Gavin Sheets Had Some Interesting Comments About The 2024 Season

Gavin Sheets, the presumed starting right fielder for the White Sox, had some interesting comments about the 2024 season when he was interviewed at the Season Ticket Holder event last weekend.

Here is what he had to say when talking to White Sox beat reporter, Scott Merkin:

“Everybody is counting us out. The only
thing you can do is use that to fuel us. We
go out every day trying to play hard and win
games, and that doesn’t change what we
are going to do.”

“We all know we aren’t favored to do
anything this year. That’s the first time since
I’ve been here in the big leagues in three
years. We can use that to help us and
motivate us and see what we can do with it.”

These are some interesting comments from Sheets, as it seems like he and the team are taking an underdog mindset to the 2024 season. This might be the best thing to do, as the White Sox will need something to get them fired up about the season, as they don’t have any big signings to get them pumped up.

The White Sox open the season with most sportsbooks setting their over/under win total at around 63 wins. That is embarrassingly low and it is one of the lowest in the major leagues. 63 wins would put them at 99 losses, which would technically be an improvement over last season.

The Sox are not primed for a big season. The team is simply not built to win 100 games and make a deep playoff run, but if everything went right, they could easily surprise some people. The division is very weak. It could take somewhere around a .500 record to win it. All things considered, that is not out of the realm of possibilities for the White Sox.

Now I’m not saying the Sox are going to win 80+ games or win the division, as that is unlikely. But, there is a scenario in which things fall into place for the White Sox and they are a half decent team, especially if there are no expectations for them to live up to. If teams are counting them out, they could catch some of them sleeping and steal some games.

In the rotation, if the Sox keep Dylan Cease and he pitches like he did in 2022, that could make them better. If Eric Fedde pitches like he did in Korea, that would add a couple wins. If Michael Kopech pitches like 2022, that would add a few more wins. If Mike Soroka is healthy and pitches like he can, that would add a bunch of wins. These are things that are not out of the realm of possibilities and could easily happen. Now, most likely all won’t happen, but even if a few did, that would make a huge difference.

In the lineup, if Moncada and Eloy stay healthy and play like we know they can, that would be huge. If Colson Montgomery comes up and plays well immediately, that would make a big difference. There are plenty of players that could play to their potential and make an impact for the White Sox.

Now, while it is more likely than not that the Sox will lose close to 100 games, it is nice to know that the players are taking these low expectations seriously and are ready to prove the doubters wrong. There are teams every single year that surprise the league, and I would love for the Sox to be that team in 2024.