White Sox SSS Staff Predictions 2023: split decisions

Mar 28, 2023 - 11:15 AM

Yes, it’s the longest byline in South Side Sox history, which means we have the most participants in a season forecast contest ever. Twenty-two of us risked mockery and embarrassment to enter our thoughts on the 2023 White Sox season into the permanent record.

Seven writers feel the White Sox will win the AL Central and a full half say the South Siders are playoff-bound. WOW. We’ll dig into the division race and all of our MLB predictions tomorrow, but today focuses on the most important predictions: the White Sox.

Total Wins
Our consensus comes out as a three-win improvement from 2022, at 84-78. Most optimistic is Brian O’Neill at 91 wins, with Allie Wesel and Jordan Hass also getting the club to 90 wins.

Most pessimistic is a tie between Tommy Barbee and Chrystal O’Keefe, both tabbing the White Sox for just 75 wins, a drop of six from 2022. And both have sobered up from a year ago, when Tommy tabbed the Chicago 9 for 96 wins — and Chrystal 99!

Division Race
Several see a very tight AL Central race for the White Sox, win or lose. Tops is Malachi Hayes, foreseeing a half-game win in the division, Jacki Krestel a half-game loss. Darren Black, Jordan Hass and Allie Wesel anticipate a one-game win in the division for the White Sox. Brian O’Neill, though the high wins pick at 91, still sees just a three-game division win.

Flip side, Tommy Barbee sees a 14 game deficit for our guys, while Brett Ballantini sits at 13 games, Ryiin and Year of the Hamster 12. Amazingly, Chrystal O’Keefe sees the White Sox at 75 wins but just four game out of the division race — meaning her division winner (Cleveland) will come in at 79-83 on the year.

Player MVP
What a crazy race ... there is no consensus here at all, with Luis Robert Jr., Yoán Moncada and Eloy Jiménez all in the mix. But WBC and international pop star Moncada rules the day, with seven votes. The only oddball choices come from Trooper Galactus (Andrew Benintendi) and Allie Wesel (Andrew Vaughn).

Pitcher MVP
Of course, Dylan Cease was the default winner here, but there was some WBC afterglow for Lance Lynn and a little bit of support for Lucas Giolito having a bounce-back/salary drive season. Oddball choice here is Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, predicting great things for Michael Kopech.

Best Rookie
Oscar Colás, in a landslide, of course. Gregory Santos got sneaky support from Luke Smailes and Adrian Serrano.

Worst Player
A lot of picks here, including a holdover vote for Leury García, who seemingly won’t be on the team in 2023. But it comes down to two young players we anticipate to be overmatched: Romy González and Adam Haseley.

Worst Pitcher
Less said here the better, with [redacted] getting the win of sorts. Still the Jake Diekman Experience of a year ago has still scarred a few of us.

All-Stars
Weighed down here by the impossible number of zero by Trooper Galactus and Tyrone Palmer (there still has to be a minimum of one All-Star per team, right?), two All-Stars is the consensus. Darren Black and Luke Smailes did extra credit for the assignment, naming their All-Stars; for Darren, it’s Dylan Cease, Tim Anderson and Lance Lynn, while Smailes takes Eloy Jiménez and Cease.

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We also had a podcast about our White Sox forecast, please enjoy.

Tomorrow, our MLB picks. They promise to be just as quirky as our White Sox prognostications.

Please also share your predictions in the comments below. Meanwhile ...

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