White Sox Exceeding Expectations After April

                                       
Chicago, IL- Baseball seasons first month is over, and the White Sox are proving everybody wrong. They currently stand at 14-15 in third place in the AL Central. The two teams ahead of the White Sox are the Royals and the Tigers, who also have fourteen wins. Rick Hahn & Co. had a successful off-season, and so far those moves are paying off. Core players such as Adam Eaton and Jose Abreu are producing at the Major League level. However, they aren't the only guys carrying this White Sox team.

Lets take a look at some of the players who have contributed to the White Sox early success:

Chris Sale- Even though he's on the disabled list, he has lead the rotation so far this year. He is currently 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA. He has only started three games, but has pitched 27.1 innings. He is holding opponents to a .168 average, and has a WHIP of .84.

Zach Putnam- Even though he's only twenty-six, Putnam has been a journeyman in his career. He has spent time with the Indians, the Rockies, the Cubs, and now the White Sox. However, it looks like he has found a home on the south side of Chicago. He has appeared in five games this season, and owns an ERA of 1.80. He is holding opponents to a .206 average, and has a WHIP of 1.00.

John Danks- Mr. Danks has been a pleasant surprise this season. After ending the 2013 season with a 4-14 record and ERA of 4.75, it looks like John Danks has recovered from Tommy John Surgery. He has started this year with a 2-1 record and a ERA of 3.48. He's only holding opponents to a .233 average, but his WHIP is a little high at 1.42.

Tyler Flowers- The average just hasn't dropped for Tyler yet. He has 29 hits so far, which is close to the 50 he had last season. He's been taking pitches, as shown in his .398 OBP. His fielding percentage is good at .989, but he has allowed 13 stolen bases this season.

Jose Abreu- Abreu is looking like the player the Sox thought they signed to a six-year $68 million dollar deal. Currently Abreu has 10 HR and 32 RBI. He is first in home runs, and broke the record for most RBI by a rookie. If the season ended today, he would be a top choice for the AL ROTY Award and the AL MVP.

Adam Dunn- The White Sox Designated Hitter is looking to cash in another big payday this off-season. He is currently batting .269/.402/.513/.915 with 5 HR and 12 RBI.

Alexei Ramirez- The thirty-two year old shortstop is off to a hot start. Alexei has a line of .351/.375/.535/.910 with 4 HR and 19 RBI. He has been solid fielding with a .993 fielding percentage and twenty-one double plays.

Adam Eaton- The White Sox center fielder has looked like a steal this season. Acquired in the Hector Santiago trade, Eaton came over from the Diamondbacks. He is currently batting .281/.364/.385/.749 with 1 HR and 14 RBI. He has a .981 fielding percentage in CF, which is pretty good.

Dayan Viciedo- The Cuban Missile has launched this year. Viciedo is batting .348/.410/.528/.938 with 1 HR and 9 RBI. He hasn't been that well this year in the outfield though, as he has four errors.

With all the success of these hot players, there has been some cold ones too:

Ronald Belisario, Scott Downs, and Matt Lindstrom. These arms have not been successful this season. Belisario is 1-3 with a 6.32 ERA and a WHIP of 1.28.  Opponents are embarrassing him with an average of .271 against him. Scott Downs hasn't been more effective, as he is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA. Opponents are hitting .286 against him with an awful WHIP of 1.89. Matt Lindstrom, the White Sox closer, has already blown three saves in six opportunities.

Felipe Paulino- The former Royal who was a low-risk high-reward signing for Hahn, hasn't been successful this season. He is on the disabled list currently, but his numbers before were a 0-2 record in four game starts with a 11.29 ERA and an average against of .389 with a WHIP of 2.56.

Alejamdro De Aza- De Aza has not looked like the career .268/.331/.405/.736 hitter he has been. He is currently batting .185/.255/.359/.614 as the everyday left fielder. He may have 4 HR and 11 RBI, but for him to be playing everyday the average needs to increase.

So far, the White Sox have been playing average baseball. For the team to get better, the cold players need to pick up the production this team needs along with the hot players continuing their success. There is still five months left of the baseball season, so this team has time to figure out what needs to be done in order to make the playoffs.

-Daniel (All statistics used in this article are from MLB.com)

4/30/14: Scherzer Pitches Gem Against White Sox

    (Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports)

Chicago, IL- Max Scherzer showed today the stuff that earned him his CY Young award, as he shut down the White Sox in a 5-1 win.

Ian Kinsler and Miguel Cabrera both had two hits hitting at the top of the lineup. Victor Martinez went 1 for 3 with 2 RBI, which came on a sacrafice fly and bases loaded walk. Bryan Holaday had another hot day at the plate, going 1 for 3 with 2 RBI. He had a two-run RBI double in the top of the fourth. Max Scherzer was on his game today, as he pitched six innings of shutout ball. He might have gave up four hits and three walks, but racked up seven strikeouts. 

The White Sox only had six hits, and two of them came from Dayan Viciedo. Tyler Flowers scored the only run by the White Sox in the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. Hector Noesi got the start, but had a rough outing. The veteran only went 3.2 innings, gave up five hits, four earned runs, one walk, and collected two strikeouts. 

The White Sox start a three-game series with Cleveland on May 2, 2014. John Danks will be taking the mound for the White Sox against Danny Salazar. First pitch is at 6:05 PM CT in Cleveland.

-Daniel

4/30/14: Tigers Find A Way To Get Past White Sox

Chicago IL- The Tigers got past the White Sox on an RBI bunt single in the ninth by Bryan Holaday in their 4-3 win.

Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and Bryan Holday each had two hits in the game. However, Victor Martinez and Bryan Holaday also had RBI singles on top of their two hits. Verlander started for Detroit, as he went seven innings, gave up six hits, three earned runs, three walks, and struck out four. Joba Chamberlain earned the win, and Joe Nathan recorded his fifth save.

Adam Dunn batted cleanup once again, and went 1 for 2 with an RBI and two walks. Marcus Semien went 1 for 3. Both Dayan Viciedo and Tyler Flowers, two hot hitters, went 0 for 4 in the contest. Jose Quintana got the start, as he went six innings, gave up eight hits, three earned runs, and struck out ten.

The White Sox play the final game of this two-game series on April 30, 2014. 2013 AL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer will face off against newly-acquired Hector Noesi at 1:10 PM CT.

-Daniel

4/28/14: White Sox Light Up Former Royals Top Prospect

                                          (Tony Dejak/AP)

Chicago, IL- The White Sox offense came alive today against former top prospect Jake Odorizzi. Marcus Semien hit the go-ahead RBI double in the bottom of the fourth as the White Sox won 7-3.

The White Sox offense came alive, as they had twelve hits. Adam Eaton, Jose Abreu, Adam Dunn, Alexei Ramirez, and Tyler Flowers each had two hits. De Aza put the Sox on the board with a two-run home run in the bottom of the second to tie the ballgame. Alexei Ramirez had an RBI triple in the bottom of the forth to tie the game at 3-3. Adam Eaton and Jose Abreu had a combined three RBI tonight. Andre Rienzo started, as he went six innings, gave up five hits, two earned runs, three walks, and struck out four. Zach Putnam, who was called up not too long ago, had another solid outing pitching two scoreless innings with two strikeouts.

Ben Zobrist and Desmond Jennings both had two hits apiece, but the rest of the Rays offense was weak tonight. Jake Ordorizzi struggled, as he went 4.1 innings, gave up eight hits, four earned runs, two walks, and struck out five.

The White Sox start a two-game series at home with the Tigers next. On April 29, 2014 Justin Verlander will face Jose Quintana at 7:10 PM CT.

-Daniel

Scott Carroll: An Example To Never Give Up

   (White Sox Twitter)

Chicago, IL- Making the Major Leagues is not something every Minor League ball player achieves. Some of them spend their whole career riding on buses to other cities to face other Minor League ball clubs. Some of them hang up the cleats after never getting the call up. Others wait long , and finally receive the call up they desire.

Scott has given the game of baseball many chances in his career. After requiring Tommy John surgery following the 2012 season, he was on the verge of walking away from the game he loved so much. He was twenty-seven, and spent six years in the Minors at the time. However, Carroll decided not to give up just yet. He came back after surgery to play in 22 games in 2013. He wanted to achieve his goal, and was determined to make it to the Majors.

Scott Carroll was brought back this season to play for the Knights. According to Baseball Reference, he started the year at Charlotte going 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA. With the strong start, he was promoted to the White Six due to injuries.        

Being twenty-nine doesn't mean anything to Scott, as his dream finally came true today. The third-round pick of the 2007 draft for the Cincinnati Reds made his Major League debut against the Rays today. He pitched well, as he tossed 7.1 innings of two-run ball. He earned a win on top of his great performance. With his great start, the White Sox looked forward to seeing some great pitching out of the rookie. Many injuries have occurred to the pitching staff, and Scott Carroll has the potential to shine on a White Sox team that looks to stand out against its foes.

-Daniel

4/27/14: Scott Carroll Wins His First Start Against The Rays

   (David Banks/Getty Images)

Chicago, IL- Scott Carroll earned the win in his first start of his MLB career. Jose Abreu helped the White Sox win 9-2 against the Rays. 

Adam Eaton's bat came alive, as he went 3 for 5 in the leadoff spot. Marcus Semien hit well behind Eaton, going 2 for 5 with 1 RBI. Jose Abreu lead the offense for the White Sox, going 2 for 4 with 4 RBI. He had a two-run home run, and a two-run RBI single. Alexei Ramirez continued his great month of April, going 2 for 4 with 1 RBI. Scott Carroll made his first start at the Major Leagues, as he went 7.1 innings, gave up six hits, one earned run, two walks, and struck out three.

Ben Zobrist went 2 for 4 in the leadoff spot for the Rays. Evan Logoria was the only player who had an RBI for the Rays, as he had RBI single in the top of the eighth. David Price continued his struggles this season, as he went six innings, gave up nine hits, six earned runs, one walk, and struck out seven.

The final game of this three-game series is on April 28, 2014. Jake Odorizzi will face Andre Rienzo at 7:10 PM CT. 

-Daniel

4/26/14: White Sox Shutout By Rays

                                          (Wikipedia)

Chicago, IL- Ryan Hanigan hit the go-ahead two-run RBI double in the top of the second as the Rays shutout the White Sox 4-0.

James Loney had a hot day at the plate, going 3 for 4 with 1 RBI. Yunel Escobar went 2 for 4 in the game. Ryan Hanigan, the Rays new catcher, went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. The White Sox were shut down by Cesar Ramos, as he went five innings and only gave up five hits and two walks.

Paul Konerko and Gordon Beckham both collected two hits, but the rest of the offense could only manage one hit. John Danks started, as he went 5.2 innings and gave up seven hits, four earned runs, four walks, and collected four strikeouts.

The White Sox play the next game of this three-game series April 27, 2014. Scott Carroll is making his first Major League start against former Cy Young Award winner David Price at 1:10 PM CT.

-Daniel