FanGraphs Live! Friday: MLB The Show, Indians at White Sox, 2 PM ET

In this week’s MLB The Show 20 stream, featuring Paul Sporer and Dan Szymborski, the Cleveland Indians head to Chicago to kick off a three-game series against the first-place White Sox.

After a tight AL Central race in April featuring the Indians, White Sox, Twins, and Royals (!), the White Sox appeared to have seized control of the division, going 18-10 in May and standing with a six-game lead at the start of this month. But June has been different for the Sox, now at 46-29, who have dropped three straight series to the Indians, Tigers, and Astros. With the 44-32 Indians two-and-a-half games back, a sweep this weekend could drop the Pale Hose to second place. Attempting to stop the bleeding is 2019’s breakout star, Lucas Giolito (5-6, 3.73 ERA). Giolito’s been ice-cold at the wrong time, failing to pitch a quality start in each of his last three turns, a concern since two of those were against the Royals and Orioles.

The Cleveland Indians have closed the margin at the top by winning 11 of their last 12 games, including the last seven straight with sweeps of the Orioles and Rangers. Mike Clevinger has been healthier than he was in a 2019 interrupted by back injury, but he’s been one of the few disappointments in the Cleveland rotation, his ERA still standing at 5.04 with a FIP to match. But he’s showed signs of getting back on track as of late, throwing seven shutout innings against the Rangers and only allowing a single run in one of the team’s wins against the White Sox last week. Carlos Santana has been one of June’s hottest players, with a 1.210 OPS for the month, bringing his seasonal triple-slash up to .283/.386/.466.