The season has officially ended for the White Sox and not in the best of ways. They finished 2-8 in their last ten games, but they are still in the playoffs with a record 35-25. Even with the bad finish, they hit well above expectations, and the postseason gives them another shot to show how far this young team has come. It would’ve been nice to win the division, but they just couldn’t pull through their end of the season slump.
The White Sox finished as the 7th seed, so they won’t have a home-field advantage for the three-game series. Although out of all the matchups the Sox could’ve gotten, the 2nd seed, Oakland Athletics, would be the team they have the best chance of taking down. If the White Sox had finished 2nd, they would’ve taken on the Cleveland Indians instead of the Athletics. Cleveland will be the toughest matchup for any team in the first round.
Cleveland possesses the best overall pitching rotation, and in a short series, that becomes even more amplified. This was the big team I didn’t want the White Sox to face, not to mention they owned the White Sox this year; 8-2 over the season. The next team I didn’t want the White Sox to face was the New York Yankees. The Yankees have been very up and down this season. Still, they have superstar ace Gerrit Cole, who is postseason proven. They also have a monster lineup that, while healthy, helped the Yankees lead the American League.
The Athletics have been one of the best baseball teams this year, but I think this matchup is the best chance for the White Sox to advance to the next round of the playoffs. First, they don’t have the same dominant starting pitching that can shut down offenses. Second, their offense has been all or nothing this season, and lately, they have been off with less than three runs in the last five out of seven games. Finally, they are missing their best defensive player, 3B Matt Chapman, due to injury.
With all this said, the White Sox played some awful baseball to end the regular season, but there were some positives that might signal they are ready to come back. Luis Robert has hit in three consecutive games and looks like he had found his swing again. When he was on, he was a lock for the year’s rookie and a darkhorse MVP candidate. Yoan Moncada, who has been struggling all season with his recovery from COVID, has finally started to look a lot more like his old self. This adds a mostly healthy Moncada to the top of the order and will be brutal for any pitcher.
The White Sox are set up nicely for this series’s first two games with Lucas Giolito going in game one and Dallas Keuchel ready to roll in game two. Game three it a toss-up. It will be interesting to see what the White Sox will do if the series goes to a third game.
The Athletics have yet to announce their game-one starter yet, but their bullpen is one of the best in baseball. The White Sox need to tag the Athletics’ starting pitching and tax their bullpen as much as they can in each game. I like the White Sox’ chances to take out the Athletics in this series in two games.