The 2020 regular season is in the home stretch, and for the first time since 2008, the Chicago White Sox have their eyes on October. With a league-best offense and a top-5 pitching staff, the Sox have garnered national attention as a potential World Series contender. But in a season of chaos, the playoffs appear to be no different. A best-of-three series in the home ballparks of the higher seed is the first challenge for the World Series hopefuls, and in a series that short, anything can happen. Still, there are match-ups that appear more favorable for some teams, and some they’d certainly like to avoid.
Let’s take a look at some potential first-round opponents for the White Sox.
New York Yankees
Current Seed: 5
Potential Lineup:
- D.J. Lemahieu (2B)
- Aaron Judge (RF)
- Aaron Hicks (CF)
- Luke Voit (1B)
- Giancarlo Stanton (DH)
- Gio Urshela (3B)
- Gleyber Torres (SS)
- Gary Sanchez (C)
- Clint Frazier (LF)
Probable Starters:
- Gerrit Cole (RHP)
- Masahiro Tanaka (RHP)
- Deivi Garcia (RHP)
Despite their recent struggles, the Yankees are one of the most talented teams in all of baseball. Their biggest problem the past couple of years has been keeping their talent healthy and on the field. Sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have battled various injuries over the past couple of seasons, although both figure to be back healthy by the start of the playoffs.
Even with several injuries, the Yankees lineup is dangerous from top to bottom. They sit in the top 10 in MLB in OPS, SLG, and HRs. While they’re middle-of-the-road in most contact stats, they’re a powerful group that can generate runs at a moment’s notice via the homer.
What their pitching staff lacks in-depth, it makes up for in talent. The $300-million man Gerrit Cole would undoubtedly start the first game, and despite the fact that he’s tied for the league lead in HRs allowed, his ERA is solid and he has a history of playoff dominance. The rest of the Yankee rotation could be up in the air, but Veteran Masahiro Tanaka seems likely to slot in for game two. The club has been impressed with rookie Deivi Garcia, and they may be leaning towards using him in a possible game three.
Overall, a healthy Yankees team is certainly a dangerous match-up, especially in a short series. After all, the Bronx Bombers were chosen by many as the AL favorites in the preseason. Would the young White Sox pitching staff be able to quiet the powerful Yankee bats? We may get to find out.
Houston Astros
Current Seed: 6
Potential Lineup:
- George Springer (CF)
- Jose Altuve (2B)
- Michael Brantley (DH)
- Alex Bregman (3B)
- Kyle Tucker (LF)
- Yuli Gurriel (1B)
- Carlos Correa (SS)
- Josh Reddick (RF)
- Martin Maldonado (C)
Probable Starters:
- Zack Greinke (RHP)
- Framber Valdez (RHP)
- Cristian Javier (RHP)
The 2020 season has certainly been a roller-coaster for the Astros. After making it to the World Series a year ago, Houston made headlines in unexpected ways. A cheating scandal has marred the success of the 2017 champions and led to the firing of manager A.J. Hinch.
Now, under new skipper Dusty Baker, the Astros have experienced a number of injuries, as well as the departure of last year’s postseason hero Gerrit Cole. Defending Cy Young winner Justin Verlander made just one start before being placed on the IL with a rather mysterious arm injury. The bullpen is young and has been inconsistent, at one point consisting of NINE rookies, a franchise record. The lineup remains full of talent, but slow starts from George Springer and Jose Altuve and a season-ending injury to second-year slugger Yordan Alvarez have raised some questions about whether this team has what it takes to make a deep playoff run.
A potential playoff series would almost certainly feature the veteran Zack Greinke in game one. Lance McCullers Jr. is an option for one of the later games, however, his 2020 numbers have been less than impressive, and it might make more sense to go with youngsters Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier, who have both put up solid numbers in the rotation.
The big x-factor here is the potential return of Verlander. Despite reports that his injury may be season-ending, Verlander is on the rehab track and seems like a possibility to return before the end of the season. Overall, I think the Astros young pitching and inconsistent lineup creates a favorable match-up vs. the White Sox. Nobody knows the Astros lineup better than their former teammate Dallas Keuchel, and Lucas Giolito has put up excellent numbers vs. Houston in his career. This is a match-up that Sox fans could feel pretty good about.
Cleveland Indians
Current Seed: 7
Potential Lineup:
- Cesar Hernandez (2B)
- Jose Ramirez (3B)
- Francisco Lindor (SS)
- Carlos Santana (1B)
- Franmil Reyes (DH)
- Tyler Naquin (RF)
- Josh Naylor (LF)
- Roberto Perez (C)
- Delino DeShields Jr. (CF)
Probable Starters:
- Shane Bieber (RHP)
- Zach Plesac (RHP)
- Carlos Carrasco (RHP)
An opponent who the White Sox are very familiar with, the Indians narrowly missed a playoff appearance in 2019 and are back in contention. The story for Cleveland has been the pitching staff. The Tribe leads the Amerian League in ERA, and that is due in large part to the dominance of Cy Young favorite and potential MVP candidate Shane Bieber. In 10 starts this season, Bieber is 7-1 with an ERA of 1.53. He leads baseball with 102 strikeouts in just 64.2 innings.
Even after trading away Mike Clevinger, the Indians staff looks very daunting entering a playoff series. Youngster Zach Plesac and comeback story Carlos Carrasco figure to take the ball for games two and three respectively. Neither of those would be particularly good match-ups for an offense. On the bright side, the Indians sit in the bottom fifth of teams in almost every offensive category. The lineup is a real weakness behind all-stars Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. If an opponent can manage to snag a couple of runs off the star-studded pitching staff, it may be enough.
As far as the White Sox are concerned, I think this is the worst possible match-up for them. In several instances already this season, the Pale Hose have struggled to score against Cleveland’s pitching, despite their overall offensive prowess. Pitching wins championships, especially in the modern era, and nobody has a staff more built for October than the team in Cleveland. This is a matchup that the White Sox want no part of.
Toronto Blue Jays
Current Seed: 8
Potential Lineup:
- Cavan Biggio (3B)
- Bo Bichette (SS)
- Teoscar Hernandez (RF)
- Vlad Guerrero Jr. (DH)
- Travis Shaw (1B)
- Randal Grichuk (CF)
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (LF)
- Danny Jansen (C)
- Joe Panik (2B)
Probable Starters:
- Hyun-Jin Ryu (LHP)
- Taijuan Walker (RHP)
- Thomas Hatch (RHP)
A rather surprising contender in 2020, the Blue Jays are an up-and-coming squad with loads of young talent. Their lineup consists of high-potential players such as Cavan Biggio, Vlad Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette. Young teams are often unpredictable in a short series, but several signs point to the Blue Jays record being quite deceiving.
First, Toronto’s run differential entering Friday night is -20, the only probable playoff team in the American League with a negative run differential. The Blue Jays also sit middle-of-the-road in most offensive and pitching categories. Lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu leads a pitching staff of talented but inconsistent arms into the postseason. Possible rotation candidates include Matt Shoemaker, Jacob Waguespack, newly acquired veterans Robbie Ray and Taijuan Walker, and youngster Thomas Hatch, who has pitched pretty well so far this season.
Overall, the White Sox lineup matches up well with the Blue Jays rotation, as they notoriously crush left-handers. Keuchel and Giolito should be able to contain the young and free-swinging Toronto lineup. Sox fans should definitely feel comfortable about this one.
With just a couple weeks to go in the regular season, Sox fans are certainly starting to look forward to the playoffs. Keep these match-ups in mind when you’re decided who to root for in meaningful games down the stretch. Games against Minnesota, Oakland, and Tampa, while possible, are less likely based on current seedings. Regardless of who the opponent is, Sox fans should be excited. We’ll be watching the boys in October for the first time since 2008, and the team looks loaded and ready to make a run for several years to come.
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Featured Photo: White Sox/Twitter
