McKnight: Chicago White Sox hanging in there
Before Saturday, the Cleveland Indians simply would not lose.
What was viewed in April as a division in which teams would tear chunks out of one another as a test of endurance into early October has shifted sharply. Cleveland has not run away with the division. Not quite. Not yet.
But they're threatening.
While the Indians turned the division on its head during June, the White Sox haven't lost sight of what's most important. They're working on themselves.
From June 20-30, the White Sox took seven of 10. Three of four from the force that is the Boston Red Sox and their indomitable lineup. Two of three from the Toronto Blue Jays and all their power. Two of three from the hapless Minnesota Twins.
It hasn't been effortless. It hasn't felt like the dominant run that got the team to 23-10 to start the season. The White Sox are a team working to find itself and stabilize its core.
They Sox have lost a defensive bulwark in center fielder Austin Jackson. His absence has forced more playing time to Avisail Garcia and J.B. Shuck.
They've been without Melky Cabrera, their switch-hitting, middle-of-the-lineup constant of on-base percentage. Todd Frazier is searching for a swing that's somewhere between pop-ups and dingers.
(At some point after this season is over, a writer much smarter than I will apply the most modern of mathematic methods to divine what, exactly, is going on with Frazier. I don't know what those results will say, but I do know that when we read this tome, we'll be astonished at the unlikelihood of its outcome.)
After losing so much, the White Sox have turned to their depth to try to find suitable replacements - even stopgaps would help - but fate, it seems, won't let them stay around long.
First, Kevan Smith was shelved with back problems mere hours before making his major-league debut. Jason Coats collided with Shuck in his first game.
Just this past week, Matt Davidson, after two years spent finding his way through the wilderness of Class AAA, hit the disabled list with a fractured foot. He was rounding first base on the first hit of his White Sox career.
That's not to say any of those players were ready to become the on-base and slugging machine the White Sox's lineup could use, just to underline the point that baseball rarely lets plans play out.
In fact, what has perhaps most affected the team is the number of short starts. In the 46 games since reaching 23-10, 18 starters didn't get into the sixth inning. That's 40 percent.
It's a serious toll on the bullpen and, quite honestly, a massive credit to the White Sox that they've kept as many games as close as they have.
As the White Sox wait for injuries to heal and bats to sync up, it's critical that starters shoulder the workload heading into the all-star break. There still is very much a playoff contender here; it just needs help staying in the pack on its way to the midsummer break.
• Connor McKnight is the pregame and postgame host for Chicago White Sox games on WLS 890-AM. He also can be heard on sports reports for WKQX, WLUP and WLS-FM. Follow him on Twitter @C1McKnight.