The Chicago White Sox head into Thursday three games above .500, at 14-11, which has them within striking distance of the first-place Minnesota Twins (16-9). The White Sox are a young squad, led by last year’s American League Batting Champion and MVP candidate Tim Anderson, who is just 27 years old. In the latest odds from Sports Betting Dime for tonight’s game, The Chicago White Sox are -170 favorites, with the Detroit Tigers at +157. The Over/Under is 9.5.
“He can beat you with his bat, he knew that. He can beat you with his legs, he knew that. But now he’s beating you with his glove and with his smarts, and that has stardom written all over it,” announcer Steve Stone said after Anderson snuck up on an unexpecting runner on second which allowed Gio González to pick him off.
“It feels in a lot of ways, he’s unstoppable at times,” announcer Jason Benetti said.
“Unstoppable” is a good word to use when it comes to Anderson. The 27-year-old is piecing together a strong follow-up to a dominant 2019 season that saw him win the American League’s batting title. However, he is not the only youngster making his presence felt on this roster.
Luis Robert (23), Eloy Jimenez (23), Dylan Cease (25), Yoan Moncada (25) and Lucas Giolito (26) form a very young, yet talented core. A core that will be around for foreseeable future due to the handy work of General Manager Rick Hahn.
The White Sox currently sit three games back of the Twins for the division lead and they are 1.5 games behind the Indians for second place in the American League Central. As things stand, they would squeak into the postseason as an eight seed in MLB’s expanded 2020 playoff format, but the organization that spent $169MM in free agency and $168MM on extensions for young talent, surely it has its sights set a bit higher. Barring some form of a collapse in the next couple weeks, the South Siders will be looking to add pieces at this year’s deadline, but Hahn said last night that rental players will not be his focus.
It is an understandable outlook, given that the South Siders are only in their first season of attempting to emerge from a lengthy rebuilding process. The early returns look promising, as young players like the aforementioned Robert, Jimenez, Moncada, and Anderson have fueled a strong offense. There’s work to be done on the pitching side yet — particularly in the rotation — but the Sox clearly are not interested in parting with any young talent for a one-off shot at the postseason in a bizarre 2020 campaign. Many fringe contenders could feel similarly, opting instead to focus on players who can help them at least in 2021, if not longer.
Good news for Sox fans, it appears the future is a bright one and the team’s brass appears ready to invest when the time comes. It has been awhile the White Sox have been “must-see TV” but with an exciting offense, they have once again captured the eye of major league baseball.
