White Sox-Guardians position-by-position breakdown

The Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox face off in a best-of-five American League Division Series following Cleveland's late-season AL Central title run. While the White Sox swept the Houston Astros in the Wild Card Series, MLB.com evaluates each position group and gives Cleveland the positional advantage across most categories, predicting the Guardians will win the series in four games.

MLB.com gives Chicago the upper hand at first base with Munetaka Murakami, second base with Chase Meidroth, third base with Miguel Vargas, and left field. However, Cleveland holds key edges at catcher, shortstop, center field, right field, designated hitter, starting rotation, and the bullpen behind MLB saves leader Cade Smith.