Levine: White Sox's Focus On 'Little Things' Leads To Success

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago White Sox entered Thursday tied for the third-best record in baseball. The early success has been the result of good pitching and being mindful to the little aspects it takes to win a ballgame.

Collectively, Chicago hasn't hit well in a 10-5 start. The White Sox rank 25th in the majors at 3.07 runs per game, and they average just 7.3 hits per contest. Adding to the offensive dysfunction is that they draw an MLB-worst 2.13 walks per game.

Yet all these numbers haven't held them back in the win-loss column.

"It's early, but you don't want it to go on that long," manager Robin Ventura said of the lack of run production. "I think you are always going to have a stretch where you do this. Whether it's indicative of what's going to take place the whole season, I don't believe that. You can have stretches that are like this, but if you're still finding ways to win, it's not as alarming."

The White Sox have won games the old-fashioned way -- with pitching, defense and and by going above and beyond in the "little things." What defines little things? A good bunt, a clutch catch and putout, a great throw and tag play are a few examples. And all of those components have been a part of the winning baseball the White Sox have played.

Last season, the team rarely displayed the savvy tactics or low-profile execution that it took to win close games.

"I don't wan to get into it, comparing players," Ventura said of why it's improved this season. "We do have different players this year (five new position starters). These guys just seem have some things going for them. The flexibility we have is better."

Tuesday and Wednesday saw the White Sox use clutch defensive plays and the bunt to help win games.

"If we tried to get a bunt down last year, no matter who it would be, it would get messed up," said outfielder Adam Eaton, who pointed to Austin Jackson's sacrifice bunt as being key to Wednesday's 2-1 win against the Angels. "Last year, a guy would make a heck of a play or we wouldn't get it down. They had to try to make a great play and they threw it away scoring the run. That won the game for us -- simple execution."

In the past few years, it hasn't been so simple for the White Sox. To the credit of the the team's front office, they identified a group not functioning together and brought in a different mix.

"You look back at the end of some years and the close games you won and lost," newcomer Todd Frazier said. "Are we 10 games over because of doing the little things? You want to win those close games no matter what. You know you can contribute to that by doing your job and executing. We really have not been scoring a lot, but we have paid attention to defense and getting the job done in game situations."

The 2016 White Sox have been clutch so far. Winning ugly or by any means has been the group's mindset.

"Look, you have have to divide your different facets of the game up," Frazier said. "You must concentrate on the defense if you're not doing the job hitting wise. Get that out of your head and make a good play to help your team there. I try to attack the day and separate the offense from defense. I just try to do my job."

Added Eaton: "We made a commitment early in spring training. We know that we can't control the hitting all of the time. We can always pay attention to detail and do the small things correctly."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.