Chicago White Sox Season Preview

After Adam Dunn agreed to a four-year contract with the White Sox worth 56 million dollars and Paul Konerko re-signed with the team, the middle of the White Sox lineup looked very powerful. Dunn has hit over 32 home runs in every season of his career since 2004 including last year when he hit 38 and drove in 103 runs. Konerko said with the signing of Dunn, the White Sox's have a "middle of the lineup one guy deeper than a lot of teams." The knock on Dunn has been his average, which was .260 last season. The 35 year old Konerko turned back the clock last season when he hit 39 home runs and had 111 RBI's. His average was also over .300 at .312, the second best of his career. Konerko seems very impressed with the Sox's lineup, as he said. "Whoever is going to hit sixth for us would probably hit fifth for a lot of teams." However, the five and six spots will be the key to the White Sox offense. Alex Rios had a very impressive season last year when he hit the second most home runs of his career at 21, while having the most RBI's of his career at 88. Although Carlos Quentin had 87 RBI's last season, he only batted .243. Quentin has struggled to return to his 2008 season form when he hit 36 home runs and had 100 RBI's. Quentin suffered a power outage last season after the All-Star break when he hit a total of seven home runs. Quentin is also looking to stay injury-free this season. Paul Konerko is confident that Quentin will have a great season. He said, "Just because you're in the big leagues and have one great year doesn't mean you're a finished product. He's a dangerous man with a bat in his hands. That's never been his problem, which is good. For him, like for a lot of guys, you have to learn to clean up how you navigate your way through the season. With Carlos, the numbers he puts up when he's not clicking on all cylinders is what attracts everybody to him. He does so much damage you know there's more potential in there. Everybody here believes in him." Rios and Quentin will have a lot of opportunities to drive runners in with Konerko and Dunn batting before them.

Projected Starting Lineup:

1. Juan Pierre, LF

2. Gordon Beckham, 2B

3. Paul Konerko, 1B

4. Adam Dunn, DH

5. Alex Rios, CF

6. Carlos Quentin, RF

7. A.J. Pierzynski, C

8. Alexei Ramirez, SS

9. Brent Morel, 3B

The White Sox pitching staff looks very good this season and is hoping to improve on their success last season. They had 94 quality starts (where a pitcher throws at least six innings and lets up no more than 3 runs) last season, which ranked 6th in the MLB. White Sox fans are energized about their young pitcher John Danks. The fifth year starter had his best season last year with career highs in nearly every category including wins at 15 and strikeouts at 162. The former number 9 overall pick looks like he will improve his numbers from 2010, as he has improved his command and added a nasty changeup to compliment his great cutter and fastball. Danks also proved that he can be the work horse for the Sox's, as he pitched 213 innings last year, which ranked in the top 10 out of all AL pitchers. Ozzie Guillen said about Danks, "Well, you know, obviously I think he should be cautious and try to find the plate around. But I mean assume is as soon as the ball come out of his hand I feel good about it. Because you could see his stuff was there. This kid's been battling... Another game for him the way he battled... The kid's got a chance to be a hell of a pitcher." Danks will have to step up because Buehrle looks like he is coming to the end of his career, as he was five hundred last season with only 13 wins and had his highest ERA at 4.28 since 2006. The X-factor for the White Sox will be former NL Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy. He has been hampered by injuries since 2009. After struggling with a 2-5 record and a 6.05 ERA, Peavy finally looked very good winning five straight starts last season. However, he only pitched in 17 games, as he injured his right arm pitching against the Angeles on July 6th. Peavy tried to rebuild his arm strengthen during the off-season and spring training. He looked impressive until he began to have rotator cuff tendinitis this spring, which has caused him to start the season on the 15 day DL (a place he has become used to). After a rehab outing Peavy said, "Here we go again, trying to build it back up. It felt good. I felt OK. Obviously, there is fatigue there. But that's part of building your arm up and getting it strong. But like I said, here we go again. We tried it before and hopefully we can sustain it this time. When I can do that [throw 100 pitches] and bounce back and do it again in five days later, I'm going to say I'm ready to pitch in the big leagues and give it all I can to get back to Chicago. When I get to Chicago, I want to stay there."

Projected starting rotation:

1. Mark Buehrle

2. Edwin Jackson

3. John Denks

4. Gavin Floyd

5. Phil Humber

* Jake Peavy will take his place back in the rotation when he returns from a shoulder injury.

Projected closer:

Matt Thornton