Where things stand today (AL-NL imbalance)

[caulfield12]

1. White Sox  +10    +73 RS/RA differential     -2 (under performance of expected win-loss)

2. Houston     +8      +66                                      -2

Boston                       +41                                      E

4.  TBR            +7       +38                                      E

Oakland                      +7                                      +5

6. NYY             +6        +15                                    +1

7. TOR            +5         +40                                    -2

Cleveland       +5         +9                                     +1

 

1. SFG            +12        +57                                    -1

2. SDP            +10        +51                                    -1

3. LAD            +7          +61                                    -3

St.Louis                        +20                                    +1

[Dominikk85]

Before the season it looked like the NL was stronger but AL had some surprising good  teams (especially Boston) and really just one disappointing team (min) while in the NL several teams have been underperforming (dodgers and Mets related to injuries, braves). 

[caulfield12]

https://www.fangraphs.com/standings/playoff-odds

Yankees, Astros, White Sox the 3 favorites in the AL

Red Sox, Blue Jays, Athletics, Rays bunched up for spots 4/5, Cleveland on the outside looking in

 

Dodgers, Padres, Mets in the NL

Brewers, Giants, Braves, Cubs and Phillies fighting for two remaining spots

[joejoesox]

are the giants legit? 12 games over .500 now

[caulfield12]

2 hours ago, joesaiditstrue said:

are the giants legit? 12 games over .500 now

They’ve got the starting pitching, but not sure I would take that offense over even CLE. 

[daggins]

2 hours ago, joesaiditstrue said:

are the giants legit? 12 games over .500 now

I've been trying to figure this out as well. The pitching is good and should remain good (and aided by AT&T Park) but the offense is a real head scratcher. It's almost entirely guys in their mid 30s having career years, or at least the best seasons they've had in a long time. Yazstzemski, at 30, is one of the youngest guys in their everyday lineup. They're like the anti-Sox - let the old guys play.

[CentralChamps21]

3 hours ago, joesaiditstrue said:

are the giants legit? 12 games over .500 now

Just looked at their schedule to date. Outside of the Padres, an awful lot of games against bad teams. Haven't even had their first series with the Dodgers yet.

[daggins]

23 minutes ago, WhiteSoxFan1993 said:

Just looked at their schedule to date. Outside of the Padres, an awful lot of games against bad teams. Haven't even had their first series with the Dodgers yet.

Of course, you could say the same about the White Sox. The next two series will probably be revealing.

[caulfield12]

4 minutes ago, daggins said:

Of course, you could say the same about the White Sox. The next two series will probably be revealing.

Mariners are better, Angels obviously worse.

Out of those top 8 AL teams (well 7 + Sox), we have yet to take on the AL East, cream of the crop in West...meaning the Astros and A’s.

So arguably the most impressive wins are over the Indians.  

[CentralChamps21]

9 minutes ago, daggins said:

Of course, you could say the same about the White Sox. The next two series will probably be revealing.

Sox have played 17 of 38 games against the next two best teams in the division. Pretty close to halfway done with CLE and KC already. Only one of the top teams outside the division so far though.

[TheTruth05]

1 minute ago, WhiteSoxFan1993 said:

Sox have played 17 of 38 games against the next two best teams in the division. Pretty close to halfway done with CLE and KC already. Only one of the top teams outside the division so far though.

Another thing is we faced a much better Angels team at the start of the year when our lineup was mostly dormant and still had a chance to win that series easily. 

[CentralChamps21]

3 minutes ago, TheTruth05 said:

Another thing is we faced a much better Angels team at the start of the year when our lineup was mostly dormant and still had a chance to win that series easily. 

Yeah with so many teams having injuries, you can't just look at record for a lot of teams. Sox faced the Angels with Trout and the Twins without Buxton, and getting the Yankees without Stanton. Of course there are teams like the Tigers, Rangers, Orioles, Pirates, Reds and Rockies that are pretty much always going to be bad.

[Bob Sacamano]

Angels were already in last place with Trout. Sure they were better with him when he was healthy but that doesn't make them a good team.

[caulfield12]

2 hours ago, manbearpuig said:

Angels were already in last place with Trout. Sure they were better with him when he was healthy but that doesn't make them a good team.

Ohtani is the current favorite for AL MVP, or Vladdy Jr./Jose Ramirez.

[Two-Gun Pete]

I think we as SOX fans should be glad that MLB is in an offensive environment such as this year's. Without definitive proof, I'm guessing that we this year a more "normal" offensive environment, a roster without TA for awhile, without Abreu here & there, without Eaton @ 100%, & without Robert/Jimenez might struggle more.

I'm also keenly interested in the outcome of this series vs. The yankmees & the upcoming one vs stl. That is, from the standpoint of "going up a few weight classes" from Minnesota, KC, & Cincinnati. 

[caulfield12]

White Sox +72

Padres +66

Astros +64

LAD +63

SFG +56

Boston +50

 

NL West now seriously bunched up with three teams within 1 game, two-way tie for first.

Btw, our/Greg775’s old friend Nate Jones got some huge outs in the high leverage 7th and 8th with the Dodgers clinging to a 1 run lead against the Gigantes.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/05/dodgers-select-nate-jones-dfa-travis-blankenhorn.html

[iWiN4PreP]

Personally, I think the giants will slump hard. I also feel our white sox will slump hard (we could be in the start of the slump right now after our second straight loss to the better NYY).

I say this because our offense is not as good as it has been. Flat out, we have a bad offense with Robert/Eloy injured. Moncada is doing amazing things, but we are seriously lacking in places. Our SP has way over performed.

I see us struggling big time in the next month, and it will be shadowed for a while by how much we've overperformed so far. 

[caulfield12]

14 minutes ago, iWiN4PreP said:

Personally, I think the giants will slump hard. I also feel our white sox will slump hard (we could be in the start of the slump right now after our second straight loss to the better NYY).

I say this because our offense is not as good as it has been. Flat out, we have a bad offense with Robert/Eloy injured. Moncada is doing amazing things, but we are seriously lacking in places. Our SP has way over performed.

I see us struggling big time in the next month, and it will be shadowed for a while by how much we've overperformed so far. 

By RS/RA and being in almost every game this year, one can argue we should still be 12 to 14 over.

But with Vaughn and Anderson scuffling and Grandal contact-challenged, it’s a big pile of average even with our 3/4/5 guys.

Puts so much pressure on the starting pitchers and pen to be nearly perfect. 

[iWiN4PreP]

3 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

By RS/RA and being in almost every game this year, one can argue we should still be 12 to 14 over.

But with Vaughn and Anderson scuffling and Grandal contact-challenged, it’s a big pile of average even with our 3/4/5 guys.

Puts so much pressure on the starting pitchers and pen to be nearly perfect. 

That’s my thinking as well, at some point our sp has to come down, and unfortunately i think our offense has also over performanee in tge wake of the robert and eloy injuries. 

[caulfield12]

Padres +68

Dodgers +66

White Sox +65

Astros +60

SFG  +53

Boston +51

[caulfield12]

https://sports.yahoo.com/real-threats-yankees-al-odds-140004494.html

Who are the real AL threats to the Yankees?

[caulfield12]

Padres +13/+76

Dodgers +11/+72

Red Sox +10/+47

Rays +10/+44

Giants +9/+47

Yankees +9/+24

Oakland +9/-10

White Sox +7/+64

Cardinals +7/+12

Astros +5/+59

 

NL West and AL East rule the roost for now...

Edited May 24, 2021 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

1. Padres         +79

2. LAD              +77

3. White Sox   +73

4. TIE/HOU-SFG-TB   +55

7. Boston        +49

 

[35thstreetswarm]

On 5/21/2021 at 2:29 PM, Two-Gun Pete said:

I think we as SOX fans should be glad that MLB is in an offensive environment such as this year's. Without definitive proof, I'm guessing that we this year a more "normal" offensive environment, a roster without TA for awhile, without Abreu here & there, without Eaton @ 100%, & without Robert/Jimenez might struggle more.

I'm also keenly interested in the outcome of this series vs. The yankmees & the upcoming one vs stl. That is, from the standpoint of "going up a few weight classes" from Minnesota, KC, & Cincinnati. 

You had a nearly identical post before the Twins series discounting our prior wins and saying you wanted to see us perform against better competition in the Twins and Yankees. I see our beating up on the Twins didn’t impress you much once we actually did it. Does beating St. Louis drop them a weight class?

[Two-Gun Pete]

2 hours ago, 35thstreetswarm said:

You had a nearly identical post before the Twins series discounting our prior wins and saying you wanted to see us perform against better competition in the Twins and Yankees. I see our beating up on the Twins didn’t impress you much once we actually did it. Does beating St. Louis drop them a weight class?

I did have a nearly identical post, because there won't be any free wins in the playoffs. There won't be easy series against struggling opponents. There won't be "pick me ups" against AAAA Detroit or AAAA Baltimore. Or slump busters against whatever underperforming team you can think up. 

 

So yeah, I'd like to see this team prove its mettle against superior opposition. Not shit their pants against superior opposition. We as a fanbase have never seen back-to-back post seasons. (Shrugs)

Edited May 28, 2021 by Two-Gun Pete