The White Sox Won the First Half. The Second Half Is a Different Team.
47-42. First place. And a road record that says they shouldn't be here.
The White Sox lead the AL Central by one game at the All-Star break. They're 47-42. That's the good news.
Here's the bad news: they're 28-16 at home (.636) and 17-26 on the road (.404). That's a 232-point split. They've been two completely different teams depending on whether they're in Chicago.
Cleveland is 47-44, one game back, and José Ramírez is expected to return late July or early August. The Guardians have been playing without their best player since June 16. They're still within striking distance. When Ramírez comes back, Cleveland's offense looks completely different.
The second half is where this story gets interesting. The White Sox have to prove they can win on the road. If July goes the way the first half went — sub-.500 away from home — the division flips before August. I've got them finishing July under .500 on the road at 0.62 confidence. The regression is coming.