Chicago Cubs: White Sox versus Cubs series preview

The White Sox’s pitching has been just as bad as the offense

For a team that has struggled offensively, the last thing they need is a bad pitching staff. For the White Sox, nothing has gone right on the pitching side of the ball.

Currently, the White Sox rank 19th in the majors with a 4.60 team ERA. In addition to that, their 1.41 WHIP rank the White Sox 24th in the league.

This season, the White Sox have had seven pitchers make more than one start (exlcuding Jose Quintana). Of those pitchers, only one of them has an ERA under 4.00. To make matters worse, Derek Holland, who leads the team with five wins, has a -0.6 WAR and a 5.12 ERA.

With the team struggling, the White Sox’s front office decided to trade Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson and Todd Frazier to the Yankees. While Frazier was hitting just .207 at the time of the trade, Kahnle and Robertson were the White Sox two best bullpen arms.

Prior to the trade, Kahnle appeared in 37 games for the White Sox, posting a 2.50 ERA. Robertson, who appeared in 31 games, was equally as good. In 33 1/3 innings pitched, Robertson recorded a 2.70 ERA with 47 strikeouts.

Paired with the Jose Quintana trade, the trade of their two best relievers signals the White Sox are in sell mode as the trade deadline approaches.