White Sox offense looks anemic

Everything went right for the Chicago White Sox on opening day. Mark Buehrle put behind his late season slump and gave the Sox seven scoreless innings allowing only three hits while making the best defensive play in the early goings of this baseball season. Paul Konerko and Alex Rios connected for home runs and the bullpen looked solid in shutting the Cleveland Indians down in the 8th and 9th innings in a 6-0 victory.

Optimism was extremely high after opening day for White Sox fans. Then the next two games came and went, and the Sox found themselves at 1-2, losing their first home series of the year to last year’s worst team in the AL Central. The Indians came back and knocked off the White Sox 5-3 in both losses, the latter in 11 innings. The White Sox will now stay in Chicago for a three game set against their biggest rivals, the Minnesota Twins. So what went wrong on Wednesday and Thursday?

Well the weather was certainly a reverse of a beautiful opening day game, but the Sox’s woes began and ended with the offense. A balanced team that combines small ball, speed and power just has not produced. The White Sox have just 14 hits in three games, and Thursday’s game went 11 innings in a 5-3 loss. So the Sox have been up to bat in 28 innings and only have 14 hits to show for it. Only one player is batting over .250 and that’s Gordon Beckham at .273. Only four hitters are hitting above .167. Paul Konerko has two home runs and 5 RBI and Carlos Quentin has a home run and 3 RBI on the season. The rest of the team combined has 2 RBI.

I know it’s way too early in the season to get into statistics, but the Sox vast hitting ineptitude has to at least be brought into the conversation. All spring training, the talk was about the starting rotation; If the offense picks up the slack, watch out for this White Sox team. The three starting pitchers, Buehrle, Jake Peavy and Gavin Floyd have pitched well enough, throwing 18 innings and only allowing five earned runs for a 2.50 ERA. But the offense needs to produce runs if this team is serious about winning the AL Central.

Newcomer third baseman Mark Teahen is yet to get a hit in three games and has looked terrible in the process. After watching Teahen fan at two breaking balls way out of the strike zone last night, my expectations for him this year immediately dropped. He was great on the Royals hitting against the White Sox, but that has not transitioned in a White Sox uniform following up a poor spring training as well. He does have four walks though. Andruw Jones and Mark Kotsay have combined to go hitless and Alexei Ramirez and Alex Rios only have one hit apiece through three games.

While the White Sox are only batting .154 as a team, last in the American League, they do have a high on-base percentage. They have already drawn 19 walks, but haven’t done much with those runners. The Sox were 2-11 with runners in scoring position last night. The lack of hitting could be contributed to the wild pitchers they are facing. They may face another one tonight in Minnesota’s Francisco Liriano, but should have plenty of chances to pick up hits against Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn over the weekend, who do not want to walk batters.

The bullpen has showed some promise with Matt Thornton having a blistering start, striking out six batters in three innings while reaching 97 mph on the radar. However, Thornton gave up the game-tying double in the bottom of the 8th last night that eventually led to a White Sox defeat. Bobby Jenks looks like he is going to have to work for every out with his velocity down. J.J. Putz took the loss the last night in two innings of work, but threw well on opening day. Sergio Santos is a flamethrowing rookie that could really make a difference. He got the Sox out of a tight spot last night in the seventh inning, allowing no baserunners after he replaced Gavin Floyd.

The bullpen has given up five runs in 11 innings so far and I don’t have a real gripe with any of the pitchers. It’s extremely difficult to evaluate pitchers after only three games. Time will tell how this bullpen holds up.

The White Sox will trot out John Danks, Freddy Garcia and Mark Buehrle against the Twins this weekend. The offense need to pick it up and take at least two of three games to end the first week on a high note.

I still think the White Sox are going to win the AL Central with about 90 wins, but my tone might change in the coming weeks if this offense continues its pathetic output.

Predictions for 2010 Baseball Season

Opening Day for baseball means 30 baseball teams have the dream of winning the World Series or at least making the playoffs. Now, only 8 will make it, and it looks like it will be similar to last year's entrants.

TIn honor of baseball's opening week, here are my predictions for the playoffs, World Series and individual awards of MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year.

Which teams do you think will make the playoffs and World Series? Will this year's World Series be a rematch from last year?

American League East: 1. Yankees 2. Red Sox 3. Rays 4. Orioles 5. Blue Jays: Just too much power and pitching for the New York Yankees. At worst they will take the wild card.

American League Central: 1. White Sox 2. Twins 3. Tigers 4. Royals 5. Indians: This will be a battle to 90 wins for the top three teams. The Chicago White Sox pitching will be the difference as the Twins will not overcome the loss of closer Joe Nathan.

American League West: 1. Mariners 2. Angels 3. Rangers 4. A's: Another tight division at the top. If Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez and eventually Eric Bedard are healthy, the Seattle Mariners will win with pitching and speed (think Chone Figgins AND Ichiro).

American League Wild Card: Boston Red Sox: Josh Beckett, John Jackey and Jon Lester are all ace pitchers and happen to play for the same team. Way too much pitching not to make the playoffs, but the Tampa Bay Rays will threaten the Red Sox.

National League East: 1. Phillies 2. Marlins 3. Braves 4. Mets 5. Nationals: The Phillies should dominate this division, though the Marlins and Braves should be good too. Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. Should I say more?

National League Central: 1. Cardinals 2. Brewers 3. Cubs 4. Reds 5. Astros 6. Pirates: Too many stars for the St. Louis Cardinals to lose this division. Pujols, Holliday, Carpenter and Wainwright are all elite players.

National League West: 1. Rockies 2. Dodgers 3. Giants 4. Diamondbacks 5. Padres: Another great division, but I just like the Rockies all around game and attitude. Expect a big win streak to vault them to the top.

National League Wild Card: Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers have some question marks, but Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier should be great and if Manny Ramirez starts playing for a 2011 contract, watch out.

WORLD SERIES: Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago White Sox in 6 games: It will only take one year for Roy Halladay to reap the benefits of leaving Toronto and the AL East. The White Sox have a balanced lineup and great pitching and will upset the Yankees or Red Sox to reach their second World Series in the last five years.

American League MVP: Joe Mauer: He could quickly become the Albert Pujols of the American League, which means he will be in the top-3 in MVP voting every year. We will see how the new stadium affects him, but I'm looking at a 30 home run, .360 season for Mauer.

National League MVP: Ryan Braun: This kid can just straight up hit and if the Brewers make a run at the NL Wild Card, he will be why. I only worry that he could ultimately split votes with teammate Prince Fielder. My backup picks are Chase Utley, Troy Tulowitzki and of course, the baseball god himself, Albert Pujols.

American League Cy Young: Felix Hernandez: If the Mariners are going to win the AL West, King Felix is going to have another huge year. I'm looking at a 21-5 record with a sub-3.00 ERA for a team that will win 90-95 games. He could lead the league in strikeouts, ERA and wins. He only gets better and will be one of the top five pitchers in the league for the next decade.

National League Cy Young: Roy Halladay: So this is what it will be like not to pitch against the Yankees and Red Sox all season. Halladay should easily win more than 20 games with that lineup behind him and the Phillies are the best team in the National League. This is the year for the world to take notice just how good Roy Halladay is.

American League Rookie of the Year: Neftali Feliz: This guy is a fireballer and whether he is a starter or pitching in relief, Feliz is going to strike people out.

National League Rookie of the Year: Jason Heyward: Heyward is a starting outfielder for the Atlanta Braves and I expect to hit well his first season. It's not unreasonable to expect 25 hours. The Braves have some good pitching and Heyward is the future for the Braves offense. This could be a runaway.