The Chicago White Sox split a four-game series against the Houston Astros and sit at 3-3 overall after their first two games at home against the San Francisco Giants. So, what are fans overreacting about, ourselves at the Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast included, after the first week of the 2023 regular season???
Yoán Moncada MVP SZN?
It’s pretty funny how at the start of the World Baseball Classic, when Yoán Moncada was struggling with Cuba and then at the end when he left the semifinals game with an apparent injury, some White Sox fans were already done with the third baseman. Well, he’s played in all six games so far in the young season and he’s been by far the team’s best hitter, recording at least one hit in every game and at least two hits in three.
Yoán Moncada Through 6 Games
1-for-5
3-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
1-for-5, 1 HR
3-for-4, 1 HR, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
1-for-3, 1 2B
2-for-4, 1 RBI
Through his first 25 at-bats, the switch-hitting third baseman is hitting a cool .440, with six extra-base hits.
Now, that’s a great week of baseball and an even bigger confidence boost for Moncada, who like the majority of this roster, is coming off a brutally disappointing 2022 season.
White Sox Bullpen is Bad
The White Sox bullpen has been shaky to say the least, bending but not completely breaking against the Houston Astros in their first series. Right-handed reliever Reynaldo López has been tasked to close out games to begin the season and although he got the final out in both wins against Houston, he wasn’t exactly shutting down the Astros.
On Opening Day, López came in with a 3-1 lead and then allowed a solo home and a two-out walk before getting a strikeout for the save. On Sunday, he came in with a 6-1 lead in the ninth inning, walked two, allowed two singles that led to a pair of runs scoring, but López was able to hold onto the win with the game-tying run eventually making his way to the plate.
To his credit, López hasn’t completely imploded and on Wednesday he once again got out of trouble, striking out Joc Pederson with the bases loaded after he came in with two runners on and walked a batter in the seventh inning, when the White Sox were ahead 4-1. There’s no doubt White Sox manager Pedro Grifol has a lot of confidence in López, handing him the ball in high leverage spots so far this season.
Meanwhile, the middle relief hasn’t quite been shutting down teams either, as Joe Kelly, Kendal Graveman and especially José Ruíz have all been hit hard.
The good news is that the White Sox bullpen will be much better once closer Liam Hendriks returns, which is a lot sooner than expected. The right-handed pitcher wasn’t placed on the 60-day injured list to begin the season, meaning the team believes he can be back before June and on Wednesday morning, Hendriks announced that he is cancer free.
We’ll talk a lot more about the good and bad from the White Sox so far this season tonight on the Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast. Join us, as we’ll be streaming live on YouTube, starting at 8 p.m. CST.
And make sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube, for a chance to win a pair of tickets to a White Sox home game.
HELLO