White Sox Blank Tribe in Season Opener

The White Sox looked to be in mid-season form as they shut out the Cleveland Indians 6-0 in their season home opener at U.S. Cellular Field this afternoon. Paul Konerko and Alex Rios both hit home runs, and Mark Buehrle pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up three hits and one walk. He also made a spectacular play, kicking a grounder into foul territory on the first base side, chasing after it and flipping the ball with his glove between his legs to Konerko at first base for the out. Rios also made a diving catch to end the game.

If this is a sign of things to come, then this should be a sparkling year for the White Sox. Based on the strength of their pitching alone, many baseball experts, including Fox’s Ken Rosenthal, are picking the Sox to clinch the AL Central crown. The key question mark is whether they can hit with any consistency and score runs to help out what is surely one of the best starting rotations in the American League.

One victory down, another 90 or so more to go, which should be plenty to clinch the AL Central.

Pitching Is Key to Sox' Success in 2010

Sox GM Kenny Williams won’t admit it, but this was really a rebuilding year for the White Sox. After losing Orlando Cabrera and Joe Crede to free agency in the offseason and trading Nick Swisher to the Yankees and Javier Vasquez to Atlanta, the Sox committed themselves to building a younger, faster team. But in the process, they went through some growing pains with their young infielders, and went through what seemed like a season long hitting slump. In the end, the Sox finished third in the AL Central with a 79-83 record. Not what the Sox expected at the start of the 2009 campaign, but not bad considering what they were dealing with this year and better than the last-place finish Baseball Prospectus predicted.

While the Sox did not perform as well as many fans hoped, there are enough good things in this team to make a decent run for a division title in 2010. It starts with pitching. If the past few starts by Jake Peavy and Freddie Garcia are any indication, then the Sox will have one of the best starting rotations in the American League. And I include Garcia in the mix because he has consistently given the Sox quality starts and could win as many as 12 to 15 games if he gets enough run support. Peavy was outstanding in his last outing against the Tigers Friday night, going eight innings and giving up only two hits. That’s the stuff World Series dreams are made of. Add a stronger bullpen, timely hitting and strong defense, and the White Sox should rebound from their lackluster 2009 effort.