With the Season Coming to a Close Both White Sox and Cubs are in First Place

 

September 18, 2020

In spite of this being a short season, it has been a very good year for Chicago baseball. For only the second time since the 1906 cross-town series, both teams will be in the playoffs. It’s a shame that the fans can’t attend to support and bask in the success of these teams. 

The White Sox started out with a 10-11 record. Then they went on a tear, going 22-6,surging into first place in the Central Division with the American League's best record.. This team’s calling card is their offense. MVP candidate Tim Anderson is vying for his second consecutive batting crown. He currently is second to D.J. LeMahieu. Despite missing 13 games, he leads the league in runs scored.  He is second in hits, trailing only MVP candidate Jose Abreu. Abreu is having a monster year. He is third in batting average (.332) and second in homers (17). He is trying to repeat leading the league in RBI and is in first place with 51 in 50 games. Eloy Jimenez is hitting .301 with 13 homers and 38 RBI. Rookie second baseman Nick Madrigal is hitting .324.

If not for the Cleveland Indians Shane Bieber, Dallas Keuchel would be getting consideration for the Cy Young Award. The rest of the staff, though not exceptional, has been pretty good. Coming back from Tommy John surgery, Dane Dunning has been a pleasant surprise. He held the Minnesota Twins great line-up to two runs in 7 innings. Alex Colome is second in the league with 12 saves in 13 opportunities with an ERA under 1.00. Evan Marshall and two guys I never heard of, Matt Foster and Codi Heuer, have been excellent set up men.

Defining Moment: September 17 vs Twins. Jarrod Dyson leads off the bottom of the seventh with a single and steals second. After a Madrigal fly out, Anderson advances Dyson to third, grounding into the second out. Grandal walks. Abreu hits a slow grounder and beats the throw for a rare infield hit, tying the game. Jimenez doubles in the winning run and the Sox clinch a berth in the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

The Cubs will go wire to wire and win their division with ease. The main competition, the St. Louis Cardinals, had a COVID breakout which made it easier on the Cubs. In contrast to the Sox, the Cubs are winning because of pitching. As I’ve said before, there are no better top two starters than Kyle Hendricks and Yu Darvish. This bodes well, especially because the first round of the playoffs is a best of three. Jon Lester, who looked washed up three weeks ago, has been excellent the last few times out. Alec Mills, owner of a no-hitter, has been better than expected. The bullpen has gotten better and better as the season has progressed. Jeremy Jeffress saved the Cubs by taking over the closer role with 7 saves and a 1.77 ERA. The middle relief has improved. Even much maligned Craig Kimbrel has been lights out in his past few appearances.

The problem of the Cubs this season is the inexplicable reason they are not hitting. Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber are all hitting .220 or less. It looks as if Baez may be coming around. He needs to cut down his strikeouts. If there’s a bright spot in the line-up, it has to be Ian Happ. He leads the team with 12 homers and 28 RBI. Jason Heyward leads the team with a .287 average.

Defining Moment: September 12 vs. Brewers. With the Cubs offense in an anemic yearlong slump, things didn’t look good for the team. After being shut-out for 8 innings, the Brewers brought in Josh Hader, one of the best relievers in baseball. Javier Baez and pinch-hitter Anthony Rizzo had one out singles. Jason Heyward followed with 3-run homer. Ildemaro Vargas followed with another homer and the Cubs won 4-2.