Steverson pleased with offense's resurgence

BOSTON -- White Sox hitting coach Todd Steverson knew his team's offensive struggles that lasted through the first three months of the 2015 campaign would not continue all season.

So he patiently waited, presiding over a talented group that continued to work hard, looking for a month full of production such as he's witnessing in July. But even with the team hitting .275 with 105 runs scored over the past 29 days, up from .227 with 80 runs scored during June, Steverson understands this outburst probably won't carry through from Boston to Game No. 162 and beyond.

"Every day is not going to be probably quite like this," a smiling Steverson said, "but you ride that wave as long as you can until you hit the beach."

This recent upturn with the bats made a sizable jump during a seven-game winning streak, including Wednesday's 9-2 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The White Sox are hitting .332, slugging .565 and have scored 54 runs over that stretch.

Melky Cabrera topped the White Sox within that run, putting together a career-best seven straight multihit games, seven straight games with at least one RBI and going 18-for-33 with eight doubles, 11 RBIs and an 1.683 OPS. It was Steverson who stood out front and took the hits, so to speak, when the situation on offense looked dire, but he's happier for the players than himself with the change in fortunes.

"It bothers you just because you are human, and I have a lot of pride in what I do and I know they have a lot of pride in what they do," Steverson said. "For that to play out during the game is the best part for them. They have been working their tails off.

"That's all you want is the fruits from labor. They have been getting it recently. The sustainability and the types of players we have is there, but I'm just glad for them that their work is starting to pay off."

Steverson pointed to leadoff hitters getting on base more frequently in innings, being more aggressive going first to third and an influx of extra-base hits that aren't necessarily home runs as reasons for improvement. He hopes the resurgence didn't come too late to make something significant of this season.

"It's unfortunate we did put ourselves in such a hole early," Steverson said, "but sometimes better later than never, and hopefully there's enough time where it's not late.

"Pretty much the majority of July we've been swinging the bats pretty good. You see what these guys can do."