The White Sox kicked off last week’s action by only taking one of three games against the third-place Twins. Luckily, they took care of business against the Royals and notched their first four-game sweep in Kansas City since 1997. All in all, they finished the week 5-2 and maintained their high rankings with just some minor fluctuations.
Here’s a complete look at where media outlets ranked the club this week.
MLB.com: 5
Previous Ranking: 6 (+1)
“Who could have guessed when this season started the most competitive division in baseball would be the AL Central? The race is still tight, even with the White Sox rolling. Over the past three weeks, dating back to Aug. 16, the Sox are tied with the Dodgers for the best record in baseball at 16-4. José Abreu is batting .386 (32-for-83) with 10 homers and 28 RBIs during a 20-game hitting streak, the longest active streak in baseball. And still, with all the winning, the White Sox still hold only a half-game lead on the Indians and a 1 1/2-game lead over the Twins. This will be a fun one down the stretch.” – Alyson Footer
Released on Monday, September 7th.
ESPN: 9
Previous Ranking: 8 (-1)
“The White Sox need to sort out their right-field situation, a process that begins with making an accurate assessment of Nomar Mazara. Mazara has slugged under .300 this season, and on a team full of power hitters, he has yet to go deep. Should Rick Renteria pivot to an Adam Engel/Jarrod Dyson speed-and-defense platoon? Should Rick Hahn ring up Yasiel Puig’s agent? What is Puig up to, anyway?” – Doolittle, ESPN.com staff
Released on Monday, September 7th.
CBS Sports: 6
Previous Ranking: 4 (-2)
“On Aug. 15, the White Sox were swept in a doubleheader against the Cardinals, who were returning from weeks off due to COVID-19 outbreak. The Sox dropped to 10-11. As it turns out, that was the low point of the season. They’ve been on a warpath since then.” – Matt Snyder
Released on Monday, September 7th.
USA Today: 6
Previous Ranking: 8 (+2)
“Rookie Nick Madrigal went 11-for-26 in first seven games back from injury.” – Jesse Yomtov
Released on Monday, September 7th.
Bleacher Report: 4
Previous Ranking: 5 (+1)
“After dropping two of three to the Twins, the White Sox rebounded to sweep a four-game series with the Royals. Veteran Dallas Keuchel lowered his ERA to 2.19 (second in AL) with two more strong starts last week, and a rotation of Lucas Giolito, Keuchel, Dylan Cease and Dane Dunning could cause some serious problems in October with a loaded offense backing it.” – Joel Reuter
Released on Monday, September 7th.
Sports Illustrated: 9
Previous Ranking: 9
“Of all the available top-tier starting pitchers on the free agent market this past offseason, Dallas Keuchel might have been viewed as the most risky. He’d taken a step back since the 2017 season, and at 32 with diminishing velocity, there were question marks as to how effective he could still be. Through eight starts in 2020, he’s been sensational, with a 2.42 ERA over 48 1/3 innings. Though he still doesn’t throw hard and his strikeouts are down, he remains a ground-ball machine, with a 55.8% ground-ball rate.” – Will Laws and Nick Selbe
Released on Friday, September 4th.
The White Sox will play two in Pittsburgh before returning to Chicago this weekend for three against the Tigers. 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
