. He'll be a tough test for the White Sox offense, but since they are so hot recently that challenge might not be a challenge at all. In 64.2 innings pitched against the White Sox he has a losing record at 1-2 and has 3.34 ERA and 43 strikeouts. The White Sox haven't really struggled against him and if they can score 3-5 runs, they can win the game easily.

Game 3
Gavin Floyd (3-5 4.66 ERA) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (5-3 5.02 ERA)
Floyd has been Mr. Inconsistent this year having a good start and then the next time he goes out, he is horrendous. If Floyd has one of his good starts, the White Sox have a good chance. If Floyd has a bad start it kills the entire team's momentum and they will probably lose.

Jimenez is having an alright year. He has a winning record, but his ERA isn't something to get worked up about. The same story goes for his last three starts (he is 2-1 with a 7.16 ERA). The White Sox will be able to score runs against him, but the key to winning will be stopping the Indians offense from backing him up like they have done so far this year.

Story of the Week
Paul Konerko is the story of the week for the White Sox. He has been extremely hot and is on a 10 game hitting streak. He leads the team in almost every hitting statistic and might even have a shot at MVP if he keeps hitting like he is. Right now he is .384/.462/.649 with 10 HR which is quite impressive and is obviously leading the team. In the last week he is batting .615 with 3 HRs and 6 RBIs which is the reason he is the story of the week.

Series Recap. White Sox win 2/3 against Twins

The White Sox had a tough series, but ended up winning 2 out of the 3 games. The first game was the worst of the entire series, but the only game that was even close to easy was the second game. The pitching by the White Sox was not stellar in the series, but Chris Sale did have a great start in the second game.

The power from the White Sox was the biggest story of the entire series. The players that hit home runs this series are Beckham, Rios (2), Konerko (2), Pierzynski, De Aza, and Viciedo. The power was especially helpful to the White Sox in their win in the third game of the series as they came back in the 6th after their terrible 5th inning.

The Indians swept the Tigers, so the White Sox did not gain any ground in the central division race. The Sox will have a great chance to do that though as they are going to play a three game series against the Indians starting tomorrow.

Game Preview. White Sox vs. Twins Game 1

The White Sox will play the first game of a series against the Twins today at 7:10. The Twins will pitch P.J Walters and the White Sox will send Gavin Floyd out to the mound. Neither pitcher has great statistics this year, but both have proved themselves in previous years. Whichever offense can be more productive and take more advantage of every situation to score runs will win the game.

Paul Konerko is back for the first game since getting hit in the head by Jeff Samardzija during the first game of the series against the Cubs. He is the biggest producer on the team offensively and will likely make a difference for the better of the White Sox offense today.

Other notable players in the lineup is the fact that Escobar will be playing third again as Hudson is not quite ready to start a game because he was officially signed today by the White Sox. Beckham has been on a small hot streak since the series against the Angels and will hope to continue that in this series against the Twins and maybe finally have the breakout season that has been expected of him since his rookie year with the Sox. Rios and Dunn have been much better this season than last year and both of them will look to continue their hot streaks.

One of the most surprising stories of the year is that Alejandro De Aza is one of the top offensive producers on the team. He is second to only Konerko in WARP, which is essentially the way to measure a player's worth to his team. He has a good average and has been adequate in the lead-off role.

The White Sox offense is not very good, but there are some bright spots. If the little offensive pieces can all come together to form a pretty puzzle the White Sox can be a successful team and win this game and series. The key to beating the Twins and having the possibility to win the division is offense. The White Sox can have that offense if each player produces the best that they can. The true test will be to see if the White Sox offense can actually do that.

Series Preview. White Sox vs. Twins

The White Sox and the Twins are the two hottest teams in the AL Central right now. Both teams are 6-4 in their last ten. The White Sox are coming off a big sweep of the Cubs and the Twins just took 2 out of 3 from the Brewers. Interleague is over and both teams are ready to face division opponents to try to gain some ground in the Central. Paul Konerko is hoping to be back for the first and all three of the games against the Twins. He missed the final two games of the series against the Cubs after being hit in the head during the first game. If he is back, that will be a huge difference-maker for the White Sox. Konerko leads the team in almost every offensive statistic. The Twins have a very productive offense and will be a tough test for the White Sox pitching staff.

Game 1
Gavin Floyd (3-4, 3.44 ERA) vs. P.J Walters (1-1, 3.65 ERA)

This should be an interesting matchup. Floyd has been better this year than he was last year, but still has the potential to be better. If he has a good start, the Sox have a good shot at winning, but if his start is lousy, the Sox will probably lose. Walters hasn't been too impressive this year and if Konerko is back, the White Sox offense could get sparked and score some runs to help the Sox get a win.

I think the winner of this game will probably end of winning the series because of the momentum that this game will give. Neither team has a huge advantage in this game and neither pitcher is a dominate pitcher that you can count on to win games. Whichever offense shows up and scores runs in the first game will get momentum and keep playing well during the rest of the series.

Game 2
Chris Sale (4-2, 2.91 ERA) vs. Scott Diamond (3-0, 1.40 ERA)

Both Chris Sale and Scott Diamond have had good seasons so far on the mound. Diamond has not recorded a loss yet and Sale has been dominant in many of his starts. This game will likely be low scoring and will go to the team that plays the smartest game and takes advantage of every chance to score runs.

The White Sox are not very good at taking advantage of chances to score runs, so the the Twins will probably win this game. If the Sox can somehow get at Diamond early in the game, they could win by giving Sale a lead and confidence and having the confidence at the plate that hitting this guy won't be very hard. This will be an interesting game to watch.

Game 3
Philip Humber (1-2, 5.31 ERA) vs. Carl Pavano (2-3, 4.91 ERA)

Both Humber and Pavano have good reputations as pitchers, but neither pitcher has impressive stats so far this year. This game could either be an offensive battle or a pitchers duel depending on how each pitcher performs.

If this game comes down to being an offensive battle, I think the White Sox will probably lose. The Twins have a better offense than the White Sox have and are better at taking advantage of every opportunity to score runs as I mentioned previously. If the White Sox can get better at being smart offensive players and hitting when it's most needed, they will win more games like this and more games in general.

White Sox Sweep Cubs, Clinch Crosstown Cup

The White Sox clinched the BP Crosstown Cup with a game 3 win over the Cubs to complete the sweep. The White Sox won the first game 3-2. The highlight of that game was centered around Paul Konerko. One highlight was him hitting a two run shot that gave the White Sox their first lead. The second highlight isn't so high for the White Sox. Konerko was hit by a pitch to the face and sat out both of the final two games of the series.

The White Sox won the second game of the series 7-4. They lead the entire game and at one point led 7-0 until they have up 4 runs from two different 2 run shots in the bottom of the ninth. Viciedo, Pierzynski, and Dunn all recorder home runs in this game. Danks improved his record to 3-4 on the season after getting the win during this game.

The final game of the series is when the White Sox finally achieved the shutout. They beat the Cubs 6-0. Beckham and Dunn both got their second home runs of the series. Jake Peavy got an RBI in this game on a fielders choice that scored Flowers who led off the inning with a double. Other players who got an RBI are Flowers and Rios. Both Beckham and Flowers had a great game. Peavy was brilliant and helped the White Sox complete the sweep in Wrigley Field for the first time since 1999.

The craziest thing about this series is that fans care about the Crosstown Cup. Maybe I'm wrong and nobody cares, but I'm sure there's a Sox fan out there that's jeering a Cubs fan for losing the Crosstown Cup. The trophy is the most pointless trophy in all of sports. It's a way for advertisement to be taken into the game of baseball. Some fans look forward to when the Sox and Cubs face off, but it's probably my least favorite time of the year. I never did and never will understand why Cubs and Sox fans don't like each other. I have no problem with Cubs fans because I understand what it's like to be a kid in Chicago. You hit that age that you have to decide whether you're a Cubs fan or a White Sox fan. Once you make that decision, it's who you are forever. That's the thing about Chicagoans, they're loyal. Once the decision is made between Cubs and White Sox, the person sticks with it through thick and thin for the rest of their life. So why can't the fans get along and share in each others misery and rejoice when fans stay true to their team?

The Crosstown Cup is a nice idea, but it makes this series into an advertisement. Both the White Sox and the Cubs are not the greatest teams. The White Sox are lucky to be in 2nd place like they are, and the Cubs are already pretty far behind in last place of the central division. Who wins or loses this series doesn't make a big difference towards either team's season, so why argue over something that's so dumb? Chicago fans should know better.

Congratulations to the White Sox for winning the cup, but they should know that winning that doesn't mean anything for their season. It was a great series and a good three wins for the White Sox, but they need to be ready to move on and get ready for the next two series which will be very important as they are facing two division rivals at home.