Ok,quit chuckling. I know I am late with this,but I was in mourning over the Bulls first round flameout for a couple of weeks....but now that the Chicago Basketball season is truly over,it is time to turn my full attention to the best baseball team in town..(ok, admittedly tallest midget), the Chicago White Sox.
Here on May 21,the Sox sit at 21-21,second place,2.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians. The division favorite Tigers are .5 games behind the Sox. KC and Twins languish further back.
So, at the quarter pole mark of the season, the Tigers have underachieved,the Tribe are playing better than expected and the Sox are a bit better than expected.
As usual,the Sox offense has been miserable the first 30 games of the year,but solid starting pitching and an ok bullpen has kept them afloat. The last week or so,the Sox offense has shown signs of life beyond star Paul Konerko and the resurgent slugger Adam Dunn.
Young Cuban strongman,appropriately nicknamed ''Tank'' Viciedo, is on a tear during that last week or so. He has 4 homers in his last 7 games,with some good RBI numbers as well...hitting like .480 over that stretch.
Gordon Beckham had two big homers vs the Cubs this weekend,one a gamewinner in the 8th inning of a 3-2 victory on Friday. He had a horrible April,but has been hitting better in May at a modest .260 with 4 homers and 11 rbis in his last 20 games. But has a great glove at second base which keeps him in that lineup everyday.
Dunn,Konerko,Pierzynski and leadoff man DeAza have been the most consistent hitters all season,and with Beckham,Tank, and Rios chipping in...the Sox might have just enough offense to get by.
Starting pitching has been solid,with Chris Sale,Jake Peavy,Gavin Floyd and Humber pretty decent,altho John Danks has struggled. Danks,Humber and Peavy were good this weekend,tho,so maybe it will get even better.
Bullpen has been erratic,with some major blown leads(at least 3-4) that have kept the Sox from actually being in first place.
But, they have 4 rookies out there,so I guess that is to be expected.
In Nate Jones,Addison Reed,Hector Santiago,and Zach Steward,they have some power arms that seem to be coming on strong. Thornton,the highest paid veteran out there,has not been consistent,and Jesse Crain,the best righty out there, has missed almost a month with a pulled ab muscle which really killed the Sox...he is now back.
Overall, the Sox are in decent position to make some noise.
This week they get the Twins and Tribe at home,which makes it a big week. They could be in first place by the end of the week or be back in the pack again,depending on how they go vs these divisional rivals.
Sox have played very poorly at home the last two seasons..which is weird. Now is the time to turn that around.
Sox were picked for 4th behind the Tigers,Tribe,Royals...so if they can actually challenge into september...good showing. Long way to go,and they are fragile,but hope springs eternal,right? Go Sox!
Here on May 21,the Sox sit at 21-21,second place,2.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians. The division favorite Tigers are .5 games behind the Sox. KC and Twins languish further back.
So, at the quarter pole mark of the season, the Tigers have underachieved,the Tribe are playing better than expected and the Sox are a bit better than expected.
As usual,the Sox offense has been miserable the first 30 games of the year,but solid starting pitching and an ok bullpen has kept them afloat. The last week or so,the Sox offense has shown signs of life beyond star Paul Konerko and the resurgent slugger Adam Dunn.
Young Cuban strongman,appropriately nicknamed ''Tank'' Viciedo, is on a tear during that last week or so. He has 4 homers in his last 7 games,with some good RBI numbers as well...hitting like .480 over that stretch.
Gordon Beckham had two big homers vs the Cubs this weekend,one a gamewinner in the 8th inning of a 3-2 victory on Friday. He had a horrible April,but has been hitting better in May at a modest .260 with 4 homers and 11 rbis in his last 20 games. But has a great glove at second base which keeps him in that lineup everyday.
Dunn,Konerko,Pierzynski and leadoff man DeAza have been the most consistent hitters all season,and with Beckham,Tank, and Rios chipping in...the Sox might have just enough offense to get by.
Starting pitching has been solid,with Chris Sale,Jake Peavy,Gavin Floyd and Humber pretty decent,altho John Danks has struggled. Danks,Humber and Peavy were good this weekend,tho,so maybe it will get even better.
Bullpen has been erratic,with some major blown leads(at least 3-4) that have kept the Sox from actually being in first place.
But, they have 4 rookies out there,so I guess that is to be expected.
In Nate Jones,Addison Reed,Hector Santiago,and Zach Steward,they have some power arms that seem to be coming on strong. Thornton,the highest paid veteran out there,has not been consistent,and Jesse Crain,the best righty out there, has missed almost a month with a pulled ab muscle which really killed the Sox...he is now back.
Overall, the Sox are in decent position to make some noise.
This week they get the Twins and Tribe at home,which makes it a big week. They could be in first place by the end of the week or be back in the pack again,depending on how they go vs these divisional rivals.
Sox have played very poorly at home the last two seasons..which is weird. Now is the time to turn that around.
Sox were picked for 4th behind the Tigers,Tribe,Royals...so if they can actually challenge into september...good showing. Long way to go,and they are fragile,but hope springs eternal,right? Go Sox!
