Struggling White Sox bats trying to regain early 2nd half success

KANSAS CITY -- The White Sox are sporting one of MLB’s youngest rosters, and are going through all the ups-and-downs that come with it in the dog days of August.

A red-hot start to the second half fueled by No. 3 prospect Colson Montgomery had Chicago atop the Major League leaderboard in a number of offensive categories, but Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium was a frustrating reminder of the growing pains that come with a rebuild.

For the fifth time in the past seven games, the White Sox scored two runs or fewer. Andrew Benintendi’s two-out, two-run double in the eighth put the South Siders on the board on what was an otherwise quiet night at the plate in Chicago’s 13th straight loss at The K.

“I think it’s part of what every team goes through,” manager Will Venable said. “There’s ups and downs, and you got to do what you can to get back on track and make sure those ruts are short-lived the best you can. It’s part of, not just the young guys, but the [veterans], too. Part of being a Major League player and doing everything you can to stay on track.”

Coming out of the All-Star break, the White Sox were one of baseball’s hottest teams. In the first 19 games of the second half, Chicago crushed 37 homers (second most in MLB), averaged nearly six runs per game (5.95), hit .270 as a team (fifth) and had a .815 OPS (fifth).

But entering Saturday, the White Sox had averaged just three runs per game and the team was batting just .215 (24th) since Aug. 9. That downtrend also extended to homers (6, 22nd), on-base percentage (.284, 24th), slugging (.314, 28th) and OPS (.598, 27th).

“I think that’s fair,” Venable said when asked if the quality of at-bats had dipped recently. “From where we were at before that, obviously doing a ton of damage throughout the lineup. … Our quality of at-bats may have taken a step back, I still think we’re having good at-bats, we’re just in-between a little bit, fouling some balls off.

“It doesn’t look like it looked like two weeks ago.”

That was most evident Saturday in the first few innings against Royals starter Michael Lorenzen, who didn’t have his best command in his return from the injured list. The White Sox drew two baserunners in the first, third and fourth innings against the veteran righty, but were unable to capitalize. Saturday’s struggles came after a one-run performance on Friday, when Chicago lined into a double play in its best scoring chance.

The White Sox entered Saturday still tied for the MLB lead in homers since the All-Star break (43), but have dipped to 2-10 in their past 12 games after a 10-4 run to begin the second half.

That, of course, is not all on the offense. Starter Sean Burke went just 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) and walking one. His error on a forceout attempt at second base in the second inning sailed into center field, allowing a second run to score.

Burke has now failed to go four innings in two straight starts.

“I thought I was pretty bad,” Burke said. “I think the last two starts have just been embarrassing with how I’ve been throwing the ball. I just got to figure it out and piecing together some better outings again.”

The White Sox (44-79) are navigating through a season in which a number of potential future pieces are getting an extended look at the Major League level. The win-loss record doesn’t reflect how much Chicago believes it has improved, or the expected W/L mark (53-70), but it does provide support that the club is closer than some may believe with its young core finding success in the big league standings.

There is still a way to go, though.

“We just got to start playing better baseball again,” Burke said. “I don’t think it’s one glaring issue. I think we all just got to be able to play a little bit better. I definitely know as us starting pitchers, we want to be able to put our team in a good position to win every time out there. And me personally, I just don’t feel like I’ve done that the last two weeks. So going into this next start, just going to do everything I can do to make sure we’re in a good position late in the game to win it.”