Catching up on the White Sox - A Two Month Review (This movie gets no stars)

by Michael Many

I’m a White Sox fan. Or at least right now, I’m a Blackhawks fan who supports the baseball club known as the Chicago White Sox. Because I am a White Sox fan, and because this team was relatively unchanged from a 2012 campaign that saw them go 85-77, I thought that a few additions, the improvement of a few young players, and a bit of luck would result in a similar season as 2012. Here’s what I wrote in my preview back before the season started:

“There are a lot of things that need to go well for the Sox to compete, and the very real possibility that things go all Walter White and break bad. The key pieces for the Sox are pretty straightforward. Keep Sale, Peavy, and Floyd healthy, and receive some starting pitching support from any combination of Q, Santiago, Axel Rose, and Johnny Danks. Get Adam Dunn a bit higher over the Mendoza Line. Keep the Tank moving forward as he blows through enemy lines (pitching staffs).[…] I think this will be a solid White Sox team, and with the veteran leadership in the clubhouse and Robin at the helm, they will compete every day.”

After the Sox lost their 8^th game in a row yesterday, dropping from 24-24 to 24-32 over that span, I realized that I was kind of right and kind of wrong in my prediction. Unfortunately, I was kind of right about the fact that there are a lot of things that need to go well, and I was kind of right that things could break bad. And I was kind of wrong that they would compete every day. So let’s see what’s caused this team to go from quietly hopeful in April to utterly unwatchable in June.

April Cubs Recap

April was not a great month for either team in the city of Chicago, but for the Cubs it was kind of expected. This team is still a couple years away from contention and just kind of riding out “growing pains”. I’ll give my quick recap of each part of the team

Infield: Rizzo actually has good power numbers, but his average was around the .200 mark. He will be fine and those bullshit comments about sending him down are just that, bullshit. He should be in peak form when this team actually contends around 2015. Barney started hurt and Lillibridge was a complete disgrace to baseball. Welcome back, Sir Darwin - now please start hitting the ball. (He just got knighted for that Gold Glove. First ever half-Polish, half-Asian. Or whatever he is.) Castro is Castro. He will be around .300 and an All-Star with 3 walks all season. I ran into hitting coach James Rowson at the Pony on Saturday and he assures me that he will be a superstar. Third base has been better than I expected with Valbuena actually contributing and Ransom could be OK I guess (Editor's note: He's 37!). Stewart is dead to me. Welington Castillo is a bright spot hitting for a great average and Navarro has been pretty clutch or as clutch as you can be on a team like this.

Outfield: Soriano had like 3 RBI for the month of April. I still like him and think he is good to teach the youngsters how to play the game. DeJesus is having a better start to the year than last year and his wife is smoking hot so he can stay as a future fourth outfielder for as long as he wants. Sappelt is a great story but he doesn’t bring much to the squad as a platoon guy against lefties. Schierholtz is a great surprise and I hope he sticks around longer than just this year. Scott Hairston is OK as a platoon guy as well. I really like the pickup of Borbon. I think he is the perfect fifth outfielder on a contending team. Good defense and great speed. He could come in handy like David Roberts did for the BoSox. This team will struggle to score a lot of runs consistently.

Starting Rotation: Samardzija has proved me wrong and established himself as a potential ace. I look forward to watching him in a cubs uni for years to come. I love how competitive he is. Edwin Jackson had a real rough April. Let’s just say they signed him to eat innings and be a solid 3 when they are good. Travis Wood is not “hot garbage” like Many said and could be potentially be a great lefty to have as your 4 starter in the future. Villanueva has an unbelievable moustache that my dad envies and has pitched the best ball of his career. He's signed for two years but may be moved at the deadline anyway. Feldman has been serviceable and will most likely be dealt if anything in value can be had. Garza needs to get healthy to bring his trade value up and should take the mound in a couple weeks. I have given up on Scott Baker for the season. The strength of team, at least until people get traded.

Bullpen: This is around a .500 team in April with a serviceable bullpen. I’m not joking either. I know they didn’t tear it up offensively, but if they could finish games they would have had around 5 more wins. The only bright spots I see are James Russell and Rondon. I like Rondon as a potential decent set-up guy in the future. Kevin Gregg is back. KEVIN GREGG IS BACK. Bowden blew chunks all over the field in Cincy by giving up a three run extra inning lead so even though he's been OK that’s all I will think of. Marmol will ride out this season into Cubs oblivion. They won’t get anything for him in a trade. Shawn Camp blows and just proves that last year was a fluke. At least he eats up innings I guess. Kameron Loe? Yeah, OK. Fujikawa is injured so at least he got that opening day save. He should still be OK. I know that Atwood is upset but the Takahashi experiment failed. The bullpen is the Achilles heel of this team. Just hope they somehow invest in strengthening it this off-season

In conclusion: Being a Cubs fan = another long summer of waiting. Have fun cheering for Rizzo, Castro and Shark. I personally am hoping I run into Kim DeJesus at a game, too