By Woodrow Carroll
Last season, the Chicago White Sox ended up exactly .500 with a final record of 81-81.
Tony LaRussa managed the White Sox for most of 2022 and Miguel Cairo called the shots the final month. Cleveland won the American League Central Division championship. At the conclusion, Cleveland (92-70) ended up 11.0 games in front of second-place White Sox.
If you are willing to take a look at the standings this season after Sunday, July 30, the White Sox need to turn back the clock to last season.
Last weekend was not bad for the White Sox. In spite of being shut out, 5-0, by Cleveland the Sox won two of three from Cleveland in the three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. The Sox were 43-64 through Monday this week and n the way to the Texas Rangers for three games through Thursday, Aug. 3, then three games in Cleveland. The Sox were in fourth place in the five-team American League Central.
- The Chicago Cubs fell to visiting Cincinnati, 6-5, Monday this week to go back to .50053-53 in the National League Central.
Winning games has not been the White Sox thing this season. Sunday’s Sox defeat left them with a 43-64 won-loss record (.402) prior to Tuesday’s game at the Texas Rangers. In a way, it’s difficult to fathom what another .500 run on the part of the White Sox might have come up with this season. Both Minnesota and Cleveland alternately have occupied the top spot in the AL Central for much of the season while playing .500 baseball. Yet, even in a weak division, the White Sox postseason prospects are minimal. Monday this week, the White Sox were 11.0 games behind in the AL Central race and 16.5 in the wild-card picture.
Parity is a word often bandied about in a view of a level playing field among Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. We are often told that all 30 MLB franchises have a shot at winning seasons. This season that apparently does not apply to the Kansas City Athletics and Oakland A’s.
Both Kansas City (32-75 .298) and Oakland (30-77 .280) were playing sub.-300 baseball through the weekend. For a team to win less than a third of its games takes some doing in MLB. Last season, the laggard among MLB’s 30 franchises was Washington. The Nationals ended up 55-107 (.340). (The Nationals have shown modest improvement this season, although at 44-62 (.415), the team is still last in the NL East with no real prospect of seeing postseason play The picture we have of MLB pitchers today is far removed from the age of the 20-game winner. We do not hear Denny McClain’s 31 victories in 1968 in the mix.
With the 2023 MLB season two-thirds done, no big league pitcher had recorded more than 11 victories entering this week. The evolving nature of the game has turned the contest into pitching by committee.
If you think that pitching in MLB is far different from not too many years ago, you might take a glance at the batting averages of the top hitters in both leagues.
In the National League, only four regular players were hitting above .300. The Miami Marlins’ Luis Arraez last weekend had a batting average of .377. Following Arreaz’s figure, is a big drop off! Next up is the Atlanta Braves’ Rafael Acuna at .335. As a point of reference, the fifth best batting average in the National League was Arizona’s Ketel Marte at .296.
In the American League, look no further than Toronto’s Bo Bichette whose .318 figure led the American League.
Frankly, few discussions on batting averages or pitching victories. The face of MLB has changed. Talking points have shifted for sure.