Why this is such a pivotal stretch for White Sox

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin's White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- A little over two months remain in the 2022 Major League Baseball regular season, and it looks as if chaos is on the horizon for the American League Central.

Entering Tuesday, the Twins have a record just six games over .500 but hold a one-game lead over the Guardians. The White Sox, who sit at .500 after winning their final two at home against the A’s this past weekend and then dropping Monday's series opener against the Royals, are only three out.

Many people are focused on the respective moves made by these three teams approaching the 5 p.m. CT Trade Deadline this evening, with the White Sox making the first deal by adding left-handed reliever Jake Diekman on Monday night via trade with Boston in exchange for catcher Reese McGuire. But even with some further roster tweaking, such as adding another reliever and a left-handed hitter with position versatility, the White Sox remain best equipped to take control of this division.

I’ve been putting forth this mantra since early in the 2022 campaign and have held to it through this run of mediocrity, record-wise. But the White Sox are starting to get healthy -- not just getting players back in the lineup but getting those same players moving to their expected level of performance. See Yasmani Grandal and then Eloy Jiménez from this past weekend against Oakland as examples.

They are in the midst of 19 straight games against teams with sub-.500 records, although in fairness, the White Sox aren’t too far removed from the sub-.500 category. If they can put together a 13-6 stretch or something of that ilk over this time, they could take low-level control of the AL Central.

Low level, because there are nine games for the White Sox with Minnesota in September, including six of the final nine. And I don’t expect Minnesota or Cleveland, for that matter, to disappear.

“Teetering around .500, we need to break that curse. And as soon as we do that, I think it’s one of those things you roll,” White Sox closer Liam Hendriks said. “It’s like that guy who is teetering around that .200 average.

“Once he gets to .205, all of a sudden, he is hitting .260 at the end of the year. [Being at] .500 is like the Mendoza Line for us this year. But we’re coming into this stretch of games I think I’ve said it enough times -- it’s an important stretch. At some point we need to define our season and make an impact.”