Week 7 Record: 4-3 | Overall Record: 34-19, 1st in AL Central

This week, the White Sox faced their biggest test thus far. With questions surrounding their strength of schedule, the White Sox took three of four in a series from the division rival Twins, placing some distance between themselves and the rest of the division at the top. After a rough series with the Reds, the White Sox now sit two games ahead of the Twins with just 7 games to play.

Let’s highlight some of the biggest parts of a playoff-like week for the Sox!

Tale of the Tape

Game 47: White Sox 3 – Twins 1 | Box Score | Recap
Game 48: White Sox 6 – Twins 2 | Box Score | Recap
Game 49: White Sox 1 – Twins 5 | Box Score | Recap
Game 50: White Sox 4 – Twins 3 | Box Score | Recap
Game 51: White Sox 1– Reds 7 | Box Score | Recap
Game 52: White Sox 5 – Reds 0 | Box Score | Recap
Game 53: White Sox 3 – Reds 7 | Box Score

Jordan’s Weekly Wrap-Up Thoughts

The White Sox faced what many consider to be their biggest test this week against the Twins. In what felt like a playoff series, the White Sox took three of four and solidified themselves as a serious contender in the playoffs this year. Those were also easily four of the most fun games this season, as they had a true playoff atmosphere and were all closely contested matchups. I think the series confirmed the Twins’ biggest fear: the White Sox are pretty ready to challenge them for the division long-term already.

After clinching a postseason berth for the first time in 12 years, the White Sox have turned their attention to setting their postseason rotation and preparing their postseason roster. We saw with the callup of Garrett Crochet that the White Sox are serious about contending for a World Series this year while remaining determined to do it from within. The big deadline moves the fans wanted ended up being reinforcements from Schaumburg. It’s a big risk with a lot of reward on the flip side. I appreciate the White Sox taking the risk and calling up a guy like Crochet now, clearly determined to make the most out of the opportunity they have in front of them without trading away the future just yet. Personally, I think it’s a brilliant move by the front office.

How things will shake out? Well, that’s what we play the playoffs for.

Stats On 35th: This Week by the Numbers

This Week’s Numbers:

10, 7, 280, 121, .360

10

With his debut on Friday night, Garrett Crochet became the first player in ten years to make his debut without pitching in the minor leagues first. The last one before him? Mike Leake in 2010. In two innings, Crochet has been incredibly impressive with his 101-mph fastball in what is hopefully a sign of great things to come from the left-hander.

7

Another week, another cool stat from Sarah Langs. Garrett Crochet threw seven 100.0+ mph pitches Sunday, tying Nate Jones for most 100.0+ mph pitches in an outing by a White Sox pitcher in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). Here’s the rest of the fun fact!

280

Jose Abreu had himself another MVP-type week, posting a .462/.517/.885 slash line in 7 games. Along with that slash line came a .577 wOBA, 0.7 fWAR on the week, and an outrageous 280 wRC+. Jose Abreu, offensively, has been the best we’ve seen him in at least 3 years now. What a welcome sight it has been.

121

After 121 plate appearances in 2020 without a home run, Nomar Mazara FINALLY hit his first home run of the 2020 campaign off of Trevor Bauer Saturday night. Though he has been hitless since then, hopefully the home run can get Mazara back on track as the White Sox play their final week of the season. Unfortunately for Mazara, he had a massive slump during the wrong season – hopefully the weight off his back leads to positive results soon.

.360

Tim Anderson will likely be watching the scoreboard for multiple reasons this week. While the White Sox work to clinch a Central Division crown, Anderson is working to become a back-to-back batting champion. His .360 batting average entering this week trails D.J. Lemahieu (.361) by just one point. Lemahieu was the runner-up in the American League last year, so it should be yet another fun duel between two incredibly impressive hitters in the American League to end the season!

Fan Question of the Week

With the White Sox clinching their first postseason berth in 12 years, attention quickly shifted to how the White Sox would prepare for the playoffs. There are two big things for the White Sox to focus on: setting the rotation and getting the lineup ready to go. The lineup is one of the harder things, because the White Sox have to balance everyone getting the necessary reps/rest while also winning ballgames. So, I asked you all to play Armchair Manager this week:

The White Sox need to balance struggling players with winning games over the next week. How would you handle the lineup throughout the week to ensure everyone was most ready for the playoffs? Who would you start/sit consistently?

Again, thank you all for your responses. Another great week of a lot of interaction on Twitter on a Sunday night, which is always awesome. My thoughts first before I get into yours: I want the White Sox to prioritize getting Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert out of the funk each is in. Moncada hasn’t looked right all season, so that might be tougher, but Robert has been in a September rookie slump – his slash line of .100/.203/.150 in September is unsightly, while also costing him the Rookie of the Year Award. Getting these two guys going would be a big key for me. The way I’d handle this first off is to change the lineup. Batting Moncada, Robert, and Mazara back-to-back-to-back is a recipe for the disaster right now. Here’s the lineup I would trot out for this week only:

1) Anderson 2) Moncada 3) Grandal 4) Abreu 5) Moncada 6) Jimenez 7) Encarnacion 8) Mazara 9) Madrigal

This splits up both Robert and Moncada at the bottom of the lineup while giving each of them a bit of protection in the lineup. Robert now has both Grandal and Abreu as protection, while Moncada has Jimenez and Encarnacion. The hope from this protection is that each of them gets back in a groove by seeing more pitches to hit.

As for players like Mazara/McCann/Encarnacion/Engel, I’d prioritize giving the last of the at-bats to the two who are struggling: Mazara and Encarnacion. Mazara continues to look better but not great, while Encarnacion appears to be doing a bit better. Perhaps this last week of at-bats will help them out.

Overall, my biggest priority by far would be helping Moncada and Robert work through their struggles. Robert’s ABs have looked better, which gives me hope over the course of the week. Either way, the White Sox need to avoid a scenario where they go home on October 1st.

Here are five of my favorite responses from you, the fans. Thanks to everyone who responded!

1) @BradSpoeth1: Completely on board with this. Moving them around in the order is necessary in my opinion.

2) @MrDelicious13: Good point, I think that having no off days until the World Series will take a bigger toll on some players than others. It’s going to test the mental toughness of whichever teams are in the World Series more than ever.

3) @rwttweets: I’d definitely like to make sure the top bullpen arms are ready. Whether that means controlled work out of the pen or additional innings for returning guys like Bummer and/or Rodon, I don’t know. It’s going to vary by player and whatever they feel is best for their long-term outlook. I wouldn’t want to tax them, however, especially with no off days in the playoffs.

4) @igotdibsbaer: I’ve seen this take a lot obviously. I’m not sure what the White Sox will do come playoff time, but if Nomar Mazara continues to struggle this week, Engel might be out there for Game 1 next week.

5) @Mbeav11: I agree. I think Robert’s timing has been off this month due to trying to pull everything. He’s pulled off the ball a lot more than in August. However, his last few ABs in Cincinnati were encouraging, and more ABs this week should help him.

Highlights of the Week

We have a late-season debut, some late-inning heroics, and a weight lifted off a certain player’s back this week. Here are the top 3 highlights from the week!

1) Garrett Crochet Makes MLB Debut in Style

2) Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez play heroes vs. Twins

3) Nomar Mazara FINALLY hits his first homer

The Week Ahead: The Magic Number is 4

Monday: Dane Dunning (2-0, 2.33 ERA) vs. Aaron Civale (3-5, 3.80 ERA), 5:10 CT
Tuesday: Reynaldo Lopez (1-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. Shane Bieber (8-1, 1.74 ERA), 5:10 CT
Wednesday: Lucas Giolito (4-3, 3.53 ERA) vs. TBD, 5:10 CT
Thursday: Dallas Keuchel (6-2, 2.04 ERA) vs. TBD, 5:10 CT
Friday-Sunday: Series vs. Cubs… Rotation still TBD due to playoffs beginning

One more week of regular season baseball, White Sox fans. Enjoy it!

Feature Photo: Brandon Anderson