Baseball

Stories From The Barber Pole – Midseason Player Grades: The Starting Rotation

By Andy Jonathan 885

While I know most of these have been pretty positive grades so far (other than Adam Eaton obviously), can you really blame me? This Sox team has been a pleasant surprise from the jump, and when you lead the division by 8 games at the break there’s not too much room for complaining.

So believe me when I say this next group isn’t going to get much in the way of complaints either. The starting pitching staff for the Sox has been far and away the most consistent and effective group of the entire bunch, and are largely responsible for the position the team finds itself in right now.

Really the only thing that could be an issue for the Sox going forward is the same one that everybody is facing: the league cracking down on the use of sticky substances by pitchers. Will it affect the rotation? Has it already? We shall see…

 

LANCE LYNN

Games Started: 16 / 9-3 record

1.99 ERA / 1.04 WHIP / 3.20 FIP

105 K / 31 BB / 3.39 K to BB Ratio

2.5 WAR

When Rick Hahn sent Dane Dunning to the Rangers this past off-season for our Big Beefy Boy, it was the type of move one makes when they have expectations of winning at least the division. The early returns on that deal have been quite promising, as the above number indicate.

Despite missing a few weeks with a strained trapezius muscle, Lynn has been the most consistent pitcher in the Sox rotation. He’s made it to the 5th inning or beyond in 13 of his 16 starts, and only given up more than 3 runs once. He’s also added “slapdick motherfucker” into the lexicon of Sox fans everywhere, and for that we all must be eternally grateful. He’s a bulldog on the mound, which occasionally leads to him throwing too many pitches, but otherwise there’s not really much to complain about here. Lance Lynn has come in and done the job exactly as advertised, and should be extended by the club at their earliest convenience (read: probably never).

GRADE: A

LUCAS GIOLITO

Games Started: 18 / 7-6 record

4.15 ERA / 1.17 WHIP / 3.99 FIP

125 K / 33 BB / 3.79 K to BB Ratio

2.0 WAR

Lucas Giolito has had an up and down year control-wise, as is evidenced by his unusually high ERA. While he has not reverted to the complete pumpkin he was in 2018 (he has the exact same amount of strikeouts right now in half as many games), the long ball has resurfaced as an issue for him. A lot of that comes from Lucas preferring to work up in the strike zone, with him being one of the few pitchers who’s willing to throw the changeup higher in the zone. The issue when you work up in the zone is if you miss your spots, the ball tends to go a LONG way. The way you avoid that when you work up in the zone is your pitches have to have good movement on them, and that’s attained by having a good spin rate (you see where I’m going with this).

The chart above shows the average spin rate for all of his pitches over the 2021 season. While this doesn’t guarantee that he was using some type of substance, it does lead one in that direction. Despite the loss in spin rate, his K% rate has remained pretty steady. Really the only thing to glean from this is pitches that would’ve moved more out of the zone and been more difficult to barrel up for hitters are being hit harder at a higher rate. Giolito’s mechanics are still solid, he’s just going to have to adjust the way he approaches batters now, and he’s already mentioned he wants to use the curveball and slider more than he was. He’ll be fine, there’s just going to be an adjustment period.

Also, fuck Josh Donaldson

GRADE: B

CARLOS RODÓN

Games Started: 15 / 7-3 Record (1 No-Hitter)

2.31 ERA / 0.96 WHIP / 2.35 FIP

130 K / 26 BB / 5.00 K to BB Ratio

3.6 WAR

What started as a depth signing on the cheap turned into what I would call the co-ace of the White Sox starting staff, and it’s impressive as all hell to see. Rick Hahn was panned by many (myself included) when it seemed he was punting again on the 5th starter position this past December by bringing back Rodón and having him battle it out with Reynaldo Lopez for the final spot. What ended up happening is that ‘Los seems to have finally put it all together, mashing that up with being healthy for the first time in years and turned it into an All Star nomination and ultimately some Cy Young votes.

What changed? Obviously being healthy played a huge role, as it allows him to throw the slider much harder than he’s been able to in the past 4 years. The added velocity has caused the pitch to become almost unhittable, as batters have gone from a .250 average against it to a mere .106, and only slugging .133 off it. No solid contact = results. He’s also throwing his fastball more, up from 50% to almost 60%, another instance of the added velocity. All told, it’s turned Carlos into a monster and it’s gonna make him a lot of money in the off-season, hopefully with the White Sox (stares in Jerry Reinsdorf).

GRADE: A+

Dallas Keuchel

Games Started: 17 / 7-3 Record

4.25 ERA / 1.38 WHIP / 4.73 FIP

58 K / 31 BB / 1.87 K to BB Ratio

0.7 WAR

Dallas Keuchel has not had a terrible year, but neither has it been a very effective one. In the past, he was known for keeping the ball down in the zone and creating weak contact with his sinker. This usually allowed him to eat quite a few innings and save the bullpen for other, strike-heavier pitchers. That’s not the case this year. His lack of precision has led to him not making it past the 5th inning in over half of his starts. His splits as he progresses multiple times through the order get worse and worse as the season goes along, with him facing people for the 3rd time particularly brutal as hitters have a .328 average against him as opposed to a .218 one the first time through.

I can’t quite put my finger on what the issue is here either. His underlying metrics are pretty similar to what he’s had in the past, though his HR/9 has taken quite the jump from last year’s half season. His BABIP doesn’t imply bad luck, and his FIP implies that he’s actually getting decent D behind him. Whatever the reason, he needs to figure it out because every inning that Michael Kopech mows down the competition Keuchel becomes more and more unnecessary. Best case scenario for him would be a 6-man rotation to allow Kopech to ease back into the role and Rodon to preserve his arm. As a 5th starter, Keuchel is fine. With better options on the horizon, however, his time may be limited.

GRADE: C

Dylan Cease

Games Started: 18 / 7-4 Record

4.11 ERA / 1.27 WHIP / 3.68 FIP

117K / 39 BB / 3.00 K to BB Ratio

2.0 WAR

Ahhh Dylan Cease, the pitcher that drives me crazier than any other on the roster. You can see the tools, and when his stuff is on, he’s nigh unhittable. He has little issue getting ahead in the count, with 0-2 and 1-2 counts the norm. Instead of putting away the hitter, the nibbling begins and before too long it’s either a full count or a walk. He throws way too many pitches, and puts himself in situations where there’s little margin for error.

He’s also one of the pitchers who’s spin rate has dropped fairly precipitously in the past months, though it hasn’t made as much of a difference in the way he approaches batters. His FIP implies he’s had some bad luck behind him defensively, but some of that can be attributed to the fact that he’s also the slowest pitcher on the roster, and that can lull a defense to sleep.

Ultimately I’m splitting hairs, as Cease is fine as a 4th starter. His stuff has potential to improve, and most of his issues are more approach related as opposed to mechanical. Carlos Rodon is proof that sometimes it takes starters longer to bake in the oven, and we should keep that in mind when it comes to Dylan.

GRADE: B

Baseball

Stories From The Barber Pole – Midseason Player Grades: The Outfield

By Andy Jonathan 787

Now we move on to the section of the diamond with approximately zero remaining starters from Spring Training. The turnover ratio in the White Sox outfield has reached a level usually reserved for Amazon warehouse employees and White House spokespeople. The dearth of injuries has provided quite a few opportunities for guys who would’ve just been role players to step up and help the team.

And then there’s Adam Eaton.

 

ADAM EATON

.201/.298/.642

9.1% BB Rate / 25.3% K rate

5 HR/ 28 RBI / 33 R

.288 wOBA / 82 wRC+ / 0.3 WAR

I only put Eaton here to highlight what an absolutely terrible signing he was to begin with. With Rick Hahn’s yearly attempt to beat out the market by being done with his free agent signings before Christmas, the Sox ended up overpaying for a player that’s produced half the value than a guy that was CUT BY THE FUCKING PIRATES. Getting DFA’ed in the opening weeks of July shows that Rick Hahn can at least admit when he’s made a mistake, but unfortunately he doesn’t learn from them as this is the 2nd year in a row he’s put a band-aid on what was a mortar wound in RF.

GRADE: F….uck off forever

 

ANDREW VAUGHN

.253/.320/.772

8.1% BB Rate / 25.0% K Rate

10 HR / 28 RBI / 36 R

.331 wOBA / 112 wRC+ / 0.9 WAR

I don’t like giving Tony LaRussa too much credit (because I don’t think he does much more than just sit there most of the time), but his handling of Andrew Vaughn this season deserves praise. You can see him developing at an exponential rate as the season progresses, and a good amount is helped by how Tony uses and shelters him in the lineup. Vaughn was already a masher of left handed pitching, but in the month of July his splits against righties has exploded. Just look at his slash line against RHP in June vs July:

June: .182/.191/.487  1HR  27 wRC+ (ouch)

July: .393/.419/1.205  3HR  219 wRC+ (holy shit)

On top of all these offensive corrections he’s making, the defense he’s playing in LF (a position he’d never played before) is slightly above league average. Which, if you think about everything else going on with him is absolutely insane. The kid is going to be a monster, and his new positional eligibility solves a lot of issues for the organization. Awesome.

GRADE: A

BILLY HAMILTON

.230/.253/.667

3.2% BB Rate / 32.3% K Rate

2 HR / 10 RBI / 16 R

.282 wOBA / 78 wRC+ / 0.4 WAR

After Eloy went down with his pec tear back in March, I wrote about potential replacements for him. When I mentioned Billy Hamilton, I basically said that if he was going to be an everyday OF for the White Sox they have bigger issues than that. Just looking at his body of work, what I said still holds true. That doesn’t mean that Billy hasn’t brought value to the Sox, it’s actually quite the opposite.

He’s had some seriously clutch hits, plays excellent defense in the OF, and is still a serious threat on the basepaths. His .253 OBP leaves something to be desired, but that’s been the case throughout his career so it’s not an outlier by any means. He’s also just a really good dude, and very fun to root for. Exactly what you want out of a bench player, and when Eloy comes back I’m hoping he sticks around. He’s the kind of unsung hero that can make memorable moments in the postseason.

GRADE: C+

ADAM ENGEL

.286/.340/.690

2.1% BB Rate / 14.9% K Rate

5 HR / 11 RBI / 10 R

.424 wOBA / 173 wRC+ / 0.7 WAR

Adam Engel has only played in 13 games thus far this season, so the stats as shown are somewhat misleading. Except for the dingers. 5 HR in 13 games (while probably unsustainable) is pretty impressive. What else is impressive is (Much like Andrew Vaughn) that Engel is starting to hit right handed pitching at a higher rate than ever before in his career. In those 13 games he’s played, he’s actually batting .333 against RHP vs .221 against LHP. 3 of his 5 dingers have come off righties as well. Again, a very small sample size…but an encouraging one.

GRADE: Incomplete

BRIAN GOODWIN

.267/.353/.864

11.7% BB Rate / 21.4% K Rate

4 HR / 15 RBI / 17 R

.370 wOBA / 137 wRC+ / 0.6 WAR

All the kudos to Rick Hahn for very clearly having Brian Goodwin on his radar even before every tendon in Luis Robert’s hips exploded like a rubber band ball being chainsawed in half. He really didn’t waste much time signing him to a deal after the Pirates (for some reason) moved on from him at the beginning of the year. Goodwin had a very good run in 2019 with the Angels with 17 home runs in 130 games, but was sent to the Reds in an off-season deal. He had less luck with them, as he was treated as a placeholder for Jessie Winker and Nick Senzel.

His time with the Sox has been successful by any metric that you want to use, but I’m most impressed with his patience at the plate. The 11.7% BB rate would be the highest of his career, and he credits his time in the minor leagues as giving him the impetus to overhaul his approach at the plate. It’s working, and the Sox are reaping the benefits. He’s a keeper for sure.

GRADE: A

LEURY GARCÍA

.263/.330/.699

9.3% BB Rate / 25.5% K Rate

3 HR / 39 RBI / 36 R

.308 wOBA / 96 wRC+ / 1.2 WAR

A lot has been asked of Leury Legend this season with the amount of injuries to Sox starters this year. He had a pretty rough start to the season, but once the calendar month began with “J” he’s come on strong. The power he showed last season really hasn’t appeared yet, but he’s getting on base at a good clip and plays at least league average defense at multiple places around the diamond. Once (hopefully) people start coming back healthy, Leury can be used where he fits best: as a day of rest for everyone on the diamond. You can’t go wrong with someone who is positionally flexible like him, and Hahn did a good job keeping him on the roster.

GRADE: B+

 

Baseball

Stories From The Barber Pole – Midseason Player Grades: The Infield

By Andy Jonathan 932

Since we’re now officially halfway through the regular season (sure does feel like it flew by), I figured it would be a good time to take a quick peek and evaluate how everyone has done so far in the season. I’m only going to include players that are currently in the lineup, and not those who have gone on to live at the IL Farm Upstate.

First up today will be the infielders, tomorrow the OF, starters on Thursday and then the bullpen on Friday. Your standard disclaimer applies here that these are only my (correct) opinions, and not any hard and fast conclusions. Discussion is welcome on twitter, which I’m sure will be completely professional and not at all mean-spirited. Unless otherwise noted, all stats courtesy of Fangraphs Dot Com.

Jose Abreu

.253/.354/.786

9.0% BB Rate / 24.2% K Rate

15 HR / 66 RBI / 45 R

.339 wOBA / 117 wRC+ / 1.2 WAR

On the surface Jose Abreu’s numbers are pretty much in line with what he’s put up in his career, with the exception of his slash line. His walk and strikeout rates are where they should be (with the BB rate actually a career high if this continues), his dinger and RBI totals are on target for career norms and his WAR and wRC+ are right on the money. His average can be explained away by his .294 BABIP as simply bad luck, but what can’t be brushed away is his OPS. Were this to continue through the 2nd half, the .786 mark would be the worst of his career.

The other thing is that for the first time I can ever remember, Jose is failing the eye test. My man is hurt, and whether it’s his knees from trying to carry the team on his back or just a collection of maladies, Jose is feeling the wear and tear maybe more than ever before. The all star break couldn’t have come at a better time for Jose, and Eloy’s pending return even moreso. At this point in his career, what Jose needs is maintenance days off. Andrew Vaughn and Eloy will be able to provide those. With rest, I feel his power numbers will be back to where they typically are for his career.

GRADE: B

Tim Anderson

.309/.345/.770

5.2% BB Rate / 23.6% K Rate

6 HR / 32 RBI / 55 R / 14 SB

.335 wOBA / 114 wRC+ / 2.1 WAR

The first half of the season is what we’ve come to expect from Tim Anderson over the past 2 years. Low walk rate, decent K rate, great contact rate and an excellent batting average. Honestly, Tim looks as good this year as he’s ever been, with the benefit of the difference between his batting average and OBP the highest we’ve ever seen. Tim is seeing the ball well, he’s dangerous on the basepaths, and he’s playing some of the best defense of his career with a UZR rating of 0.6, which would be the highest he’s had since 2016. I have no complaints.

GRADE: A

Yoan Moncada

.272/.401(!)/.390

16.5% BB Rate / 25.1% K Rate

5 HR/ 39 RBI / 38 R

.357 wOBA / 128 wRC+ / 2.8 WAR

One of the more divisive players on the team (because he’s handsome, you see), Yoan Moncada has put up some of his best statistics everywhere this year but his power numbers. With his line drive percentage the highest of his career (30.5%) and his fly ball percentage the lowest it’s ever been (27.9%) the fact that he’s not elevating the ball as much would make his low dinger total seem accurate. With his hard hit rate sitting just a skosh below his career average of 37% (36.9% to be exact), all it would take to bust out in the dinger department would be to elevate the ball a bit more. With the nagging shoulder issue being the likely culprit for his lack of elevation, the sooner that feels better the more likely the barrage is imminent. The shoulder would also explain why his throws across the infield have been much more wild than in the past. It’s something to keep an eye on, but overall not too concerning.

GRADE: B+

Yasmani Grandal

.188/.394/.824

24.4% BB Rate (LOL) / 26% K Rate

14 HR / 48 RBI / 42 R

.365 wOBA / 134 wRC+ / 1.9 WAR / .199 BABIP (Also LOL)

The other divisive player amongst the fanbase is our (currently injured) #1 catcher Yaz. He’s an easy target for people who think that batting average is the end all be all for baseball stats. Looking at everything else however, and he’s actually one of the best hitters on the team behind target #2 of the Meatball Masses, Yoan Moncada. With his hilariously low BABIP and insanely high BB rate, Grandal was due to have a massive market correction to his batting average. Sadly the Sox let him continue to play with a bum calf muscle, which when tight can tug on the tendons of the knee and most likely lead to one of them shredding. With a 4-6 week timeframe for his return, I decided to keep him on the list. Here’s hoping his robo-knee can handle the load the rest of the way for the Sox when he returns at the beginning of September, as his pitch framing numbers are sorely missed.

GRADE: A

Zack Collins

.230/.331/.712

12.3% BB Rate / 33.2% K Rate

3 HR / 21 RBI / 17 R

.317 wOBA / 102 wRC+ / -0.2 WAR

As the current replacement for Yasmani Grandal, Zack Collins has thus far left something to be desired. While he has put up decent power numbers in the limited times that he’s started behind the plate, his strikeout rate combine with his dismal defensive and framing numbers should give Rick Hahn pause before he skips this position when looking for help at the trade deadline. Collins is fine for a backup catcher spot, but so far he hasn’t proven to be able to handle the day to day duties of managing a pitching rotation from behind the dish. He’ll have the first few weeks after the All Star break to prove he belongs there, and hopefully with everyday starts things will begin to improve for him.

GRADE: C-

Danny Mendick

.204/.305/.589

11.4% BB Rate / 25% K Rate

2 HR / 17 RBI / 12 R

.272 wOBA / 72 wRC+ / .03 WAR

Danny Mendick has done an acceptable job manning 2B in the absence of Nick Madrigal after his hamstring exploded a few weeks ago. He plays plus defense around the infield with an average of a 1.2 UZR rating, and doesn’t kill you at the plate. He’s not an every day player, however, and I believe that Rick Hahn has 2B pegged as his trade deadline priority. With Trevor Story or Adam Frazier (hopefully) manning that spot going forward, Mendick can spell the rest of the infield when they need a day off.

Grade: C+

 

 

Hockey

Long Slow Goodbye – Duncan Keith Traded To Edmonton

By Matt McClure 1678

In retrospect, Duncan Keith’s exit was paved nearly three calendar years ago when Joel Quenneville was fired and Coach Cool Youth Pastor Jeremy Colliton was brought on to do whatever it is he’s been doing since. Keith had just turned 35 and the signs of wear were finally starting to show, and what that deterioration would look like was without true precedent, as the closest comparison to Keith has always been Scott Niedermayer, who retired at age 34. Adding to that fact was a coach whom Keith was older than and had zero respect for and his passive aggressive undermining bordered into outright contempt. At long last, what it finally took for Keith to ask out was a third straight year without a playoff appearance (sorry, the bubble doesn’t count and it never did) and yet another sex crime scandal for the Hawks for him to say “Fuck this” and want to finally be closer to his son, and the Hawks accomodated him in sending him to Edmonton for Caleb Jones (Seth’s kid brother) and a third round pick while moving his salary off the books.

There simply are not enough superlatives to lay upon Keith’s career, and again it’s equally as decorated as Scott Niedermayer’s minus the WJC that Niedermayer has under his belt 30 years ago. But with the Hawks Keith earned three Cups, two Norrises, two gold medals for Canada, and a unanimous Conn Smythe in 2015. The way Keith played the game however, was quite different than Niedermayer. Keith’s stride was far choppier, and basically all of his offense came as the result of his unbelievable defense. It has long been the lament of this outlet that Keith was never a natural power play quarterback, but that didn’t stop him from firing a million and one pucks into shin pads. His assissts came from breaking up plays at the Hawk blue line as opposing forwards were funneled there in the prime era by the relentless backchecking of Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews, leaving Keith to knife the puck away if a forward tried to carry it across the line, or beat that player to the corner if they tried to dump it in. He was like a shutdown corner in football, just completely eliminating an entire side of the field. Keith also had a tremendous red ass streak both towards the press and on the ice. He made some vaguely sexist remarks when pressed by a female reporter in 2010, and flat out refused to be a part of McDonough’s PR (and coverup) machine by wearing team hats in locker room interviews. He nearly decapitated Daniel Sedin, Jeff Carter, and Charlie Coyle, receiving suspensions each time, so putting him now in the same division as the Canucks ought to be entertaining for everyone involved. And then there are all the rumors surrounding everything that transpired in 2015, some of the rumors of which are very not true, and some of them very much are.

But after all is said and done, Duncan Keith is more than likely the greatest defenseman in the history of the franchise, and one of the best to ever play the game no matter how his career ends in Edmonton. Chris Chelios might have been meaner, Doug Wilson may have scored more in the cocaine-addled and goaltender averse 80s, and Pierre Pilote might have been more graceful, but none of them did it all at once for so long, and when it mattered most. And the fact that he has asked out of this radioactive situation should not be held against him in the least going forward.

As for what the Hawks got in return, well, at least credit Bowman for not retaining any salary. The third round pick this year is a lottery ticket, and the Caleb Jones aspect of this is interesting and slightly disconcerting. As far as Caleb Jones the player is concerned, he’s 24 and has played a total of 93 NHL games with 5 goals and 14 assists for the Oilers, and has played 125 games in The A at Bakersfield putting up 11 goals there, so the offensive upside is tepid at best, and he’s certainly not the behemoth his brother is at 6’1″, 194 to Seth’s 6’4″ 215. But therein lies the intrigue. Clearly this is a precursor to making a full on push for Jones via trade, as he has asked out of flailing Columbus, with whom he has a No Trade Clause he can submit a list of 10 teams he does not want to go to. As John put it on twitter, this is Stan signing Yonder Alonso in the hopes of landing Manny Machado. As far as a player goes, Jones at 26 (27 in October) still should have plenty of time left being a two-way force and power play weapon as he has been to this point in his career, and is as legit a #1 defenseman as there is in the league, though playing in Columbus did nothing for his possession metrics. And with only one year left at a $5.4 mildo cap hit this year before hitting unrestricted free agency, he figures to be motivated. However, putting all of that into Jeremy Prinze Jr.’s absolute horse shit defensive “system” isn’t likely to improve any of those metrics, and that system is so bereft of any structure that even a player of Jones’ caliber can’t make any difference in team results. Furthermore, while no one should expect athletes to be great people or agree with them, the fact that the culture in Columbus was on the record as being so conspiracy-minded in the locker room that Pierre-Luc Dubois asked out of it is certainly not nothing, and Jones was one of the stronger voices in that room as a lettered alternate. A quick glance at the Jones’ social media feeds (along with their mother’s) backs that claim up, and is a very real concern as far as public health goes. But if nothing else has been made clear over the past 13 years, the Hawks clearly don’t give a shit about the greater good when there’s money and winning at stake. Either way, take all of this with a massive grain of salt.

In any event, farewell Duncs. It was a great run. See you at the number retiring ceremony.

Baseball

Series Recap: Sox Sweep Orioles – Halfway Home

By Andy Jonathan 940

BOX SCORES

White Sox 12 – Orioles 1

White Sox 8 – Orioles 3

White Sox 7 – Orioles 5 (10 Innings)

 

27 runs in 3 games is a pretty impressive feat. 68 runs in 10 games in the month of July is even moreso. The fact that the Sox are doing this with only 3 of the 9 players that were pegged to be starters at the beginning of the season is downright mind boggling. It hasn’t mattered who has gone down with injuries, there’s been someone who’s come up from AAA and grabbed the baton and kept running with it. Granted, there’s really no way that this level of production from what is essentially 2/3rds of a AAA roster is sustainable. For the time being, however, it’s been more than enough to keep the Sox on top of the Death Star Trash Compactor that is the AL Central.

Heading into the All Star break, the Sox currently sit 8 games ahead of the Cleveland Baseball Team with a 54-35 record and a 3rd best in the league +117 run differential. Their pitching staff ranks 1st in ALL OF BASEBALL with an accumulated 15.1 WAR (according to Fangraphs), and the offense is not far behind at 4th with 16.4 total WAR. This has all been done with one of the highest amounts of innings lost to injury in the league, with by far and away the largest amount of high-value players who’ve succumbed to stints on the IL.

It’s pretty unbelievable what this team has accomplished thus far in this season, and I have to give some credit to Tony LaRussa. Trust me, I really don’t want to but the fact that he’s pretty much let this team and locker room be itself has not been lost on me. Outside of the shit with Yermin and some interesting bullpen and lineup choices here and there he has not been the poison that I was afraid he would be, so kudos to him for that.

Also credit to Rick Hahn for making a few shrewd moves so far by signing Billy Hamilton and Brian Goodwin for a song. The cheapness of the organization as a whole and Jerry Reinsdorf in particular are never going to change, but Hahn deserves credit for the moves that work (Hamilton, Goodwin, Rodon) as much as the shitty moves that don’t (Eaton, Eaton and more Eaton). His biggest test will be over the next 3 weeks as he attempts to make some night moves to fill the holes in RF, 2B and at C until Yasmani Grandal can return from his knee surgery. The Sox also need at least 2 more bullpen arms, as Jose Ruiz and Matt Foster should not have a place on the playoff roster unless something changes in the next 2 months.

Finally, our Sweet Baby Boy Eloy has begun his rehab stint almost a month early and he’s already gone yard. Odds are we wont see him until the beginning of August at the earliest, but just having him on the horizon will be a boon to an already potent offense.

I’ll be back later in the week with some midseason grades for those lucky folk who are still on the roster and not the IL. Until then, enjoy the spectacle of the Dinger Derby and the ASG itself. Hopefully our 4 All Stars make it through unscathed, making the Sox look even better in the process. See you all soon.

Baseball

Burn It All Down – Cubs/Phillies Series Review: There’s Likely No Team Worse to Watch Right Now Than the Cubs Losing 3-13/10-16/8-3/0-8

By Summer Corson 798

It’s bad, folks. The team is not good; despite ending their double-digit losing streak on Wednesday, the Cubs got beat down every other game, including getting blanked last night 8-0. Every facet of the team is now somehow to blame, from the starting pitching, to the streaky offense, to the imperfect defense, to scraping the bottom of the barrel with catchers available in the system so Contreras can have a day off, to the bullpen finally wearing out.

Jed Hoyer said yesterday he’s been taking calls to sell at the deadline. Brace yourselves, everyone: a fire sale is coming.

July 5, 2021
Cubs 3, Phillies 13
WP: Brogdon (5-2) LP: Brothers (2-2)
Box Score

I’ve spent the last week-plus talking quite poorly about this team, as you know if you too subject yourself to too much inconsistent, crappy baseball. Perhaps you too felt a flicker of hope when, in the bottom of the 1st inning, the Cubs were able to load the bases thanks to two walks and a single by Anthony Rizzo after only 1 out. However, we came back to reality after watching both Patrick Wisdom and Joc Pederson get struck out to strand all three baserunners. It was a sign of things to come.

The things to come were just more of the same. The Phillies tied the game a half-inning later, and the Cubs were able to score in the bottom of the 3rd again, thanks to a Kris Bryant single and a Javy Baez double. Once again, the Cubs would score all their runs in the first few innings of the game and then proceed to collapse late in the game, a sign that the bullpen is exhausted.

This was Zach Davies’ start, and he allowed two of the runs early. He also allowed four hits and two walks in only 5.0 innings pitched. Both his runs were home runs, but the numbers still aren’t pretty.

Rex Brothers allowed two more Phillies runs to start the 6th inning. He only pitched a third of the inning, and we got to watch Rossy get ejected after that walk was called, arguing balls and strikes with the umpire in a show of frustration not usually seen from him. It wouldn’t help to rally the offense by any means, of course. For the rest of the game the Cubs only had two singles and a Baez solo home run. Meanwhile, the Phillies put up six more runs in the 8th and three more in the 9th, absolutely lighting up Adam Morgan to the point where he allowed three runs without even a single out. Kohl Stewart threw the rest of the inning while allowing three runs and a walk, and we got to watch Eric Sogard pitch for the third time this year, which becomes more of a disgrace every time I have to watch it.

July 6, 2021
Cubs 10, Phillies 15
WP: Nola (6-5) LP: Arrieta (5-9)
Box Score

The time to part ways from Jake Arrieta has long since passed, sad as it may be. But loading the bases in the 1st inning, with no outs, and allowing a grand slam to put this team in the hole to start out the game is just unacceptable. Trevor Williams was activated from the IR today, finally recovered from his appendix surgery, and at this point even he seems like a better option.

The Phillies were able to score again in the 2nd inning after Joc Pederson committed an incredible two errors on a single play, dropping the ball, allowing it to bounce away and off his shoe and dropping it a SECOND TIME before throwing it to Sergio Alcantara at second base. Of course, the runner was safe. A ball hit to him just a few batters later resulted in yet another bases-loaded situation, and this time Ian Happ wanted to get in on the errorpalooza, unable to properly field a hit to center field, resulting in yet another runner scoring.

By this time it was 7-0 Phillies. In the 3rd inning, a Cubs rally finally ensued to let everyone know we weren’t watching a bunch of lifeless bodies out on the field. It started with the bottom of the lineup, too, as Alcantara and Rafael Ortega both hit singles. Pederson’s offensive attempts to make up for his defensive blunders somewhat succeeded when he doubled to score a run. Kris Bryant singled as well and scored a second runner — good thing he’ll be gone at the deadline, am I right? Baez was so close to a three-run homer, but a sacrifice fly to make it 7-3 is better than nothing in this situation.

The Phillies scored two more runs in the 4th inning, in which we saw Trevor Williams come out to the mound. He pitched longer than anyone on the mound for the Cubs, at 3.2 innings. However, he allowed seven runs total, just as much as Arrieta, so I guess scratch him being a better option. Pitching’s just not good.

The Cubs had a measly solo home run in the 6th thanks to Baez again, but just a half-inning later Williams’s collapse of two singles, a fielding error and a home run this inning made it 12-4 Phillies. Bryce Harper immediately homered off of his replacement, Dan Winkler. The Cubs were able to string some offense and hits together for the last few innings, with a slew of singles, doubles and a pair of homers from Baez and backup-backup-backup catcher Robinson Chirinos. Despite scoring 6 runs in the last 3 innings, the hole the Cubs dug themselves into in the first two thirds of the game was insurmountable. Surprised?

July 7, 2021
Cubs 8, Phillies 3
WP: Mills (4-2) LP: Wheeler (6-5)
Box Score

The Cubs finally won a game, which is technically progress. They did it thanks to the help of Alec Mills, who pitched five scoreless innings against the Phillies, allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk during those innings, before tiring out in the 6th and allowing a single, a double and a home run to score three batters.

Thanks in part to the pitching, the Cubs were able to get going offensively and stay afloat. They scored three runs in the 1st inning off of four singles and a fielding error by the Phillies. They scored two more runs in the 2nd inning after two singles and a triple by Anthony Rizzo. Although the bats slowed down in the middle of the game, the Cubs were able to answer to the Phillies’ three-run 6th inning with three runs of their own at the bottom of the inning. It was Patrick Wisdom with two RBIs in that inning who scored Ian Happ and Joc Pederson; Pederson’s single scored Nico Hoerner, who singled to start off the inning.

The Cubs are a little banged up, what with Sogard on the IL and Baez getting benched amid a hot offensive streak because of his finger again. Kris Bryant left this game with hamstring tightness, also, but Wisdom replacing him ended up being not too shabby. Will an injury now plummet his trade value, however? You know the Rickettses are worried.

The team came through with a win despite the shabby lineup. Hoerner was in good company with Rizzo and Pederson; all three had two hits on the night. Rafael Ortega, known for getting on base in pinch-hitting situations, had a rough go of it with three strikeouts, but other than that everyone seemed okay. The bullpen of Rex Brothers, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel gave up no runs, of course, and only one hit to close out the game effectively.

July 9, 2021
Cubs 0, Phillies 8
WP: Elfin (4-6) LP: Alzolay (4-9)
Box Score

Alzolay did throw some good pitches last night, getting five strikeouts and only one walk in five innings. Unfortunately, he’s still bleeding hits, with five in this start, leading to four runs by the Phillies. He was at first able to keep the damage down to a minimum, allowing a run in the 2nd and 3rd innings, giving the offense lots of time to score runs of any caliber. By the 5th inning, though, he gave up a single and a home run, and without the Cubs scoring any runs it seemed all but over by that point.

Good thing Cory Abbott is here to save the day in the bullpen! He pitched the 6th without allowing any runs mostly thanks to the fielding behind him not committing an error. He was able to get out of the inning in a bases loaded situation but would not be so lucky in the 7th. He allowed a single, a home run, a double and another home run to give the Phillies a commanding 8-0 lead that would stay that way the rest of the game.

I don’t even want to talk about the offense, do you? The Cubs only had five hits; I’d say they weren’t coming from their big guns but the only “core” players playing last night were Rizzo and Heyward. The team left 12 runners on base, but only two of them ever made it to scoring position. It was an ugly game to end an ugly series, one that cemented the fact that Jed Hoyer is going to be selling this team for parts, and stat.

—

Nothing matters anymore, so why not play the Cardinals this weekend? They are exactly tied with us in the standings except they’ve won six of their last ten as opposed to us only winning one. It’s going to be an ugly series by every stretch of the imagination; watch only if you dare, but as always, go Cubs go!

Baseball

Selloff Imminent? – Cubs/Reds Series Review: Cubs Get Swept Again 1-2/2-3/2-3

By Summer Corson 877

The Cubs’ slump continues, but after last series I feel indifferent to this club. Why should I expect any more when our offense is sputtering and our starting pitchers just aren’t good enough? Now our bullpen is suffering too, after being overworked early on in the first half of the season. While the run earlier in the season was fun while it lasted, it’s really starting to look like a selloff is imminent, and maybe that’s for the best, because the team as it’s been the past few weeks isn’t very good at all.

July 2, 2021
Cubs 1, Reds 2
WP: Osich (1-0) LP: Mills (3-2)
Box Score

Things started out innocently enough, everyone looking okay through the first few innings as the Cubs seemed more evenly matched for the Reds, especially compared to the shellacking put to us by the Brewers in the last series. Alec Mills was throwing some nasty pitches, striking out four batters in the first two innings, totaling 9 strikeouts on the game after 5.2 innings pitched.

Ian Happ even got a hit in the 3rd inning, despite having one of the worst batting averages in the NL against lefties. Kris Bryant is back in the lineup, and he celebrated by going 2 for 4 for the night. His hit in the top of the 4th inning allowed Jason Heyward to bat him home on a double to put the Cubs up 1-0.

It would be the Cubs’ only run, as the wheels fell off the wagon just a few innings later at the bottom of the 6th, where Mills allowed a walk and a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd base. He was then yanked and replaced by Adam Morgan, who immediately gave up a double to make it 2-1 Reds; neither team decided it was necessary to score any more runs.

Dan Winkler and Andrew Chafin were able to hold the Reds to only one hit in the 8th and 9th innings, striking out three batters combined. But the Cubs pretty much gave up in the final innings of this game, allowing themselves to be struck out 4 times in 3 innings. The only time a hitter reached base was a Joc Pederson walk in the 7th, after a Cubs challenge about Willson Contreras grounding out was upheld on the field as an out.

July 3, 2021
Cubs 2, Reds 3
WP: Hendrix (4-1) LP: Alzolay (4-8)
Box Score

The Cubs’ losing streak extended to eight games, as the offense continues to be unable to follow through when runners are in scoring position, nor can they capitalize on games where the starters throw quality outings. This time it was Albert Alzolay, who pitched seven innings and allowed only 5 hits. Unfortunately, two of those were solo home runs, even though otherwise he had a pretty good outing. This is his fourth loss in a row, despite him not entirely deserving to have such a skid. By the end of the 7th inning, just before getting pulled, he allowed a walk, a double, and another single to score the Reds’ winning run, as the Cubs’ bats once again stopped working in the 8th and 9th innings.

The Cubs were able to score in the 2nd inning; Rafael Ortega came home on a passed ball after doubling earlier. In the 3rd inning, Kris Bryant’s solo homer made it 2-0 Cubs. In the 1st, 4th, 5th and 7th innings, the Cubs had runners in scoring position they didn’t convert on. Despite Bryant having three hits in five at-bats, there were only four other hits from the rest of the team that came from Rizzo, Conteras, Ortega and Eric Sogard. Without offense, the Reds were able to edge the team out in the 7th inning, after Joey Votto walked and Tyler Stephenson doubled to score him.

The bullpen of Brad Wieck and Craig Kimbrel only pitched one inning combined, but they of course allowed no hits. They allowed one walk total and struck out three batters. I guess the only bright side to this game is that a lot of the pen got the day off to rest, which is important since those games seem to be very few and far between for those poor pitchers.

July 4, 2021
Cubs 2, Reds 3
WP: Warren (2-0) LP: Winkler (1-1)
Box Score

The Cubs were able to celebrate the founding of America by activating Nico Hoerner off the injured list, finally. He was not very helpful on the offensive front, with no hits and a strikeout where he chased a ball that no one could hit. However, he was effective when needed defensively on the field, as he was part of an inning-ending double-play in the 5th inning to keep the Cubs’ one-run lead intact.

On the offensive front, the Cubs had plenty of hits but not a lot of runs to show for it. Patrick Wisdom, Hoerner and Ian Happ were the only players who went without a hit this game, with Contreras, Baez, Rizzo and Jake Marisnick having two.

Kyle Hendricks pitched well, giving the Cubs another quality start with 5 hits and only one run allowed in 6 innings. The Cubs gave him the minimum amount of effort needed offensively to let him walk away without taking the loss, which was oh so kind of them.

The bullpen, however, seemed to be a different story. Dan Winkler was the first pitcher up, and immediately gave up a single, a hit by pitch and another single to load the bases. After a forceout, Winkler hit another batter, allowing the tying run to score. He was replaced by Andrew Chafin in a bases loaded, one-out situation, and a ground ball forceout was all it took for the Reds to score one more player in order to put them in the lead 3-2.

The Cubs were unable to come back; for the rest of the game only three guys got on base and only one of those situations was a hit, an Eric Sogard single. Ian Happ walked earlier that same inning in the 9th, but Willson Contreras grounded into a double play, ending the game.

—

The Cubs could’ve made the most of this Reds series, but they didn’t, and now they slip to 3rd place in the Central. The Cubs now look forward to playing nothing but sub-.500 teams all the way through the end of the month, as a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies awaits them starting tonight and going through all next week. Then they get a series against the Cardinals, the Diamondbacks, and the Cardinals again before facing Cincinnati at the end of the month. You can’t really drop any of those Cardinals games, and there’s no excuses to not win against the Diamondbacks. The Phillies should in theory be easy opponents as well.

If the Cubs were going to end their slump and get hot again, now is the time to do it. Fail against these teams and there’s no question it’ll be a selling deadline. Sit back and get ready to watch some sub-par baseball! Go Cubs go!

Baseball

Series Recap: Tigers Take 2 of 3 From Sox – Punch Drunk

By Andy Jonathan 850

BOX SCORES

Game 1: White Sox 8 – Tigers 2

Game 2: White Sox 5 – Tigers 11

Game 3: White Sox 5 – Tigers 6

 

It’s not too often in a 3 game series where a team is able to pot 18 runs and yet still lose 2 of the 3 games, but the Sox pitching staff found a way this holiday weekend. Both Dallas Keuchel and Lucas Giolito had rough outings, which were just bad enough to be too much for the offense to overcome. Even Lance Lynn, who got the lone win for the weekend, needed almost 120 pitches to get through 6 innings.

This continues a disturbing trend for the White Sox starters the last couple of weeks where they’ve labored through the 5 to 6 innings they’ve been tasked with finishing, usually throwing an excess of 100 pitches to get there. While the temperature has skyrocketed in that timeframe, I’m concerned that’s not the only reason the difficulties are rearing their heads.

To the bullets:

 

NUMBERS DON’T LIE

Game 1

-While the final score makes it look like the Sox pummeled the Tigers into submission, the reality is that the game was much closer until they dropped 5 runs on the head of Bryan Garcia in the top of the 9th inning. After jumping on prized rookie starter Casey Mize in the 1st inning, it seemed that the Sox were indeed going to nuke the Tigers from orbit, but the bats went silent after that 1st inning and Mize escaped with just the 2 earned runs.

-Gavin Sheets was part of that barrage in the top of the 9th when he smoked a 3 run dinger off Buck Farmer on a nipples high fastball. It was an impressive show of power for a kid in his 5th career MLB start. Here’s hoping his splits improve against left handed pitching, because if he can show that right field will be his standard spot on the diamond, the Sox may have found something here.

-Andrew Vaughn has officially heated up. His difficulties hitting right handed pitching have melted away in the hot summer sun, as he’s slashed .317/.348/.933 since the middle of June. In addition to the hitting, he’s actually turned into a solid defender in left field as he made a great diving stop on Friday night to get Lance Lynn out of a jam he worked himself into:

-Lance Lynn needed 120 pitches to get through 6 innings on a hot summer night, but he was able to get the job done. Were he pitching against a team other than the Tigers this start probably would’ve ended differently, but here we are and we’ll take it.

-Jake Burger had two hits in his first ever major league game, and it was simply awesome to see him out there after what he went through the past 3 years. He had a great postgame interview with Jason Benetti, and it sure did get dusty in my living room all of a sudden watching it. Good for him.

GAME 2

-Dallas Keuchel looked more like 2019 Dylan Cease in this start, throwing way too many pitches and walking waaaaay too many people. After the game he didn’t exactly help his cause by complaining about how the outfield defense is positioned too deep to take care of bloops and liners. Was he hurt by Billy Hamilton’s poorly timed dive that lead to an inside the park home run? Yep. Was his start ultimately undone by defensive positioning in the OF? Nope. It was undone by shitty pitching. Deal with it and move on.

-The strike zone by home plate umpire Tom Hallion was absolutely atrocious in this game, directly leading to 2 additional runs being walked in by Ryan Burr, who was nails in his relief appearance. This ultimately led to pitching coach Ethan Katz being ejected in the 5th by Hallion, when he murmured something derogatory in his direction. How Hallion heard him is a mystery to me, as Katz is so mild mannered it would be difficult to hear him in an empty library. Grandpa Tony shuffled out to defend the honor of his coach by saying a few words to Hallion, then creakily huffing back to the dugout to resume his nap.

-Some of this was directly related to just how bad Zack Collins is at framing pitches. On the first strikeout for Burr that was called a walk, the 4-seam fastball was in the zone but after Collins caught it his mitt carried it outside. There were a few instances where Keuchel had low strikes called balls because Zack couldn’t bring it up in a timely manner. Pitch framing is an art, and Collins can definitely get better at it. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

-Jace Fry came back up from Charlotte to get shellacked by the Tigers in his 1.1 innings of work. I’m guessing he was probably on Travelocity in the locker room booking his flight back down after the game.

-Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu combined for 4 hits total, and both look like they’re starting to get back into a groove. The Sox are going to need it, since Yasmani Grandal left the game early with a tight calf muscle.

-Game 2 for Jake Burger was much less notable, as he went 0-4 with 2 K’s. It’s a learning process, folks.

GAME 3

-The spin rate on Lucas Giolito’s fastball was down some 200 RPMs yet again, causing it to be very hittable in the main part of the strike zone. Conversely the spin rate on his changeup went up, making THAT pitch more hittable as well. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Lucas was using some combination of substance on his pitches, and is now going to have an adjustment period where he’s forced to rely more on the location of his fastball and change as opposed to the movement of it. He’s talented enough to make it work, but this might not be the last clunker before he figures it out.

-Jose Abreu did everything in his power to try and drag the Sox back into the game, absolutely crushing an 88 mph slider that Gregory Soto left over the middle of the plate. It ultimately didn’t mean much to the game with the Sox falling short, but seeing Jose read the slider and not only make solid contact, but nuke it, is a very good sign going forward.

-Andrew Vaughn came to the plate with the tying run on 1st and absolutely smoked a first pitch fastball opposite field, but unfortunately right at Robbie Grossman to end the game.

-Codi Heuer has now gone his last 7 appearances with only giving up 1 run, while striking out 8. His feel for his changeup has clearly come back, as that pitch has had the bottom dropping out of it more than it had in the first month of the season. This is a great thing, because with Bummer and Marshall out for the foreseeable future, he may be the bridge to Hendriks in the 9th.

-Danny Mendick pinch hit for Gavin Sheets in the 9th with 1 on and nobody out. I get the splits for Soto are favorable for the Sox going lefty/righty, but I really wanted to see how the kid handled the at bat in a high pressure situation.

 

Ultimately, losing 2 of 3 to the Tigers didn’t hurt the Sox at all, since Cleveland got swept by Houston over the weekend. The Sox are in “stay afloat” mode until reinforcements can be brought in the form of Eloy and Luis Robert returning from the IL, or outside the organization via trade. The way it stands now, the Sox need at least a reliever or two, and a second baseman. While the article on MLB Trade Rumors saying the Sox were interested in Trevor Story was nice to see, it’s also kind of common sense. The Sox absolutely SHOULD be interested in Story, but being interested in him and actually pulling the trigger on a deal are two totally different things all together. I wouldn’t get my hopes up, personally. The splash trade at the deadline is so far away from Rick Hahn’s MO that it’s almost out of the realm of possibility.

Let’s just concentrate on beating the shit out of Donaldson and the Twins this week. That’s obviously assuming that he can stay healthy enough for a week straight to make it on the field.

Let’s Go Sox

Baseball

Series Recap: Sox Sweep Twins – And All Was Right With The World

By Andy Jonathan 1030

BOX SCORES

Game 1: Rained Out

Game 2: Twins 6 – White Sox 7

Game 3: Twins 3 – White Sox 13

Game 4: Twins 5 – White Sox 8

 

Josh Donaldson is a penis, and it warmed the darkest recesses of my heart to see the Sox respond to his borderline insane zoom interview/manifesto by pummeling the Twins pitching to the tune of 28 runs in 3 games. They drummed poor Matt Shoemaker all the way back to the unemployment line when Brain Genius Rocco Baldelli went Full TLR and left him out there to die in the 4th inning. It really was quite the spectacle, and I wish I could liquify it and then inject the solution directly into my brain.

TO THE BULLETS!

 

NUMBERS DON’T LIE

 

Game 1

-Let’s get this out of the way at the start. Lucas Giolito’s spin rate was waaaaay down in this game, with his 4-seamer missing about 170 RPMs off from his previous outing. It was also a very hot and humid night, with the dewpoint well above 70. Did this have an effect on his spin rate? Probably. That being said, it bears watching going forward to see if it was a one time thing or the new norm. The one K for the night also raises my eyebrows a bit. Gonna wait and see how the next few starts go before we draw any concrete conclusions.

-On the other side of the coin, something is very wrong with Kenta Maeda’s mechanics. I don’t know if he was tipping his pitches or what, but he was supremely hittable on Tuesday night. On top of that, he had trouble finding the zone, and when he was actually in it, the Sox beat the shit out of the ball. Sucks for him, good for us.

-Gavin Sheets, hello.

-Andrew Vaughn and his googly eyes are locked in right now. He’s seeing the ball very well (duh), and most importantly making contact against right handed pitchers. We all knew he can punish lefties, but seeing that same swing against RHP now is exciting.

-Ryan Burr just keeps throwing zeros up there. Gonna need him now that Evan Marshall and Aaron Bummer have joined Eloy and the rest up in Sox Heaven.

-Liam Hendriks certainly made things exciting in the 9th, but managed to work around some bad luck and lock down his 21st save of the year.

GAME 2

-LOL TWINS

-The Sox had 7 dingers total in the series and 6 of them came in this game. One of which was the first career bomb from Gavin Sheets, which went an estimated 429 feet. The only one to top that distance on the night was Yasmani Grandal, who’s 447 foot blast showed up on our radar at work:

-Dylan Cease gave up a dinger to Donaldson (of course) in the 1st, but then settled down thereafter and went a solid 6. His 3 walks pretty much guaranteed that he wasn’t going any further than that, but with the bullpen in the state that it’s in you can’t complain about a quality start.

-Garret Crochet looks like he found the heat he was missing on his fastball, striking out 2 in his inning of work and touching 98 mph in the process. Good to see.

-Jose Abreu went yard with a piss missile in the 3rd inning, but still looked out of sorts. Dude needs a week off, and I’m legit hoping he avoids the All Star Game

GAME 3

-Carlos Rodon had more nasty stuff in this game, but ran into trouble in the 5th when the D behind him went into full Benny Hill Mode. Ultimately it cost him the W, but it was all worth it to have him stare Donaldson down when he K’d him with a nasty slider. Baseball is fun.

https://twitter.com/theScore/status/1410681864004714500?s=20

-Billy Hamilton is back and it’s beautiful. Dude smacked a double into left center field, then stole 3rd underneath a shitty swipe by Donaldson, then scored on a sac fly from Abreu in short right center.

-All was not fun and games, however, as Yoan Moncada hurt his hand on a slide into 3rd. Team is calling it a bruised thumb, and he’s expected to miss at least the series this weekend against Detroit. Realistically they should rest him until after the all star break, but we know that won’t happen. Unless…

-Jake Burger comes up and tears a hole in the universe at 3rd base this weekend. Regardless of how the kid does in his callup, it’s an awesome story for him to come back from not one but TWO torn Achilles’ ligament tears. He’s been mashing in AAA, but the Tigers pitching has looked pretty damn good recently, so I’m excited to see how he does.

-Michael Kopech came back for an inning and looked good enough to vulture the W away from Rodon after the D fell apart in the 5th. Gonna need him.

 

Next up is a weekend series against the Tigers in Detroit, where AJ Hinch has his squad playing much better as of late. They took 2 of 3 from Houston, then swept a double header against the Tribe to take 2 of 3 from them.

Their starting rotation has been pretty lights out, so the depleted Sox lineup will have their work cut out for them. Taking out the stinker in the first game against Cleveland, they’ve only given up 10 runs in 5 games. Tarik Skubal has been dominant since his 11 strikeout performance last series against the Sox, and he slots in Saturday against Dallas Keuchel. Casey Mize takes the bump Friday against Lance Lynn, and the fireworks on Sunday feature Lucas Giolito vs the undefeated TBD.

The Sox lead is now up to 5 games over the Indians, who have a series against the Astros pending this weekend. Good chance to get that up to 7 before the next 4 against the Twins. Get it done.

Let’s Go Sox.