White Sox Off to a Great Start

With all the attention going to the Chicago Cubs’ hot start to the 2016 season, that other Chicago team, the White Sox, has quietly gotten out of the gate quickly as well. The White Sox beat Texas 4-1 on April 24th, sweeping a three game set from the Rangers and improving 10 13-6 on the year. The White Sox have a half game lead in the A.L. Central over the Kansas City Royals.

The White Sox hitters have gotten off to a slow start, and Chicago is hitting just .227 as a team, which strikes fear into the hearts of no one. The pitching has been quite another story. Chris Sale is 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA, which is excellent but perhaps not unexpected for him. Mat Latos, however, has surprised us; he is also 4-0 and has a 0.74 ERA. Last season with the Marlins, Angels, and Dodgers, Latos was a collective 4-10 with a 4.95 ERA. He was signed as a free agent off the junk heap by Chicago in the off season. Jose Quintana is 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA and closer David Robinson has converted 7 of 8 save opportunities and allowed just one earned run in 8 1/3 innings pitched.

The White Sox hitting should improve as the season progresses and the pitchers can’t maintain this type of performance over the long season, but the White Sox should be competitive especially if the Royals can’t quite keep up their paced of the last two years. At least they won’t be completely forgotten if the eyes of the baseball world are focused on the Cubs.