Game Thread: White Sox (24-23) at Mariners (23-26)

Anthony Kay takes the bump in Seattle tonight. | (Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images) Now that everyone has had a day to settle, and the adrenaline from the wild swings of the Crosstown Cup’s first leg has mostly subsided, it’s time to get back to thinking about what our expectations should be for this South Side team moving forward. For the first time in however many years, I now enter each day of White Sox baseball with the expectation that they have a solid chance to win.

I’m actually not sure if I like it, because it feels like I’m setting myself up for disappointment. It’s hard not to wait for the slide back to reality that takes them to 15 games below . 500, but I suppose that’s just another rung up the long ladder from the bottom of the barrel, right?

It’s a little easier to resist the temptation of optimism when you look at the lineups they’re putting out there. Take tonight’s, for example. View Link The new trio of fan favorites in Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas, and Colson Montgomery is going to be exciting for the rest of the way.

However, I look at how many at-bats at the bottom of the order are still going to hitters performing several standard deviations below what’s acceptable. I think to myself that the string of wins we just saw was nothing short of magical. There will be a time in the near future when Jarred Kelenic is replaced in the lineup by Braden Montgomery, Kyle Teel will return, and Andrew Benintendi’s contract will be cut loose eventually.