Winds of Change Blowing in Chicago?

Sears Tower, deep dish pizza, jazz music, the Bean. These are just some of the first things that come to mind when you think of Chicago. But what comes to mind when you think of baseball in the Windy City? Easy, Wrigley Field, Chicago Cubs. With the emergence of players like Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, and former Rookie of the Year and MVP Kris Bryant, the Cubbies were catapulted back into the national spotlight as one of the top teams in the NL. They have now made 5 of the last 6 postseasons, and even ended a century long World Series drought when they won it all back in 2016. Meanwhile on the South side, the White Sox have been chomping at the bit to get back to the postseason after dropping a 3 game wild card series against the A’s in last year’s expanded playoff format, making their last trip to a divisional round matchup all the way back in 2008. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and the Cubs’ time as the face of baseball in Chicago may be doing just that. The core that brought the team back to relevancy could be splitting as Rizzo, Baez, and Bryant are all scheduled to become free agents at the end of this upcoming season, but the White Sox may not even have to wait that long as their young roster seems to just be hitting their stride heading into 2021. Let’s see how the teams stack up at present in terms of pitching and offense:

Pitching

A focal point for any good team in the MLB, the Cubs pitching staff at present is solid. They failed to bring back NL Cy Young finalist Yu Darvish who after a tough first half finished 2020 with an 8-3 record and a 2.01 ERA. Instead, they traded him to the Padres for Zach Davies and prospects. Davies will step in as one of the anchors of the staff after finishing 2020 with a 7-4 record and a 2.73 ERA alongside Kyle Hendricks who finished last season with a 6-5 record and a 2.88 ERA. They also brought back former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, but as someone who unfortunately spent the last few years watching him on the Phillies I'm confident saying his Cy Young days are well behind him. Furthermore, the Cubs failed to re-sign Jeremy Jeffress who led the bullpen last season with a 4-1 record, 8 saves and a 1.54 ERA in 23.1 innings of work. With Jeffress gone, the Cubs will be looking back to Craig Kimbrel to reemerge as the teams closer after posting a 5.66 ERA and only picking up 2 saves in 15.1 innings of work last year. While this seems like a big ask, they do still have a fairly deep bullpen so if Kimbrel isn’t up to the challenge, they can always take the committee approach of simply using everyone available depending on who’s hot.

The White Sox find themselves in a bit more advantageous position in terms of their pitching staff. Lucas Giolito has emerged as a bona fide ace and Dallas Keuchel perhaps outperformed expectations last year looking like his former Cy Young winning self, going 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA. They also managed to work out a trade for veteran Lance Lynn to pair with 25-year-old Dylan Cease at the back half of the rotation. Lynn finished 6-3 with a 3.32 ERA while Cease went 5-4 with a 4.01. From there things get interesting. The White Sox, like the Cubs failed to bring back their closer last year as they let Alex Colomé walk and sign a one-year deal with the division rival Twins. Colomé was a workhorse for the Sox, tallying 12 saves, a 2-0 record and an eye popping 0.81 ERA in 2020. Pretty big shoes to fill, which is why the White Sox inked former Oakland A reliever Liam Hendriks to a 3-year deal. Hendriks also managed to put up staggering numbers in 2020 as he finished with a 3-1 record, 14 saves, and a 1.78 ERA. Despite all of that, one of the most interesting storylines to keep an eye on will be the development of their young arms. They resigned former 3rd overall draft pick Carlos Rodon to a one-year deal to see if he can bounce back from an abysmal 2020 where he only appeared in 4 games posting an 0-2 record with an 8.22 ERA. The team will also be getting back former top prospect Michael Kopech who has battled some health issues, having to get Tommy John a couple years back. Prior to that, Kopech was viewed as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball with a fastball that reaches triple digits on the regular, which is why he was one of the focal points of the deal that sent Chris Sale to Boston. If he can manage to stay on the field for a full season, it’s likely he and Rodon could be competing for the 5th spot in the starting rotation. The last name I should mention is Garrett Crotchet. The 21-year-old lefty made his MLB debut last season and immediately turned heads with a fastball that consistently sat in the triple digits, and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t see a noticeable increase in his workload in 2021.

Offense

The Cubs like many other teams had a tough time at the plate in 2020. With such a shortened season, it is near impossible for batters to get in a groove like they normally would over the course of a 162-game season. However, the Cubs still had exceptionally low numbers as the core of Rizzo, Baez, and Bryant we mentioned earlier all struggled mightily posting averages of .222, .203, and .206, respectively. Rizzo was the only one to eclipse 10 HR’s finishing with 11 while Baez had 8, Bryant only 4. Rizzo and Baez both tied with 24 RBI’s, good for 4th best on the team while Bryant finished with just 11. Wilson Contreras was more or less the offensive MVP as he slashed .243 with 7 HRs and 26 RBIs which really isn’t all that impressive. But again, last season was an anomaly and I’d be shocked to not see the Cubs offense bounce back in 2021, especially considering how many of their key players are going to be in a contract year.

While the Cubs may need to do some soul searching to fix their offense, the White Sox won’t need to change a thing at the plate this year. Last season they had three players finish with averages over the .300 mark as Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu continued make strides in becoming one of the most feared duos in the league at the plate. Both players competing for the league batting title, Anderson hit .322 with 10 HRs and 21 RBIs while Abreu hit .317 with 19 HRs and 60 RBIs good enough to take home the AL MVP honors last season. The hits don’t stop there though as the White Sox seem to be pumping out elite prospects left and right. Eloy Jimenez in just his second MLB season hist .296 while hitting 14 HRs with 41 RBIs, both the second highest totals on the team. If But wait there’s more, the Sox also had two rookies make their MLB debuts with Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal. Robert struggled to stay consistent at the plate a bit as his average was only .233 but he showed considerable pop hitting 11 HRs and notching 31 RBIs, which was the third most on the team. Madrigal on the other hand did not show too much pop as he has yet to hit his first big league homer, but despite only playing half the season still managed to have a batting average up at .340. Outfielder Adam Engel also had a BA just under .300 though he might see his playing time decrease now that Adam Eaton is in town. Eaton had a down year, only batting .226 but he brings s a veteran presence to a young lineup and is only two years removed from winning a World Series with the Nats.

Advantage? White Sox. While I expect the Cubs to contend in 2021, I don’t see them being able to keep their stars in Chicago for much longer. The White Sox on the other hand are a young team on the rise so consider this your wakeup call Chicago. While the Cubs may always be a staple of the Windy city, if not for their play on the field, then simply for the history of Wrigley, but it’s time to start showing some respect to the boys from the southside who may be poised to start making some history of their own.

Written by: Jonathan Abbott

March 3rd, 2021