Chicago White Sox: Brighter days are just around the corner

The Chicago White Sox are now midway through the 2019 season and despite inconsistency, are beginning to show that there are brighter days ahead.

Fresh off a series split with their cross-town rival, the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox entered the All Star break on a high note. While they aren’t playing consistent .500 baseball just yet, they’ve shown enough flashes to make Sox fans feel optimistic about the direction this ball club is headed in. This rebuild, now in its third year, is starting to bear fruit worth picking.

The White Sox currently sit at 42-44 and are 12.5 games behind the first place Minnesota Twins in the AL Central Division. While they probably aren’t at risk of catching the Twins, the Sox do have a realistic chance of pushing the Cleveland Indians for second place in the division. While that may or may not lead to a playoff berth (via Wildcard), it represents a significant milestone for a young team looking to build a bridge to a brighter future.

The South-siders had three players represent them in the mid-Summer classic, as Jose Abreu, Lucas Giolito, and James McCann all made the team. That’s a good sign for an up and coming ball club. I can make the argument that Tim Anderson, who I believe is the heart and soul of the team, Yoan Moncada, and Alex Colome also deserved All Star consideration given the impressive seasons they’ve had to date, respectively.

The youth movement on the South Side has fans buzzing, as attendance and ratings are starting to trend upward. Eloy Jimenez, despite an awkward start to the season, has really begun to come on strong as of late. He’s certainly reminded Cubs fans, on multiple occasions, what they gave up in the trade that sent Jose Quintana to the North Side of town. Jimenez projects to be a middle of the order fixture in the lineup for years to come and a nightmare for opposing pitchers.

Adding to the core already at the major league level are the likes of Dylan Cease (recently called up), Nick Madrigal, Luis Robert, and the recently drafted Andrew Vaughn. Coming back from injury and looking to play a big part of the franchise moving forward are Michael Kopech and Carlos Rodon, though Rodon has had difficulty staying healthy over the course of his career.

The future for the White Sox looks promising with all of the talent permeating throughout the organization. Manager Rick Renteria has done a good job of managing expectations and focusing on player development. General Manager Rick Hahn, despite losing out on some high-profile free agents this past off-season, has to be feeling pretty good about the team’s cap space. With all of this talent on-board, the idea is to make smart free agent decisions that make the team better and shore up legitimate gaps.

It’s not far-fetched to think that the White Sox could contend for the playoffs as early as next year and be in the conversation for a World Series within the next couple of years. Put your shades on Sox fans…the future is starting to look really bright.