The Chicago White Sox are off to a rocky start. It has left a lot of doubt that this team is capable of winning the World Series.
White Sox All-Star Tim Anderson believes no one should give up on the preseason favorites to repeat as AL Central Division champions.
The Chicago White Sox are two games under .500 and looking up at the Minnesota Twins and the Cleveland Guardians in the standings.
They have a brutal June schedule to navigate and the Sox will have to do it without Anderson. Anderson is currently on the IL with a groin strain.
The former AL batting champ still believes the Chicago White Sox are contenders when he spoke with local radio sports talk show host Laurence Holmes on 670 the Score.
Tim Anderson said of the White Sox: “I know what my guys can do when everybody is healthy. It’s a long season. If we can just get our head above water, get to that finish line and hopefully hit another gear and just keep working, we got a shot.”
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) June 6, 2022
TA can be optimistic but some things have to change offensively real quick.
The Chicago White Sox offense has been in an early-season slump. The Sox are currently hitting .240 as a team which puts them at 17th in the Majors.
The Sox are in the bottom five in on-base percentage and OPS. They are also dead last in walks and in the bottom ten in slugging percentage.
The Sox have a -56 run differential which puts them in the league’s bottom ten.
The Chicago White Sox need to get back to taking pitches and drawing walks as one way to turn the offense around. The Sox currently have eight players who have played 15 or more games with an on-base percentage under .300.
The poster boy for the on-base percentage dip is Yasmani Grandal. The Sox catcher spent most of last season batting under .200 but still maintained a high on-base percentage. He finished 2021 with a .420 on-base percentage but is at .274 this season-and batting well under .200.
Grandal needs to get back to his patient approach at the plate or he needs to go on the IL to address whatever is hampering him.
The Sox need to get back towards getting baserunners on and putting pressure on opposing pitchers. The White Sox also need to get those runners home.
The Sox have scored five or more runs only 13 times this season. They are averaging a paltry 3.65 runs per game. The Chicago White Sox have been banged up. Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Andrew Vaughn, Yoan Moncada, and Anderson all have missed time at some point. Still, that is no excuse for the poor run production.
A couple of other ways the Chicago White Sox can stay afloat in the short term.
The Chicago White Sox can start by riding the hot bats of Danny Mendick and Jake Burger.
Mendick is 7-for-17 over the last seven days. He is not going to maintain that production all season. If he can be productive at the plate until Anderson gets back, that will help the Sox offense tread water.
Burger has nine hits, with three doubles, and a home run over his last ten games. Moncada looks like he is still battling nagging injuries. He gets credit for battling but with his struggles at the plate, Moncada needs another IL stint.
Burger has proved he can hold down the fort temporarily at third. The White Sox need to keep Vaughn batting at the top of the order as he has been the Sox most consistent bat outside of Anderson.
The Sox still need to pull the plug on the Josh Harrison experiment and send Gavin Sheets down to Triple-A. There are a few other moves to be made before the trade deadline to solidify the Sox October chances. Those three short term fixes could help the offense for a couple weeks.
Anderson might be right about the Sox being able to keep their heads above water until Jimenez, Lance Lynn, and TA returns.
Jose Abreu is starting to swing a better bat which is a welcomed boost. If Grandal can fix himself at the plate or heal himself on the IL, the Sox lineup might be able to stop taking on water and start treading it until the trade deadline.
