The White Sox played one of their worst games of the season Thursday night, and that's saying something.
Sox pitchers walked 11 Detroit batters. Sox batters struck out 13 times and did not draw a single walk. The Tigers won, 7-2, and that score flatters the Sox. It's a good thing Detroit isn't very good. A contending team probably would have scored 15 or more runs given how badly the Sox played.
But that's not what this blog is about. I was going to say this tonight even if the Sox had won: Can we stop asking the question "Are they back?" every time this team has a stretch where they look semi-decent?
I feel as though I've heard someone say "Are they back?" approximately 563 times with regard to the Sox over the past 12 months.
Back to what?
The last time the Sox looked like a legitimate team was the first half of the 2021 season, when they went 54-35. We know that season resulted in a AL Central championship and a quick playoff exit, and that first half was pretty much the high point of this era of Sox baseball.
Here's what the Sox have done since the All-Star break of 2021:
- Second half of 2021: 39-34
- First half of 2022: 46-46
- Second half of 2022: 35-35
- So far in 2023: 21-31
- Total: 141-146
That's a 287-game sample size, folks. The Sox are five games below .500 during that time, the picture of mediocrity.
Yes, even with tonight's loss, the Sox have won eight of their past 12 games. They have displayed more competency as of late, but that is not a sign that they are a legitimate contender. They simply aren't as bad as their 13-27 start suggested, and they were due for some positive regression to the mean.
The mean is mediocrity. Before this season is over, I wouldn't count out the possibility of the Sox getting "back" to around .500, because that is who they are.
The Sox team you're watching now is the same team you've been watching for nearly two years. They aren't "back" to anything, other than spinning their wheels as an organization.
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