With a loss to the Twins on Sunday, the losing streak is extended to 7 games. This is not the start that anyone had forecasted. Injuries, bad luck, and poor play from Leury Garcia have all been themes throughout the year for the White Sox–some more urgent than others. So, is this fixable? What can the White Sox do to turn the ship around?
What’s Happening With The Sox?
First of all, we need to isolate the problem. The main problem for the White Sox has been their injury luck. I have a whole series of articles on this, but essentially the White Sox have been plagued by injuries all year. Eloy Jimenez got injured against the Twins on Sunday, AJ Pollock got hurt for a good chunk of time, and the White Sox were forced to sign Johnny Cueto to compensate for their horrendous injury luck.
If the Sox are healthy, they are undoubtedly the best team in the American League Central. However, they have not been healthy. This, in my opinion, is the big reason for their slump.
Beyond injuries, the White Sox’s batting has been terrible. They have not scored more than 4 runs in a game since April 14. But their hitting is not completely to blame as their pitching staff has done terribly as well. Maybe it’s the fact that they have Dallas Keuchel, Jimmy Lambert, and Vince Velasquez in the rotation together. Dylan Cease is really good and Lucas Giolito is back, but beyond that their pitching staff is atrocious.
Conclusion
Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong for the White Sox. It’s a total crap show. But, can they turn it around?
The answer to this question is undoubtedly yes. They certainly have the talent. Lance Lynn will come back in about a month, Yoan Moncada should be back in a few days, and their talent will overcome their shortcomings.
I still have the White Sox winning the AL Central, and it won’t be particularly close.
Image Credit: @WhiteSox Twitter
