29-year old lefty swinging outfielder Alejandro De Aza is off to a good start with the bat so far in May for the White Sox.  De Aza has played in 7 games so far in May and he is 9 for 30 (.300 avg, .910 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base.  De Aza has now played in 31 games so far this year and he is 31 for 126 (.246 avg, .733 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 6 homers, 14 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.  The White Sox hope that De Aza stays hot as he is the guy who makes the offense go as the leadoff hitter.

When the White Sox dealt for 25-year old lefty swinging 3B Conor Gillaspie over the winter, it barely made a blip in the newspaper.  The White Sox acquired him on February 22nd from the San Francisco Giants for 22-year old righty minor league reliever Jeff Soptic.  When starting 2B Gordon Beckham went down to injury earlier this year, the White Sox moved starting 3B Jeff Keppinger to 2B and they called up Gillaspie.  Gillaspie has played in 26 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 22 for 69 (.319 avg, .890 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 3 homers and 5 RBIs.  The White Sox hope that Gillaspie keeps up the good work with the bat moving forward.

32-year old righty swinging RF Alex Rios has usually followed up a good season with an awful one for the White Sox.  He played in 157 games for the Pale Hose last year and he was 184 of 605 (.304 avg, .850 OPS) with 93 runs scored, 25 homers, 91 RBIs and 23 stolen bases.  So, he is due to have a poor season for the White Sox in 2013, but, he’s off to a fast start with the bat so far for them.  Rios has played in 5 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 7 for 18 (.389 avg, 1.198 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.  The White Sox hope that Rios can put two good seasons together.

Many questioned the White Sox’ front office for letting A.J. Pierzynski leave as a free agent after his big 2012 season (he signed with the Rangers this winter).  They decided to go with 27-year old righty swinging Tyler Flowers as their starting catcher in 2013.  He played in 108 games in his first four years with the White Sox and he was 56 of 273 (.205 avg, .695 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 12 homers, 29 RBIs, 2 stolen bases and an amazingly awful 107 whiffs.  But, the former top prospect is off to a blazing start for the White Sox so far in 2013.  He has played in all 3 games for the Pale Hose so far this year and he is 4 for 7 (.571 avg, 2.129 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 2 RBIs.  He has also done a fine job of handling the pitching staff as the White Sox have a 1.00 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP so far this year.  The White Sox hope that Flowers keeps up the good work both at the plate and behind it.

32-year old lefty swinging DH/1B Adam Dunn and 31-year old righty swinging RF Alex Rios rebounded big time for the White Sox in 2012, after turning in very poor years in 2011. Dunn looks like a glorified softball slugger at the plate, as it’s quite often all or nothing with him at the plate. Dunn played in 122 games for the White Sox in 2011 and he was 66 for 415 (.159 avg, .569 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 11 homers and 42 RBIs. The White Sox were worried that Dunn might be done after last year. Dunn has rebounded big time for the Pale Hose in 2012. Dunn has played in 146 games for the White Sox this year and he is 108 of 520 (.208 avg, .818 OPS) with 86 runs scored, 41 homers, 94 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Dunn also leads the majors in both walks (103) and whiffs (212) so far this year. Alex Rios also had a year to forget in 2011. He played in 145 games for the White Sox last year and he was 122 of 537 (.227 avg, .613 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 13 homers, 44 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Rios has bounced back well this year for the White Sox. He has played in 153 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 176 of 590 (.298 avg, .837 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 24 homers, 88 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. The White Sox need both Dunn and Rios to finish strongly in the last six games of the season.

35-year old lefty swinging catcher A.J. Pierzynski has been one of the biggest reasons why the Pale Hose are on top of the A.L. Central right now. He has played in 117 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 119 of 417 (.285 avg, .858 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 26 homers and 73 RBIs. He has already set career highs in both homers and RBIs, and he is only six runs away from his high of 66. He has been very consistent for the White Sox as he has hit at least four homers in every month heading into September. He has played in 8 games so far this month and he is 8 for 31 (.258 avg) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers and 2 RBIs. The White Sox hope that Pierzynski stays hot the rest of the year with the bat.

34-year old switch-hitting outfielder Dewayne Wise has proved to be a good signing for the White Sox so far. He has played in 7 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 7 for 26 (.269 avg, .808 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers, 7 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Wise has now played in 63 games overall this year for the Yankees and White Sox in which he is 23 of 87 (.264 avg, .787 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 5 homers, 15 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Wise will continue to play a lot until Alejandro De Aza is ready to return to action.

The Chicago White Sox inked 32-year old lefty swinging DH/1B Adam Dunn to a 4-year, $56 million dollar deal two winters ago. He played in 122 games in the first year of his deal (2011) and he was 66 of 415 (.159 avg, .569 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 11 homers and 42 RBIs. The White Sox were worried going into spring training this year that they made a huge mistake in signing Dunn. But, he has come back with the vengeance so far this year for the Pale Hose. Dunn has played in 99 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 75 of 349 (.215 avg, .875 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 31 homers, 73 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He leads the majors in homers (31), walks (77) and whiffs (149) so far this year. Dunn has a lot of holes in his swing, but no one is going to complain because when he does hit the ball….he hits it really hard and far.

30-year old righty swinging SS Alexei Ramirez was swinging an ice cold stick early this year for the Pale Hose. But, in June and July, he has picked up the pace. He has played in 44 games in June and July in which he is 50 for 165 (.313 avg) with 20 runs scored, 1 homer, 20 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. He has now played in 94 games overall this year for the White Sox and he is 95 of 362 (.262 avg, .616 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 2 homers, 44 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. The White Sox hope the next thing that Ramirez re-gains is his power stroke.

31-year old righty swinging RF Alex Rios has remained on fire with the bat all year long for the Pale Hose. He has played in 13 games so far in July and he is 19 for 51 (.373 avg, 1.094 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers, 10 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Rios has now played in 89 games for the White Sox overall this year and he is 108 of 342 (.316 avg, .872 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 13 homers, 51 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Rios is having a career year and the White Sox need him to keep raking at the plate as the Tigers are closing in on them in the A.L. Central.