White Sox Lead The American League But Are They Legit Contenders?

• The Chicago White Sox currently hold the best record in the American League at 32-16 and face the Minnesota Twins Wednesday night.
• Many baseball fans and bettors are surprised to learn how successful the White Sox are this season due to their lack of media attention and respect from sportsbooks.

CHICAGO – Some might not realize it yet, but the Chicago White Sox are championship contenders.

No one is necessarily at fault for holding out their opinion on the South Siders, after all, this is a team that lost 89 games last season.

Things are a bit different this season, however, as the White Sox currently hold the best record in the AL at 32-16 behind an explosive offensive and an extremely capable pitching staff.

Behind new hitting coach Frank Menechino, the White Sox rank first in the AL in home runs (78) and OPS (.810).

Menechino came over this offseason and instilled a new mindset with the White Sox hitters, making every game feel like the biggest game of the season.

“These are playoff games, fellas. Let’s go out and execute like it’s the playoffs so when the playoffs do come, we’re going to be the same,” said Menechino.

Chicago is led on offense by shortstop Tim Anderson and first baseman Jose Abreu. Abreu finished first in the AL with 123 RBIs last season and leads that same category this year with 48 so far.

Meanwhile, Anderson, who led the MLB in batting average with .335 last season, is leading the AL once again at .362 in 2020.

Anderson is tied for first in the AL with 39 runs, while the White Sox as a whole led the AL with 253 runs.

The White Sox also rank first in team batting average (.274), RBIs (242), on-base percentage (.336), slugging percentage (.474), and are tied in first for total hits with 435.

With all of these massive stats, the White Sox also win games. The South Siders are currently enjoying a five-game win streak heading into their series with the Minnesota Twins.

Five straight wins. Magic number down to four.

The @Whitesox are GOOD. #GotYourBack pic.twitter.com/w821kfhRHN

— MLB (@MLB) September 15, 2020

So, with all this success and advanced metrics, why aren’t the White Sox getting the respect they deserve from the online sportsbooks?

While the White Sox have been getting better game odds as the season has progressed, they are currently tied for fifth overall in odds to win the World Series.

Part of this can be explained once the White Sox schedule is broken down a bit more.

So far, the White Sox have created this amazing record thanks to dominant performances against the weak teams in their division, notably the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals.

In 20 games so far against the Tigers and Royals, the White Sox are 18-2, good for nearly two-thirds of all of their wins on the 2020 season.

When the White Sox match up with the more competitive teams in their division, i.e. the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians, things are a bit different.

Against the Twins and Indians so far in 2020, the White Sox have gone 4-8, experiencing a significant drop off in nearly every statistical category.

While the White Sox will have plenty of time to correct this record in future series against these teams, including a game against the Twins Wednesday, this can be cause for concern.

After all, beating good teams is what wins championships, not being able to beat the Tigers.

The White Sox would be the No. 1 seed in the AL playoffs if they started today, and it would be a hard one for baseball bettors to peg how they would perform in that series.

As far as the plan for the Sox, it starts with Wednesday’s game against the Twins where Lucas Giolito will take the mound against Jake Odorizzi.

The White Sox get the edge in this one, but bettors should pay close attention to how this series plays out.

Another losing effort against a capable ballclub could signal some real concern in this team’s ability to beat good opponents.