Yet there is one snapshot that can be taken now that the three-game series between the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays is over.
The White Sox took the rubber game of the three-game set in dramatic fashion, winning 8-7 on Yasmani Grandal’s game-winning double in the 10th inning.
And it’s worth noticing because with every obstacle the White Sox hurdle, they look like a club intent on making this year their year.
Eloy Jimenez, who hurt himself while trying to climb the wall in pursuit of a fly ball during spring training, was the first starter the White Sox lost.
His promising bat has provided only glimpses of what’s to come, but on Wednesday, he had three hits, including a double, and scored three times, including the game winner.
The second starter the White Sox lost was all-everything centerfielder Luis Robert, who went down with a hip injury in May that figures to keep him on the shelf for three or four months.
Hamilton proved some spark with a couple of big hits, played exciting defense and as ever added value with his legs.
Goodwin has had a .983 OPS during his brief time with the White Sox.
The third starter the White Sox lost was second baseman Nick “Nicky Two-Strikes” Madrigal, whose torn hamstring turned into season-ending surgery.
Garcia has played all over during his years with the White Sox and has turned into a La Russa favorite.
Mendick is a plucky, light-hitting infielder who has a window to impress the White Sox brass, who almost assuredly have put out feelers around baseball in search of an everyday second baseman.
“He apologized for the error, and I said, ‘Don’t apologize unless you don’t try hard.'” La Russa said.
In right was Jake Lamb, a starter at third base for the playoff-bound Arizona Diamondbacks only a few years ago, but who the last couple of years has just been trying to stick with a team.
Lamb has helped Vaughn fill Jimenez’s void in left, and now is helping on both outfield corners, neither of which are his position, while providing power and patience at the plate.
“It’s not a 25- or 26-man roster, it’s a 40-man roster,” Grandal said.
Still, this has been a different White Sox offense than we thought we’d see, at least in terms of identity.
“This is a team that’s not only been resilient, but fun to watch,” White Sox GM Rick Hahn said before the game.
In a season that has provided South Siders plenty of reason for trepidation, that’s pretty exciting.
But in the AL, after Wednesday, only one can say that it has cleared every obstacle on the way to the league’s best record.