Top 5 Keys to the 2012 Season

The White Sox have the potential to make some noise this season.  However, there are a few things that are going to need to happen in order for the Sox to make a splash in 2012. I've compiled a list of the 5 most important factors that will need to go our way this season.

5. Gordon Beckham

Gordon Beckham had a stellar year last year at 2nd base. Posting the best fielding percentage in baseball. However, his offensive performance was a liability all season, posting a .230 batting average and leaving a lot of men on base. Because of the expectations this organization has for Beckham, he is going to be plugged into the lineup everyday and expected to produce. If he fails to produce this season, not only will our run production be down as a team (as he contributes to both the runs scored and RBIS categories) but his job security on the South Side could be called into question. Now, I personally have huge expectations for Beckham and have always been a big fan of his. I think he's a very talented ball player and I know he can hit. According to some of the interviews he's given this offseason, he has really been working towards getting back to the little things that he's gotten away from that have always made successful at the plate.

4. Alex Rios

I really don't have much to say about Alex Rios.  I was extremely disappointed in the effort that Rios put forth last season. He was seen jogging after balls in center, not running ground balls and pop-ups out down the first base line. Being a middle of the lineup guy (usually hitting 5th or 6th) he comes up with the opportunity to drive guys in quite often. He needs to show a little pride in his play and put some effort into everything he does. He has the ability and opportunity to drive in a lot of runs, it just comes down to wether or not he wants to apply himself to do that. He had a horrendous year last season batting .227. The only positive I can take out of his awful year in 2011 is this: historically he has a good season every other year, hopefully that trend will continue this season because we need him to produce if we want to win some ball games (not to mention the amount of money we're paying him, it would be nice to see him earn his paycheck).



3. The Bullpen

Lets face it, the bullpen wasn't exactly lights out last season. We're talking about 15+ games that we lost late in the game, so many leads were blown. Pitching wins championships, the bullpen will always play an important role in contributing to the win column. We lost Santos, which as I've stated in my earlier blogs, isn't as big of a deal as everyone has made it out to be. Ventura has already said that he wants to give Thornton a chance to be the closer this season, with Addison Reed lying in the weeds, waiting to see what his fate will be. I personally think we should leave Thornton where is has always been successful (an 8th inning guy, late inning setup man) and give Reed a chance early to see how he does. But thats just me. We have a similiar bullpen this season in comparison to last year. We still have Thornton, Crain, Ohman, Reed, Axelrod. It will be interesting to see if Williams will make any moves to solidify the pen.



2. The Health of the Pitching Rotation

The White Sox pitching rotation has a lot of talent, there's no doubt about that. What worries me about them is wether or not they can stay healthy.  Seeing as how we don't have a 6 man rotation this year, Jake Peavy will be called on to eat a lot of innings and hold down his spot in the rotation. Peavy, having been plagued by injuries since coming to the White Sox, posts a pretty big question mark going into 2012. At Soxfest, Kenny Williams said he expects Jake to post over 200 innings this season, pretty high expectations for a guy who hasn't been able to stay healthy since coming here. This season we're moving Sale from the bullpen to the starting rotation. I can't help but worry about Sale's arm holding up through the grind of a 162 game season, pitching every 5th day and going more than an inning or two like hes used to. Sale has filthy stuff, it will all come down to how Cooper and Ventura manage his innings and build up his stamina. If Those two guys can stay healthy and play to their potential along side Humber, Danks, and Floyd, this rotation could do some damage. And like I said earlier, pitching wins championships.

1. Adam Dunn

There's really not much to say that hasn't already been said since last season. Im assuming if you are reading this blog, you know how horrendous Adam Dunn was last season. All I'm going to say is, if this guy hits like we all know he can, he could post 50 homers in that small ballpark. It's mind-blowing to think of how many wins you could have added to the Sox record last season if Dunn was in his right mind. If he shows up this season, this team is going to win some ball games. Not to mention hitting is contagious, if Dunn starts producing, that takes pressure off of everyone else, before you know it the whole lineup is spraying the ball all over the yard. Dunn actually came out today and said he guarantees to be the comeback player of the year (not necessarily the hardest thing to do when you post a .159 batting average the year before, I mean if he came to bat with a pulse this season he could be eligible for the comeback player of the year). But I personally think he's going to put up big numbers for the rest of his time here in Chicago. I still like Dunn (as unpopular of an opinion as that may be right now, I don't care, come talk to me in August). Last thing I'm going to say about Dunn: Here's a guy sitting in the middle of the lineup and if we actually have a manager that will bat Konerko behind him so he sees some more fastballs (instead of what Ozzie was doing, the opposite, so guys would just pitch around Paulie to get to Dunn last year). The more fastballs he sees, the more dangerous he will become and the more his confidence level will increase, a confident Adam Dunn in the 4 hole is going to drive in some runs which increases our chance to win.