Mark Buerhle, Javier Vazquez, Jon Garland and Bobby Jenks are the only pitchers that are earning their paychecks so far this season.  Mark Buerhle has been re-signed to a nice 4 year contract and he has deserved it by the way he has pitched for the White Sox both this season and over his career.  Buehrle has been the Pale Hose best pitcher this season as he is 6-4 with a 3.03 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.  Javier Vazquez should have a much better record than he does because he has pitched really well this season for the White Sox.  He is 6-5 with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP so far this season and it seems likely that the White Sox might trade him in the 2nd half of the season.  Jon Garland also has pitched pretty well this season as he is 6-6 with a 3.92 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.  Garland also could have a new city to call home soon.  Stopper Bobby Jenks is 2-4 with 23 saves, a 3.28 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP this season.  He has been a little bit erratic but still good overall for the Sox.

A.J. Pierzynski, Juan Uribe, Joe Crede and Jermaine Dye all had rough starts to the season.  Pierzynski is only hitting .244 with 26 runs scored, 8 homers and 27 RBIs so far this season and the White Sox expected much more from him this season as he consistently hits in the .270s or .280s.  Uribe hitting hasn’t been up to par either as he’s only hitting .232 with 24 runs scored, 8 homers and 32 RBIs so far this season.  If Uribe doesn’t start to hit soon he will likely be replaced as the White Sox are asking for a shortstop back in trade talks concerning Jermaine Dye.  Joe Crede’s season ended with back surgery and he played awful before having the surgery.  You could tell his back problem was bothering him all season long as he only hit .216 with 4 homers and 22 RBIs in 2007.  Josh Fields might steal Crede’s job with the way he has been playing as a rookie.  Jermaine Dye had a career year in 2006 and he got paid because of it…but he hasn’t been worth the cash this season.  Dye is only hitting .214 with 30 runs scored, 12 homers and 39 RBIs so far this season.  It’s very likley that the White Sox will trade Dye in the coming weeks.

Lucky for the White Sox that Jim Thome and Paul Konerko are hitting the baseball because the rest of the team has been pretty bad swinging the bats.  Thome is hitting .279 with 35 runs scored, 14 homers and 44 RBIs despite missing a big chunk of the season to injury.  Paul Konerko started the season slowly but he has picked up the pace with the bat lately.  He is now hitting .262 with 41 runs scored, 18 homers and 48 RBIs.  Still, the White Sox need to get some more help for Thome & Konerko or it’s going to be a long second half for the Pale Hose.

The White Sox finished the first half of the season with a 39-47 record which has them in 4th place in the American League Central Division 13 games behind the Tigers.  It’s amazing that the White Sox have a record as good as they do seeing how they are 29th in the major leagues in runs scored (354, ahead of only Washington (326)) and they have a .696 OPS which is also only ahead of the Nationals (.678 OPS) in all of baseball.  The White Sox pitching has also been a problem for them as they have a 4.58 team ERA with a 1.40 WHIP.  The White Sox will likely have a fire sale soon as it’s unlikely that this cast of characters can turn this season around.

The White Sox have been in a year wide slump but it hasn’t effected Jim Thome so far this season.  He has played in 59 games this season and he is 50 for 183 (.273 avg, .966 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 13 homers and 41 RBIs.  It’s amazing that Thome has been able to hit this way with absolutely no help in the batting order.  If Thome starts getting some help his numbers will skyrocket this season.