I don't have much to say about yesterday's game; simply incredible. Minnesota is the hottest team in MLB right now and is tearing up every power ranking.
As I have said before, I believe that Chicago will be very tough to top in the AL Central. They have an excellent team this year that flew under the radar before Opening Day.
Right now it looks like it will be even harder for the Twins to make postseason play through a Wild Card berth because of the feuding Rays and Red Sox. Whoever doesn't finish first in the AL East is going to be the main competitor in the Wild Card race.
Right now both Boston and Tampa Bay are better than Minnesota.
The first reason Chicago is in the position they are in right now is because of their outstanding pitching.
The best pitcher in this White Sox rotation is John Danks. His ERA of 2.54 and his WHIP of 1.18 are outstanding. He also strikes out a lot of batters faced; 6.88 K/9IP (he had nine tonight). Danks doesn't have the record you would expect a pitcher of his caliber to have, but he has filthy stuff. He isn't afraid to attack the zone and throws lots of strikes.
Gavin Floyd has also been terrific for Chicago. He has a 10-4 record to go along with a 3.22 ERA. This kid is only 25 years old and is in his second year with the White Sox.
The White Sox lineup is also deadly. There are four newcomers that have lit up opposing pitchers. Alexei Ramirez came directly from Cuba to the Chicago second base. He is tearing major league pitching apart, and also has a super glove.
Orlando Cabrera was a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last year. He is doing well as the short stop for this incredible team. Other new members to this team are Carlos Quentin and Nick Swisher, both of whom are terrific batters.
If Minnesota keeps playing the way they are playing, there is almost no doubt that they will win the division. The Twins are "firing on all cylinders," as I put it yesterday. The pitching is phenomenal, the batting is superb, and the defense is great.
If Chicago had gone through a slump while we made this run Minnesota would be more than a couple games ahead of the White Sox.
That being said, Chicago has been a hot team too. They have won ten of their last twelve games, and have held off the surging Twins.
I cannot realistically expect Minnesota to continue winning games like they are, though. I also expect Chicago to cool off, taking us back to where we were before this streak; a handful of games back.
However, I hope Minnesota makes me look like a fool and sweeps the Red Sox in this upcoming matchup starting Tuesday, then gets business done in Motown as they wrap up the first half of the season.
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3 months ago
I'm skeptical of Floyd, his success doesn't seem sustainable. He doesn't strike many people out, his defense is turning 79 percent of balls put in play into outs behind him, and he's giving up way fewer home runs than he has in the past despite the fact that his ground ball rate hasn't improved. There's a reason his xFIP of 4.59 is way higher than his ERA of 3.22. I expect regression in the second half.
from 3 months ago
I agree with Nick, as we've seen with some of the Twins young pitchers, it can be difficult for them to sustain strong starts. Floyd and Danks are both pitching really well, but they may well regress towards their respective means as the second half begins to wear on them.
from 3 months ago
Yes, I agree. He has been terrific, but will most likely fade to the back of the rotation, where he was meant to be.
Danks may regress as well. He is only 23 years old and was brought on to be a number five guy, which he was, last year.
3 months ago
This is true, but the Twins are awfully hot.
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