When 33-year old righty swinging OF/DH Andruw Jones signed with the White Sox they weren’t expecting much out of him. At best, they saw him as a platoon DH with lefty swinging Mark Kotsay. But Jones is swinging such a hot stick right now that he has not been platooning anymore. Ozzie Guillen has been getting him full time at bats between the OF and DH lately and the manager’s faith in him is paying off big time so far. Jones has played in 15 games for the Pale Hose so far this season and he is 14 of 48 (.292 avg, 1.112 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 6 homers, 9 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Jones is still whiffing a lot (15) but he is also getting his share of walks (8) showing improving discipline at the plate. The White Sox need Jones’ power and they are going to ride his bat as long as they can.

Paul Konerko is one of the few Chicago White Sox players who is actually hitting the ball early in this 2010 season.  The White Sox have started the season off with an offensively challenged 5-9 start.  They need to start hitting the ball or they are going to dig themselves into too deep of a whole in the AL Central, where their rival Minnesota Twins are off to a hot 10-4 start.  Without Konerko’s strong bat, the White Sox would be in even bigger trouble than they are now.  Konerko has a .261 BA (12/46), but it is his power numbers that are making the difference.  Of his 12 hits, 5 of them have left the ballpark and he has 10 RBIs with a .630 SLG.  He has drawn 8 walks, helping his OBP get up over 100 points higher than his BA at .364 OBP.  This is a great sign for the White Sox since Konerko is known for getting off to very slow starts in years past.  Now only if some other White Sox players could start hitting the ball and driving in some runs.  There is only so much Konerko can do, so some other guys on that roster really need to step up.

The White Sox are in last place in the A.L. Central with a 4-9 record which has them 5 games behind the Twins already. The White Sox got swept in Cleveland by a Tribe team that will likely be lucky to win more than 70 games this season. The Pale Hose have been outscored 55-53 on the season as they continue to waste solid pitching because they just have not been hitting the ball well. The White Sox will have to pitch good this week to have any chance of success against the Rays (3 games) and Mariners (3 games) who each are coming to the Windy City.

25-year old lefty starting pitcher John Danks could have a breakthrough year in 2010 for the White Sox. He has the stuff to put up even better numbers than he has the last couple of seasons. Danks has started 2 games this season for the White Sox and he is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has only given up 10 hits in 13 innings pitched while whiffing 12 batters showing that his stuff is right on so far this season. As long as Danks stays aggressive in the strike zone I think he will win at least 15 games this season.

Starting shortstop Alexei Ramirez has been downright awful for the White Sox so far this season. He has played in 8 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 4 for 29 (.138 avg, .310 OPS) with 1 run scored. Ramirez is a very talented player but the ball must be looking the size of a pea right now to him. The White Sox can’t afford to wait on him as long as they did last season because the team is really having trouble scoring right now.

Just when it looked like the Chicago White Sox offense was starting to come around, they ran into Ricky Romero and his best stuff.  The 25-year-old Romero, who was a first-round draft pick in 2005, was on top of his game against the White Sox last night.  Romero took a no-hitter into the 8th inning, before his former Blue Jays teammate Alex Rios took him deep for a two-run homer.  Other than Rios, the Sox hitters could not figure Romero out at all.  Romero finished the game with 12 strikeouts, and every Sox hitter struck out at least once except for Rios.  Gavin Floyd pitched for the Sox and he battled through an off night, giving up 4 runs on 9 hits in 6.0 innings.  After having two solid games of offensive production, the Sox were nearly no-hit.  You have to tip your cap to Romero though, and hopefully this game doesn’t bring the Sox hitters into another slump.  Either way, the White Sox offense has still been pretty unimpressive so far this season and that needs to change soon since their division rival Minnesota Twins are off to a very good 6-2 start.

23-year old righty Daniel Hudson would be in most team’s rotation in the majors. But with the White Sox he is #6 in line. He will get a call if something happens to one of the starters. He is 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA and a 0.71 WHIP after his first start in AAA. He only allowed 3 hits in 5 2/3 innings while whiffing 9 batters showing his dominance. If the White Sox are in the playoff race in July and they are looking for a bat most teams will want Hudson but the Pale Hose should simply just say no. Hudson is going to be a very solid starter in the majors when he finally gets the call.

The Chicago White Sox team batting average is only at .225 so far in this young season, and the offense was looking pretty ugly after having a nice 6-0 win over the Cleveland Indians in their season opener.  They went on to lose their next four games, averaging only 6 hits per contest during that losing streak and a measly 2.5 runs.  Well, in the past two games the White Sox bats have come alive and they have brought them two straight wins.  They beat the Twins on Sunday with 5 runs on 9 hits, including 2 doubles and 3 home runs.  They followed that with an extra-innings win last night against the Toronto Blue Jays.  Mark Teahen’s hitting is the reason the Sox won against the Blue Jays, as he was a double short of the cycle and drove in the game-tying and eventual game-winning run.  Teahen had only one hit coming into last night’s game, so it was a breakout game for him.  It looks like the Sox might start to reel off some wins with Teahen looking like he is out of his slump, Paul Konerko with 3 home runs and 7 RBIs already, and a few other White Sox hitters coming around.  This is a very good sign for the White Sox, especially since their pitching has looked very strong so far with a team ERA of 3.39, 1.30 whip, and 4 quality starts already.  The Sox got off to a slow start, but it looks like they are finally getting into a rhythm.

Veteran lefty Mark Buehrle is a warrior for the White Sox. In his last nine seasons, Buehrle has averaged 223 1/3 innings pitched and 14.6 wins per year. Every single one of those years he had 200+ innings and at least 10 wins so he is as dependable as they come. He is off to a great start this season for the White Sox. In his first two starts for the Pale Hose this season, Buehrle is 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. He has worked 15 innings this year allowing only 11 hits and walking 4 batters. I really love watching this guy pitch because he works at a fast pace. Expect him to have another nice year in 2010 for the White Sox.

The White Sox had to come back yesterday to salvage one win against the Twins over the weekend. They are now tied for last with the Royals & Indians at 2-4 on the season, 3 games behind the Tigers already. The White Sox are wasted some good pitching as they have only scored 21 points (they have allowed 20) so far this season. The White Sox will try to find their bats on the road starting with 4 games in Toronto starting today and then they travel to Cleveland for a three game series this weekend.