2006 Chicago White Sox Predictions
A lot of people are picking the Chicago White Sox to return to the
playoffs, but remember that often times it’s not necessarily the best team in baseball who wins the World
Series, but the team who gets hot at the right time. Last season the best team
in baseball got hot at the right time and dominated the playoffs. The 2006
Chicago White Sox are off to fast start once again which has backers loading up
on the Sox. It was very profitable to bet on the White Sox in 2005 as they gained
22 units for their backers. If you pay close attention to a couple trends that I
have uncovered you may be able to profit even more in 2006.
Surprisingly, last year’s team struggled against left handed starting pitching
despite their heavy dose of powerful right handed bats such as Paul Konerko’s.
They finished just 2 games above .500 on the season versus lefties at 23-21,
which tells us that if we pick our spots we will be able to go against the
White Sox when they are facing south paws. It could be an especially profitable
move to go against them when they are favored. By taking their underdog
opponent, we will give ourselves the chance to cash in more while risking less.
If you can find the Sox favored on the road and facing an experienced left
hander, you may want to think about pounding this situation.
On the other side of the coin, I highly recommend taking the Chicago White Sox
when they are going up against right handed starters as they have crushed
righties the past 2 seasons gaining their backers 43 big units. The addition of
Jim Thome should add even more to their domination of right handers as he has
crushed right handed pitching for years. Adding Jim Thome to an already highly
productive lineup makes the 2006 White Sox even better than last year’s team. I
expect Paul Konerko and Jim Thome to both reach the 40 homerun mark although
opposing pitchers will be pitching around them frequently. This will give
players such as Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede a great opportunity to step up and
have their best seasons in the major leagues, and I think you’ll see just that.
The most important part of the White Sox team is their pitching staff. It is the
deepest staff in all of baseball and they are one of the few teams to have every
level of pitching covered from starters to relievers to closers. Their elite 5
man starting pitching rotation of Buehrle, Contreras, Garcia, Garland, and
Vasquez over shadows their relievers such as Brandon McCarthy, who is also a
capable starter who would be able to pick up the slack for any of Chicago’s
starters if they would happen to go down to injury. Dustin Hermanson had 34
saves and an impressive 2.04 ERA before experiencing back problems. But his
injury opened the door for flame-thrower Bobby Jenks who shined in the post
season.
The 2006 Chicago White Sox look to be a good team to back once again in 2006,
especially against right handed pitching. And if we pick are spots when they are
up against lefties, we will have some good opportunities to cash in big on their
underdog opponents.
2006 Baseball Predictions
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