Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: Yankees-White Sox Preview (7/31-8/2)

By Ricky Keeler | Jul 31, 2015

Editor’s Note: This episode was recorded Wednesday night before the Dustin Ackley, Cole Hamels, and David Price trades

On this episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, brought to you by KNODA.com, I started off the episode by talking about the New York Yankees (57-44) series against the Rangers. While New York put up 27 runs in the first two games of the series (21 of those runs coming Tuesday night), New York managed to only come away with a split at Globe Life Park.

As far as the trade deadline goes, the Yankees largely stood pat. Their only acquisition occurred on Thursday night when they got Dustin Ackley from the Mariners for minor league outfielder Ramon Flores and pitcher Jose Ramirez. Ackley is a good fit, but now the Yankees’ rotation is a huge question mark as Michael Pineda is on the disabled list with a left forearm strain.

Despite those injuries and a split in Texas, the Yankees still lead the AL East by six games over the Orioles and Blue Jays (who got Troy Tulowitzki and David Price) and they have a chance to end their ten-game road trip with a winning record. New York begins a three game series tonight at U.S. Cellular Field against the Chicago White Sox (49-51).

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While the White Sox have been one of the biggest disappointments this season after signing former Yankees’ closer David Robertson (22-for-27 in saves), outfielder Melky Cabrera, and designated hitter Adam LaRoche, they have been one of the hottest teams in baseball over the past month. During the month of July, Robin Ventura’s club is 16-9 and they have won seven of their last eight games.

Chicago did not end up being sellers as Jeff Samardzija (8-5, 3.94) is still in the rotation and will pitch on Sunday against Ivan Nova. Even though the team has an under .500 record, they are 3.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second Wild Card spot. This month, the White Sox have hit .273 (third in the American League) and they have scored the seventh most runs (107).

The key player to watch from their offense is last year’s AL Rookie of the Year, Jose Abreu. The 28-year-old first baseman is hitting .295 with 17 home runs, 59 RBI’s and has a .349 on-base percentage. This month, Abreu is hitting .302 with four home runs and 17 RBI’s.

Of course, the talk of the White Sox is in the rotation. Chicago’s starters’ ERA of 4.00 is sixth in the AL and they have the second most strikeouts, behind only the Cleveland Indians. Their ace, Chris Sale, has had another All-Star season. The 26-year-old left-hander is 9-6 with a 3.20 ERA and he has the most strikeouts in the AL (177).

To talk more about the White Sox, I spoke with James Poellnitz, the co-editor at Southside Showdown. James and I discussed Chicago’s other two starters in this series (Carlos Rodon and John Danks), how Robertson has done in his first season, why you should keep an eye on young second baseman Carlos Sanchez, and their current playoff chances.

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