Levine: White Sox At Bottom Of AL In Run Production
By Bruce Levine--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The sample size of 13 games won't tell the story of any full season, but early on the White Sox have encountered a troubling issue: a lack of run prodcution.
More than two weeks into the season, Chicago has scored just 44 runs, tied for fewest total in the American League with Cleveland and an average of just 3.4 per game. Part of this crippling stat can be attributed to the struggles of leadoff hitter Adam Eaton -- he entered Wednesday hitting .176 with a .236 on-base percentage -- but his slow start alone doesn't explain the inept White Sox offense.
"You have a combination of everything," manager Robin Ventura said Wednesday. " You have guys who have track records of what you expect their norms to be. Some of them are starting out slower than others. When things go like that, some can claim it is the weather. The fact is everybody is playing on the same day. You have to find a way to put it together and push something across."
That's precisely what the White Sox aren't doing. Take away a 12-run outburst against Detroit, and Chicago is averaging just 2.7 runs per game and has been held to two or fewer runs seven times. That's going to lead to a lot of losses, and the White Sox 5-8 start reflects that. Meanwhile, the Royals and Tigers entered Wednesday leading the AL Central at 11-3.
"When you have teams like Detroit and Kansas City playing the way they are, you sure don't want to get too far behind," Ventura said in agreeing that there's early pressure. "You can bury yourself somewhat if you don't play well. You want to get going and the fact is, you have to play these teams a lot as well."
Beginning play Wednesday, only three regular White Sox position players are hitting above .240 -- Avisail Garcia at .279, Melky Cabrera at .278 and Jose Abreu at .275.
"We are were we are because we have been playing some very good teams," said shortstop Alexei Ramirez, who's hitting .190 with a .536 OPS in 2015. "We are in a very good division, but we have not executed our offense yet. You can look at this as a silver lining. You can start slow and finish strong. Probably that will be our case."
The track records are in place for most of the White Sox veteran hitters. Two weeks doesn't make a major league season. Most of the AL is off to a ho-hum start, with just four teams holding records above .500 entering Wednesday.
The urgency for the White Sox comes in that two of those teams are in their division and share the best records in baseball.
"We have to start our games with an aggressive mentality to create more opportunities and not wait until the ninth inning to see what happens," Abreu said.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
