David Richard – USA TODAY Sports
The past two weeks have been a very depressing one if you are a fan of the Chicago White Sox. It feels like they find a new way to disappoint their fan base every time they take the field. Outside of Alex Rios’ dominance and the occasional Paul Konerko spurt, the offense is nauseating to watch. But is it really all that surprising?
When you have a hitting coach who probably doesn’t even see red lights at traffic stops, you are going to have some issues offensively. Even as one of the few people that actually likes Adam Dunn, it isn’t really a surprise that he is struggling this season with his “new approach”. While Dunn’s struggles are indefensible, it would probably frustrate you if your bosses told you to completely change what you do at your job. Dunn aside, the offense is simply not good, especially with the current injuries the team is dealing with.
Most fans are disappointed and frustrated, but I can’t help but feel apathetic about this team. I knew coming into this season it would be extremely difficult to replicate last season’s success. I mean, the White Sox got “best case” scenarios out of about ten players last year, so there was no way that was going to happen again. Fact of the matter is: the White Sox couldn’t possibly be more in no man’s land — they are good enough to compete, but not bad enough to sell. Moreover, if they decided to sell, most of their players would not net a package that would be worth it.
So, in conclusion, there isn’t much that general manager Rick Hahn can do right now. He got dealt a pretty crummy hand for his first year on the job, so there’s no need to judge him based on this year. After all, Dunn could remember how to hit, Jeff Keppinger will get some ducksnorts to land, Gordon Beckham gets healthy and hits .300, and Dayan Viciedo might actually realize he doesn’t need to swing as hard as humanly possible to hit a baseball, which, in turn, gives the White Sox a decent chance to win some games.
Hope is basically all that fans can cling to right now, because it isn’t very pretty otherwise.
