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For the Chicago White Sox, this year has been the culmination of a five-year rebuild that has seen dozens of strategic deals, draft picks and free agent signings.
The chief architect of that rebuild and current White Sox roster general manager Rick Hahn is hopeful that with this year’s roster they’ll be able to make some noise deep in the playoffs.
“This year we’re on the verge of something pretty special,” Hahn said. “From a health perspective, we are very optimistic about the situation for our players and are making it as a potentially enjoyable and extended start to White Sox baseball where we make it an annual appearance.”
Tony La Russa, 77, was hired as manager for the Sox last year, and this is the first time he’s been directing since 2011.
“How we’ve been able to get through quite a bit of adversity this season and end up here at the playoff gate in a very solid position is a lot of testament to Tony and the coaching staff. and what they were able to do from an environmental perspective, ”said Hahn.
The Sox are now mostly healthy and “fit to compete” after an injury-ridden season, according to Hahn.
“Unfortunately, [there were] a lot of soft tissue injuries throughout baseball this year, ”Hahn said. “There has been speculation that it has gone from 60 games to 162, but so many of our games have happened early in the season that fatigue or increased workload probably wouldn’t have happened. not have to be taken into account. “
He added that they remain optimistic about the pitcher Carlos Rodon.
“Our pitching team were very creative in getting him across the finish line and now, over the next few days, we hope to be able to put him in a good position to face Houston next week,” said Hahn.
The Sox recently won the central American League title for the first time since 2008. This is the first time in franchise history that the White Sox have made the playoffs for the second year in a row and healthy for the first time in a long time.
“I think we’ve had our top six planned in our roster together less than a dozen times [this season]”Hahn said.” When we’re all together and that’s how we anticipated this thing from an offensive standpoint when we developed it, we’re a pretty difficult unit to manage. “
The Houston Astros will host the Sox in the first round match scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday.
“They are dynamic offensives, veterans who went in October and went to the top of the mountain,” Hahn said of the Astros. “A strong pitching staff, especially in the starting rotation and a solid defense … we knew that no matter who we were up against this month, we were going to be challenged.”
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