What would it take?

[sin city sox fan]

I was ready to move on to the football season, but after the Bears last couple of preseason games, its hard to get excited about this season's outlook.

 

Than, the White Sox go 6-2 in the last 8 games and move to within 7.5 of the last wildcard spot.

 

I know it's doubtful, but what if this team continued to win at a 75% clip for the remaining 33 games of the seasons? A 25-8 record would get us to 88-74 on the season - A .543 winning percentage which is about equal to the last wild card spot now.

 

It sucks that this team keeps drawing me back in with false optimism, but I have to have something to root for and right now, its tough to see any positives with the Bears.

 

Let's go Sox! Make a miracle happen and give me something to root for sports wise until hockey season opens up!

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

It's great being optimistic but the reality of the situation suggests not to get too excited. The Sox have decent against non AL Central opponents and they were at home. The next series against the Tigers the 1st 2 pitchers will be Shields and Ranaudo.

 

The next 21 games are all against the Tigers, Royals, Indians and Twins 11 which are on the road. Even if the Sox play close games the bullpen is pretty bad.

 

If the Sox could somehow go 5-2 on this upcoming road trip continue being optimistic but just remember how bad the Sox have fared against the Tigers, Royals and Indian so far. The Sox have been hitting pretty good in August but I wouldn't expect that to last. They have proven over the long haul that they are not a good hitting team.

 

There's also a chance the Sox move some guys through waiver trades which would further deplete the line up or pitching staff. The odds are too long to expect anything. Just enjoy the rest of the season as best you can.

Edited August 29, 2016 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[southsider2k5]

At this point the final record isn't as important to me as how certain players finish the season. We have a decent amount of guys who are still proving themselves. If we get a good finish by guys like Avi, Tim Anderson, Saladino, Coats, etc, plus the guys coming out of the pen after Jones and Robertson, I will be happy. At this point the record is secondary.

[StrangeSox]

At this point the final record isn't as important to me as how certain players finish the season. We have a decent amount of guys who are still proving themselves. If we get a good finish by guys like Avi, Tim Anderson, Saladino, Coats, etc, plus the guys coming out of the pen after Jones and Robertson, I will be happy. At this point the record is secondary.

 

[bmags]

Obviously the heavy hitters like Rodon/TA would be nice but I think another encouraging sign would be if jacob turner and beck have a strong finish as bullpen pieces

[Chisoxfn]

The White Sox (and this is the same with recent teams), are too all for nothing, whether it is their starting pitching, their bullpen, or their lineup. We have some stars (Sale / Q / Eaton), but we also have a lot of nothing's, whether it is Frazier (when he doesn't hit a homer) or quite a few of the pieces in the pen (who have been largely inconsistent and poor performers...depth here has been atrocious) and clearly Shields / non Miguel Gonzalez 5th starters (Latos first few starts not withstanding) and that is a lot of "holes" and it is hard to win with that type of holes (i.e., catcher, CF, 4th / 5th spots in rotation, good portion of bullpen, DH). I'm not even calling out Frazier / Abreu who have both played well below historical averages and Lawrie hasn't exactly been amazing (but by definition he's been better then most).

 

So to win, the Sox formally is very clear, get elite pitching from the rotation (including Rodon when he is hot) and you have a good shot at winning 3 games out of 5, however, when the lineup has so many holes (as does the bullpen), you end up being in a pretty tough spot to have a good enough conversion rate on those games (despite some real stars). Rodon coming together for next year (as a front of the rotation guy) would be huge as it would strengthen the odds in those areas, but you still have to look at the back of the rotation as being questionable with a lineup and bullpen that can't make up for that "questionable" in its current state. The equation of what to add becomes tough so the margin of error (or luck factor) to actually be a playoff team really becomes small, imo.

[Ducksnort]

http://www.csnchicago.com/video/morneau-we...pable-going-run

 

This is an interview with Morneau and Saladino. Something Morneau said that caught my attention: " I've been on a team where we were 8 games back and made the playoffs, Shields said he was on a team where they were 10 games back on September 1st and they still made it."

 

If the Sox continue to play like they have been against their division in September, and the right teams lose games, then it is possible, but it's a long shot. Sustained success has not exactly been the Sox' forte.

 

I will say this, if they complete an extremely unlikely sweep of Detroit this week (which means they will need a lot of offense with Shields and Raunado pitching), I would seriously consider them a candidate for the 2nd wildcard spot.

Edited August 29, 2016 by Scoots

[flavum]

http://www.csnchicago.com/video/morneau-we...pable-going-run

 

This is an interview with Morneau and Saladino. Something Morneau said that caught my attention: " I've been on a team where we were 8 games back and made the playoffs, Shields said he was on a team where they were 10 games back on September 1st and they still made it."

 

If the Sox continue to play like they have been against their division in September, and the right teams lose games, then it is possible, but it's a long shot. Sustained success has not exactly been the Sox' forte.

 

I will say this, if they complete an extremely unlikely sweep of Detroit this week (which means they will need a lot of offense with Shields and Raunado pitching), I would seriously consider them a candidate for the 2nd wildcard spot.

 

As I pointed out in the 2nd Wildcard thread, every team in baseball is playing 8 of the last 10 series inside the division. So when the Indians are losing, that means the Tigers and Royals are winning. If it were only the Indians in front of the Sox, crazy stuff could happen...but that won't be happening.

 

It would take the Sox going 23-10 (again) starting tonight to finish 86-76, and also need help for a tie. Less than 1% shot. (save the dumb and dumber line).

[greg775]

As hot as the Royals have been they only crept to 3 games of the wild card. The wild card is impossible to attain. That's why you have to win your division. Some year the Sox will figure that out again. Sox would have to win 85 percent of their games the rest of the way to sniff the wild card.

[SoxAce]

If we get a good finish by guys like Avi, Tim Anderson, Saladino, Coats, etc plus the guys coming out of the pen after Jones and Robertson, I will be happy.

 

Bingo. It's a damn shame we can't add guys like Davidson, Tilson, etc. on that list.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

It's great being optimistic but the reality of the situation suggests not to get too excited. The Sox have decent against non AL Central opponents and they were at home. The next series against the Tigers the 1st 2 pitchers will be Shields and Ranaudo.

 

The next 21 games are all against the Tigers, Royals, Indians and Twins 11 which are on the road. Even if the Sox play close games the bullpen is pretty bad.

 

If the Sox could somehow go 5-2 on this upcoming road trip continue being optimistic but just remember how bad the Sox have fared against the Tigers, Royals and Indian so far. The Sox have been hitting pretty good in August but I wouldn't expect that to last. They have proven over the long haul that they are not a good hitting team.

 

There's also a chance the Sox move some guys through waiver trades which would further deplete the line up or pitching staff. The odds are too long to expect anything. Just enjoy the rest of the season as best you can.

 

See what I mean .

[bmags]

See what I mean .

 

That was rough last night. Fun game before hand too.

 

I believe my exact words in march was that I was glad at the depth we had in the bullpen and was confident we could weather some injuries.

Nope Nope nope nope nope nope

[southsider2k5]

That was rough last night. Fun game before hand too.

 

I believe my exact words in march was that I was glad at the depth we had in the bullpen and was confident we could weather some injuries.

Nope Nope nope nope nope nope

 

The pen is down three opening day pitchers when you include the Duke trade. Webb was a key part of that depth. Most pens don't survive losing four guys off of their depth chart. What it has done to the Sox has forced guys like Robertson and Jones to go longer and more often than the usually have, and you are seeing that catch up with guys in the dog days of the season.

 

The good news we have gotten is that Dan Jennings proved that the one really awful outing last year that trashed his season long numbers really was a fluke, and he has been a really good set up man and lefty match up guy out of the pen, and we have gotten to take guys like Kahnle and Beck on extended test drives to see what we have for next year.