After sweeping a four-game series against the Tigers and then taking two of three from the North Siders at Wrigley, the White Sox finished perhaps their most fun week in recent memory by going 6-1. This was enough for a sizable leap in almost every power ranking, landing primarily within the Top 10. We’ll cut ESPN some slack because they’re apparently still warming up to the Sox.
Here’s a complete look at where media outlets ranked the club this week.
MLB.com: 9
Previous Ranking: 16 (+7)
Conducted by Alyson Footer.
Released on Monday, August 24th.
ESPN: 11
Previous Ranking: 12 (+1)
“The Sox entered Sunday tied with the Padres for the MLB lead with 54 home runs. The White Sox were just 25th in the majors in home runs in 2019. In their seven-game win streak entering Sunday, they bashed 27 home runs, including two games with six.” – ESPN staff
Released on Monday, August 24th.
CBS Sports: 6
Previous Ranking: 12 (+6)
“This power, man. No team wants any piece of them in a three-game series in October” – Matt Snyder
Released on Monday, August 24th.
USA Today: 10
Previous Ranking: 19 (+9)
“Seven-game winning streak ends with loss in series finale vs. Cubs.” – Jesse Yomtov
Released on Monday, August 24th.
Bleacher Report: 8
Previous Ranking: 17 (+9)
“After sweeping a four-game series with the Tigers, the White Sox made a statement at Wrigley Field over the weekend, outscoring the Cubs 17-5 in the first two games of the Crosstown Classic and homering a ridiculous 12 times in the three-game series. Jose Abreu hit six of those home runs, vaulting himself into the AL MVP conversation in the process. Now it’s up to the pitching staff to do its part if they’re going to make a legitimate push.” – Joel Reuter
Released on Monday, August 24th.
theScore: 7
Previous Ranking: 11 (+4)
“The White Sox simply can’t stop hitting home runs. They’ve destroyed opposing pitchers over the past eight days, clobbering 28 homers, with Jose Abreu responsible for eight of them (to put the latter into perspective, that’s the same number of long balls that each of Manny Machado, Cody Bellinger, and Trevor Story have hit all year). As a result, Chicago actually has a better run differential than the Cleveland Indians.” – theScore Staff
Released on Monday, August 24th.
Sports Illustrated: 11
Previous Ranking: 12 (+1)
“The White Sox are winners of five straight thanks to a strong week from the offense. Chicago’s young core has delivered all season, leading a lineup that’s tops in the majors in combined fWAR (5.7) and second in slugging percentage (.459). The veteran bats—namely free-agent signings Yasmani Grandal and Edwin Encarnación—have slumped, with Grandal slugging just .317 and Encarnación batting .169/.258/.390 with a career-worst 32.8% strikeout rate. If those two pick up the pace, the White Sox offense will do even greater damage.” – Will Laws and Nick Selbe
Released on Friday, August 21st.
A two-game series against the Pirates and a three-game series against the Royals, both at home, poses another great opportunity for the White Sox to continue their winning ways. If we see the offense do the same level of damage as this past week, expect to see their rankings jump even further.
Check back early next week as we’ll provide another update on where the team stands.
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Featured Photo: White Sox/Twitter
