Leading Off: Chicago White Sox
Gleyber Torres will man shortstop against the Pale Hose this weekend (Getty Images).
It’s a battle of American League contenders in the Bronx this weekend - the AL Central leading White Sox and the…. third place Yankees? Yes, the Yankees are in third, but they’ve gone 20-9 since mid April and are just 1.5 games out of first place. Oh, and they have Corey Kluber, he of the no hitter. Kluber will be on the bench this weekend, but there’s plenty more to get excited about in the weekend’s series. Let’s dive in to the Yankees’ first games against Chicago since mid-2019!
The 2021 White Sox So Far
The White Sox season thus far has the best case scenario and an excellent follow up to their breakout 2020 campaign. The Sox are 26-16, in first place in the American League Central and have the best record in the American League. They lead Cleveland by 2.5 games and every other team by at least 6 games. It’s looking like the White Sox’s division to lose and Sox fans are hoping for back to back postseason appearances, a rarity for a team that has been to October just twice since 2005.
The White Sox offense is a solid group that has scored the third most runs in the American League. They are led by reigning AL MVP Jose Abreu, former batting champ Tim Anderson, and slugger Yoan Moncada. However, the breakout star this year has been Yermin Mercedes, who is batting .358 and is in the middle of the Rookie of the Year discussion. The Sox are not a home run hitting offense (13th in the league), but lead in on base percentage and are third in batting average, which has elevated their run scoring ability.
The pitching side is where the White Sox really shine. While the Yankees have had a standout pitching season and are second in the league in ERA, they will face the only team better than them this weekend. Chicago’s rotation is composed of five quality pitchers, including Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, and the three pitchers who the Yankees will see this weekend and will be described below. The bullpen has been just as good and has helped Chicago to be the top run prevention team in the American League this season.
Bullpen Breakdown
The White Sox bullpen is one of the strengths of the team, anchored by free agent pickup Liam Hendriks, who Chicago signed to a multi-year deal this winter. He has picked up 9 saves with a 2.50 ERA this year. Before Hendriks, the Yankees might see lefty menace Aaron Bummer, former top starting prospect and now bullpen flamethrower Michael Kopech, and 2020 draftee Garett Crochet. The White Sox bullpen will be well rested with an off day on Thursday and Lucas Giolito’s eight inning outing on Wednesday. Hendriks is the only one who has pitched since Tuesday.
The Yankees bullpen is also relatively well rested, despite being in the middle of a stretch of 13 games in 13 days. Corey Kluber and Domingo German’s lengthy outings have allowed most of the relievers two consecutive rest days, with only Chad Green and Aroldis Chapman having gone since Tuesday.
Pitching Matchups
Friday: Carlos Rodon vs. Jordan Montgomery
Rodon has bounced back from posting an ERA over 8.00 last year to having one below 2.00 this year. He is an early favorite for Comeback Player of the Year after recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2019 and threw a no-hitter early on in the season that was two batters away from being a perfect game. Rodon is a former top draft pick who has never really put it together, but this could be the year that he does so. Previously, Rodon has started against the Yankees six times and gone 3-3 with a 5.34 ERA. In his last start against them in April 2019, he gave up two runs in six innings in a White Sox win (the pitcher from the day before for the White Sox was Ivan Nova, which is certainly something).
Rodon will face Jordan Montgomery, who is coming off a rough start against Baltimore. Montgomery will face a righty-heavy lineup in Chicago and will need to pitch more aggressively to those batters to avoid getting knocked around like he did last weekend. Chicago is hitting .297/.376/.486 against lefties this year, which is… well, let’s turn to the Twitter machine to do some analysis.
Saturday: Dylan Cease vs. Gerrit Cole
Cease is another White Sox starter having a tremendous year, going 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA thus far. Cease was traded to the White Sox in the Jose Quintana deal from the Cubs and had been one of the club’s top pitching prospects. In 2019, he made his debut and has been what you’d call “effectively wild” since then, leading the league in walks in the shortened 2020 season. Cease hasn’t pitched against the Yankees in his young career, so he will get to lose his Yankee virginity against one of the best pitchers in baseball. Gerrit Cole will oppose him, still holding a 2.01 ERA after a rough start in Texas. Cole will look to get his mojo back against the White Sox, a team that he hasn’t had much success against in his career with a 6.00 ERA in two starts facing them. (I will be at this game, so for the first time in Yankees Files history, be prepared for some live coverage!)
Sunday: Dallas Keuchel vs. Jameson Taillon
The Yankees are familiar with the last pitcher facing them this weekend. Keuchel is a former Astro and current Yankee killer, dominating against them when he was at his peak Cy Young self. From 2014-2018, Keuchel had a 3.28 ERA for the Astros and won the Cy Young in 2015, winning the AL Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium. That game is still burned into my brain, and not in a good way.
This year, Keuchel has a 4.44 ERA after giving up nine runs to the Twins over his last two starts. Against the Yankees, Keuchel has pitched to a 2.22 ERA, earning the Yankee Killer moniker. A soft tossing lefty can be death for the Yankees, but hopefully their familiarity with him will help them out. Jameson Taillon will take the bump for the Yankees, coming off a pair of rough starts in Tampa and Texas. His 5.73 ERA is unsightly, but he’s pitched much better at Yankee Stadium this year than on the road and will get a lineup that he might have success against, with plenty of free swinging righties.
Yankees vs. White Sox History
The Yankees vs. White Sox rivalry is relatively untapped - these teams have never met in the postseason and don’t have many memorable moments against each other. The most memorable, in my mind, is Melky Cabrera getting the cycle in Chicago in 2009, which shows you how boring these matchups have been. Last time these two teams played in 2019, the White Sox won 2of 3 at both Yankee Stadium and US Cellular (now Guaranteed Rate) Field.
Thoughts Before the Series
The White Sox have been at the center of baseball controversy recently, with Tony La Russa being the cause for said controversy. La Russa called out Yermin Mercedes to the press for swinging and homering on a 3-0 pitch. Why is that an issue? Because it came off of position player Willians Astudillo in a White Sox blowout of the Twins. To the video.
La Russa suggested that Mercedes had orders not to swing and by doing so, he broke one of the many “unwritten rules” of baseball. When the Twins threw at Mercedes the next night, La Russa condoned this behavior, saying "He made a mistake. He's young. We handled it. But I think it's important for the Twins or anybody to know we play with sportsmanship. That's unacceptable. Whoever doesn't like that, you're welcome to your opinion."
To summarize, La Russa said it was okay for another team to throw at his player for...swinging at a 3-0 pitch? This showed Mercedes didn’t take the game seriously? I would contend the Twins didn’t take the game seriously by bringing in their backup catcher to pitch! Furthermore, the antiquated belief that swinging on 3-0 in a blowout is a sign of disrespect is unbelievable. The rules that La Russa references are absurd and thankfully, most of the baseball community is on the side of Mercedes rather than La Russa. However, it seems like a White Sox revolt might be likely based on players’ public comments. It is clear that Tony La Russa is managing in a game that has left him by and to not stand by his player is the greatest managerial sin of them all.
How about the Corey Kluber signing, huh? Wednesday night provided a magical moment for all Yankees fans - the first Yankees no hitter in 22 years! - but man, has Kluber been everything the Yankees have needed and more. He has pitched to a 2.86 ERA this year and proven himself to be a more than capable #2 starter behind Gerrit Cole. Kluber has rediscovered his command, which was lacking in his first few starts. The movement on his pitches on Wednesday was absurd, but that’s Corey Kluber’s game - off speed pitches to induce weak contact. The Rangers, much like the Tigers earlier in the year, never stood a chance against Klubot. If the Yankees get a season of Cy Kluber or something close to it, they might have their best 1-2 starting pitching combination in a long time. Mike Mussina/Roger Clemens or CC Sabathia/Hiroki Kuroda are the closest I can think of in the last twenty years, but Cole and Kluber have been on another level this year. It’s fun to dream of a postseason of these two guys leading the way.
This weekend will be a big test for the Yankees as they face the top team in the American League. It won’t have the significance of an interdivision battle against Boston or Tampa, but the White Sox will be a good measuring stick for New York as they battle for pole position in the AL East. Fortunately, the Yankees miss arguably the two best White Sox starters in Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito, but they will still have no easy task against the rest of the rotation. Montgomery and Taillon’s starts will be important as well, as they both struggled in their last time out. If they can pitch better and the offense can put up more run support against good pitching, it will be a successful weekend for the Bronx Bombers.
Game time is 7:05 tonight! Can the Yankees prove themselves and win their seventh straight series against the best team in the American League? Tune in to find out!
