John Danks Injury and What It Means for Sox

It was recently announced that what was believed to be just soreness in the shoulder was more than that. First it was declared as a grade 1 tear that would not require surgery. But most recently they are saying that it is not a tear, but only a strain. Danks will undergo rehab for the injury and will not be back very soon for the White Sox. So what does that mean for the White Sox and their pitching staff?

The White Sox already recently called up Dylan Axelrod and will probably send Zack Stewart down after a terrible start against the Cubs. Axelrod will be mainly the long reliever, but don't rule him out to get a start at some point. I personally think that Axelrod is much better than Zack Stewart, but my grandma is probably better than Stewart.

So that problem is solved, but no Danks leaves the rotation a little bare. Peavy and Sale have both been pitching great and will hopefully continue to do that. Quintana has been pitching well, but nobody knows how long that's going to last because he hasn't exactly been perfect. He's just been good enough. Floyd and Humber have both been struggling and neither will get taken out of the rotation like some have speculated about because Danks will be gone for so long. The White Sox rotation isn't going to be good is what I'm saying.

Without Danks, I think the White Sox will struggle. Being in first place probably won't last long unless the offense starts to play really well and it doesn't look like that will happen. Winning the division isn't out of the question, but a winning streak like earlier in the season won't happen again. They will have to fight to win every game and will have to play well against division opponents if they want a shot. If they can't do that, they are toast.

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.