Forty games into the MLB season, the Chicago White Sox are giving fans hope.
The American League is wide open, with just four teams owning winning records. Despite sitting two games under .500, the White Sox 19-21 record has them just one game out of first place in the American League Central and holding the final American League Wild Card spot.
This comes as the AL Central favorite, the Detroit Tigers, are going to be without their ace, Tarik Skubal, for several weeks, leaving the door ajar for the White Sox. While playoff aspirations remain a long shot, the White Sox pitching staff has kept them in the mix.
The White Sox starting rotation has been the backbone of their early-season success, posting a 3.97 ERA that ranks 10th in the MLB. The rotation has been led by Davis Martin, whose 1.62 ERA is the second-best mark in the majors.
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The bullpen has also delivered consistent production behind him. Bryan Hudson (0.95 ERA), Grant Taylor (2.29), Sean Newcomb (3.18), and Seranthony Domínguez (3.45) have all kept their ERAs under 4.00, with Domínguez tied for seventh in the MLB in saves.
How long that is going to be sustainable is yet to be seen, but the early results, paired with a top-ten scoring offense, have given the White Sox multiple ways to win games.
But oddly enough, the White Sox pitching staff seems to perform better without run support.
In the 14 games, the offense has scored between 3 and 5 runs the pitching staff owns a 2.92 ERA. In the 14 games, the offense put up six-plus runs the team ERA increased to 4.13.
Despite posting a 5.21 ERA in the 12 games when the offense has scored two runs or fewer, the pitching staff is still averaging its highest strikeouts per nine innings and is allowing its fewest home runs. That 5.21 mark is also skewed by Shane Smith’s early-season struggles before his move to Triple-A Charlotte, when the right-hander allowed 10 earned runs across his first two starts and forced the bullpen to cover 11.1 innings.
That statistical anomaly was on full display over the weekend against a Seattle Mariners team that many had as a World Series contender entering the season. The White Sox scored eight runs on Friday, tied for their third-highest output in a game this season. But despite racking up ten hits, the White Sox found themselves on the wrong end of an 11-8 loss to the Mariners.
The eight-run outburst matched the team’s combined total from the final two games of the series, which included one of Chicago’s signature wins so far this season, a 2-1, come-from-behind victory Sunday. It was the kind of game the White Sox would have likely lost a year ago. The offense managed just five hits and went scoreless through seven innings, but the pitching kept them alive.
Davis Martin delivered again, tossing six innings of one-run ball, while Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson held the Mariners in check to give Chicago a chance entering the bottom of the eighth.
The offense finally broke through with a mix of power and small-ball. Newly acquired Randal Grichuk delivered a game-tying home run, and Drew Romo followed with a double to put the go-ahead run in scoring position.
Sam Antonacci then dropped down a key sacrifice bunt to move Romo 90 feet away, setting up a Miguel Vargas sacrifice fly. Despite the ball traveling less than 250 feet into shallow left field, third base coach Justin Jirchele opted to test the arm of Mariners left fielder Randy Arozarena. Arozarena rewarded the White Sox aggressive baserunning by air-mailing the throw home, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Seranthony Domínguez wiggled out of a ninth-inning jam to secure his ninth save and a 2-1 White Sox victory.
