Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today's games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today's edition is brought to you by David Adler.
No team is having more fun than the White Sox. And we're having just as much fun watching them.
We're over 100 games into the season now, and Chicago just keeps winning. The White Sox might be one of baseball's biggest surprises, but right now, they're just good.
If the playoffs started today, the White Sox would be the No. 2 seed in the American League, behind only the Rays. They're seven games over .500 at 54-47, and they're in first place in the AL Central.
Coming off three straight 100-loss seasons, they're an honest-to-goodness postseason contender. It would be a great story if they can pull it off.
So what's their secret? How did the Sox turn things around so fast?
Their winning formula is hitter development. Travis Sawchik takes a deep dive into that today.
He explains how the White Sox unlocked the potential of players like Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas. They're helping different players get better in their own way, and everyone on the team is buying in.
"They give us all the research and information so we can try to be at 100 percent," Vargas said.
For him, the adjustments were about adding bat speed. Vargas has added 3.5 mph of bat speed with the White Sox this season -- the most of any big leaguer.
"We focused on bat speed last offseason. I think this year it’s helped me a lot," said Vargas, who became a first-time All-Star this season. "It was about bat speed and having all the tools I can use to help me with my swing and help me be more aggressive at the same time."
For Montgomery, the adjustments were about getting the ball in the air more. And by now, he hits the ball in the air -- and pulls the ball in the air -- at one of the highest rates in the Majors. That's how he's been able to hit a team-high 24 home runs this year.
The energy is just different around the White Sox now. Even their hitter meetings are more engaging, thanks to hitting coach Derek Shomon.
"It's hard to describe, but it's like being in school," said catcher Kyle Teel. "You're sitting in class and you start zoning out, but then you have that one science teacher who's hilarious and keeps you locked in the whole time. It's like that in our hitter meetings."
Read more about the building blocks of Chicago's turnaround here >>
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