Putting all of the Tony La Russa drama aside, the White Sox have been taking care of business lately to earn one of the best records in baseball. Here’s a complete overview of where the first-place squad landed in this week’s power rankings:
MLB.com: 1
Previous Ranking: 3 (+2)
“The White Sox are 8-2 over their past 10 games and are starting to take a little bit of a command in the AL Central, though the Indians are holding their own with a firm grip of second place. The Sox have the best run differential in baseball at +61 and own the best record in baseball at 24-15, a .615 winning percentage. Chicago has also won five straight games started by Dylan Cease, including Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Royals. Cease is 2-0 with a 1.67 ERA in those five games (five earned runs in 27 innings).” – Alyson Footer.
Released on Sunday, May 16th.
ESPN: 1
Previous Ranking: 7 (+6)
“It does not feel like the White Sox have reached their full stride, yet they are starting to climb to the top of quite a few rankings lists, both of the subjective and objective variety. And why not? The ChiSox lead the majors in runs per game and rank second in runs allowed per game. The lofty offensive ranking is eye-catching since a team we figured would hit lots of long balls thus far ranks just 25th in isolated power. Yes, Chicago still has to navigate the long-term absences of Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez. Nevertheless, there is plenty of reason to believe it’s only going to get better from here.” – Doolittle
Released on Thursday, May 13th.
FOX Sports: 1
Previous Ranking: N/A
“The White Sox are emerging as the team many thought could represent the American League in the World Series. Even without Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert, the White Sox have lost two series all season and appear to be getting better and better.” – Ben Verlander
Released on Tuesday, May 18th.
CBS Sports: 1
Previous Ranking: 2 (+1)
“Is the MVP starting to get *that* hot again? In his last 11 games, Jose Abreu is hitting .395 with three doubles, a triple, three homers and 14 RBI.” – Matt Snyder
Released on Monday, May 17th.
The Athletic: 1
Previous Ranking: 3 (+2)
Conducted by James Fegan and Nick Groke. If you’re a subscriber of The Athletic,click here for further reasoning.
Released on Monday, May 17th.
Bleacher Report: 3
Previous Ranking: 5 (+2)
“The Astros have closed the gap, but the White Sox still lead the majors with a plus-61 run differential. After a series sweep of the Twins and a four-game split with the Royals, they move up two spots to No. 3 overall in this week’s rankings. Billy Hamilton went 4-for-13 with two extra-base hits and two steals last week, and he’ll be counted on to hold down the fort in center field for the time being with Luis Robert sidelined.”- Joel Reuter
Released on Tuesday, May 18th.
NBC Sports Edge: 1
Previous Ranking: 7 (+6)
“Back on April 17, the White Sox were 6-8. They are 19-7 since and had the best run differential in the majors even before embarrassing the Twins in a 16-4 victory on Monday night. That run differential is now +73. And this all with Eloy Jimenez going down before the start of the season with a torn pectoral and Luis Robert suffering a complete tear of his right hip flexor at the beginning of May.Lucas Giolito hasn’t really hit his stride yet, and Yasmani Grandalis up to 33 walks but only 10 hits.” – Drew Silva
Released on Tuesday, May 11th.
Sports Illustrated: 1
Previous Ranking: 1
“Raise your hand if you had Yermín Mercedes’s leading the league in batting average through the first quarter of the season. The White Sox have seemingly not missed a beat despite extended absences from young stars Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert, and Mercedes is a big reason why. Mercedes spent nearly a decade in the minor leagues and playing independent ball before finally reaching the majors. Nobody expects him to sustain his .406 BABIP all year long, but who cares about that right now? The White Sox are talented and deep enough to not be knocked off course when regression finally hits for their 28-year-old rookie. Until that time comes, let’s all enjoy the ride as the Yerminator continues to tear through opposing pitchers like he did his eponymous “Yerminator Burger” at the South Side restaurant Fabulous Freddie’s.” – Will Laws and Nick Selbe
Released on Monday, May 17th.
Next up for the White Sox will be a weekend trip to New York to face the Yankees. Check back here around the same time next week for another round of rankings!
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Featured Photo: White Sox/Twitter
