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Chicago White Sox 2018 Recap
When your team has a player nearly die in the dugout, then your top draft pick blows out his Achilles not once, but twice in the same season, your expectations are quickly tempered. If that wasn't enough, the White Sox also lost their best pitching prospect to Tommy John surgery to put the finishing touches on an abysmal season.
The Sox were blanked 10 times and got swept in 14 series. 23 times the Chicago pitching staff was hammered for double digit runs. These types of woeful statistics are a prescription for a bad season, and that it was on the Southside of Chicago.
2018 was the White Sox 7th consecutive losing record and 11th without a postseason berth. Oddly enough, there weren't any monumental additions to foster much hope of improvement going forward.
Chicago White Sox 2019 Fantasy Projections – Sliding South on the Southside
For decades, the Chicago White Sox were viewed as Chicago's other professional baseball team. Even before they finally won a World Series, the Cubs just seemed to be the Windy City's favorite son. A 1919 scandal never did do much to endear the White Sox to fans in the city of Chicago.
In fact, even though the White Sox broke their own world championship curse in 2005, they still always seemed to be a second-rate team in Chicago. The Cubs are now a perennial contender, but the White Sox have seen the Fall Classic but two times since their dreaded collapse in 1919.
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Chicago White Sox 2018 Recap
When your team has a player nearly die in the dugout, then your top draft pick blows out his Achilles not once, but twice in the same season, your expectations are quickly tempered. If that wasn't enough, the White Sox also lost their best pitching prospect to Tommy John surgery to put the finishing touches on an abysmal season.
The Sox were blanked 10 times and got swept in 14 series. 23 times the Chicago pitching staff was hammered for double digit runs. These types of woeful statistics are a prescription for a bad season, and that it was on the Southside of Chicago.
2018 was the White Sox 7th consecutive losing record and 11th without a postseason berth. Oddly enough, there weren't any monumental additions to foster much hope of improvement going forward.
2019 Fantasy Pitchers Projections – The Best of the Pitchers on the Southside Sox
Once an oft-mentioned and highly-touted prospect, Dylan Covey has fallen to the number five hole in the White Sox starting rotation. Carlos Rodon has a lot of strikeout potential, but injuries continually thwart his consistency.
Reynaldo Lopez is the third starter, and actually may be the only Southside hurler to warrant fantasy consideration. Covey must reprove himself, and another young arm on the Chicago roster, Luis Giolito won 10 games, but carries a 6-plus run per game ERA.
Carlos Rodon SP – Rodon isn't the worst option to fill a fantasy pitching rotation, but he lacks consistency. One consistent has been a WHIP that has dropped slightly every year. Another eye-opening stat might be his sudden drop in strikeouts last season, down from one per inning. That is not a fantasy prescription for success when paired with his hit per inning fantasy reduction.
Reynaldo Lopez SP – The White Sox acquired both Lopez and Giolitto in a trade with Washington just over a year ago. After battling some baffling health issues, Lopez dominated minor league hitters to the tune of a 1.09 collective ERA across various levels. With a fastball that can attain the high 90mph range, and improved control at each level, Lopez is an intriguing flier on a fantasy staff.
2019 Fantasy Hitter Projections – The Best Bats on the Southside Sox
Much of the White Sox woes can be directly attributed to poor offense. Their pitching staff actually ranked in the top half of Major League Baseball in most categories. The Sox offense simply did not. In fact, Chicago landed in the bottom 10 in nearly important offensive statistic related to fantasy baseball.
They couldn't score runs, didn't steal many bases, and while the finished in the middle for home runs, they led baseball in strikeouts. Be prudent to mention, they set a new MLB record for whiffs by a team.
José Abreu – Abreu is consistent, but he is aging. He has been a consistent .300 hitter until a huge drop off in 2018. While he isn't one of the major contributors to the White Sox strikeout woes, he still fanned over 100 times. Abreu is the consummate professional and a good baseball hitter. For fantasy purposes he has to be in the conversation for potential rebound numbers in 2019.
Yoán Moncada 2B – You certainly must assume that as a team offensive production is suspect when a viable fantasy hitter led baseball in strikeouts. However, Moncada has that kind of talent. His minor league numbers reflected a slight tendency to miss pitchers, but the problem ballooned at the big league level. One thing that has dropped is his ability to steal bases, a foundation of his fantasy value as a leadoff batter.
Fantasy Rank Team
Bad luck hit the White Sox almost as soon as they hit the dugout in 2018. Underachieving performance and middling talent led to them reaching the unflattering milestone of 100 losses. These real-life statistics mean less than flattering projections for having many players worthy of fantasy baseball consideration.
Overall: 55
Pitchers: 60
Hitters: 50
The Bottom Line for the Chicago White Sox
On the 100 year anniversary of the Black Sox scandal, don't look for too much to cheer about on the Southside of Chicago. Other than the consistency of José Abreu and the potential of Yoán Moncada, 2019 may actually be even more disappointing for the White Sox faithful. If certain players don't play above expectations, things may slide south on the Southside in a hurry.
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