Baseball

Series Preview – Cleveland vs. White Sox: A Brief Interlude Of Punchlessness

By Sam Fels 1191 0

vs.

RECORDS: Cleveland 21-18   White Sox 18-21

GAMETIMES: Monday 7:10, Tuesday 1:10

TV: NBCSN Monday, WGN Tuesday

ALL OUR FISH HAVE AIDS: Let’s Go Tribe

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Shane Bieber vs. Reynaldo Lopez

Carlos Carrasco vs. Manny Banuelos

PROBABLE CLEVELAND LINEUP

Francisco Lindor – SS

Jason Kipnis – 2B

Jose Ramirez – 3B

Carlos Santana – 1B

Carlos Gonzalez – DH

Jake Bauers – LF

Tyler Naquin – RF

Roberto Perez – C

Leonys Martin – CF

PROBABLY WHITE SOX LINEUP

Charlie Tilson – CF

Yoan Moncada – 3B

Jose Abreu – 1B

Yonder Alonso – DH

Tim Anderson – SS

Nicky Delmonico – LF

Welington Castillo – C

Yolmer Sanchez – 2B

Ryan Cordell – RF

 

There’s not much different between these two teams than there was last week when they met for four by the shores of Lake Erie. The Sox went on to win two of three in Canada, while The Tribe lost two of three to Oakland. Cleveland still can’t hit, their rotation is taking on water, and the pen ain’t what it used to be like that old gray mare.

And Cleveland still isn’t getting signs of life where it needs them. While Jordan Luplow and Tyler Naquin have hit of late in limited duty, the team’s engine is still sputtering. Lindor, Ramirez, and Santana have done just north of dick the last two weeks, and pretty much all season. Lindor did manage five hits against the A’s, and they can only hope that it’s the sign for something. That only one of them was for extra-bases is probably flattening that hope, but it has to start somewhere. Ramirez has one homer in May, and this was after MVP-projections for him (I know, he’s knifing my fantasy team at the moment).

This team is going to trail the Twins all season if those three don’t get doing, because Cleveland’s front office has constantly viewed the outfield as basically a grazing pasture and has needed help there since before their World Series appearance. Letting Michael Brantley walk in favor of Carlos Gonzalez was a particularly inspired piece of galaxy brain.

On the mound, the Sox will see the two starters they couldn’t get past last week in the unfortunately named Shane Bieber and then Carrasco. Bieber gave up three over six, and Carrasco basically fustigated them over the only five innings the game would last thanks to the rain. Carrasco has been in some ways their most dominant starter, striking out a third of the hitters he sees while barely walking anyone. But he can’t seem to get any luck, and when that evens out he should have some bonkers numbers on the year if he keeps that K/BB ratio.

For the Pale Hose, Lopez was pretty much Bieber’s equal last week, giving up just three runs over six innings. It was a nice response to getting clubbed by the suddenly molten Red Sox, which happens. Speaking of clubbed, Banuelos takes the mound for his weekly bludgeoning on Tuesday afternoon. You would think it would only be one more start of being turned into oatmeal before Manny is jettisoned from the rotation, though the only help in waiting is one Dylan Cease as the Sox are probably going to be as patient with him as humanly possible.

The Sox get six at home before an ugly looking trip that takes them to Houston and Minnesota, and both of those teams have been treating pitchers like Gallagher and watermelons (too soon?). Best to get your licks in now.

Baseball

Series Wrap – Sox Take 2 of 3 From Blue Jays: The Long Slow Climb Out Of Hell

By Andy Jonathan 1233 0

This is a little more what I expected from this White Sox team: to be competitive against the bottom rung of the AL, and to show a little fight but ultimately get mushed by the top.  This very easily could’ve been a sweep against the light hitting Jays team were it not for 2 bad pitches by Dylan Covey, but boy were those 2 pitches shitty.  The Sox still have a ways to go before I will consider this rebuild on track, but a few more performances like this out of Giolito and I might allow myself to feel hope again.

 

 

YOU GOT A BULLET(S) IN YOUR HEAD

 

-Dylan Covey’s start was…not great.  The problems that plagued him last season (high pitch count, no punchout pitch) were on full display in the first few innings.  He’s a sinkerball pitcher who’s pitches aren’t sinking right now.  They either fly out of the zone, or just sit there belt high, begging to be pummeled into orbit.  That’s exactly what Randal “No Blanket Like A Wet Blanket” Grichuk did in the 1st inning Friday night.  Covey couldn’t get past strike 2 on anyone, and Grichuk made him pay.  Teoscar Hernandez did the same thing the following inning, and that was about it.  If Covey is going to be filling in for Carlos Rodon’s shredded elbow until Sox management decides Dylan Cease has dominated AAA enough to make an appearance at the big league level, then he’s gonna have to figure out how to get that sinker down, otherwise I’m just gonna skip each of his starts.  There’s only so much beer in my fridge, and it can’t handle Covey pitching every five days.

 

-Ivan Nova’s start, however, was pleasant enough.  Basically a repeat of his start against Cleveland, Nova worked both sides of the plate effectively keeping the light hitting Toronto team off balance.  The offense, perhaps worried that he’d melt down like a popsicle in a toddler’s hand, banged out 9 runs of support for him.  Quality starts are nice, more please.

 

-Speaking of the offense, James McCann is now officially a thing.  He went 6 for 9 (nice) in the series, and gunned down Vladdy Jr’s attempted larceny on Saturday.  It actually made me swear out loud when a Danny Jansen foul nailed him right in the McCannonballs (Hat tip to @WriteSox for that one).  It’s getting to the point now where there’s really no excuses to play Wellington Castillo much anymore, not that it’ll stop Renteria from doing so.

 

-Lucas Giolito is making a very strong case to be a large part of this rebuild.  His changeup looks like a completely new pitch, and it’s been there for him even when the fastball hasn’t.  Case in point the first 2 innings today where he couldn’t spot the fastball at all, but the change was still there to get him the strike when he needed it.  His FIP and BABIP are where you’d want them to be (3.45 and .301), so there’s no reason to believe that he can’t keep this up.  That being said, I’d like to see him take another turn at the Red Sox, or the Cubs for that matter as a true test of his stuff.  I’m very optimistic, however.

 

-Yonder Alonso hit a dinger, but he still sucks.

 

-Tim Anderson ALSO smoked a dinger to center field, but it did not lead to a bolt of lightning crashing through the TavaresDome and striking down Randal “Mayonnaise” Grichuk like I had hoped.  Next time.

 

Two games against the Tribe this week, which might also feature the return of ELOY to the lineup.  That would be nice, as I like Charlie Tilson as a 4th outfielder, but his 32 MPH exit velocity is not exactly MLB material.

 

 

Everything Else

Series Preview – White Sox vs. Blue Jays: How Does This Affect The Leafs?

By Sam Fels 1874 0

vs.

RECORDS: White Sox 16-20   Blue Jays 15-22

GAMETIMES: Friday 6:07, Saturday 2:07, Sunday 12:07

TV: WGN Friday and Sundy, NBCSN Saturday

GET A T.O. BABY: Just follow Zubes on Twitter

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Dylan Covey vs. Daniel Hudson

Ivan Nova vs. Marcus Stroman

Lucas Giolito vs. Aaron Sanchez

PROBABLE SOX LINEUP

Leury Garcia – 2B

Yoan Moncada – 3B

Jose Abreu – DH

Yonder Alonso – 1B

Welington Castillo – C

Nicky Delmonico – LF

Tim Anderson – SS

Charlie Tilson – CF

Ryan Cordell – RF

PROBABLY JAYS LINEUP

Eric Sogard – 2B

Freddy Galvis – SS

Randal Grichuk – CF

Justin Smoak – 1B

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 3B

Rowdy Tellez – DH

Billy McKinney – RF

Teoscar Hernandez – LF

Danny Jansen – C

 

After getting four games against a Cleveland lineup that couldn’t hit a bull in the ass with a banjo, the Sox will spend the weekend seeing another banj0-less offense in the Toronto Blue Jays. Hard to believe it was only three seasons ago that the Jays were piling up back-to-back ALCS appearances, as it feels like a million. But that’s the way it goes when you’re in a division with superpowers, so the Jays have chucked all that and are waiting on the next batch of children to rise and take them back where they were.

One is already here, you may have heard about it. Vlad Guerrero Jr. was called up a couple weeks ago, but has yet to fire. He’s walking enough, but striking out over a quarter of the time, and just can’t seem to get anything going. He’s not making any loud contact at all yet, but it’s only a matter of time. It’s not his fault the Jays need him to be what was promised to score, because the rest of this lineup is a wasteland. They’re second to last in run, and last in on-base percentage and weighted on-base percentage. The only hitter in the lineup having an above-average season is Justin Smoak.

Any Cubs fan remembers that Randal Grichuk always looks like he’s being attacked by bees, whether in the field or at the plate. The rest of these jokers are merely place-holders until the likes of Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio are ready. Boy, the Jays sure do believe in legacy, huh?

The rotation isn’t much better. Marcus Stroman has returned to being plus, perhaps in fear of angering his beefcake dad. Matt Shoemaker was off to a decent enough start but then his knee went kablooey and he’s done for the year. Aaron Sanchez was a down-ballot Cy Young contender three years ago, but a combo of injuries and an inability to know where the baseball is going has neutered him. When you’re throwing Clay Buchholz and Daniel Hudson out there, you know there are issues. But again, these are placeholders. Most of the Jays top prospects are arms, with Sean Reid-Foley already making an appearance and a couple others on the cusp for either later in the year or next. This is a team meant to be replaced.

The pen has been decent enough, with not a lot to work with. Ken Giles has been a good in the closer’s role. Sam Gaviglio, whatever that is, has been close to dominant by walking no one. But again, this isn’t a pen meant to win a lot of games, just meant to take the innings because someone has to.

For the Sox, Dylan Covey/Arrieta will make his second start, and Giolito should tear through this Cottonelle lineup. But a lot of things “should” happen.

Baseball

Do We Believe In James McCann?

By Sam Fels 1505 0

I mean he exists. He’s real. So you should believe in that.

In something of a surprise, through the season’s first six weeks two of the three best catchers in baseball, in terms of fWAR, reside in the Chicago. Willson Contreras being the best is only a small shock, because he’s flashed this kind of thing before, if only for a month or two in 2017. Certainly after last year’s before-spinach-Popeye act didn’t portend to dominance this year, but that’s what we’ve gotten.

On the Southside is the real surprise. James McCann has put up 1.1 WAR in just 84 plate-appearances, which puts him behind only Contreras and J.T. Realmuto among major-league catchers. McCann 169 wRC+, which only trails Contreras. His .420 wOBA is also second to Contreras. So yeah, basically McCann has been an instrument of doom for the season’s first month-plus.

Anyone can have a month or six weeks, you’ll say. And that’s true, and we could while away the rest of the afternoon listing off various tomato cans and shaved apes that put up a hot month. Especially at catcher, where being a shaved ape used to be something of a job requirement. So is there anything real about McCann’s start?

More than just luck, it would seem. Clearly, McCann’s .444 BABIP would cause him to be placed right at the top of a lot of people’s “Get Outta My League Leaders!” list. That’s not sustainable.

That doesn’t mean that McCann is going to see a stomach-heaving fall. Because he’s hitting the ball really hard.

If you go by Statcast, and that’s the trend these days, McCann’s average exit-velocity is 90.8 MPH. That’s three miles per hour higher than he managed last year, or ever. It’s not near the hardest around, but it is a big improvement. His hard-contact rate, if you want to go by that, is over 40%. Statcast has this neat thing called expected-slugging and expected-weighted on-base, which basically takes your statcast data and tells you what you should be getting based on every other ball hit at those velocities and angles. McCann’s expected slugging is .501 so far and and his expected wOBA is .424. He’s dwarfing both those figures at the moment, but even if he were to sink back to what he “should” be producing, you’d take that quick enough to leave a cloud outline of yourself.

There’s clearly been a change in approach as well. McCann has dropped both the percentage of pitches he swings at outside the zone and increased the amount of pitches in the zone he offers at 4-5% each. Which has led him to hitting the ball harder, squaring it up more often, and not getting fooled as much. It’s also led to more fastballs in the zone, which he’s turning into paste at the clip of .458 and a .667 slugging.

Another big area of improvement for McCann is his production when seeing sliders. For his career he’d only hit .212 against them, but this year is hitting .350. That’s encouraging, because given what he’s done against fastballs, he’s going to see more and more of them along with curves (which he’s also hitting .333 against). The big change is that he’s getting sliders in the air far more often, about 15% more, than he did before.

The other thing about McCann’s production is it might not matter. Zack Collins is currently tearing AAA to shreds, and could be up later this season. But McCann could either act as a platoon partner for Collins’s introduction, or a trade-chip to bring something back more long-term. Either would be fine with the Sox.

We’re not at the point where you should buy McCann stock. But maybe on the watch-list.

Baseball

Series Preview – White Sox vs. Cleveland: Out For My Own, Out To Be Free

By Sam Fels 1186 0

vs.

RECORDS: White Sox 14-18   Cleveland 18-14

GAMETIMES: Monday-Wednesday 5:10

TV: NBCSN Monday-Wednesday 

THEY’RE STILL SHITTY: Let’s Go Tribe

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Ivan Nova vs. Trevor Bauer

Lucas Giolito vs. Jefry Rodriguez

Reynaldo Lopez vs. Shane Bieber

WHITE SOX PROBABLE LINEUP

Leury Garcia – CF

Yoan Moncada – 3B

Jose Abreu – 1B

Yonder Alonso – DH

James McCann – C

Nicky Delmonico – LF

Tim Anderson – SS

Yolmer Sanchez – 2B

Charlie Tilson – RF

CLEVELAND PROBABLE LINEUP

Francisco Lindor – SS

Jason Kipnis – 2B

Jose Ramirez – 3B

Carlos Santana – 1B

Carlos Gonzalez – LF

Jake Bauers – DH

Jordan Luplow – CF

Tyler Naquin – RF

Roberto Perez – C

 

After two consecutive self-immolations against the Carmines, along with three straight losses after a pretty satisfying walk-off win against the title-holders, the White Sox escape town and head to the familiar environs of The Jake. There they’ll find a Cleveland team that is no longer on the AL Central throne as had been custom, and one that has a few too many guys in the infirmary.

The big issues for the Tribe is that two-fifths of their rotation (three if you count Danny Salazar, but that’s iffy) is on the DL and not for a short time either. Mike Clevinger is out until at least June with a back-iotomy, and Cory Kluber has forearm-knack after taking a liner off of it. He’s out at least a month, and could be longer. That has slotted Jefry Rodriguez and Cody Anderson into the rotation, which is clearly a downgrade.

Sadly, the rotation is still being held together somewhat by professional butthead Trevor Bauer, though he is riding the good side of the BABIP Dragon and any market correction on that .221 mark could be violent. He’s giving up line-drives far more than he did last year, and you know about the Cleveland outfield defense. Carlos Carrasco is on the other side of the coin, seeing a 5.00+ ERA even though he’s striking out over 12 hitters per nine innings while walking less than two. You could easily argue that both of their market corrections will even out.

They’ve needed everything they can get out of the starters, because the offense has not clicked into gear at all. In fact, it’s shambolic. Jose Ramirez is hitting .200. Lindor is hitting .229. Jason Kipnis has a 24 wRC+, and he’s been forced into the lineup. Only Carlos Santana is going up to the plate with something other than a side of beef. And with the power show the Twins are putting up, Cleveland is not going anywhere if Lindor and Ramirez at least don’t get back to their MVP-form of yesteryear and probably get some help.

It’s not the funk out of the pen these days either as it used to be. Closer Brad Hand (and his rad band) has been excellent, but beyond that it’s been iffy, though of late old war horses Tyler Clippard and Oliver Perez, along with Adam Cimber, have straightened that out.

The Sox will try and relocate their offense, which produced four runs over the last three games against the BoSox. Hey, sometimes Chris Sale will do that to you but you shouldn’t be getting it up your giggy by Rick Porcello. Ivan Nova against this lineup is probably the definition of a taffy pull, but if he’s going to get right against anyone this would seem to be the time. And hey, two weeks against the Erie Warriors and Blue Jays is better than the Astros and Twins, which await after this.

 

Baseball

Series Preview – Red Sox vs. White Sox: The Champ Is Here…And It’s A Mess

By Sam Fels 1265 0

vs.

RECORDS: Red Sox 14-17   White Sox 13-15

GAMETIMES: Thursday and Friday at 7:10, Saturday 6:10, Sunday 1:10

TV: WGN Thursday, NBCSN Friday-Sunday

FRUSTRATED WOMEN: Over The Monster

PROBABLE PITCHERS

David Price vs. Lucas Giolito

Chris Sale vs. Reynaldo Lopez

Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Manny Banuelos

Rick Porcello vs. TBD (most likely Dylan Covey, or Dylan Arrieta to Fifth Feather)

PROBABLE RED SOX LINEUP

Andrew Benintendi – LF

Mookie Betts – RF

J.D. Martinez – DH

Xander Bogaerts – SS

Rafael Devers – 3B

Michael Chavis – 2B

Mitch Moreland – 1B

Christian Vasquez – C

Jackie Bradley Jr. – CF

PROBABLE WHITE SOX LINEUP

Leury Garcia – LF

Tim Anderson – SS

Jose Abreu – DH

James McCann – C

Yoan Moncada – 3B

Jose Rodon – 2B

Yonder Alonso – 1B

Ryan Cordell – RF

Adam Engel – CF

 

After digging through the muck of the Tigers and Orioles for a couple weeks, the White Sox get to…dive back into the much that the Red Sox have been for the season’s first month.

The Beantown Nine have pulled this act before. They won the World Series in ’13, and then were so bad the following season they ended up punting Jon Lester among others midseason. Apparently the party never stops in Boston when they win…except for the Patriots who aren’t allowed to party by Bill Belichek. It actually took the Red Sox two years to round back into form after the last championship, making the playoffs the last three years, and BoSox fans can only hope they’ll come around a touch quicker this time.

Maybe they already are. They come to the Southside after sweeping the equally struggling A’s at home the past three days. They put up 21 runs over those three games, so the hope would be that the offense is finally clicking into gear. Because really, there’s no way this lineup should be struggling to put together innings. And yet here the Carmines sit at 10th in runs in the AL, 9th in OBP, and 10th in wOBA.

Where the blame goes is probably the supporting cast. Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts are hitting, and Betts being a perennial MVP candidate you’d figure that. So’s J.D. Martinez. But Devers has shown very little power this year, as it’s never a good sign when your on-base is higher than your slugging. Second base has been something of a sinkhole, though Michael Chavis is putting in a strong claim at the moment. Benintendi isn’t really hitting yet and Moreland has only been ok.

The problems just don’t end there. The rotation has been a quasi-zoo. Chris Sale can’t decide if he wants to throw not hard enough or too hard to compensate, and has been getting paddled either way to the tune of a 6.30 ERA and a 5.22 FIP. Natha Eovaldi is hurt, because guys throwing max effort 97 MPH fastballs pretty much every pitch aren’t all that stable. Who knew? Rick Porcello himself has been gasoline, and one day may end up the weirdest goddamn Cy winner in history. The dude won it and hasn’t managed a sub-4.00 ERA since. How did that happen? Only David Price and Eduardo Rodriguez are holding this rotation together.

The pen has been middling, though hasn’t really missed being shorn of Craig Kimbrel or Joe Kelly (who sucks anyway). The Red Sox are big proponents of finding just any dude lingering around to fill out the pen. So far, Matt Barnes, Marcus Walden, and Brandon Workman have been excellent out of there, and the only people who recognize them are their mothers and even they’re not totally sure. Ryan Braser is the closer here, and he’s got six saves, but he allows more contact than most closers, only striking out a touch over seven hitters per nine. Heath Hembree and Tyler Thornburg are where you’d like to break through.

For the pale version of footwear, Lucas Giolito comes off the DL to start the opener, and hoping to be a touch better than his last three starts had him. Reynaldo Lopez looks to keep his momentum going, and everyone else just exhales in not having to watch Ervin Santana again. Weather could play a role again as tonight’s forecast is iffy, but the rest of the weekend looks better than it’s been. The Red Sox probably think this is their chance to really springboard into the rest of the season. The White Sox are probably just happy to not be super depressed by looking into the other dugout.

 

Baseball

Series Wrap – Sox Take Two of Three From Orioles – The Only Consistency is Inconcistency

By Adam Hess 1172 0

The Baltimore Orioles are quite possibly the worst collection of baseball talent among 25 men to ever be assembled at the Major League Level. I truly do not believe that is hyperbole. That team did not win even 50 games last year and will be lucky to get there this year. A guy on their team set the record for the longest hitless streak ever and still is playing in the MLB. Andrew Cashner was their Opening Day starter. None of it is good.

The Chicago White Sox are 3-3 against them this year and and needed a walk off to win the second game of the double header yesterday. I thought I knew embarrassment as a Sox fan, but now I know that I know embarrassment as a Sox fan. Let’s do this:

THE BULLETS

– If there has been any one thing to take away from this series, it’s that Manny Banuelos might really be a serviceable starter for this team, at least for the time being. That makes two straight starts in which he was solid, and he earned a quality start for his efforts this time. Of course, both of his solid starts came against this trash Orioles team, but considering that Carlos Rodon looked like shit against the same lineup yesterday, I will choose to be optimistic. It’s one of few opportunities to do so with this team anymore.

– Speaking of Rodon, can this guy please pick a fucking lane on what kind of pitcher he is? His game log for the year is among the most perplexing I’ve looked at. He flashes the ace-level stuff he had that made him a No. 3 pick in the draft one week, then the next week gets shelled by the Tigers and Orioles. It’s clear that whatever his ceiling once was will never be touched, and I am at the point where I think he might be better as trade bait than a part of this rotation in the future.

– Keeping with the recent theme, the Sox had a game postponed in this series. If they keep this up, they might run out of make up days, and since they won’t be in contention, MLB can just cancel those games and we might get saved from a few outings here.

– Ivan Nova is a crime against humanity. Straight up. I wouldn’t wish watching one of his starts upon my worst enemy. This guy could take 15 minutes to get a 1-2-3 inning. I think people have closed on houses quicker than one of his starts. It’s horrible. Fucking sick of it. Get rid of it.

– Let’s wrap this up with a few complaints about Rick Renteria, and specifically how Rick Renteria used Yoan Moncada in Game 2 of the double header yesterday. Starting with the fact that Moncada was leading off. Moncada fits the leadoff profile very well, but having him hit there sets him up for failure in his first at bat of the game because he has to change his mindset. Moncada worked on adjusting his approach to a more aggressive one all offseason, and has attacked pitches in the zone with more consistency this year, and it’s a huge part of why he became this team’s best hitter. Making him lead off forces him to take a few pitches, and he can’t be aggressive. Just leave him in the fucking 2-hole and don’t touch it.

– Secondly, why the fuck is Moncada bunting in the 9th inning? You’re down one in the game and you’re taking the bat out of his hand in favor of a fucking suicide squeeze attempt? Get the fucking fuck out of here. Let him swing the bat and be the hero. I’m pissed.

– The Sox had a terrible schedule in April and could’ve come out of this month with a winning record. Instead, they floundered and are 13-15 and their schedule only gets tougher from here. This could be a loooooong season.

Baseball

Series Preview – Orioles vs. White Sox: Building In The Muck

By Sam Fels 1288 0

vs.

RECORDS: Orioles 10-19   White Sox 11-14

GAMETIMES: Monday-Wednesday 7:10

TV: NBCSN Monday and Wednesday, WGN Tuesday

GIARDELLO’S ARMY: Camden Chat

PROBABLE PITCHERS

John Means vs. Manny Banuelos

Andrew Cashner vs. Ivan Nova

TBD (maybe David Hess) vs. TBD (possibly Carlos Rodon, possibly Dylan Covey)

PROBABLY ORIOLES LINEUP

Jonathan Villar – 2B

Trey Mancini – RF

Dwight Smith Jr. – LF

Renato Nunez – DH

Rio Ruiz – 3B

Jesus Sucre – C

Joey Rickard – CF

Chris Davis – 1B

Richie Martin – SS

PROBABLE SOX LINEUP

Leury Garcia – LF

Tim Anderson – SS

Jose Abreu – 1B

James McCann – C

Yoan Moncada – 3B

Jose Rodon – 2B

Yonder Alonso – DH

Ryan Cordell – RF

Adam Engel – CF

 

If taking two games on offer against the Tigers is any kind of signal for a turnaround, it shouldn’t be too hard to keep that going against the Baltimore Orioles. That is if they get any of these games (Tuesday looking particularly dicey), and also that didn’t work out so well the last time they faced the Charm City Orange.

We’ll start with the Sox, who will begin life without Eloy Jimenez for a couple weeks at least. Eloy won’t even be reevaluated until then, so it could be longer. Tonight that sees Leury Garcia shift over to left with Adam Engel and his pool-noodle bat move into center. He can rob a home run for you, he just might not get any ball out of the infield when at the plate. Nicky Delmonico and his handsomeness could see more PAs in Eloy’s absence, which is something that should make you shrug at best, and roll your eyes hard enough to hurt in the worst.

Also in the news is that the Sox have called up Dylan Covey, or Dylan Arrieta as Fifth Feather calls him. He will most likely help out the pen in Nate Jones‘s absence, but they have stretched him out in Charlotte and could take a spot start somewhere along the line. That will depend on Lucas Giolito‘s recovery from a hamstring twang, which he can’t come back from until next week anyway.

So to the O’s, who spent the weekend picking up various pieces of their skull that the Twins bashed out of them. They lost the three games by a combined 19-4, and it’s the kind of stretch whatever Os fans that haven’t bleached their eyes will have to get used to. As we said last week, there just isn’t anything here resembling a major league team, and the Os are going to get their bones ground up pretty good all season.

Trey Mancini has been something of a bright spot offensively, though his .413 BABIP might have something to do with that. Renato Nunez hasn’t been terrible, but is something of a lottery ticket in the hopes that he could be a fifth infielder one day. This is the best the Orioles can do, as they might not even be at Year 1 of their rebuild yet.

Their rotation has been the expected tire fire, with tonight’s starter Means the only one to not turn into something you’d find on a Nickelodeon game show, and he’s mostly a reliever and spot-starter. Still, he held down the Sox last week with six Ks over five innings, and he’ll look to repeat the feat. Other than that, god help you.

The Os and Sox in the cold and rain on the Southside. Catch the fever. Literally.

Baseball

Series Wrap – Sox Sweep Tigers: Shenanigans Edition!

By Andy Jonathan 1542 0

Holy shit, what a weird-ass series.  Night one featured some weapons grade wackiness, and one call that I’ve never seen before in MLB. Night two never happened because it fucking snowed the last Saturday in April, and Sunday featured the White Sox setting a team record for Ks in a game.  There’s a lot to unpack, especially with only two games to talk about.

TO THE BULLETS

– Carlos Rodon had a night he probably wants to have Total Recalled from his memory.  Everything he threw was barreled up hard by the Tigers, and quite a few of them left the yard.  After his previous two performances I’m willing to chalk this one up to just not having it, but he’s yet to make it through the 7th inning and that’s mildly concerning.

– Jose Abreu had a memorable night for multiple reasons, first of which was that he poked a dinger over the left-center field fence, but was too busy watching the flight of the ball to notice that Tim Anderson was also watching the flight of the ball and preparing to tag up from first base.  So nobody was watching anybody since Mr Boston missed Jose chugging down the line, inadvertently passing Timmy at first base and getting not only Anderson out, but having his HR turned into the weirdest single in Sox history. This also cost the Sox at least one run, which the Tigers managed to scrape back immediately the next inning.  That was all right because it set the stage for…

-TIM ANDERSON’S BAT FLIPPING, GAME WINNING EXTRAVAGANZA.  Seriously, I’m falling in love with this guy. I hope he starts throwing the bat farther and farther every dinger until he knocks out a kid up on the Skillz Deck.  He’s the kind of guy the Sox have been missing since Sale left; the type of player who people buy tickets to see.  Butts in seats, baby.

-The night was not all roses and cherry bombs (T-T-T-TIMMY BOMBZ!  Sorry Sam).  Unfortunately, Eloy Jimenez managed to sprain his ankle trying to rob the 5th HR given up by Rodon that night.  Honestly, he was about two miles away from even touching the ball, so it was kind of a useless gesture.  It was later diagnosed as a high ankle sprain, so we will see just how long Young Skywalker will be out of action, but were I to guess I’m thinking its gonna be June-ish

– Game 2 was fucking SNOWED OUT.  Seriously, spring can bite my ass.

-Game 3 was all about the Lopez four-seamer.  The Kid had all of his pitches working today, but none more so than the 4 seamer.  He threw it 69 times today (NICE), and used it as his punch out pitch on 13 of the 14 Ks he had.  This might be the best I’ve ever seen him throw the ball, and he’s improved on every start this season.  Once he realized home plate umpire Tony Randazzo was going to give him the outside corner, he was spotting his pitches right on the edge of the black all game long.  His last strikeout happened on the 104th pitch, and he touched 96 with it.  The Sox rotation needed a start like this, especially after DFA’ing Ervin Santana a few days earlier.

–Alex Colome worked the 9th in both games and came away with a win and a save.  Can’t complain about that trade at all, as he’s come as advertised.
-Jose Abreu seems to be shaking off his slump nicely, as he went 6 for 8 with 5 RBIs (should’ve been 7).  Now if we only had a league average OF to talk about this team might be sniffing .500

-The Sox now stand at 11-14, with 2 more games against the Orioles due up.  Don’t stop now, boys!

Baseball

Series Previews – Tigers vs. Sox, Cubs vs. Diamondbacks: Oh, You Again?

By Sam Fels 1641 0

You’ll have to excuse me a bit, and I will not make this a habit. But with both teams in town playing the same teams they played last weekend, there isn’t that much to discuss. So we’ll just combine these into one preview, and you’ll give me a pass, and we’ll all be very happy. Besides, how much do you really want to read about the Detroit Tigers? Exactly.

First, the series happening locally:

vs.

RECORDS: Tigers 12-12   White Sox 9-14

GAMETIMES: 7:10 Friday, 6:10 Saturday, 1:10 Sunday

TV: NBCSN Friday and Sunday, WGN Saturday

SONS OF SPARKY: Bless You Boys

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Daniel Norris vs. Carlos Rodon

Ryan Carpenter vs. Reynaldo Lopez

Matthew Boyd vs. Manny Banuelos

PROBABLE TIGERS LINEUP

Jeimer Candelario – 3B

Nicholas Castellanos – RF

Miguel Cabrera – 1B

Niko Goodrum – LF

Brandon Dixon – DH

Ronny Rodriguez – SS

Gordon Beckham – 2B

Greyson Greiner – C

JaCoby Jones – CF

 

PROBABLE SOX LINEUP

Leury Garcia – CF

Tim Anderson – SS

Jose Abreu – 1B

James McCann – C

Yoan Moncada – 3B

Eloy Jimenez – LF

Yonder Alonso – DH

Jose Rondon – 2B

Ryan Cordell – RF

 

Who doesn’t love more Tigers? Then again, this didn’t go so well for the White Sox in downtown Detroit (then again, when does it?). The Sox were awfully charitable to Daniel Norris last Sunday, where he tossed five shutout innings for his first win in over a year. There’s being nice and there’s being a doormat.

The Tigers took both halves of a doubleheader in Fenway after dealing with the Sox, but then lost the next two games to the still-trying-to-care Red Sox. Because of that DH, they’ll be calling up Carpenter to take a spot start on Saturday to keep Matthew Boyd and Spencer Turnbull on their normal rest. The Tigers offense is starting to sputter out, with Castellanos hitting .200 over the last week and JaCoby Jones hitting .091. Josh Harrison has been hot over the past seven days though, along with Brandon Dixon.

For the Sox, Rodon gets to try and add to his excellent start to the season, with only one bad start in five and even that was only four earned runs. He held these Tigers to just one run over six last time out, and maybe just maybe is starting to look like something. The hope is that Reynaldo Lopez has turned a corner as well, as his last two starts have seen him surrender three runs in 12 innings while striking out 13 and walking two. Certainly an upgrade over how the season started for him.

Eloy Jimenez returns from bereavement leave tonight, he missed the Baltimore series. Oh, and it’s supposed to snow tomorrow, which seems just about perfect for a Sox-Tigers series, doesn’t it?

vs.

RECORDS: Cubs 12-11   Diamondbacks 15-11

GAMETIMES: Friday 8:40, Saturday 7:10, Sunday 3:10

TV: NBCSN Friday, ABC Saturday, WGN Sunday

UNPAINTED HUFFHINES: AZ Snakepit

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Kyle Hendricks vs. Robbie Ray

Yu Darvish vs. Zack Godley

Jose Quintan vs. Luke Weaver

PROBABLE CUBS LINEUP

Albert Almora – CF

Kris Bryant – LF

Anthony Rizzo – 1B

Javier Baez – SS

Willson Contreras – C

David Bote – 3B

Daniel Descalso – 2B

Jason Heyward – RF

 

PROBABLE DIAMONDBACKS LINEUP

Jarred Dyson – CF

Eduardo Escobar – 3B

David Peralta – LF

Adam Jones – RF

Christian Walker – 1B

Ketel Marte – 2B

Nick Ahmed – SS

Carson Kelly – C

Meanwhile, the Cubs head out on a very convenient trip to Arizona followed by a short jaunt the width of the nation to Seattle before settling in St. Louis next week. They’ll catch a Diamondbacks team that swept the Pirates in Pittsburgh after exiting Chicago, which sent the Pirates away from the top spot of the Central and handed it to West East St. Louis. They gave up all of seven runs over four games, so the staff is rolling.

The Cubs will catch a break in missing Greinke this time around as they didn’t have an answer for him last Saturday. Godley is one they didn’t see last week, and much like Robbie Ray the key to him is just waiting him out. He’s walking nearly five hitters per nine innings, though is having terrible luck with an abundance of runners getting all the way around the bases. The Cubs will also get introduced to Luke Weaver, whom they missed last week. Weaver has been dominant so far this season, getting five Ks for every walk and 50% ground-balls. Weaver has a wicked change that he pairs with a plus-fastball and cutter, and was the centerpiece of the Goldschmidt deal. So get to Ray and Godley before having to deal with that shit.

The D-Backs offense went to town on the Bucs, putting up a 12- and 11-spot in that series. Everyone aside from Ahmed comes in hot to this one, and whatever they call that thing with the pool in Phoenix these days has generally been a hitter’s paradise. Gotta keep it rolling.