With the way the weather has been heating up, it will certainly be defining.
Everyone with a baseball head on their shoulders knows that US Cellular Field becomes a launching pad. It could swing either way. Sox bats could heat up and keep clubbing the home runs, or they could stay quiet and hope that the pitching staff keeps the league low in home runs.
I think this could be a defining stretch—in a good sense. With so many home games and so many games against less-than-quality opponents, the Sox offense really could start clicking come the Crosstown Series.
I actually have the Sox pegged to go 18-9 in the month and I don't think that's too wild of a prediction considering the Sox play 12 games against Kansas City, Colorado, Pittsburgh, and Detroit.
4. Finally, do you think the pitching can continue to do what they've been doing (starters and relievers) into the summer?
Vazquez - Yes. He's a stud, and there's not really much else to say about him.
Buehrle - I think we can look for Buehrle to improve modestly going forward, though his K/BB is a cut below his career mark.
Floyd - No. I wrote an article about him some time back. His peripherals have improved a little since then, but they're still bad, and he still holds the league low in BABIP at .196 (which is far below the typical league-low at the end of the year).
If Gavin the Magician has this success the entire year without actual improvement to his pitching, he would become, without qualification, the luckiest pitcher of this era.
Contreras - Yes. I've definitely come around on Jose. The strikeouts aren't back, but he's got a newfound ability to induce ground balls. The nasty forkball is really working for him. It wouldn't be a stretch to predict him to maintain this level of performance.
Danks - Yes. Danks was once a highly regarded prospect, and all he's doing this year is delivering the performance that most experts expected was a few years away for him. Perhaps his greatest improvement is cutting down on the gopher balls that plagued him last year.
As for the bullpen, bullpens are fickle. I like the chances of this bullpen being a quality one for the rest of the year, simply because several guys are getting the job done well right now, and if one or two goes south, it won't be the end of the world.
When Comiskey Park heats up, we'll see what the hurlers are made of. I hope they'll last, but my better judgment says they'll slump.
The starters might fall off a bit, but not much; Gavin Floyd and John Danks are used to the aches and pains of a full season after last year, and the other three starters are vets.
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