2008 Woodie Awards
Cubs, Sox no surprise in first month
Guarav Garg
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Sports
With the 2008 season one month in, Chicago's baseball teams find themselves leading their divisions at the same time this late for the first time since 2004, at least as of press time. However, this is no reason to get excited. Those dreams about a Red line World Series, can be forgotten. First off, in that 2004 season, neither team made the playoffs. Second, playoff tickets are not printed after one month. Lastly, don't expect the White Sox to keep this up.
The White Sox may have gotten off to a hot start, but they have cooled down lately, losing to the Yankees last week. At press time, they sit 12-9. Last year, after 21 games their record was the exact same and they finished 72-90. They may be leading their division, but the Indians, Twins, and Tigers are all lurking within four games.
As expected, with the additions of Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera, the White Sox offense is better than last year. The rest of the offense is hitting right now, just like last season, but they then fell off a cliff and slumped. Expect more of the same this year.
Likewise, expect the same with the pitching. Mark Buerhle and Javier Vazquez have been consistent, as they always have, and there is no reason to believe they won't keep it up. But Jose Contreras is off to another slow start with a 4.68 ERA, and continuing to show 2005 was an aberration.
Gavin Floyd and John Danks may be off to good starts, but they did this last year too, before regressing in the second half. This was especially true with Danks and his 7.11 second half ERA. Octavio Dotel and Scott Linebrink have been as good as people said they would, along with the usual dominance of Bobby Jenks. But once the weather heats up, and the Cell becomes the launching pad it is, the pen likely won't have many leads to protect.
While there is plenty of reason to believe things will be bleak on the South Side, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic on the North Side. With a 15-8 record at press time, the Cubs are well ahead of last year's pace of 10-13 after 23 games.
The White Sox may have gotten off to a hot start, but they have cooled down lately, losing to the Yankees last week. At press time, they sit 12-9. Last year, after 21 games their record was the exact same and they finished 72-90. They may be leading their division, but the Indians, Twins, and Tigers are all lurking within four games.
As expected, with the additions of Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera, the White Sox offense is better than last year. The rest of the offense is hitting right now, just like last season, but they then fell off a cliff and slumped. Expect more of the same this year.
Likewise, expect the same with the pitching. Mark Buerhle and Javier Vazquez have been consistent, as they always have, and there is no reason to believe they won't keep it up. But Jose Contreras is off to another slow start with a 4.68 ERA, and continuing to show 2005 was an aberration.
Gavin Floyd and John Danks may be off to good starts, but they did this last year too, before regressing in the second half. This was especially true with Danks and his 7.11 second half ERA. Octavio Dotel and Scott Linebrink have been as good as people said they would, along with the usual dominance of Bobby Jenks. But once the weather heats up, and the Cell becomes the launching pad it is, the pen likely won't have many leads to protect.
While there is plenty of reason to believe things will be bleak on the South Side, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic on the North Side. With a 15-8 record at press time, the Cubs are well ahead of last year's pace of 10-13 after 23 games.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Jim
posted 4/29/08 @ 11:42 AM CST
I would love to meet the person who allowed this trash to be written. First of, you are an obvious Cub fan and completely bias in this article. Second you have a lot of information wrong, Gavin Floyd was not even with the big league club last year, and Contreas has had back to back outstanding starts for the team. (Continued…)
BuckeyeCub
posted 5/05/08 @ 3:10 AM CST
Waaaaaaaa. Typical idiotic, Cubs hating, unreal White Sox fan. If 80-year old Contreras has had good starts back to back, then why is his ERA 4.68? If Buerhle is the Sox's worst pitcher, then why haven't fans and writers been calling for his head? About Soto, did you notice when he said press time was? I checked, those records listed were after play on Friday, so I'm guessing press time must be Friday night, before Soto's platinum sombrero. (Continued…)
Jim
posted 5/06/08 @ 1:52 PM CST
I have read your blog Guarva Garg or whatever. Way to reply to a post to your own article. Get a life; you are desensitizing America when you write. Save us all the trouble and get lost. (Continued…)
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