The White Sox are in what may very possibly be the weakest division in the MLB. The Cleveland Indians have not impressed in many ways, yet somehow are 18-14 and in first place by a couple of games. The Tigers are not living up to the hype that everybody besides myself expected them to have, so the White Sox find themselves 1 game under .500 but only 2.5 games out of first place. So with a decent portion of the season knocked off, I’ve got three reasons why the White Sox can contend in and possibly win the AL Central.
The best ball park in Chicago
1. The Comeback Kids
I’ve talked about them a lot of GSB!, the likes of Adam Dunn, Jake Peavy, and Alex Rios, of course. These former All Stars all struggled to help their team win last year, but they each have been given the opportunity to turn that around this season for the White Sox and serve as huge acquisitions, of sort.
And so far, each of them is doing just that. Peavy, who has a 4-1 record and a 1.89 ERA here in the early goings has been as good as anyone in the league, similar to the guy they acquired from San Diego a few years back. Alex Rios is staying on the ball and hitting it the other way, as he’s got a .284 batting average. And last but certainly not least is Adam Dunn. The big donkey has matched his home run total from 2011 with 11. But most impressively, he’s got a .401 on base percentage and has been hitting around .300 against RHP.
If numbers anywhere in the same league as those can continue throughout the better part of the regular season, the White Sox will be tough to beat on a consistent basis.
Peavy seems to have stopped looking back after his solid start to 2012
2. The Rotation
The White Sox rotation is as good as any in the MLB, with the exception of the Washington Nationals to this point. With Chris Sale making his first start since being mysteriously moved to the bullpen last week, the rotation seems to have taken form yet again. It’s led by Peavy and Sale, who have both been superb. Then you’ve got Gavin Floyd and John Danks, the veterans of this rotation, if you will. Floyd has been phenomenal to this point, and Danks previous start is hopefully the start of the reliable Danks that we all know coming back into form. And with Phil Humber facing some recent struggles, I’d still label him as a top of the line number 5 guy.
We all know that in today’s day and age the bullpen is as important as anything, and if the closer role can take shape here in the next couple of weeks or so, then the White Sox pitching staff will be as complete as any, headlined by their impressive rotation.
Floyd has been fierce so far, compiling a 2.53 ERA with a 0.95 WHIP
3. Weak Competition
As previously alluded to, the AL Central is, well, pretty darn bad. I’ve gone on record many times saying that if Detroit wins the division, it won’t be because they dominate and run away with it, but because they fall in to it. It’s a team that’s extraordinarily top-heavy, with talent and performance severely falling off after Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Justin Verlander.
And the Indians are not a playoff team, in my opinion. They don’t have much pitching, especially with ace Justin Masterson struggling so far this year. You can’t rely on the likes of Ubaldo Jimenez to go along with youngsters Josh Tomlin and Jeanmar Gomez to carry you to the playoffs. Yeah, Derek Lowe has been a good acquisition, but that’s not someone who I think can match up with Verlander, Peavy, Sale, and other American League aces.
Ubaldo Jimenez has a 5.18 ERA so far this season
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Hopefully these few things that the White Sox have going for them can encourage all of you to stay supportive of the Sox throughout the season. But there are some things that are working against them, and I’ll get to those in my next post on GSB!, “Reasons Why the White Sox Won’t Contend in the AL Central,” so stay tuned for that!