There’s really no way to sugarcoat it. When it comes to being a Southside fan this year, well… shit sucks. The 2023 White Sox season is off to one of the worst 26-game starts in the past 37 years for the organization. Which only makes us ask one question.
Is it time to hit the panic button?
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The State of the 2023 White Sox
Like we said above, things aren’t going great for the Sox and their start to this season. Currently, the guys are 7-19 in what has been a difficult and painful month of April baseball. To make matters worse, we’re on an 8-game losing streak, have yet to string two wins together, let alone win a series. And to top it all off, after this past Wednesday’s 8-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, the offense had failed to score a run in the past 24 innings.
As is the case for most struggling ball clubs, injuries have played their part in the 2023 White Sox slow start. But, as easy as it is to point to them as a reason for all the problems, they’re not all that’s going wrong. A stagnant offense combined with lackluster pitching have been a recipe for disaster to start the 2023 White Sox season.
While there’s plenty of baseball left to play, it’s tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If anything, the Chicago Cubs are going to lap us on the rebuild should things continue.
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So Are We Too Far Gone?
No, no, no. Not quite yet. We’re only 26 games in after all. Both sides of the ball are going to need to figure things out though. That’s for sure.
New bat, Andrew Benintendi has yet to live up to the expectations of his $75 million, five-year contract. When he leads off the order, he hasn’t quite made it on base like prior seasons. And when Grifol slots him into the 3rd spot in the batting order, well, he’s not slugging too much either. But again, there’s plenty of baseball left on the calendar, and Benintendi isn’t the only bat in the lineup who needs to figure it out.
The pitching unit has had its fair share of woes early on in the 2023 White Sox season too. Lance Lynn, a former Cy Young award finalist in 2021, has struggled early on with an 0-3 record and 7.52 ERA. Offseason addition, Mike Clevinger, is in the middle of the pack performance-wise for starting pitchers. He’s 2-2 so far with a 4.81 ERA, but he’s having a hard time striking people out.
At their current pace, the White Sox are on track for 52 wins. Barring an injury curse or some other unexpected craziness, we can’t envision them not surpassing that mark when it’s all said and done. How high this group’s ceiling is remains to be seen though. The return of some key pieces like Tim Anderson and a now, cancer-free, Liam Hendriks should bode well for the future. If anything, Hendriks return after battling non-Hodgkins’s lymphoma could bring a spark the clubhouse desperately needs after all their struggles this April. The latest word is that he could be ready for a late-May return. But the bottom-line is, he’ll be back in the rotation soon!
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Up Next On The Schedule
With one of the hardest schedules to open the year, the 2023 White Sox season will continue on whether they (or us fans) like it or not. The first half of May is a mix of very difficult and then light series.
After closing out April with another series against the Tampa Bay Rays, we’ll host the Minnesota Twins at home for three games to open up May. Following that series, the guys will hit the road for seven games with stops in Cincinnati and Kansas City, before wrapping up the first half of the month by hosting the Astros.
Maybe, just maybe, the White Sox will come out on top in one of those series. Odds are it comes against the Reds or the Royals, but, it’d be even sweeter to see it against the Rays, Twins, or Astros.
The sooner they start winning, the sooner they can put this ugly April behind them!