Chicago White Sox: Playing Patience or Panic with the Lineup's Troubling Start

Following a 6-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday, the Chicago White Sox are two games below .500, good for third place in the American League Central. Needless to say, it’s not the type of start the club was expecting after the offseason general manager Rick Hahn had, and some members of the fanbase are growing impatient. 

That is not to say the season has been a dumpster fire, of course.

After all, the acquisitions in the bullpen—David Robertson, Zach Duke, Dan Jennings and Matt Albers—have looked good (if not spectacular). And while Jose Quintana has had a couple of rough outings and Jeff Samardzija has labored to a 3.33 ERA, the top of the rotation will be just fine.

The lineup, on the other hand, is having a hard time generating runs on a consistent basis. As CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes said following a 6-2 loss to the Indians Tuesday evening, the batting order is going through an “extended slumber.”

Is it time to panic, though?

At the top of the list of concerns regarding the White Sox batting order is third baseman Conor Gillaspie.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

To start, Gillaspie has put up a .225/.279/.329 slash line with three home runs, 24 RBI and a 65 wRC+ since the All-Star break last year. He has shown no signs of breaking out of the slump. Simply put, his at-bats can be hard to watch.

That said, he’s proven capable in the past over long stretches. In the first half of the 2014 season, for example, Gillaspie hit .326 with a .861 OPS. 

Another thing to keep in mind regarding Gillaspie is that he dealt with plantar fasciitis during spring training. That had to have impacted his readiness, and there is also a chance that while the White Sox aren’t saying anything, it's still an issue.

Either way, we should be patient with Gillaspie for at least another month. If he still isn’t producing, perhaps it’ll be time to (gasp) hand the job at third to Gordon Beckham. Alternatively, it might be time to see if Matt Davidson (.289/.347/.533, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 16 K at Triple-A) is up to the task so that Beckham can stay in his utility role.

More will be revealed, but it’s not time to hit the panic button on Gillaspie.

Mark Duncan/Associated Press

Another player to watch is Alexei Ramirez. So far, he is hitting .217 with a .595 OPS but has five doubles and eight RBI. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that slow starts aren’t abnormal for him.

That said, Ramirez has a huge role, maintaining momentum from the top of the order and serving as a bridge to the lower part of the lineup. If he plays poorly for an extended stretch, it will have lasting repercussions.

On the bright side, Adam Eaton and Melky Cabrera seem to be pulling out of the morass they were in at the beginning of the season.

Eaton, for example, had a .421 on-base percentage and scored twice over the four games going into action Wednesday after starting the season with no walks and only four hits over his first 38 plate appearances. It appears as though his confidence is finally where it needs to be.

Matt Marton/Associated Press/Associated Press

And Cabrera, who began the season with a .162/.162/.162 slash line over the first nine games, has come on strong. In all, he hit .529 with a 1.444 OPS over his previous four contests heading into the series finale against the Indians.

If each of them can continue to set the tone at the top of the lineup, the chances the White Sox find a way to string together multiple games where the offense functions at a high level increases considerably. If, however, they regress, it will mean the pressure increases on Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche and Avisail Garcia.

Speaking of LaRoche and Garcia, they are a microcosm of the lineup’s struggles.

LaRoche, for example, is slugging .458 but only has a .339 OBP. Garcia, meanwhile, is off to a solid start, posting a .277/.333/.404 slash line. In other words, there are positive signs, and things need to be cleaned up.

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

And let’s not overlook Abreu. He’s slugged five home runs with four doubles and 12 RBI and has a fine 169 wRC+. He's as dangerous now as he was last season when he won the AL Rookie of the Year.

He’s also appeared impatient at times, chasing pitches well outside the zone in big spots. While his production is top-notch, there is no mistaking the fact that he is still finding a rhythm at the plate.

All told, White Sox fans need to be patient with the lineup. There is every reason to believe that many of the players will end up living up to their career averages. If they do that, the order will be productive enough to complement a talented bullpen and the top of the rotation.

As Cabrera told ESPN.com’s Doug Padilla, “I’ve been confident about this team and the potential we have. I know we have a good team.”

You got that right, Melky. It’s a matter of time.

Unless otherwise noted, all traditional, team and advanced statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference.com. Transaction, injury and game information are courtesy of MLB.com.

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