Who the White Sox Can (And Can’t) Trust After Huge Game 1 Win Over Astros

The Chicago White Sox went into Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series completely unfazed by the pressure and delivered. In a 6-3 win over the Houston Astros, the White Sox dominated on both sides of the ball. It wasn't always pretty, but the White Sox won after exhausting Grant Taylor at 50+ pitches to close out the game.

The White Sox recorded 11 hits in their first playoff win since 2021 over these same Astros. While this one didn't have the theatrics of a Leury Garcia grand slam, it was a well-played game.

Hagen Smith opened and was fantastic in three innings. While we didn't see the big strikeouts we're used to, he looked unhittable. It's what we've come to expect from the rookie sensation these past few weeks.

The pitching overall was great at limiting presumptive AL MVP Yordan Alvarez, who went 1-for-4 with three groundouts and a base hit in Game 1. Colson Montgomery also potentially broke out of his slump in a big way with a 432-foot home run. Will it continue? That remains to be seen. However, this team was clutch when they needed to be. In addition, the White Sox were able to exhaust Houston's bullpen, with the Astros using eight pitchers in this game. The White Sox will look to win the series against the Astros on Wednesday and avoid an elimination game.

So, after a thrilling Game 1 victory, who can and can't be trusted on this White Sox team in the postseason, other than the obvious names? Let's talk about it!

Who Can Be Trusted?

Braden Montgomery

Braden Montgomery might be the hottest hitter on this White Sox team. After slashing .440/.440/.520 in his previous seven regular-season games, the rookie went 2-for-4 with a run scored while playing good defense. Montgomery showed the moment wasn't too big for him. After a large slump for Montgomery, this is very welcome for a White Sox team that can use all the clutch hitting it can get.

Jordan Hicks

After an up-and-down season, you had to wonder if Will Venable could rely on Jordan Hicks to get the big outs in high-leverage situations. In a bullpen game for the White Sox, he was called upon and delivered. In 1.1 innings of work, Hicks was perfect with one strikeout. In the regular season, Hicks had a 3.94 ERA, which he lowered with eight consecutive scoreless appearances to end the season. He's looking like he may be unhittable and should be trusted in late situations.

Grant Taylor

He didn't always have his best stuff, but it was a gutsy performance by Grant Taylor, who threw a whopping 54 pitches to close out the game, striking out five batters in 2.1 innings with an unearned run. Despite common sense, Venable trusted Taylor so much he didn't even have anyone in the bullpen up at any point during Taylor's outing. That's called having absolute trust in your closer. While he might not be available for a few days, Taylor gave it all he had for a Game 1 win.

Who Can't Be Trusted?

Sean Newcomb

Sean Newcomb was once a reliable reliever for the White Sox with a sub-3.00 ERA. However, he faltered down the stretch with a 7.36 ERA in his final seven games. It looks like Newcomb's usage is finally catching up to him after 60 regular-season games, and that's a bad thing for Chicago. It looked that way when Newcomb came in, giving up two runs in one inning, including a two-run home run to Nelson Velázquez. If the game is in a high-leverage situation, it doesn't look like Will Venable can afford to trust Newcomb anymore.

Andrew Benintendi

The veteran designated hitter Andrew Benintendi struggled down the stretch with a .118/.238/.294 slash line in his final seven games while platoon mate Randal Grichuk did quite the opposite. Benintendi didn't do much to quell these fears. He went 0-for-1 with a walk on Tuesday, before he was replaced by Grichuk, who would go 2-for-3. Even if the White Sox face a right-hander in the playoffs, Grichuk may have earned the right to be the primary DH for the postseason.

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