In five days the gates to U.S. Cellular Field will open and the 2013 Chicago White Sox will take the field to open the season against the Kansas City Royals.For the most part, the team that pulled a fade in the final weeks of the 2012 season is returning this year minus fan favorite A.J. Pierzysnki and mid season pick up Kevin Youkilis.
New faces Jeff Keppinger and Conor Gillaspie will hope to solidify third base and infield utility, respectively. Matt Lindstrom has been added to an already strong bullpen and Tyler Flowers will finally get his chance to show everyone he's capable to be an everyday catcher.
As usual, the Sox will rely on what hopes to be a strong starting rotation. Chris Sale has been named the Opening Day starter and hopefully all those innings thrown last season don't wear on him this year as Sale shouldn't have any sort innings limitations.
Jake Peavy is returning on a fancy new two year deal signed in the off season looking to show he can stay healthy for more than a year. Gavin Floyd, Jose Quintana and Dylan Axelrod will round out the rotation as John Danks will start the year on the D.L. as he continues to recover from left shoulder surgery.
So what to make of this year's squad?
Lackluster, is what I say.
It's hard to get excited about a team that had a late season meltdown, didn't get better in the offseason and watched the team that beat them get better. All the while the other teams in the division also improved.
For the Sox to rise up and overcome, the pitching will have to go above and beyond what they accomplished last year. I have a fear Sale may regress a little bit in his second season as a starter. Not saying he'll be a disaster and a bust for his White Sox career, but, I can't see him repeating his stellar 17-8 campaign in 2013.
Peavy is another interesting case. 2012 was his first full season in some time. He's always going to be an injury risk and with Danks already on the D.L., I don't know if the Sox have the pitching depth to withstand long term absences by two of their top rotation guys.
The offense needs to be better. The Sox are a home run hitting team, no doubt. It remains to be seen if Adam Dunn can continue hitting the long ball in a White Sox uniform and if Alex Rios can put together two consecutive productive seasons. We'll need to see improvements from Dayan Viciedo, Alexei Ramirez and Tyler Flowers. Also, if anybody wants to find Gordon Beckham and have him report to the regular season, please do.
Also, Miguel Cabrera needs to booze himself out of baseball and Justin Verlander needs to lose 10mph on his fastball.
I really don't know what to make of this team. Detroit is obviously the favorite to run away with the A.L. Central but I don't expect the Sox to be blown out by the summer. The team should be able to keep things interesting to get fans in the park to take advantage of the new lower pricing at The Cell.
There are a couple of tune-up games in Milwaukee on Friday night and Saturday afternoon and then it's on Monday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field.
Now we just need some warmer weather...
