The White Sox are down to the final stretch, and the picture is getting clearer by the day. They had one day to reset, but there’s no easing into this finish line now: Chicago will play every day until the regular season ends.
That makes the current magic number impossible to ignore. It sits at 4, and knocking that down to zero would lock up at least a playoff berth. The Sox are three games ahead in the race for the third AL wild card, which is why there’s real reason to believe a clincher could come as soon as Wednesday in Kansas City.
There’s another layer to this, though. Chicago is also just one game behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central, and because the Sox own the tiebreaker, they need to keep winning and hope Cleveland slips enough for the two clubs to finish with matching records. If that happens, Chicago would come out on top in the division.
Even with that in play, the playoff race has to stay front and center. The postseason spot is the immediate prize, and the Sox can’t afford to look too far down the road before handling the business in front of them.
The division race has its own math, too. The Guardians have a magic number of 6 to win the AL Central, which means the Sox sit with a division magic number of 8. If the two teams end up tied again, that number becomes even more relevant.
Chicago’s final week gives it a real opening. Both the Sox and Guardians will face the Royals, but the Sox also get the Colorado Rockies, while Cleveland has to travel to face the Boston Red Sox. On paper, that leaves Chicago with the easier closing stretch.
Still, the Royals are the kind of team that can make life messy for the Sox, especially in Kansas City. And there’s a little symmetry here, too: Kansas City ended its long playoff drought in 2014 by clinching in Chicago. What goes around hopefully will come around.
In Other News...
White Sox Make A Surprising Lineup Bet Against Kansas City
The White Sox head into a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium with an eye on a Kansas City pitching staff that is still settling into roles. Chicago announced a balanced lineup against a left-hander, with Miguel Vargas leading off and Randal Grichuk hitting third, a setup that gives the order a different look than usual while the club tries to find the right mix against the Royals.
Kansas Citys probable options add another layer to the matchup, with Anthony Kay coming in after a rough stretch and Daniel Lynch working as a starter since the trade deadline. For Chicago, the question is whether this lineup construction can give it an early edge in a series where the pitching matchup may be just as fluid as the batting order. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Face A Real Playoff Roster Debate Over Acuna
As the White Sox chase both the AL Central lead and a postseason berth, Luisangel Acuna has become one of the more interesting roster questions on the board. The young outfielder and shortstop has not given the club much at the plate this season, with a .227/.260/.261 slash line and a .522 OPS, but his profile still carries a skill set Chicago cannot ignore when games tighten up.
Acunas speed is the obvious counterweight to the offensive numbers, since he ranks in the 98th percentile for sprint speed and could offer value as a late-game baserunner in October-style situations. For a team trying to balance present production with roster versatility, the debate is less about whether he has tools and more about how much those tools matter if the White Sox get into a short series and every bench spot starts to count. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Still Have One Bullpen Trust Issue Before October
The White Sox brought in Huascar Brazoban at the trade deadline to give their bullpen a needed jolt heading into October, but the first month after the move did not exactly settle any nerves. Before the injury, he was fighting through control issues and had put up a 6.30 ERA with Chicago, making it hard to know what kind of late-inning help the club was actually getting from the former Met.
Brazoban has now returned from a left lat strain and logged a scoreless inning in his latest appearance, which at least gives the White Sox something to build on as the postseason nears. Still, the larger question remains the same: whether he can be trusted when the games tighten up and the margin for error gets thin. [Read more 🡒]