The Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs entered this season on a streak. The Cubs are on a winning streak. The Sox are on a losing streak.
The Cubs seek a fifth-straight playoff appearance. In the past four seasons, the Cubs have won no less than 92 games in each season.
In 2016 the Cubs were 103-58 and won the franchise’s first World Series championship since 1908.
If the White Sox end with a season with a record of .500 or better it would be viewed as a cause for celebration this year. Each of the past six years, the White Sox have finished below .500. The best showing over that period was 2016 when they were 78-84.
Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo, both of whom drove in more than 100 runs last season, return for the Cubs and should generate ample offense. Cubs’ pitching, if not spectacular, is solid, in spite of a rocky start this year.
The Sox had a record of 62-95 last season going into their final five games. All that was needed to avoid a 100-loss season was a lone victory in one of those final five games. The Sox dropped five straight games!
And, for the first time since 1970, when the White Sox concluded with a 56-106 record, they were triple-digit losers.
The Cubs had two 100-RBI men with Baez, 111, and Rizzo, 101, last season. The best the Sox could do was Jose Abreu’s 78 runs batted in and worse yet, the usually-durable Abreu played in only 128 games last year because of injuries.
Lucas Giolito with a final record of 10-13 was the lone member of the Sox pitching staff to reach double digits in victories.