Winning nine of the last 12 games would make most teams content. But the White Sox have dug themselves a big hole to try to find whether they belong in any playoff discussion.
The pitching has carried the team. The off-season additions have muddled expectations.
The 2015 season finds itself in the cross hairs of this weekend's 2005 championship reunion celebrations. Will the old team inspire this current club? One could hope.
If the White Sox are going to move out of the cellar and be relevant, the team needs to play well against Kansas City, who start the second half of the season with a four game home set at the Cell. The White Sox need to win at least 3 of 4. It would be best to sweep the day/night doubleheader today. Jeff Samardzija pitches the opener, and Jon Danks is scheduled to pitch the night cap.
The Danks decision to start the night cap is puzzling. It has been reported that the Sox will call up fireballer Frankie Montas, who is 2-1 with a 2.47 ERA in 15 starts this season at Double-A
Birmingham. Montas earned a spot on the Southern League All-Star team last
month and also was awarded a spot in the Futures Game for a second
straight year, though he was unable to play in 2014 because of an
injury. Most thought he would be called up as the 26th man under the doubleheader rules.
Today, rumors are spreading that All-Star Chris Sale may be hurt. Why else would not Sale pitch in the Royals series? Carlos Quintana and TBD are listed in the papers as the next pitchers in the series. Considering the White Sox and Robin Ventura lobbied All-Star manager Ed Yost NOT to use Sale in the All-Star game, was there an unreported issue with Sale after his last start? Sale was pretty dominate in the Cubs series last Saturday, so basically he would have had a full week of rest and still be able to pitch the critical KC series.
The White Sox could be overly cautious with Sale since he is one of the best pitchers in the game. But at the same time, this Kansas City series is make or break time. If the White Sox split or lose the series to the Royals, then the "for sale" sign will be out next week.
Sale has tried to take this team on his back and lead them to being a good team. The early season bad defense and lack of offense doomed the team. Perhaps management is trying to send a message to the rest of the team that they have to learn to win without Sale as a stopper. The only other explanation is that the White Sox are in trade talks involving Sale and want to hold him out of action to avoid an injury or nix a deal. But trading an ace like Sale with a team friendly contract would be worse than the White Flag trade.
