Week 4 Record: 6-1 | Overall: 17-12, 3rd in AL Central
Every week here at Sox on 35th, I’ll be wrapping up the past week of baseball in case you missed any of the games. Here you’ll find the score recaps, links to box scores, and, as we build this out, more recaps based on some of your thoughts as fans. Stay tuned for some fun here!
Well, that was a fun week, wasn’t it?! After sweeping the Tigers on the power of the home run, the White Sox went to Wrigley and took two of three in the exact same fashion. This was easily one of the most fun weeks of White Sox baseball in quite some time, despite the loss on Sunday afternoon. Also, congratulations to Jose Abreu on his fifth career American League Player of the Week honor!
Let’s recap a wild week of baseball before Pittsburgh comes to town Tuesday!
Tale of the Tape
Game 23: White Sox 7 – Tigers 2 | Box Score | Recap
Game 24: White Sox 10 – Tigers 4 | Box Score | Recap
Game 25: White Sox 5 – Tigers 3 | Box Score | Recap
Game 26: White Sox 9 –Tigers 0 | Box Score | Recap
Game 27: White Sox 10– Cubs 1 |Box Score | Recap
Game 28: White Sox 7– Cubs 4 | Box Score | Recap
Game 29: White Sox 1– Cubs 2 | Box Score |Recap
Jordan’s Weekly Wrap Up Thoughts
Remember how we talked about the inconsistency of the White Sox that’s going to pop out throughout the season? Well, what we have this week is the positive side of the extreme. The White Sox not only put together excellent pitching performances all week, but partnered it with high quality at-bats and, oh yeah, lots and lots of homers.
The fact that 20 consecutive runs for the White Sox have been scored on the home run concern me a bit. This should not be considered an anti-home run stance. However, I don’t want this to become a “home run or bust” offense. The good news is that based on the at-bats that I saw this weekend, I don’t believe this is going to be the case. The Sox were working the count, laying off good breaking balls, and putting the ball in play throughout the week. They just happened to his a crap ton of homers too.
In order for the Sox to continue to post 6-1 weeks, however, this is going to have to continue. The pitching will hold up for the Sox, and reinforcement is likely coming around the trade deadline. The offense, as we’ve seen, has the ability to carry this team when firing on all cylinders. The only way that happens, however, is through good at-bats. I’m excited what another week brings against the teams that the White Sox should definitely be beating if they continue to have playoff aspirations.
Stats On 35th: This Week By the Numbers
This Week’s Numbers:
20, 27, 0.9, 55, 3.79
20
As the White Sox continue to try and mimic the 2019 Twins and Yankees, they have now scored 20 consecutive runs via a home run. This is a streak that will be continued into the Pirates series to start the week.
27
By hitting 27 home runs over the course of seven games, the White Sox broke the major league record for number of home runs over a seven game span. The previous record was 26, done by both the 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers and the 1977 Boston Red Sox. Quite the accomplishment.
0.9
Before the Cubs series, Jose Abreu was worth 0.4 fWAR on the season. After the series, he is worth 1.3 fWAR (+0.9 fWAR in 3 games).
In 2018, Jose Abreu was worth 1.2 fWAR.
In other words, Abreu was almost as valuable in the Cubs series as he was over the ENTIRE 2018 season. Wow. He certainly earned his Player of the Week honor for this week.
55
Through Sunday, the White Sox have hit 55 home runs on the season. That’s the second most in baseball (59, Dodgers) and the most in the American League by 10 (45, Yankees). Not a bad stat to be on top of in the league.
3.79
While the offense continues to get all of the headlines, the pitching staff has been just as important to this 17-12 start for the Sox in 2020. The White Sox currently have the 6th best Team ERA in baseball at 3.79. This is behind the Dodgers, Indians, Cardinals, Twins, and Athletics. In other words, the White Sox are keeping pace with some of the best teams almost halfway through the season.
Fan Question of the Week
This week, our fan question centered around pitching. After Dane Dunning had a stellar debut against the Tigers and Reynaldo Lopez returned from his injury, the question had to be asked: With Reynaldo Lopez coming back from his injury, how would you handle the White Sox starting rotation moving forward? Assume trades do not happen.
As with last time, I’ll share my thoughts and then read through my favorites that you submitted. As you might’ve read before, I’m a big fan of the Opener strategy in some form in order to maximize the effectiveness of each pitcher used in the game. While the White Sox will like never do this for the entire rotation, they successfully executed the strategy by throwing a tandem of Lopez/Gonzalez on Saturday evening. I think this pairing should continue in some format going forward because of the inability of a manager to optimize his lineup to face both a LHP and RHP for multiple innings at a time. So, here’s what I’d do – and it’s the same as what most people suggested:
1) Giolito 2) Keuchel 3) Cease 4) Lopez/Gonzalez 5) Dunning/Detwiler
Dane Dunning deserves another chance to contribute to this team long term. I don’t think they will allow him to throw much more than 75 pitches in a game at this current time, which is why I paired him with Detwiler for scenarios in which 75 pitches only last 4 innings. That pairing has a much different feel to it than the Lopez/Gonzalez pairing, as these two serving as the Opener for one another is truly the best way to get the best out of each of these guys.
Here are some of my favorite tweets from this week’s question!
1) @SoxInTheBasement, who almost mirrored my thoughts perfectly.
2) @ChicagoBob10: not necessarily a thought I agree with, but an interesting one no doubt. I think most fans would be disappointed to not see Dunning employed too much this year given the rotation’s question marks. I think the role on this team for Dunning is evident rather than forced.
3) @DarkPath2029: Lol
4) @kyleconqueso: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
5) @supersoxfan79: this Dane Dunning pic will always get you in an article of mine
Thanks to everyone who submitted a response! I enjoyed reading through them all, and honestly, we all had a lot of similar thoughts on how we would structure the rotation moving forward. Great minds think alike!
Highlights of the Week
Because I wasn’t sure how to put “the whole week,” the White Sox clearly did it for me. Also definitely worth highlighting – there were some incredible pitching performances turned in by every member of the staff. This was a really good week for White Sox baseball.
Dane Dunning’s Debut
Lucas Giolito Dominates the Tigers
A Crosstown Series to Remember
The Week Ahead: Let’s Start a New Streak!
Monday: OFF DAY
Tuesday: Steven Brault (0-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Lucas Giolito (2-2, 3.89 ERA), 7:10 CT
Wednesday: Trevor Williams (1-4, 3.70 ERA) vs. Dallas Keuchel (4-2, 2.65 ERA), 1:10 CT
Thursday: OFF DAY
Friday-Sunday: Series vs. Royals… SP likely to come from Cease, Lopez, Gonzalez, or Dunning. Perhaps Cease, Dunning, and another Lopez/Gonzalez combination?
Enjoy the Week, White Sox Fans! Talk to you again next Monday!
Featured Graphic: Brandon Anderson