The Red Sox and White Sox start a measuring stick series tonight in Chicago

One of the many great things about baseball is its renewed unpredictability. Going into the season, hardly anyone was picking the White Sox — losers of over 100 games during each of the last three seasons — to win their division. Yet here we are a week into July, and they’re in first place in the AL Central at 47-42.

To be fair, FanGraphs still isn’t picking them to win their division, calling for Chicago to finish below .500 just like they have all year. But something has changed about FanGraphs’ outlook for them in recent days, and it’s their projection for the White Sox to now grab the third Wild Card with a record of 80-82. So when you add it all up, this becomes a sneaky big series for the Red Sox, who trail the current third Wild Card holding Texas Rangers by four games.

It’s also an important series for Boston because it gives us a chance to see some of the former Sox prospects up close and blossoming on a fun, overachieving team. All three of the big pieces traded for Garrett Crochet will likely make an appearance in this series, and two of them (Chase Meidroth and Kyle Teel) are in tonight’s starting lineup.

The Red Sox meanwhile won’t have Garrett Crochet or any of the big hitting prospects they held onto available for this series (the IL remains crowded), but they will have Payton Tolle on the mound for this game to balance out the fun meter. Either way, whether looking back or ahead, this is a good time to take inventory, mark the success of every player, and the result of every game.

Given baseball’s unpredictable nature, you never know if what happens over these next three days will make the difference when all the wins are counted at the end of September.

RED SOXWHITE SOXAnthony Seigler – 2BMiguel Vargas – 1BCeddanne Rafaela – CFRandal Grichuk – DHWilyer Abreu – RFColson Montgomery – 3BWillson Contreras – 1BChase Meidroth – 2BRomy Gonzalez – DHSam Antonacci – LFCaleb Durbin – 3BJunior Perez – RFJarren Duran – LFKyle Teel – CAndruw Monasterio – SSLuisangel Acuna – SSConnor Wong – CTristan Peters – CFPayton Tolle – LHPNoah Schultz – LHP

⚾️ First Pitch: 7:40pm — Chicago, IL

📺 TV: NESN

📻 Radio: WEEIThe Red Sox and White Sox