White Sox still have tests to pass in second half of season
Looking back at the first half of the season, the White Sox have earned the right to take a bow.
Instead of falling apart when key players like Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert, Nick Madrigal and Yasmani Grandal went down with serious injuries, the Sox hung together and established themselves as the team to beat in the AL Central.
The rest of the division is weak, without a doubt, but that's not the White Sox's problem.
They pulled into the All-Star break with a 30-15 record against Indians, Royals, Twins and Tigers; they've been in first place since May 7; and they lead the Central by 8 games heading into the second half of the season, which opens Friday night against the Astros at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Outside of All-Stars Lance Lynn, Carlos Rodon, Liam Hendriks and Tim Anderson, the Sox have had four days of needed rest.
Now, it's time to get back to work with an important series against Houston that could set the tone for the remainder of the season.
"We're going to have to beat the good teams," said White Sox starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel. "We're doing our job beating the teams that we should beat. This is going to be a big series to start up the second half. For lack of a better term, we got our butts whupped in Houston, so I'd like to see kind of what we're made of to open the second half.
"We're going to play (the Astros) a whole lot better, at least I would hope so, than what we did in Houston. That's going to be the first big test."
While the Sox have cleaned up against the AL Central and gone 10-0 against a pair of last-place teams - the Orioles and the Rangers - they've had some difficulty (22-21) vs. teams with winning records.
The White Sox were swept in a four-game series at Houston in June while being outscored 27-8.
Getting the Astros at home should give the Sox an instant advantage - they are 31-14 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Keuchel noted that the White Sox have a challenging August schedule that features consecutive series against the Yankees, Athletics, Rays and Blue Jays.
By then, Jimenez should be back in the lineup and Robert and Grandal might also be healthy.
If the price is right, general manager Rick Hahn can trade for help at second base and in the bullpen before the July 30 deadline.
The White Sox are set up to win the AL Central for the first time since 2008 and make back-to-back trips to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
It's hard to not look ahead, but manager Tony La Russa has a long, successful history of keeping his teams focused on the game at hand.
"There's a time to celebrate, when you acknowledge what's being done and how we're doing it," La Russa said. "But you cannot assume anything. You can't lose an edge. We cannot mentally do anything but keep going. We do that, we will take our best shot and see where we end up. I'm good at the end of the year looking back. We can do it then."