It seemed like just yesterday the Chicago White Sox were on their way to a 100-win season with a clear path to the World Series.
No one in the division would be able to stop them, and the defending American League champion Houston Astros watched star shortstop Carlos Correa flee to Minnesota to make a ton of money on a mediocre team.
ESPN insider Jeff Passan made news last week for predicting the Sox would win the World Series, a bold statement that presumably came from Passan himself and not someone hacking his Twitter account.
Everything was going so smoothly at Camelback Ranch in Year 2 of the Tony La Russa reboot that it almost made one forget about all the early season controversies from Year 1.
But suddenly it happened, slowly at first and then all at once.
Outfielder Andrew Vaughn suffered a hip pointer but no problem. Just a blip.
Then reliever Garrett Crochet needed Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2022 season. A bigger problem for sure but not a deal-breaker.
And then ace Lance Lynn suffered a torn tendon in his right knee and will be out six to eight weeks. Has someone put a curse on this team?
The coronation of the Sox suddenly is on hold. If they’re going to fulfill the promise of the 2022 season, they’ll have to do it the hard way.
White Sox brass will tell you that was always the case, that nothing was guaranteed, not even a division title in the low-rent American League Central. But that’s what front-runners always say when everyone is picking them to win handily, as the Sox did in 2021.
But the truth is the Sox should run away with the division barring health issues. Their lineup is far and away the best in the Central, they have the league’s top closer in Liam Hendricks and if Michael Kopech lives up to expectations as a starter, the loss of Carlos Rodón should be minimized.
Sox starters led the AL with a 3.57 ERA last season, so even a slight drop-off shouldn’t alter the team’s chances of repeating. And after back-to-back postseason appearances, playoff experience won’t be an issue come October.
There were no more excuses for the White Sox. This was a win-or-else year.
But Kopech started out behind the other starters after a positive COVID-19 test in February and didn’t make his Cactus League debut until Thursday. Dallas Keuchel was shelled in spring training, leaving Lynn, Lucas Giolito and Dylan Cease to carry the load.
With Lynn out for up to two months, the Sox likely will turn to swingman Reynaldo López or even reclamation project Vince Velasquez to fill the void. Gulp.
In hindsight, Sox general manager Rick Hahn should’ve held on to reliever Craig Kimbrel until he could land another starting pitcher in return. Instead he acquired veteran outfielder AJ Pollock, a nice pickup but someone the Los Angeles Dodgers were obviously trying to unload.
Now the Sox, with a barren farm system, have no big pieces to deal for a reliable starter, other than perhaps Vaughn and Gavin Sheets, who should be untouchable. So they have to wing it until Lynn returns — and hope Kopech builds up his arm strength enough to go five innings soon.
It’s not Hahn’s fault he focused on right field instead of the rotation. He didn’t know Crochet or Lynn would be injured so soon after the Kimbrel deal. Injuries happen, and this year we’re going to see more and more pitchers go on the injured list in April because of the short spring.
Lynn, who isn’t anyone’s idea of a physically fit specimen, has managed to succeed in spite of his weight. But last summer’s knee injury, followed by the latest one, makes him suspect in the remaining two years of his contract, which the Sox extended last summer to great acclaim.
Will this be a recurring problem? And without Lynn available, does Keuchel now have a longer leash? Sox fans already are warming up their vocal chords for his first start.
It looks as if the offense will have to come through early and often to pick up the starting pitchers, which isn’t the worst thing. The Sox know they can count on Tim Anderson and José Abreu. And though the lineup is predominantly right-handed, they should have enough hitting to win the division — assuming no major injuries to Eloy Jiménez or Luis Robert, both of whom are talented enough to be in the Most Valuable Player race.
It would make sense to put Pollock in left and make Jiménez the designated hitter more often than not, but La Russa seems content with leaving Jiménez in the outfield, so it’s probably useless to argue. At least La Russa has persuaded Jiménez to stop taking so many risks and potentially injuring himself. Baby steps.
Catcher Yasmani Grandal’s health also will be vital without a backup who has earned any real playing time, while third baseman Yoán Moncada has had an awful spring — a .133 average and 12 strikeouts in 30 at-bats entering Monday’s game against the Cubs. Moncada hasn’t come close to his .915 OPS from 2019, so it’s time to find out if his “breakthrough” season was an aberration.
The Leury García/Josh Harrison combo platter at second base also bears watching, as does the absence of a dominant left-handed reliever outside of Aaron Bummer — so it might not be the cakewalk to October most Sox fans envisioned. With the rotation now in flux, some early struggles wouldn’t be at all surprising.
It’ll be up to La Russa to guide them through the obstacles, which already are starting to pile up. But that’s why Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf hired La Russa in the first place — he has been through it all in 33 years as a manager.
Year 2 of the reboot won’t be any different than 1984, but hopefully for the Sox it will have a better ending.
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