Baseball offseasons are made for hope and optimism.
Those five months between the end of the World Series and Opening Day help dissolve any ugly memories and bad tastes that exist from the previous season. And when that fall and winter are filled with a team making blockbuster moves to improve for the following season, the hype and expectations soar.
That was the case for the Chicago White Sox, a team that used the trade and free-agent markets to bolster its roster during the offseason. They added big names at key positions to the point that they were expected to contend for an American League Wild Card berth at the very least.
After getting off to a disappointing 8-14 start, the White Sox are finally living up to their billing. They have won six consecutive games—a 10th-inning walk-off against the Cleveland Indians on Monday was the latest triumph—to creep above the .500 mark for the first time this season. The stretch has also made them relevant again in the AL Central, where they trail the Kansas City Royals by 4.5 games.
#WhiteSox last won six straight late in 2013. This streak comes at a little more important of a time.
— Dan Hayes (@CSNHayes) May 19, 2015
The franchise lost 99 games in 2013, their worst year since a 106-loss season in 1970. It saw a 10-game improvement last season, and much more was expected in 2015 after the team traded for Jeff Samardzija to strengthen the rotation, signed elite free-agent reliever David Robertson as well as Adam LaRoche and Melky Cabrera to lengthen their lineup over the offseason.
“Once you get players like that, the excitement is there,” manager Robin Ventura told CSN Chicago in January. “For me, it doesn't feel any different. I think everybody acts like it's going to be a different thing, but in the end it just means there's higher expectations, which are great.”
The start to the season certainly was not.
Through the first 22 games, the offense was abysmal. It batted .242/.296/.341 and scored 70 runs (3.2 runs per game).
The pitching was just as bad in that time frame. The staff racked up a brutal 4.56 ERA, and the rotation was worse at 5.50.
Those numbers culminated with a 13-3 loss in Minnesota and a five-game losing streak that dropped the White Sox seven games out of first place and six games below .500. That led general manager Rick Hahn to hold a pregame dugout press conference two days later.
“We’re all accountable for where we sit right now,” Hahn told reporters. “That starts with the players, it goes to the coaches and Robin and myself and the front office.
Hahn continued: “This team is far, far better than what we’ve seen the last few days. … We need to be better than that. Based on the rotation we put together, based upon this lineup, we feel there are far, far better days ahead.”
That Q&A session looks like a premonition looking back. Starting that day, the White Sox have been on an impressive run of 10 wins in 13 games with the first five wins of their six-game streak coming on the road. The offense is scoring 4.9 runs a game and the pitching staff has a more respectable 3.85 ERA.
The run has pushed their record to 18-17 as the offseason makeover is finally paying off. LaRoche has 13 walks, seven RBIs, a .463 OBP and .878 OPS in May. Cabrera has 16 hits, eight RBIs and seven walks in the month. In that time, Samardzija, while still struggling to find a consistent groove, is 2-0 and Robertson has a 1.93 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 9.1 innings.
Just as important is ace Chris Sale’s last two starts. After compiling a 5.93 ERA in his first five, Sale has thrown 16 innings and allowed three runs in his last two outings, including an eight-inning, one-run gem Monday to outduel Cleveland ace Corey Kluber.
“I wouldn’t even say it’s a turnaround, you know?” Adam Eaton told CSN Chicago’s postgame coverage after Monday’s sixth straight win. “It takes a while for teams to jell together, especially with a lot of the new faces we have here. It takes a while, and it’s a learning process. We want to play good baseball [through] June, July, August and into October.
“We’re coming along as a team and learning each other. Hopefully we’ll have more of this going forward.”
While the White Sox might not be as prolific as this recent winning streak, they certainly did not appear to be as bad as their start based on player track records. But runs have a way of correcting themselves, which we've seen this month.
Now the White Sox have to sustain the success and become a loud voice in the AL Central through the summer, just like the offseason hype billed them to be.
All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired first-hand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.
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