MLB division previews: AL Central
AL Central preview: 3. Chicago White Sox
2022 was a year plagued with injuries, inconsistencies, and underperformance from the White Sox. Chicago must turn around all of these struggles if they wish to contend, and they’ll have to do it without their franchise player Jose Abreu, who signed with Houston in the offseason. It’s a given fact that Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, and Yasmani Grandal are all really solid MLB players. While this is true, they all have problems staying healthy. Why expect that to change this year? Abreu was the sole, consistent elite producer in this lineup, and now he is gone. The top of the order will be highlighted by shortstop Tim Anderson and new free agent acquisition Andrew Benintendi, the White Sox marquee signing over the offseason. While it’s clear Benintendi is an excellent contact hitter, it’s no secret his power numbers are lacking. Over his entire career, Benintendi has had just one season where he’s hit 20 homers (2017). I’m just not sure if Benintendi provides enough consistent offensive production to be earning $75 million over the next five years. Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets will also have to step up. The two young prospects have meshed nicely into big league action, proving they can produce at a high level with solid offensive numbers. Overall, it’s just hard to trust a lineup with so many injury-prone pieces. Sure, if this lineup can stay healthy I think they could potentially compete for the division. But will it stay healthy? Based on past seasons, the answer would be no.
If Chicago wishes to contend, the starting rotation must be a strength for this team. Dylan Cease is now a proven elite starter after his 2022 season, finishing second in AL Cy Young voting. Cease will look to continue his dominance and lead a rotation that is full of question marks. Lance Lynn missed the first few weeks of last season and didn’t look the same. He lost a full mph on his fastball (94-93) and, in turn, his arsenal was much more ineffective. Now 35, I highly doubt we will see the Cy Young contending version of Lynn we saw in prior years. It’s up to Michael Kopech to fill this void, who is fully capable of becoming a top three starter on a playoff team. Kopech achieved career numbers while pitching a career-high of 119 innings, proving he can be successful with a starter’s workload. It was a disappointing year for Lucas Giolito, whose ERA rose almost a full point and half last season. Similar to Lynn, Giolito’s fastball velocity dropped 1.3 MPH (94-92.7), in turn bringing down the effectiveness of his whole arsenal. Along with Lynn, the two must bounce back for this rotation to be dominant. The back-end of the rotation remains in question, with Mike Clevinger currently under investigation for alleged domestic violence and child abuse. If Clevinger is unable to pitch, it’s possible righty Reynaldo Lopez could take his place. Lopez has starting experience, and posted a solid 2.72 ERA as a reliever last year. Aside from Lopez, the team is virtually devoid of starting pitching depth. This is a huge problem, considering Lance Lynn, Michael Kopech, and Mike Clevinger all missed time due to arm problems last season.
The bullpen is above-average, highlighted with quality relievers such as Kendall Graveman, Joe Kelly, Jake Diekman and Aaron Bummer. However, their pen will be missing its most valuable piece, closer Liam Hendriks, who was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. We wish the best for Hendriks in his recovery, who is truly an electrifying player and competitor in our game. It’s really pretty simple.
Last year, Chicago was a .500 team and couldn’t stay healthy. The same exact narrative bodes for this year. This is a team that struggles to stay healthy and no longer has their best player in Jose Abreu. It’s hard to see this working out well.