The Chicago White Sox in the second week in the month of September lead the American League Central Division, albeit via a tie at the moment with the Cleveland Indians.
September is all but a week old. The team touts the reigning American League Player of the Month in first baseman Jose Abreu. The team also possesses the reigning American League Rookie of the Month in Luis Robert. And the only no-hitter to this point in the 2020 season, belongs to the White Sox ace Lucas Giolito.
Teams across the league are clamoring for the home stretch of the shortened season. They are either preparing to make their push for the postseason or they have all but mailed it in and are looking ahead to next season.
The White Sox belong with those making their October push. Which, just to get to the postseason, would be leaps and bounds of improvement for this team, as well as its fanbase. But the way this team has performed night in and night out for better than the last month has many expecting an even deeper playoff run. Some are even eyeing the World Series.
Here are September’s three burning questions that will make those expectations a reality.
Who deserves a bulk of the credit to this point in the season?
Just about everyone offensively could easily be the answer here. But the only answer is Dallas Keuchel.
While the former Cy Young Award winner has been better than many expected on the mound, with a 6-2 record through this point. In those two losses, which came early in the season he only surrendered three total earned runs but was unable to get any run support.
But in addition to his performance on the mound, Keuchel single-handedly turned the White Sox season around by using his veteran leadership. He called out his teammates across the board for their lack of effort through the first 10-12 games of the season. Since that point, this team has found that much harder game in and game out.
Will this lineup fizzle out at some point?
Not likely. As the season has worn on just about everyone in the lineup has put their stamp on games. While Abreu and Robert have been hot since what seems like game one, others have come through when needed. Even Edwin Encarnacion, who was in a slump that stretched weeks, helped in a pair of victories this past week while breaking out of it. This team has too many effective hitters to see it fizzle out completely. Possibly a game or two but not for an extended stretch.
Will they win their division?
Yes. The fact that they play the Tigers and Twins at the end of this week and into next week will go a long way. If they have another solid 7-3 stretch they should be able to give themselves a little cushion atop the division. That will bode well as they push the mid-September point of the season.
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