Injuries always play a role in determining the success or failure of a team in a given season. Even a team like the White Sox that has a solid history of keeping their players healthy is affected in one way or another by players lost to injury.
Read MoreIt just wouldn't be a White Sox season without the eventual slide toward full-blown humiliation. It just wouldn't have their natural full dramatic sweep from beginning with moderate goals of slipping into the playoffs via some lowered bar for performance, quickly dousing that already jaded optimism with a disappointing start, before capping their demise with some season-ending demolition to confirm that the Sox haven't merely underperformed, but are simply in another class from any team any non-diehard would waste a casual glimpse at.
Read MoreCarlos Rodon was pretty solid again Wednesday night. That's probably the most important thing to focus on. In his fifth-straight smooth and efficient start under Tyler Flowers, he floated through six innings with the only mark against him being Miguel Sano obliterating a get-ahead fastball, which for the most part have served him well since he dedicate himself to throwing them
Read MoreSpring Training is finally here. What this means is we can all get excited about the sight of actual major league baseball players on an actual baseball field, and then cry over the realization that we're still six weeks away from meaningful games being played.
Still, the season of optimism is upon us, so let's take a look at some of the important things to monitor during the White Sox's time in Arizona.
Read MoreThe White Sox bullpen numbers certainly look like someone was applying a theory and wondering where it took them.
Read MoreSo far in the second half, the White Sox are undefeated, Dayan Viciedo is a stud and the bullpen is perfect. There is a lot of confidence that this is how things will continue to play out. Starting the second half with a fun 3-2 comeback win over the Astros was nice, but the implications were more interesting.
Read MoreMatt Lindstrom as the White Sox closer was always artificially installed. He never read as the best pitcher in the bullpen, nor was he expected to develop into it by season's end, nor did his stuff project to play well in the role. Once the season started, he struggled immediately and mightily, yet the Sox weathered his troubles even though his potential didn't justify it.
Read MoreNotorious White Sox nemesis Jeremy Guthrie is the last hurdle between the White Sox and A) a sweep of the Royals, and B) getting back to .500 after sitting between one and three games below during each of the last 11 days when the two teams meet in Wednesday's series finale at Kaufmann Stadium at 7:05 p.m.
Read MoreFor 26 innings, the White Sox had nary a hope of victory against the Cleveland Indians. Staring down a series sweep and fifth consecutive loss thanks, in part, to a dominant performance by Corey Kluber, Dayan Viciedo came to the rescue, blasting a three-run homer off of John Axford in the ninth inning to give the White Sox a 4-3 victory on Sunday.
Read MoreWith the month of Abreu — sorry, the month of April — officially in the books, James Fegan, Collin Whitchurch, Nick Schaefer, Matt Adams and Rob Flot sat down and discussed what we've seen out of the White Sox so far. Among the topics we broached were Jose Abreu, the pitching staff, Adam Dunn, Alexei Ramirez, trades and attendance. Feel free to join in on the conversation in the comments below.
Read MoreThe White Sox strung together their fair share of hits against Max Scherzer and the Detroit bullpen, but the White Sox's own bullpen was unable to keep them within striking distance in a 7-4 loss in Thursday's series finale.
Read MoreTwo victories bookended the White Sox's first significant losing streak of the season in a week that further highlighted the team's pitching woes.
Read MoreA day after the atrocity that is the White Sox bullpen used up every last pitch in its arsenal in a 6-4, 14-inning loss to the Red Sox, Chris Sale takes the mound in hopes of avoiding the shenanigans that led to that embarrassing conclusion.
Leury Garcia is starting at second base and will likely be unavailable in relief for tonight's 7:10 rubber match against Jon Lester and the Boston Red Sox, but one can rightly assume Daniel Webb, fresh off of a gutsy, 59-pitch performance as the only actual arm left in the bullpen, won't be.
Read MoreAlexei Ramirez punctuated an up-and-down second week of the season for the White Sox with his two-run, walk-off home run on Sunday against the Cleveland Indians. The victory gave the White Sox a 4-3 record for the week and raised their record against the American League Central to 6-4 at this very early point in the season, and the 3-1 series win over the Indians helped them exorcise some of the demons that haunted them after going 2-17 against the Tribe a year ago.
Read MoreThe brightest spot in the White Sox's 3-3 start to the season was an offense that looked nothing like the massive black hole we saw in 2013.
Unfortunately for an already unimpressive Felipe Paulino, Monday's 8-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies showcased the fact that, no, the White Sox's offense isn't going to be able to keep them in every game.
Read MoreWe saw the bullpen strain pretty hard to get through Wednesday and Thursday - although I suppose allowing five runs in three innings in the Thursday loss doesn't necessarily count as "getting through." Part of the problem is that Felipe Paulino only managed 5.1 innings on Wednesday. They were good innings, but between Ventura playing cutesy lefty-righty matchups, Nate Jones' struggles, and Scott Downs walking Mauer and then being pulled, two relievers were used to get zero outs, and there were only six innings in the books at that point.
Read MoreSometimes, MLB managing looks as simple as holding one's ground as the opposing team burps and derps itself into the ground. By this measure, Wednesday night was an unqualified success for Robin Ventura and Co. They put their players in position to benefit if the opposition threw the ball to random locations, and Ron Gardenhire's Twins threw the ball to random locations.
Read MoreThis season will be the third in which Robin Ventura is at the helm of the Chicago White Sox and the second in which mystery as to who will close games for the team will likely drag all the way up to the start of the regular season.
In 2012, you might remember, it wasn't revealed that Hector Santiago was the team's closer until the second game of the regular season when he began warming up with the White Sox ahead in the top of the 9th inning against the Texas Rangers.
Read MoreDaniel Webb may be headed to Charlotte after all.
Earlier this week, after Mitchell Boggs was waived and Jake Petricka was send down, it appeared Webb had the inside track on winning the White Sox's last spot in the bullpen.
It appears, however, that the White Sox had other plans. The team claimed Javy Guerra off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, filling out their 40-man roster with — stop me if you've heard this before — a veteran arm with a mixed track record coming off of an injury-riddled season.
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