Posts tagged ‘Paul Konerko’

Seeing as it’s now April 29th and the season is officially one month old, let’s take a look at where the White Sox stand:

Offensive Categories:
Team Average: .242 (14th in the AL)
On-Base Percentage: .338 (7th)
OPS (OB+SLG): .755 (5th)
Runs: 130 (5th)

Pitching Categories:
Runs Allowed: 101 (2nd)
ERA: 3.77 (3rd)
BAA: .248 (4th)
Quality Starts: 17 (1st)

The people who tell you the numbers never lie are only half right. Numbers lie all the time. For example, when a team is hitting collectively as bad as the Sox are, the numbers tell you they should stink at scoring runs and winning games. And lately, the Sox have stunk at putting points on the board - and yet they’re sitting in first place heading to May while ranking in the top half of the league in every other significant offensive measuring stick. How’s this possible?

Meanwhile, what was expected to be the most combustible element of this Sox team - the starting rotation - has been outstanding. Gavin Floyd has pitched well enough to win every start. John Danks is 4 for 5 in quality outings, as is Jose Contreras. Javy Vazquez picked up where he left off - the most suspect member of the rotation is Mark Buehrle!

So you’d think things would be looking all the way up, right? Not exactly. The Sox have to start hitting if they’re going to stay a factor. To take a glass-half-full look at it, the poor average is with Nick Swisher, Orlando Cabrera, Jim Thome & Paul Konerko hitting way below where they’re expected to be. On the down side? The poor average reflects the fact that Nick Swisher, Orlando Cabrera, Jim Thome & Paul Konerko are hitting way below where they’re expected to be. Does anybody else feel comfortable just saying, “Don’t worry, they’re bound to turn it on and break loose sooner or later?” Hawk can say it. No way I’m saying it.