The White Sox are a bad baseball team. We all know that. 2017 has been a year of a few ups, and a lot of downs. That pattern is pretty common in almost every rebuild. For every losing streak, we might be blessed with a Yoan Moncada triple, or a Lucas Giolito gem. Other than a few flashes of what the future can be, the season has been pretty much a dumpster fire. However, I am here to make the case for a potential 2018 playoff birth. Most people are saying the White Sox won’t contend for a playoff spot until 2019, and a World Series until 2020. If everything (and I mean everything) goes right next year though, it is not ENTIRELY out of the question to see the South Siders playing in October. Here is why.
A Weak Division
The White Sox reside in the A.L. Central, which is overall one of the weaker divisions in all of baseball. While winning a Wild Card spot would be far more likely, the Central is watered down enough for a possible division crown. The Tigers and Royals are both about to be horrendous, and I am still not completely sold on Minnesota. That leaves the Cleveland Indians. Yes, they are a very good baseball team. The reigning A.L Champions seem poised to make yet another World Series run. But lets think for a second. If the Indians do indeed go on another miraculous postseason run, they will have played an absurd amount of baseball the last few seasons. Eventually fatigue is going to be a factor for them. This is where the White Sox could use their youth and energy to propel themselves into the discussion for the A.L. Central crown.
Reinforcements Are On The Way
If the White Sox are going to truly shock baseball next year, they are going to have to do it by playing to their strengths. Their biggest being their young and immensely talented starting rotation. Right now, you can pencil in three for-sure starters for next season: Carlos Rodon, Lucas Giolito, and Reynaldo Lopez. After that it gets interesting. It has been rumored that the MLB’s best pitching prospect, Michael Kopech, (White Sox no. 3) will get the opportunity to win a rotation spot right out of the gate in Spring Training. Even if he doesn’t, the common belief is that he will be up no later than mid-June. He would give the White Sox yet another electric arm. Throw in a low-risk, high-reward free agent fifth starter on a cheap one-year deal (assuming James Shields is not with the team) and the White Sox suddenly have a pretty strong rotation.
Rodon has been absolutely dominant as of late and could be one of the better left-handers in baseball next year if his recent stretch proves to be the norm and can stay healthy. Lucas Giolito has a 2.25 ERA in three games played. A small sample size but his potential is sky high. Speaking of potential, Michael Kopech could end up being the no. 1 pitcher on the staff in a few short years. That leaves Reynaldo Lopez as the 4 and a free agent as the 5. Not bad, not bad at all.
Speaking of prospects, slugger Eloy Jimenez will start next season in Double-A, but if he continues his pattern of murdering baseballs at every level, it won’t be long until he gets called up as well. Depending on how he does in Spring Training, White Sox fans could be seeing him in person much sooner than later.
More Experience
Experience for young players is never a bad thing, and that will be true next year as well. Giolito, Lopez, Yoan Moncada, and even Tim Anderson will become more and more comfortable with Major League pitching. When they do, look out.
The biggest worry seems to be Moncada, his strikeout rate, and low batting average. The good thing about him getting reps in now is that he is able to see and understand the MLB level in non-pressure situations. As for his strikeout rate, most of the time he strikes out on pitches that are in the zone. He has just missed them. That will not last for much longer. He has adjusted to every level he has been promoted to, and I don’t think the MLB will be an exception. Furthermore, we have yet to see what he can do on the base paths when it comes to stealing bases. The bottom line is that we haven’t even scratched the surface to what Moncada can be. That could, and should change as soon as next year.
Tim has dealt with issues off the field that some of us can’t even begin to understand. After losing his best friend to gun violence earlier in the year, Tim really struggled. Some were even asking for him to be traded. However, after finally getting professional help, he has taken off, raising his average from around .200 to a respectable .245. A full season of a focused Tim Anderson could be the X-factor for the 2018 White Sox. He has the potential to hit .275 with 20+ bombs. If he does, he and Moncada will form a dynamic duo up the middle not just next year, but for the foreseeable future.
Giolito and Lopez have had pretty impressive starts so far. It seems Giolito is really benefiting from working with pitching coach Don Cooper. If you erase his first start, he has looked every bit as dominant as he was being advertised a year ago hen he was one of baseball’s top prospects. Lopez has looked great too. In every one of his starts, he has made one or two very costly mistakes that have inflated his ERA. Once he can learn how to minimize those mistakes, he will really start to take off. Again, that comes with experience.
Still No Pressure
Most will still peg the 2018 White Sox to suck again. And honestly, the odds are pretty good that they will. But this team is going to be LOOSE next season. The chemistry between the younger players will start to strengthen, and the veteran leadership of Jose Abreu will continue to be invaluable to the kids. With the combination of sky-high potential from the youngsters and the lack of any sort of pressure to perform, the White Sox could find themselves asking “why not us?” at some point next season.
A Wild Game
Of the 4 Major North American sports, baseball is easily the wildest and most unpredictable. Teams have gone from worst to first in their divisions countless amounts of times. And in the more than likely scenario where the White Sox don’t win the division next year, the Wild Card could still very much be in play. This year there are eight legitimate Wild Card threats in the American League. The last of which-the Royals- are a mere 2.5 games out of a spot with a measly record of 68-69. It is not entirely out of the question for the 2018 White Sox to play .500 baseball, or close to it. If they do, they will more than likely be right in the thick of things until the end. For a team that is not expected to compete for another two years, that would truly be a sight to see.
Final Thoughts
While no one is expecting the White Sox to do anything remotely significant next season, they could be a sleeper to make some early noise. They have a good mix of youth and veteran leadership to provide a very stable chemistry. The play from the rookies will continue to improve, and the loose atmosphere at the G-Spot will prove to be very beneficial. If the starting rotation can go through dominant stretches and everyone stays healthy, the White Sox could at least be in the playoff hunt come August and September of next season.
