Analysis: White Sox vs. Astros
To kick off the divisional playoff hostilities, the Chicago White Sox will be visiting the home of the Houston Astros for Game 1 of a best-of-five series.
The Astros will then try to advance to the Championship Series for a fifth consecutive year. During the regular season, the Astros won five games against the White Sox with two losses. They outperformed them 42-25 in points during those meetings. However, the rosters of the two teams have since changed, which does not necessarily tell us the truth.
Without further ado, here is an analysis of the forces at play for this series.
Starters
The White Sox maintained the fifth-best earned points average in all of Major League baseball in 2021. In addition, they should be able to count on the services of Carlos Rodón, who was slowed down by problems with his arm late in the season. The latter will only get one start in the series.
Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito will be the starters in the first two meetings. They will have as opposite Lance McCullers Jr. and Framber Valdez. Neither team has decided on the starter of game three.
The Astros gunners are not to be overlooked either, who have performed above expectations during this campaign.
Relief enclosure
Proof that times are changing, two former recipients of the Cy Young trophy could have evolved in the relay enclosure, since Zack Greinke and Dallas Keuchel may well not start meetings during this series. However, Keuchel was sidelined from the White Sox roster.
For the rest of the relievers, we must give the advantage to the White Sox, even if Craig Kimbrel is no longer a shadow of himself. Liam Hendricks, Garrett Crochet and Michael Kopech will therefore have to hold the fort. On the Astros side, Ryan Pressly had another amazing season and Houston added depth with, among others, Kendall Graveman and Cristian Javier.
Starting line-up
Houston led the Majors with a .276 batting average and a .339 trail average. The Texas roster has only four players with no playoff experience. The Astros are only ninth in the Major for home runs. However, they are beaten to put the ball in play.
For their part, the White Sox have one of the most talented teams in baseball that has not had its full roster for much of the season, as Luis Robert, Yasmani Grandal and Eloy Jimenez have been absent for many. long periods. In health, they will have to prove that they can compete with the strike force of the Astros.
Depth on the bench
Much like the Astros, the White Sox have a lot of weapons that can be used in different circumstances. Chicago has the luxury of being able to play low in their batting order depending on the opposing pitcher. This is possible thanks to their depth on the bench.
However, José Abreu’s state of health remains a topic of conversation and in the event of a prolonged absence it would be difficult to replace him at first base.
Manager
We will attend a clash of septuagenarians at the position of manager with the presence of Tony La Russa (77 years) and Dusty Baker (72 years). Experience will therefore not be lacking in this series.
La Russa returns to the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2011 World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals before retiring. For his part, Dusty Baker is still looking for his first title.
Imponderables
As mentioned above, a question mark is the status of first cushion player José Abreu, who did not travel with his team to Houston because he was showing flu-like symptoms. This will be a file to watch carefully as the series evolves.
The experience of the Astros in series will not be neglected in this duel and it is what could tip the scales. It will also remain to be seen how the Bas Blancs will react to a very good formation, as they have had all kinds of trouble against teams maintaining a record above .500 in 2021.
Regardless, this is the best time of the year and this series should not disappoint us.
