Ladies and Gentlemen, baseball games that actually matter are just around the corner. Soon we will be able to head to Guaranteed Rate Field and cheer on our South Siders as they look to shock the MLB while further developing their young talent. Before every season, regardless of the sport, everyone shares their bold predictions of what the future might hold. So without further ado, here are my bold predictions for the 2018 White Sox.

Four Players Named All-Stars

Last season, the only All-Star the White Sox had was Avi Garcia. This year, he will be voted in again, along with teammates Jose Abreu, Lucas Giolito, and Yoan Moncada.

Avi Garcia seemed to finally turn things around last season as he finished second in the A.L. in batting average behind Jose Altuve. Early signs point to him batting second in front of Jose Abreu, who will offer much needed protection, forcing pitchers to give him good pitches to swing at. While he probably won’t bat in the .330’s again, he is a good bet to hit around .290 and has the power and speed to leg out 20+ doubles, 20+ home runs, and 80+ RBI’s.

Jose Abreu had arguably his best season last summer as he slashed .304/.354/.552 after a slow start to the year. This year he comes out of the gates hard and the league takes notice, consequentially giving him an All-Star birth.

Last season Lucas Giolito wowed audiences in a short yet impressive call up. He has been lighting it up in Spring Training and can throw any of his six pitches (4-seam fastball, 2-seam fastball, curveball, slider, 4-seam circle change, 2-seam circle change) for strikes. While James Shields got the nod for the Opening Day start, Giolito is the most talented pitcher on the staff aside from a healthy Carlos Rodon. His fastball velocity seems to be up from last year, and the confidence in his voice is clear to anyone who has listened to him speak to the media this spring. The first full year of Giolito in a White Sox uniform will be a memorable one.

Yoan Moncada’s season last year was frowned upon by some who maybe had a bit too high of expectations for him. He only hit .231 but only played in 51 games. He recently openly stated that he is most comfortable in the leadoff spot, and it looks like he will play that role in 2018. Here he will get more at-bats, see more pitches, and kick start the offense. People seem to forget that he was the no. 1 prospect in all of baseball a year ago. He has all the physical tools to succeed and the plate coverage you want in a leadoff hitter. I expect a .275 average with 20+ doubles, 20+ home runs, and 30+ steals. If he is on pace for these numbers at the All-Star break, he should receive the honor.

Tim Anderson Bounces Back

No one had a tougher 2017 than Tim Anderson. Playing in his first full season in Chicago, expectations were pretty high. Then his best friend was murdered and he spiraled out of control. Fast forward a year and Tim seems to be in a much better place. While he probably won’t put up All-Star type numbers, he should at the very least resemble the year he had as a rookie where he slashed .283/.306/.432 in 99 games. Most importantly, he needs to cut down on his errors at shortstop. If he does, he will be a very solid player for the White Sox. In a horrid year at the plate, he still managed to hit 17 home runs and steal 15 bases. If he improves like I think he will, a 20/20 season should not only be expected, but it should be the norm.

Adam Engel Hits .250

White Sox fans have a love/hate relationship with Adam Engel. While he is incredible in center, he was abysmal at the plate last season as evidenced by his .166/.235/.282 slash line. He vowed to fix his swing this off-season and he has added a noticeable leg kick that so far seems to be helping. In Spring Training, he is hitting .364/.429/.682. Now he obviously won’t touch these numbers when the regular season starts, but if he can come into the 9-hole and hit anywhere around .250, it would be a huge boost to the offense. Add in his regular jaw-dropping plays in center and Engel has a chance to really turn things around in 2018.

Matt Davidson Leads The Team In Home Runs

If there is one player that desperately needs the season to start this very moment, it is Matt Davidson. The man has been on absolute fire so far this spring, batting .358/.433/.679. When it comes to raw power, he probably has more than Jose Abreu, although Abreu is the much better all around hitter. Davidson said his main goal this season it to make more contact and walk more. So far he has done just that in spring, walking in 12.5% of his plate appearances and striking out 21.4%. For comparison, last season he walked 4.3% and struck out a whopping 37.2%. If he makes solid contact, the ball is going to travel a long way. So far all signs point to him having a summer where he provides a lot of fireworks.

White Sox Take Advantage Of Hot Avi, Trade Him At The Deadline

While I earlier predicted that Avi will make another All-Star game, I am also predicting that Rick Hahn takes advantage of his highest ever trade value. The package will be a very solid return as whatever team that trades for him will receive an All-Star in the prime of his career. But the biggest reason why White Sox fans will love this move is because it will free up a spot for Eloy Jimenez. Similar to last year’s Todd Frazier trade allowing Moncada to come up, an Avi trade will allow Eloy to come up. Whether he will play in right field remains to be seen. Renteria can shuffle Delmonico around to put Eloy in left, but the main focus here will be getting Eloy at-bats at the Major League level.

Michael Kopech Comes Up Mid-June, Wins A.L. Rookie Of The Year

Make no mistake about it, Michael Kopech is ready for the MLB. He knows it, I know it, you hopefully know it too. While he still needs some development, I think it needs to be done at the Major League level. That being said, Kopech will start the year in Charlotte where he can fine tune his fastball command and changeup. I think if he dominates the minors like he did last year, he will come up as soon as the White Sox gain an extra year of team control, similar to what the Cubs did with Kris Bryant. Once he comes to Chicago, there will be a bit of a learning curve, but his pure stuff will be good enough to win games. Coming up in June should give him enough time to gain enough votes for A.L. ROY, ensuring that the future on the South Side is as bright as people claim.

Final Word

Predictions are always fun to make in sports, especially those of the “bold” variety. Hell, if half of these come true, consider me an ecstatic fan. Phase 2 of the rebuild is officially underway, and it just might be the most exciting one of them all.

Earlier today we looked at the probable 2018 White Sox rotation. Now we shift our focus to the lineup. The 2018 White Sox lineup will feature pretty much the exact same players from 2017 plus the addition of catcher Welington Castillo, although the order of those players figures to be a little different. In my opinion, the Opening Day starting lineup will look something like this:

1. Yoan Moncada-2B

2. Avisail Garcia-RF

3. Jose Abreu-1B

4. Matt Davidson-DH

5. Nicky Delmonico-LF

6. Welington Castillo-C

7. Tim Anderson-SS

8. Yolmer Sanchez-3B

9. Adam Engel-CF

The Reasoning Behind The Lineup

Yoan Moncada has openly stated that he feels most comfortable out of the lead-off spot. He will see more pitches and get more at-bats, which will lead to him getting on base at a higher clip where he can use his speed to punish defenses and get into scoring position for…

Avi Garcia. He was a man on a mission last season posting career highs in essentially every offensive category. Skeptics will say it was a fluke year, but even if he doesn’t hit in the .330’s, he can definitely hit in the .290’s. His contact rate plus his mix of power and speed make him an ideal no. 2 hitter in any lineup.

Jose Abreu is going to be Jose Abreu. You can essentially plug him in for his 100+ RBI’s and 30+ home runs. And if the first two guys in the order can get on base for him, then the White Sox should be scoring early and often.

Matt Davidson comes with some huge swing and miss concerns, but if you like to go off of spring training numbers, then you are in luck. Davidson has cut down on his strikeout numbers by more than 10 percent so far in spring. He has stated that his main goal is to draw more walks and hit for more contact. He has enough raw power to where he could lead the team in home runs. Last season he had 26 in 118 games played. He missed a big chunk of time with a wrist injury, so if he can stay healthy, look for those home run numbers to spike into the 30-35 range.

Nicky Delmonico burst onto the scene last season, getting on base almost at will. He ended the year with a .373 OBP. That should drop a bit once pitchers adjust to him, but then he will have the opportunity to adjust right back. That’s all baseball is in a nutshell. A game of adjustments. If he can still hit .260 and get on base at a .350 clip, that’s good enough for me from the 5-hole. Honestly, you can pretty much flip Delmonico and Castillo in the 5/6 spots in this lineup. I have Delmonico here because of his lefty bat behind Avi and Abreu, who are right-handed batters. (Moncada is a switch-hitter).

Welington Castillo was the main addition the White Sox brought in this off-season. Not only did he set new career highs in home runs (20) and runs scored (44), he also threw out a league-leading 44 percent of would-be-basestealers, all while playing only 96 games. His veteran presence behind the plate will also help the younger White Sox pitchers.

Tim Anderson will look to bounce back from a forgetful 2017. So far his head seems to be in the right place and there should be much less pressure on him batting 7th as opposed to 1st or 2nd. Fans will just have to accept his aggressive approach and the fact that he will never be a big on-base guy. Once he gets on he has the speed to swipe bags, go 1st to 3rd on shallow hits, and pick up some easy doubles. He has deceptive strength where he can go for 20 home runs on a yearly basis. Add in 20 doubles and 20 steals and you’re looking at great production from the 7-hole in the lineup.

Yolmer Sanchez is the perfect fit at 8 behind Tim. In fact, Sanchez would be a great 2-hole hitter and will probably get some looks there throughout the season. Yolmer is a contact hitter, so if/when Tim gets on in front of him, hit-and-run opportunities will pop up. Yolmer’s main job here is to move runners up with solid contact and/or produce productive outs, i.e fly balls that allow the runners to tag. When Yolmer gets on, he can be a decent base stealing threat, but won’t wow anyone with his speed.

Finally we have Adam Engel. While a freak of nature in center field, he had an ugly year at the plate last season. “Ugly” is actually underselling it, but you get the point. This off-season, Engel has been working tirelessly on fixing his swing. He has added a leg kick that seems to be helping him find a consistent rhythm at the plate. Even if he can hit in the .230 range, fans will take it granted he batted .166 last year. He has absolute wheels although he needs to refine his base stealing technique to truly tap into his potential of another 20-steal threat. If he can get on he essentially becomes a second leadoff man for Moncada back at the top of the lineup.

To Wrap Up

When you look up and down this potential lineup, it really isn’t that bad. Teams could certainly do worse that is. The first full season of Moncada should be an exciting one to say the least. There is a healthy mix of speed and power from top to bottom, and more should be on the way by the name of Eloy Jimenez and some other mid-level prospects such as Ryan Cordell. They definitely aren’t going to be one of the top offensive teams in the MLB, but they have enough talent to stay in games and grind out wins. In year 2 of a rebuild, that is more than enough.