Crash and Burn

Last night’s 12-3 White Sox loss to the Rays had it all—a no-hitter through six innings by Lance Lynn; an epic—and isn’t that redundant?—collapse by the Sox bullpen; atrocious defense; head-scratching moves by manger Pedro Grifol; and an incident involving Luis Robert Jr. that indicts an entire organization. If Commissioner Rob Manfred has the authority to look out for the “best interests of baseball,” he should force a sale of the team, immediately if not sooner. As for the game, Lynn ran out of gas in the top of the seventh. No shame there. After giving up a homerun to Wander Franco, he was still up, 3-1. That’s when he should’ve been pulled. Instead, Grifol left him in for another four batters. The Sox might’ve minimized the damage had Yasmani Grandal held on to a relay throw from Elvis Andrus, only Grandal doesn’t do relays. No sir, he frames. The score was 3-2 Sox when Grifol replaced Lynn with Aaron Bummer. Need I say more? Bummer and Jimmy Lambert combined to allow seven runs to score. The Rays tacked on single runs in the final two innings to reach a dozen. Now, to Robert, who didn’t run out a grounder in the bottom of the first and was benched an inning later. It seems that Robert was experiencing tightness in his right hamstring before the game and decided—on his own, without telling a soul—to pace himself unless the game was on the line. Where to start? How about—you tell your coaches and manager you’re hurting. This is Robert’s fourth season with the team, and the Sox have invested $100 million in him, for what? Does he think the “go easy” approach employed by Tony La Russa last year still applied to him? Does he even know the name of bench coach Charlie Montoyo? He needed to be reminded of it during a postgame interview that did nothing to endear him to Sox fans. There was a pretty decent crowd of over 28,000 at Guaranteed Rate Whatever, although it’s hard to say how many were left when chants of “Sell the team” started in the seventh inning. Maybe the commissioner could phone the White Sox owner and see what’s up. He might even want to appoint a study group to report back to him on the situation. I’ll be happy to testify that what’s gone around for decades at 35th and Shields is now come around to land at the feet of Jerry Reinsdorf. Finally, bad things are happening to the right people.

Upon Deaf Ears

Before yesterday’s 3-2 loss—nine in a row for a 7-20 team, in case you’re counting—to the Rays, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol told reporters, “Mental lapses are not acceptable.” [today’s Sun-Times] Then his players put on a clinic. With Rays’ runners on the corners and one out in the top of the first, starter Lucas Giolito got Brandon Lowe to pop out to second baseman Lenyn Sosa in short right-center field. Only shortstop Elvis Andrus also went out for the ball and first baseman Andrew Vaughn was late covering second. Rather than throw home immediately, Sosa hesitated just long enough for Yandy Diaz to score from third. I should also note here Diaz tagged up the second Sosa caught the ball. Take away that run, and the home run Isaac “Babe” Paredes hit (forget about the two doubles from last night or five RBIs from the night before) in the top of the ninth off of Kendall Graveman (two homeruns yielded in last his two appearances, in the course of twenty-four hours) only ties the score. Then, when Luis Robert Jr. popped up with runners on first and second with two out, the game would’ve gone into extra innings at least. But, no. A hit by Robert would’ve upped his average from .215, not a number you want to see from your number-three hitter. Eloy Jimenez did go 1-for-3, but a .181 BA is not what you want to see out of your cleanup hitter. Jake Burger and Vaughn homered, which was nice. Burger hit number seven and just missed number eight when he flied out to the leftfield fence in the eighth. I can’t wait to see what Grifol will do with Burger once Yoan Moncada gets back, if he gets back from that disc problem in his back. Here’s a thought—Elvis Andrus is batting .183 and looks done. Why not keep Burger at third and slide Moncada over to second, where he came up with the Sox in 2017? I mean, what has he got to lose?

Half Right

Wrong Again White Sox GM Rick Hahn gets it, finally. He knows that a multitude of missteps during this rebuild are catching up with him. Speaking to reporters yesterday about the 7-18 team he’s assembled, Hahn spoke in the active voice, a rarity for him: “Put it on me. That’s the job. That’s the absolute gig [??]. Put it on me.” OK, I will. But, if Hahn was right to tell reporters and fans they can blame him for the 7-18 [hours away from 1-19] start, he was wrong to exempt the man he hired as manager to replace Tony La Russa: “I’ll tell you this—and let’s make it real clear—it sure as heck isn’t on Pedro [Grifol] and his coaching staff.” Oh, yes it is, and the 14-5 beating the Sox took at the hands of the visiting Rays stands as clear proof. Consider that Dylan Cease, the purported ace of the staff, got the start, the second time in a week he’s faced Tampa. Given the results, it’s obvious Cease lacks the maturity for that role. He thinks enough of his talent to employ Scott Boras as his agent but can’t find a way to marshal that talent when his team needs it most. Last Friday, Cease went four innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk. If he learned anything from that outing, he must’ve forgotten it when he walked out on the mound last night. He went four innings again, this time giving up seven runs on nine hits and two walks. Throw in the 4-0 lead he blew against the Orioles, and Cease has had three crappy outings in five starts this year. Grifol keeps talking about both his hitters and pitchers controlling the strike zone; message received, not. Sox pitching has yielded the second-most walks in baseball while Sox hitters have walked the third-least in baseball. Which helps explain why Cease has a 1.38 WHIP this year and Luis Robert Jr. has four walks to go with thirty-three strikeouts. I can’t help but wonder what Grifol and his staff tells their players. Whatever the message is, it hasn’t gotten through. Me, I’m benching Robert for a few games, then batting him ninth until he exhibits plate discipline. And every time I had to yank Cease after a four- or-five-inning start, I’d be sure to let the media know how ticked off I was about having to do so. Obviously, my ways are not Grifol’s ways. How bad were the Sox yesterday? Well, our old friend Zack Burdi pitched against his former team and recorded two scoreless innings, to bring his career ERA down to 6.64. Half of Luke Raley’s twelve RBIs have come against the Sox, with three last night. And Isaac Paredes, who came into the game batting .216, collected two hits and five RBIs. Wait, there’s more. Like the 14-5 score wasn’t as close as it might look. Raley came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth, giving up two runs. So, I wouldn’t get too excited about the double by Oscar Colas or the Romy Gonzalez triple. Ditto the Adam Haseley single. But I would worry that Eloy Jimenez popped up to end the game. Jimenez is now batting .174, and that’s after going 1-for5. Oh, and Joe Kelly pitched for the first time in nineteen days. He gave up a homerun to the first batter he faced. Game two, anyone?

Upon Further Review

The 1968 White Sox started 0-10. After twenty-five games, they were 10-15 (on their way to a 67-95 record), as opposed to the 2023 team, which is 7-18 with yesterday’s 8-0 loss to the Blue Jays. Those long-ago Sox had HOFers Luis Aparicio and Hoyt Wilhelm along with future—I hope—HOFer Tommy John. Two or three HOFers on this squad? I doubt it. And definitely not Michael Kopech, who gave up three runs in the third after two outs and nobody on and another two-out run in the fourth. One of Rick Hahn’s rebuild centerpieces now sports a 7.01 ERA on the season. And Luis Robert Jr.? He went 1-for-4, oversliding second base so excited was he to get a hit. Oh, and he struck out the other three times, just like Eloy Jimenez. But, hey, the team struck out seventeen times on the day. Robert’s average is down to .218, Jimenez to .172. A rebuild’s tough going when your projected stars don’t perform, right, Rick? Good thing we have your new manager to keep everything in perspective. See, Pedro Grifol knows about losing. “I've been on teams that you go through a streak like this and you know the season’s over. This doesn’t feel like that. Doesn’t feel like that.” [today’s team website story] Correct me if I’m wrong here, but Grifol is saying he’s been part of teams that have gone belly up. Gosh, maybe that’s why the Royals didn’t stay in-hose to make him their new manager. Grifol also thinks, “Adversity is an education.” [team website story] Wouldn’t that make the ’62 Mets a bunch of Einsteins?

Déjà vu All Over Again

After losing 7-0 last night in Toronto, the White Sox are saddled with a well-deserved 7-17 record. Is that worse than the 0-10 start they got off to in 1968? You be the judge. But things are so bad right now that Ken Williams felt compelled to crawl out from under his rock and issue this warning in today’s Sun-Times: If the losing continues, “then changes have to be made , it’s as simple as that.” Williams also said, “Accountability around here is not a problem.” Excuse me, but, Yes, it’s probably the biggest problem facing the organization, next to Jerry Reinsdorf’s delusional sense of self. Accountability? David Wells; Carl Everett; Roberto Alomar; Javier Vazquez; John Danks; Gavin Floyd; Orlando Cabrera; Nick Swisher; Mark Teahen; and—wait for it—Adam Dunn are all names that suggest Williams as GM was never held accountable. But he won a World Series. Well, so have the Miami Marlins, twice. Consider that Dave Dombrowski, who started off learning front-office ways under Sox GM Roland Hemond, has taken four teams—Marlins, Tigers, Red Sox and Phillies—to five World Series, winning twice. Dombrowski was fired less than a year after his Red Sox won the Series in 2018. Ask him about accountability. If I’m Rick Hahn, I’d thank my lucky stars for being held to a lower standard than Dombrowski. Mike Clevinger, his idea of a fourth or fifth starter,, hasn’t gotten out of the fifth inning in his last two starts and has made it through six innings just once in five starts, which goes a long way in explaining his 4.81 ERA. So does giving up a three-run home run to Danny Jansen, who came into the game batting a mere .150. And Pedro Grifol, the sock-knocking manager Hahn, Williams and Reinsdorf fell in love with, keeps making head-scratching moves, like putting Luis Robert Jr. at the top of the order. Robert responded to this show of faith by going 0-for-4 with another two strikeouts. Robert’s now batting .216 on the season. But, hey, it could be worse. I mean, it is worse. Lenyn Sosa and Romy Gonzalez are in the lineup today, Sosa batting .132 and Gonzalez .103, with eleven strikeouts in twenty-nine at-bats. Eloy Jimenez is raking at a .183 clip, in case you were wondering. Accountable? That’s not the word I’m looking for.

Hurst So Good

Dallas Lynn was in fine form last night in Toronto, two out nobody on in the bottom of the fourth, White Sox ahead 2-0. Then, boom, and four runs score, three on a homerun by Cavan Biggio, who was hitting a robust .111 at the time. Sox lose again, this time by a score of 5-2. And Lynn’s idea of a solution? “Throw more strikes.” [today’s story on team website] Really? Yes, the two-out walk to Alejandro Kirk hurt, but that was followed by three straight hits. What, they all went fishing out of the zone? Not from what I saw. It might be time for Lynn to call up Dallas Keuchel to get some tips on adjusting to retirement. And what’s a day without some words of wisdom from Pedro Grifol, who’s concerned about his hitters’ undisciplined approach at the plate: “We can’t chase at the rate that we’re chasing.” [today’s Sun-Times] OK, then why bat Luis Robert Jr. leadoff? He struck out three out of four at-bats, along with that big walk. How far outside of the zone do you think ball four was for Robert not to swing? One of the cornerstones of the rebuild is now hitting .226, with twenty-eight strikeouts in ninety-three at-bats. Somewhere, Dave Nicholson shakes his head. Probably Al Lopez, Eddie Stanky and Chuck Tanner, too.

Read It and Weep

The latest gem from White Sox manager Pedro Grifol, part of today’s story on the team website, this following yesterday’s 4-1 loss to the Rays that drops the Sox to a woeful 7-15: “We’ve met, talked to them individually, and they come talk to me. There’s a lot of care in there [the Sox clubhouse]; there’s a lot of fight in there. They’ve been through this before.” Does he mean his players have all been on crappy teams, or they’re all used to losing? Neither one works for me. But, since I’m picking on Grifol yet again, let’s take a look at some of that preparation he’s always talking about. Lucas Giolito, yesterday’s starter and losing pitcher, grooved one to Luke Raley in the second inning; when you’re batting .178, you need all the help you can get. Giolito called the pitch he threw to Raley for a two-run homerun “one of the worst changeups I’ve thrown in a long time.” [website story] For all intents and purposes, game over. Now, let’s move on to the hitting, or lack thereof. I watched the fifth inning and counted as Elvis Andrus, Seby Zavala and Lenyn Sosa needed all of seven pitches to make three outs. Let me also note here that Sox “hitters” collected three hits on the day, none after the fourth inning. In fact, they didn’t have a baserunner after the fourth. Zach Eflin started and threw five innings of three-hit, one-run ball. If he were on the Sox, Rick Hahn would sign Eflin to a three-year extension (at a reasonable amount, of course). The Rays? They lift Eflin after sixty-seven pitches and get four innings of scoreless relief from Yonny Chirinos and Pete Fairbanks. On the Sox, Rick Hahn would… There must be a rule that keeps the Sox from scouting and signing pitchers who end up with the Rays. That, or an inability to develop pitching just as good.

Imposters

Another game, another walk-off loss for the White Sox 4-3 in ten innings. Nice of Pedro Grifol to let Gavin Sheets pinch-hit, at least. Playing for the first time in six days, when he hit a three-run homerun by the way, Sheets homered to tie the game at three in yesterday’s game against the Rays. I’d like to know Grifol’s reasoning for sitting a lefthanded power bat for so long. What I get instead is Grifol telling reporters after the game, “We got a good team. We prepare. We just got to keep doing what we are doing.” Ah, that would be losing. Speaking of which, is this the real Dylan Cease, who needs 101 pitches to go four innings? If so, last season needs to be treat as no more than an aberration. Cease has made four starts so far this season. Three times, he’s pitched five or fewer innings. Cy who? Luis Robert Jr. who, too? Robert struck out in all four of his at-bats yesterday and has struck out in thirteen of his last thirty-seven at-bats. He’s also mired in a 3-for-37 slump. I would assume the Sox haven’t invested $100-plus million in Robert for these results. But with Jerry Reinsdorf and Rick Hahn, you never know. I mean, Pedro Grifol knocked their socks off.

Three's a Charm, and a Walk-off

There I was last night, fast-forwarding through the White Sox game against the Rays, Sox ahead 7-5 in the eighth inning, and the phone rings. It’s Clare, who can’t wait to say, “You know the Sox lost, right?” Why, No, I didn’t, but thanks for telling me, sweetheart. But I can’t blame my child for being ticked. Reynaldo Lopez comes in and in short order gives up a home run, single and walk-off home run. First, you go numb, then you get angry. Allow me to explain. Sox starter Michael Kopech was god-awful in the first inning, giving up four two-out runs. Let’s see, there was the four-pitch walk to Brandon Lowe; the Randy Arozarena at-bat that went from 1-2 to a walk; the double to Josh Lowe; and the homer by Harold Ramirez. Both hits were on 86-mph sliders down, by the way. I’m supposed to be impressed that Kopech only gave up one run in the next four innings; he also needed 104 pitches to make it through five. And that’s progress how, exactly? No complaints about the bullpen, until the ninth, that is. Brandon Lowe’s walk-off was on an 86-mph slider down, by the way. Which leads to the question, who’s the idiot calling for all these sliders? Kopech and Lopez? Yasmani Grandal? Ethan Katz? Pedro Grifol? Both Lowes are left-handed hitters; anything down—and especially kind of slow—is in their wheelhouse. Apparently, we’re slow on the uptake in that regard. But enough of complaining about White Sox pitching. Let’s move on to Luis Robert Jr., the purported five-tool superstar in waiting (and waiting). The Sox came back from a four-run deficit to go up 7-4, only Robert had nothing to do with it, going 0-for-6 on the night with eight runners on base. For the season, he’s batting .244 and two for his last twenty-nine. It’s only a matter of time before Robert takes it out on the field with him. How low can you go? We’ll find out today, with Dylan Cease pitching.

The Great Train Robbery

Imitation is the highest form of flattery, I guess. Just like a certain Chicago football team, he Oakland A’s have gone out and bought themselves some land for a new stadium. Only it’s in Las Vegas, not Arlington Heights. The A’s bought forty-nine acres not far from the Vegas Strip, with plans of moving by 2027, if not sooner (possibly to the home of their AAA affiliate, the Aviators, and wouldn’t that be appropriate for a 3-16 team?) Now’s the fun part, trying to shake down public bodies for as much of a cash subsidy as they can get. The A’s are said to want a cool $500 million. Apparently, they also want a stadium that seats 35,000 fans. Gone are the days of Comiskey Park, Municipal Stadium in Cleveland or Yankee Stadium, when 50,000 or more people paid to watch a ballgame. Baseball now is hellbent on rendering the term “cheap seats” obsolete. Supply and demand, what the market will bear, gimme a subsidy…

Say What?

Back in November when the White Sox hired Pedro Grifol as their new manager, GM Rick Hahn gushed how Grifol “essentially knocked our socks off” in interviews. Hahn also referred to Tony La Russa’s replacement as a “modern baseball thinker.” [both quotes Sun-Times, 11-3-22] Now, fast-forward to the 2023 season, three weeks in. The Sox are 7-12, which was their exact same record at this point last season. Those Sox were lucky and would soon climb over the .500 mark, courtesy of the Angels and Red Sox. These Sox face the Rays, with an MLB best 16-3 record, followed by the Blue Jays, not too shabby at 11-8. Hahn talked about Grifol bringing energy plus communications skills to the job. I don’t see either on display so far. Just one example showing the lack of the former—the team has now gone four straight games where they score in just one inning, which comes out to a 1-3 mark. Elvis Andrus, Romy Gonzalez and Lenyn Sosa are bad, worse and worst, respectively, with a bat in their hands. And the master communicator? Consider what he said after yesterday’s 5-2 loss to the Phillies. “I trust these guys. I trust the work they are putting in. We just have to keep going, keep battling.” Wow. Wait, there’s more. “These guys aren’t going up there trying to make outs. They are preparing, and they are going up there to compete, and it’s not happening. Just as it happened the last three days, you know it will turn around. That’s all I can say. It will turn around.” [all quotes from today’s Tribune] I mean, where to start? He trusts the work they’re putting in? The only way that makes sense is for Grifol to admit he doesn’t know what kind of preparation his players do before a game, but he trusts it’s the right stuff. As for players not wanting to make outs, Andrus is batting .212 with four RBIs; Gonzalez .125 with no RBIs in twenty-four at-bats; and Sosa .154 with one RBI. The team’s eighty-three runs scored is good for eighteenth best in baseball. I want it to turn around, I do, but I’m not holding my breath.

Treading Water

Have two teams with identical 6-10 records face off in a doubleheader, and what happens? Well, yesterday the Phillies and White Sox split, that’s what. Philadelphia took the first game, 7-4, with Lance Lynn doing a spot-on Dallas Keuchel imitation, giving up five runs on ten singles and three walks in 5.1 innings. The only difference is that, after a start, Lynn will tell reporters he stinks and needs to do better, rather than say how close he is to being back to his old self. Same result, though. The Sox got all their runs in one inning, just like they did on Sunday, just like they would do in game two. Because Jake Burger hit the ball very hard and long—a three-run homer that travelled 417 feet with an exit velocity of 118.2 mph—and Lucas Giolito threw six no-hit innings, the Sox took game two, 3-0. A few things about that. First, Burger, who now has five homers and ten RBIs for the season. Second, Giolito, who is in his walk year. Something has to give here with these two. Burger is no Yoan Moncada defensively, but, beyond a nice glove, what does Moncada offer, exactly? He’s had one nice season, and that was back in 2019. Every year since has been marred by illness and/or injury. He’s eligible to come off the IL on Friday, but manager Pedro Grifol sounds like Moncada’s sore back isn’t one-hundred percent healed.. Now, Giolito, who’ll drive you nuts trying to figure out what kind of pitcher he is. Also keep in mind…Lance Lynn, who either makes $18 million next year or has his option bought out for $1 million. Another year of a brutally honest Dallas Keuchel? Or do you swallow hard and sign Giolito long-term? Or do you work one or more trades involving Burger; Moncada; Giolito; and/or Lynn? I can live without Moncada and Lynn. But the real question is, can the Sox do without Burger and Giolito?

Perks

It pays to own, especially professional sports teams. Just ask Dan Snyder and Mark Cuban. Snyder has been the poster boy for dumb ownership, not counting Jerry Reinsdorf or John J. Fisher, owner of the A’s. In twenty-four years, Snyder’s Washington NFL team has qualified for the playoffs all of six times, none of them leading to a Super Bowl. Under Snyder, the Commanders have been less than mediocre, with an overall .427 winning percentage in the regular season. On top of that, the NFL has fined Washington $10 million for a toxic work environment, and there are multiple ongoing public investigations of the team and Snyder. But guess what? The guy’s going to get at least $6 billion when he sells the team, which should happen sooner than later. That’s a nice return on an initial $800 million investment. Who cares about stinkin’ fines? Cuban is a world removed from Snyder. He knows the sport he’s involved in and wants to win, even if that means losing. The NBA recently fined Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks for tanking, this during the last game of the regular season. Cuban is thinking draft, not early playoff exit, which probably would’ve happened had the Mavs beaten the Bulls and moved on to the play-in tournament. The loss gives the team a better chance of holding onto its first-round pick in the upcoming draft; a 2019 trade with the Knicks includes a provision that New York gets the Dallas pick if it’s not in the top ten. This bit of skullduggery cost the Mavs (and Cuban) $750,000. Wow. Somebody take up a collection. Snyder faced growing sentiment among NFL owners that he sell the team. The sales’ price makes for one nice golden parachute. As for Cuban, he has a good team starting with guard Luka Doncic and is thinking in terms of a quick rebuild. Basically, he’s betting what amounts to chump change that his team goes deep in the playoffs, starting next season. And if you’re a fan of either team (or the White Sox or A’s or Pirates or…)? That makes you, my friend, a renter with this one advantage—you’re not bound by a lease. You can always move on.

It Takes a Village

Dylan Cease blew a 4-0 to the Orioles yesterday, and the Sox dropped another series, to fall to 6-10 on the season. You could call it a real team effort. Cease was clearly uncomfortable on the mound, fidgeting with his PitchCom device one moment, walking around or cleaning his spikes the next. If your pitcher is distracted, it’s up to the catcher, the pitching coach and/or the manager to get him to focus. Seby Zavala, Ethan Katz and Pedro Grifol went 0-for-3 in that regard. Some people want Katz fired because of all the walks Sox pitchers are passing out, including twenty-six to the O’s. It’s not entirely Katz’s fault. The front office gives you the staff you have to work with. Take Aaron Bummer, please, or Jake Diekman, please, again. A Jake Burger error at third allowed Baltimore to pull within a run, but Cease still had a lead to work with. He took care of that in the sixth with a run-scoring wild pitch. Still, score tied. Enter Bummer in the eighth, four batters faced leading to two hits and two walks; lefty batters were good for a hit and a walk against the lefthanded Bummer. Enter Gregory Santos, who allowed two of three inherited runners to score. This latest outing leaves Bummer with an 8.44 ERA on the season, for you fans keeping track out there. And Diekman? The lefthander pitched an inning, gave up a run on two hits, both to lefties. That comes out to a 10.29 ERA, along with seven walks in seven innings pitched. Yummy. Now, to hitting. Burger hit three homeruns in three games against the Orioles; gold star there. Gavin Sheets hit a three-run shot yesterday and is hitting .310; that’s good for another star. Too bad Eloy Jimenez is hitting all of .161 while Luis Robert Jr. is five for his last twenty-nine. It doesn’t pay for the role players to star if the star players don’t show up. All of which brings us to Grifol. The manager who stresses communication comes off like a deer of few words at his postgame news conferences. Somewhere, Rick Renteria reads the box score and smiles.

This and That

We went over to Clare’s yesterday morning to deliver Leo his “Paw Patrol” pajamas. It wasn’t long before our grandson put a whiffle ball on the tee and swung away. He always makes contact, although at twenty months he insists on jamming himself, and he loves to run around all the imaginary bases scattered throughout the backyard. I TIVOED the afternoon’s White Sox game, a telltale sign as to just how much they’re irritating me right now; dusting and vacuuming rate ahead of my watching underachievers do their thing live. It wasn’t until 4:30 that I switched on the game. Clare called, asked if I was watching, then told me to call back when I’d finished. The joy of TIVO is I can speed—and I mean speed—through any part of the game I want. A game that took 3:21 in real time lasted a half-hour in TIVO time. I saw Jake Burger hit another homerun in place of Yoan Moncada and beheld Yasmani Grandal collect three hits, including a game-tying double in the bottom of the tenth. That brought up Burger, who worked the count to 1-2 before…TIVO timed out. I then had to switch on my PC downstairs to find out what happened. OK, Oscar Colas got the game-winning hit, and the Sox top the Orioles 7-6. When I called Clare back, she told me Burger singled the winning run to third ahead of Colas’s hit. Neither of us knew about the jerky move Mike Clevinger had pulled off the night before. It seems that Clevinger arranged to have the Kanye West song “Gold Digger” play for his walk-in music from the bullpen ahead of his start Friday night. Class mover, there. At least my grandson has an excuse; he’s a toddler. And Clevinger?

Loser(s)

Poor Jerry Reinsdorf. If he didn’t have bad luck as an owner, he wouldn’t have any luck at all. His Bulls haven’t won an NBA championship in a quarter-century and haven’t won a playoff series in eight years. And his White Sox stink. Last night, both Reinsdorf teams lost. The Bulls bowed out of the play-in for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, losing to the Heat, 102-91. Jerry’s lads were outscored 15-1 in the final 3:47. Ex-Bull Jimmy Butler, traded away in the deal that brought Zach LaVine to the United Center, scored thirty-one points to LaVine’s fifteen (6-for-21 shooting, five turnovers). So much for the old regime of John Paxson and Gar Forman having a clue. But wait, there’s more. Not only did the new front office headed by Arturas Karnisovas sign LaVine to a max contract (see above for how that paid off in its first year), the new talent evaluators didn’t see much in guard Max Strus, let go two seasons ago. Strus matched Butler’s thirty-one points, going 7-for-12 from beyond the three-point line. Now, to my Sox, blowers of a 3-0 lead with two out in the seventh inning against the visiting Orioles. For some reason, Reinsdorf thinks Rick Hahn is a qualified general manager, and Hahn thinks Pedro Grifol is a qualified team manager (take the double entendre, if you like), and everybody seems to think Jake Diekman is a major-league relief pitcher. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The lefthanded Diekman came in for starter Mike Clevinger and walked the first batter. Not only is rookie Gunnar Henderson a lefty hitter, he’s batting .150. Diekman managed a strikeout before giving up another walk. The balk was just thrown in for fun, I guess. Enter Reynaldo Lopez, who got the first batter he faced, followed by an infield single by Terrin Vavra. Tough play, shortstop Elvis Andrus had to charge the ball barehanded to have a chance, but he couldn’t field the ball cleanly. Now, it’s two out and bases loaded. So, how did Lopez respond? He walked the next batter on four pitches to force in a run. Wait, there’s more. Jumping ahead 0-2 on Adley Rutschman, Lopez left a fastball down in the zone and very hittable to a lefthanded batter. Rutschman didn’t disappoint, clearing the bases with a double. Afterwards, Lopez admitted it was a bad pitch, but not his manager. No, Grifol said his pitcher “just missed” with the pitch and Rutschman “put a good swing on it.” [story on team website] We must’ve been watching different games. The one I saw had Jimmy Lambert give up another two runs the next inning, leading to a final score of 6-3. But, hey, Yasmani Grandal looks tired, and Luis Robert Jr., too. Maybe it’s time to rest ‘em. Or for somebody to sell his teams.

Great Minds and All

When Clare was a teenager, if I said, “Great minds think alike,” she was sure to respond with, “No, great minds think for themselves.” With that as background, I give you Phillies’ reliever Matt Strahm, great not so much because he agrees with me (OK, a little) but because he’s willing to speak up. Appearing on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast, Strahm criticized the move by some teams—Diamondbacks, Rangers, Twins and Brewers—to extend alcohol sales at their ballparks to the eighth inning. As Strahm puts it, “So, now with a faster-pace game and me just being a man of common sense, if the game is going to finish quicker, would we not move the beer sales back to the sixth inning to give our fans time to sober up and drive home?" You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But we’re talking owners’ pockets here, having your cake (or beer) and eating (or selling) it, too. Like I said earlier, don’t be surprised if concession costs are built into ticket prices before long. Drink the beer(s) or not, you’ll already have paid for it the moment you step into the park.

Accentuate the Positive, or Not

There are a few ways to look at the Bulls’ 109-105 play-in win over the Raptors last night. For example, that one disappointing team beat another (even more) disappointing team. Or that the Bulls didn’t win so much as Toronto lost, as evidenced by their blowing a nineteen-point third-quarter lead and shooting a horrific 18-for-36 from the free-throw line. But that would be too negative of me. Better to emphasize the Bulls overcoming that deficit thanks to the play of Zach LaVine, who played the way he’s paid to. LaVine Scored thirty-nine points, all but nine in the second half. DeMar DeRozan chipped in with twenty-three while Nikola Vuce vic scored fourteen points to go with thirteen rebounds. From what I could tell, Alex Caruso played the game without getting injured. Play-ins are a gimmick three years in. The Bulls’ win is the first time a ten-seed has ever won a game. Now they get to see if they can do it again, this time against the Heat tomorrow in Miami. If they do, maybe coach Billy Donovan can advise White Sox manager Pedro Grifol how to deal with disappointment on the way to the postseason. Grifol—opting to put Gavin “Oops!” Sheets in right field against the Twins yesterday, a costly move in a 3-1 loss—needs all the advice he can get these days.

Just Desserts

Never did a team deserve to lose more than the White Sox did last night in Minnesota. Two runs in, runners on second and third, top of the first inning and nobody out. So, what did Yasmani Grandal, Jake Burger and Oscar Colas do? Why, strikeout, groundout, groundout. With Lance Lynn pitching, the lead lasted all of two batters, until Byron Buxton went deep. The tie lasted until two outs in the second, when Michael A. Taylor, he of the .171 BA at the time, homered. After that, Lyn retired thirteen f the next sixteen batters. OK, so? So, Twins’ starter Pablo Lopez regrouped to retire the next twenty-three Sox “hitters.” Oh, the Sox tied the score in the ninth with a homer from Luis Robert Jr., but they deserved to lose in the tenth, which they did. The “hitters” went back to making outs, after which manager Pedro Grifol pulled a bonehead move by bringing in Jesse Scholtens, a contact pitcher. One bunt and one error by third baseman Hanser Alberto later, the Twins won, 4-3. A fan’s suggestion to Grifol—save your fastball pitcher for extra innings; a strikeout keeps the runner from advancing. In other words, Scholtens in the ninth and Reynaldo Lopez in the tenth, the opposite of what happened. But, hey, GM Rick Hahn said Grifol ran a great camp in Arizona. Like it showed last night.

Full Circle

After Easter Mass Sunday morning, somebody Clare’s age came up to her and asked if she was in fact Clare. The person doing the asking had been on the same travel team in 2009. She was married and had a boy Leo’s age. I stood a little to the back, not remembering Nina. Later, Clare showed me pictures before dinner. Oh, Nina. The two of them sat together at Hooters in Bloomington one night when the idiot coaches let the team vote on where they wanted to eat. Nina and I also sat together in the dugout—I kept score for the team—all through the tournament in Joliet, when Clare hit five homeruns in two days and yet somehow missed tournament MVP, again thanks to idiot coaches. Now, fourteen years later, the ex-pitcher and ex-second basemen are mothers of boys who are starting to hit balls. Proud parents, with grandparents wondering if they’re in for another round of tournaments, games seemingly without end, my kid with an 0-2 count, always with an 0-2 count and a smile on her face…

Distraction

Chasing around a twenty-month old grandson reminds a person there are other things to worry about than the White Sox losing 1-0 to the Pirates. E.g., keeping the kid from standing on the big Eldon dump truck, which will treat him as a load to dump. Michael Kopech went six innings, yielding that one run on the only two hits the Pirates would get all day. Yea, I guess. I mean, this is the Pirates. Speaking of which, Sox hitters managed all of six bingles, three by Gavin Sheets. I mean, this is the Pirates. Speaking of whom, they’re a team Chuck Tanner once managed, and I want to compare new Sox manager Pedro Grifol to Tanner, but, so far, that would only be to Grifol’s detriment. Allow me three examples from yesterday’s game. First, he sat Luis Robert Jr. along with his .366 BA, four homeruns and ten RBIs. Then, in the top of the ninth inning, after Sheets collected his third single with two outs, Grifol didn’t go with a pinch runner. As a team, the Sox are 13/13 in stolen bases. If he didn’t want to push it and try to steal, Grifol still could’ve used a runner faster than Sheets, say, Hanser Alberto. Or here’s a thought—instead of going with thirteen “pitchers,” why not bring Billy Hamilton up? Back to the game. Two out, Sheets on first with Oscar Colas up. Not to take away any of my previous Floyd Robinson comparisons, but Colas was in his tenth major-league game ever. That meant Grifol let an aggressive rookie face closer David Bednar, yet to be scored in three appearances (make that four) and with a career 2.90 ERA. Yes, Colas had the lefty-righty advantage, but that didn’t keep him from striking out. Robert wasn’t available to pinch hit why, again? Leo didn’t get dumped, Kopech pitched decently. Those are the holiday takeaways. That, and the Easter candy.

Half Full

I’m a “glass half full” kind of guy. That allows me to think the White Sox hitting will carry the team until the pitching shows up. But, if they’d lost to Vince Velasquez last night in Pittsburgh instead of winning 11-5, the glass is spilt, shattered, kaput. Something about rookie right fielder Oscar Colas has been bugging me. Not his hustle, that I like. But he reminded me of somebody from long ago. I checked to see that the lefty-hand hitting Colas stands 5’11”, which puts him two inches taller than that other lefty, Floyd Robinson. Robinson was a year older when he came up with the South Siders in 1961, and did he hit, over .300 for three of his first four seasons (.283 the other year), with an OBP of over.380 for three seasons and over .360 for all four. If Colas can do that, I’ll be more than happy. Robinson had an OK fifth season but declined steadily the next three and was out of the game by age 33. Here’s hoping Colas just keeps on going.

Adjust This

Another game, another blowout, another round of gibber. Sorry, but this gets old, fast. Yesterday in Pittsburgh, the White Sox staked Lucas Giolito to a 5-2 lead in the third inning. Giolito gave back one run in the bottom of the frame and then let the roof collapse in the fourth, allowing four more runs to score. The Sox tied the game at seven thanks to Luis Robert Jr.’s second two-run homer of the day (and the Pirates’ misguided faith in the ability of forty-three year old Rich Hill to get people out), only for Grifol to call on Jake Diekman. How do you say “four runs in one-third of an inning”? Oh, I just did. The game was not as close as the 13-9 final score might suggest. In their postgame comments, Giolito and Grifol both said how it’s early and things can change by making adjustments. Alright, then answer me this—why didn’t Giolito make those adjustments in-game? Why wait for your next start to make things right? Alas, the answer is Giolito really doesn’t know what adjustments to make. He was big, now he’s lean. He’s done all sorts of offseason training and tweaked his mechanics. Still, at the end of the day, he’s got a 9.00 ERA. Yeah, it’s early. Maybe he’ll crack 10.00 in his next start. At least GM Rich Hahn bowed to reality and DFA’d reliever Jose Ruiz. That’s a start. Now, what about Diekman? A lefty out of the pen who doesn’t get lefties out is Jose Ruiz by another name. Calling Garrett Crochet. How bad is Sox pitching? Well, the Royals pretty much stink right now, and played in the Giants’ home opener yesterday. You know, the Giants, the mashers, the second coming of Mays, McCovey and Cepeda. Well, Brad Keller and three relievers limited the mashers to one run on five hits. Maybe we could make a deal with KC for some of its relievers. Just don’t trade Jake Burger. He has two doubles and a homer in six at-bats spelling Eloy Jimenez at DH. And Oscar Colas hit his first homer yesterday. And Tim Anderson collected four hits. And Robert had those two homers. But nobody outside of Dylan Cease can get people out.

With Apologies to Pete Townshend

Meet the new White Sox. Same as the old White Sox? I hope not, but it’s starting to look that way. Yesterday afternoon, Lance Lynn sleepwalked his way through 4.1 innings of “work,” giving up eight runs, all earned, along with three homeruns in a 16-6 loss to the Giants. For those fans out there keeping track, the visitors clubbed thirteen long balls in a three-game series, the first time they’ve done that in just about sixty-two years. Sox manager Pedro Grifol told reporters after the game, “He [Lynn] battled and gave us everything he had. That’s really all I can say. He’s a warrior out there. [Tribune today]” OK, but you’re not going to win many battles—or ballgames—with warriors performing like Lynn did. Maybe utilityman Hanser Alberto also qualifies for warrior-status after making his second relief appearance against the Giants. In the 124 years the Sox have been around in the American League, no position player has ever pitched twice in a series. While we’re at it, hats off to Jose Ruiz (1.2 innings, two runs and a homer, 22.09 ERA) and Gregory Santos (two innings, two runs, 7.36 ERA) for making it possible. Please, please come back, Garrett Crochet, and Ryan Burr, if only you were still around. As for Eloy Jimenez, the only thing he’s qualified for so far this season is the IL; Eloy made it through all of four games before landing on it with a pulled hamstring from running the bases. At least Yoan Moncada hasn’t joined him, yet. Moncada just needed a day off yesterday after playing six games. It’s almost as if Tony La Russa is calling down to the dugout with moves to make. I thought Michael Kopech was bad, and then along came Lynn. I thought Ruiz was bad (he is), and along comes Alberto, sporting a 36.00 ERA. What I don’t know is if the pitching staff has hit bottom yet. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Time

The first time I really followed the White Sox was 1963, when they went 94-68. Only later did I appreciate that a few Sox seasons were the exception, as opposed to the rule, which could usually be found in the neighborhood of .500 baseball. Because I was young, I treated every Sox player as a demigod, his name committed to memory; in that way a hero would never be forgotten. Give me enough time, and I can still come up with fifteen or so names from 1963. Like Ray Herbert, who died in December; or Gary Peters, who passed away in January; or Dave Nicholson, who died in February. Because I remember names, I know that Pete Ward died a year ago in March and Joel Horlen last April. Al Weis was twenty-five in 1963; he’s eighty-five now. J.C. Martin, my first favorite Sox player, was a year older than Weis in ‘63, and still is. Ron Hansen, he of the troublesome back at shortstop, has also reached eighty-five. The Sox traded Luis Aparicio in a deal that included Hansen and Ward; in addition, they were grooming Don Buford, who turned eighty-six in February, to replace Nellie Fox at second base. A twenty-two year old Tommy McCraw took over at first base for an injured Joe Cunningham that June. Sixty years later, McCraw is the youngster of the group, at eighty-two. Herbert, Horlen, Peters and Nicholson were all part of the In Memoriam video tribute on Opening Day Monday, along with Bob Locker (I interviewed him once, interesting guy in a libertarian sort of way); Ken Frailing (traded with the Steves, Swisher and Stone, for Ron Santo); Marv Staehle (local kid, Oak Park, another Fox-type player, or so it was hoped); and Tom Flanigan, someone who pitched in two games when I was two-years old. That was a long time ago. Fred Klages pitched for the Sox in 1966 and ’67. I went on baseball-reference.com today to check on ages mentioned above only to see that Klages passed away on March 30. I seem to be running out of demigods.

Unintended Consequences

If you’ll pardon the pun, I knew it was only a matter of time before a ballgame this season was going to be played in under two hours. I give you yesterday’s 1-0 win by the Marlins over the Twins, completed in a snappy 1:57. What hath Theo Epstein and the pitch clock wrought? Last week, the average time of games was a reported 2:38, and even that figure is deceptive. Consider that yesterday’s Braves-Cardinals’ game featured twenty-two hits and eighteen strikeouts, Atlanta winning 4-1. Last year, we’re talking three-plus hours, yesterday, all of 2:20. Wow. Who’s got time to down another Bud with the innings zipping by? And here is an unintended consequence of the rule changes—concession sales are likely to go down. How long till owners start to complain? My guess is that there could reach a point where concessions are part of the ticket price. You want to see a game, you have to buy so many beers or sodas or hot dogs equaling a certain amount of money. Won’t that be fun?

Bombs Away

So much for that clean slate Michael Kopech was talking about after his blah spring. Kopech started the home opener for the White Sox yesterday, and it was bombs away for the visiting Giants. By the time manager Pedro Grifol finally saw fit to lift his starter, Kopech had given up five homeruns over 4.2 innings of work in an eventual 12-3 loss for the Sox. The last time Kopech pitched, against a lineup of mostly scrub Cubs, I mentioned he wasn’t likely to get as many strikeouts against a major-league lineup. Yup. Kopech fanned seven Cubs in 4.1 innings (while giving up five runs) vs. five Giants, which comes out to one longball for every punchout. Oh, and seven earned runs. There was some talk yesterday that he might be tipping his pitches. I’m just a fan, but, for what it’s worth, I doubt it, especially with a pitch clock in place. Pre-clock, pitchers set themselves in relative slow motion, and it was easy for hitters to spot a “tell.” Now, pitchers have fifteen seconds to throw the ball. It’s pretty much get ball; get sign; and throw. Kopech’s problem lie elsewhere. The first homer, in the second inning, was on a 3-2 pitch, a 97-mph fastball. Now, I could be wrong here, but after that Kopech never reached ninety-seven. The next four dingers were on pitches ninety-three; eighty-two; eighty; and ninety-five. Also keep in mind that he threw ninety-one pitches, thirty-six for balls and fifty-five for strikes. This tells me Kopech doesn’t have much if any command. Further, he can’t sustain velocity; according to the team website, he averaged 94.4 mph on fifty-one fastballs. If you don’t have command, you need velocity. If you don’t have velocity, you need command. Right now, Kopech is living in the worst of all worlds. To me, something’s wrong with his delivery. Kopech stands 6’3” and weighs 210 pounds, but his delivery doesn’t seem to benefit from his size. Tom Seaver was about his legs, Bob Gibson the entire body, his windup putting him all the way back with a big stride then delivering the ball to the plate. Kopech’s delivery looks like it’s fresh off the shelf from Walmart, and nothing special. Was it like this before Tommy John surgery? In that case, his arm hasn’t come back, and, considering that was four-and-a-half years ago, it’s not going to. In which case, he has to work on command, and I don’t know if you can really teach that. He might be able to increase velocity a little by altering his delivery, but that’s always dicey with pitchers. What it all comes down to is Ethan Katz gets to earn his pay as pitching coach. As for reliever Jose Ruiz, the walk; single; walk; grand slam; and back-to-back homer say it all—he’s not a major-league pitcher. The sooner Garrett Crochet is ready to come back, the better.

Odds and Ends

Luis Robert Jr. and Oscar Colas threw some leather in the outfield yesterday, allowing the White Sox to beat the Astros 6-3 and earn a series split. Robert and Colas also managed two hits apiece, not to be confused with three hits each for Yoan Moncada and Yasmani Grandal. Now, if they can just keep some semblance of that up. Mike Clevinger threw five scoreless innings to earn the win. You can’t applaud—at least I can’t—while holding your nose. My fig leaf here is that neither the commissioner’s office nor legal authorities found cause to act on allegations leveled against Clevinger by the mother of one of his children. Still, not my cut of tea, he. Did I mention ex-Sox outfielder Trayce Thompson? Well, certainly not in the same breath as Clevinger; Thompson appears to have been raised right. You don’t have a fifteen-year pro career spanning eleven big-league stops (two apiece with the Sox and Dodgers) if you’re anything but a model citizen. Did I mention Thompson has a beautiful swing to go with a plus glove? The problem for the recently-turned thirty-two year old has been contact. Thompson has a career .235 BA across all levels of the game. But something about LA must agree with him, probably the home-cooking for an Angeleno. Twice, in 2016 and again last year, Thompson hit thirteen homers in a parttime role. Then, there was Saturday against the Diamondbacks. Thompson hit three homers while driving in eight. Good for him. Let the not-nice guys finish last for a change. Did I mention Iowa guard Caitlin Clark, the “ponytail Pete [Maravich]” of women’s college basketball? Or that she scored a combined 112 points in her last three games of the NCAA Tournament, including thirty in a losing effort against LSU? If I’m the Sky, I’m looking for a way to draft Clark after her senior year in 2024. Oh, and the Bulls, who…committed…three…turnovers THE ENTIRE GAME against the Grizzlies yesterday. Yes, they won. You commit just three turnovers (one an intentional clock violation at the end of the game), and you can come back from a twenty-three point deficit each and every time. I think.

Quick Study

Here’s hoping new White Sox manager Pedro Grifol is a quick study of his pitching staff. The sooner Grifol realizes how bad his bullpen is, the sooner he and GM Rick Hahn can work on improving it. I wanted Joe Kelly on Friday, I got Joe Kelly on Saturday. Kelly recorded the final out of the sixth and had two out, two on in the seventh when he was pulled for…Jose Ruiz. Oh, oh. Yup, Ruiz let a run score and then put two runners on in the eighth. Rookie Gregory Santos allowed both runners to score. White Sox lose, 6-4. Far be it from me to go after Cruz and a rookie (Santos looked to have good stuff the Astros made just good-enough contact against). Let’s not forget Jake Diekman or, for that matter, Lucas Giolito, yesterday’s starter. Somehow, I’m supposed to be impressed Giolito gave up three runs, two earned, in five innings of work. Nope, not impressed even a little bit. Not when you need ninety-seven pitches to get fifteen outs. Not when Dylan Cease threw eighty-six to get nineteen. Starters have to go a minimum of six innings; anything less just screws up the bullpen. Going into his sixth full season, Giolito should know that. His manager needs to figure out, and soon, if he’s a slow learner or someone who’ll never figure it out. Saying Giolito “did a really good job today” isn’t going to fool anyone, and it certainly won’t fix the problem. But what do I know?

Patience, But--

I know, I know. The baseball season is a 162-game marathon. But, still, you don’t have to make it longer with a bad bullpen. The White Sox had a 3-0 lead last night in Houston, two out and nobody on in the sixth. Lance Lynn had given up all of one hit to that point. Then, Jose Abreu doubled and Preston Tucker homered. Again, someone tell me why you throw a pitch down to a lefthanded batter. Jimmy Lambert finished the inning only to yield to Kendall Graveman in the seventh (Joe Kelly staying put in the bullpen why, exactly?). Folks, that pitcher won’t pitch; he didn’t last year, and he started 2023 off the same way. After a double play gave him two outs and nobody on, Graveman proceeded to load the bases. That set the stage for Yordan Alvarez. Rookie manager Pedro Grifol found himself between a rock and a hard place, Aaron Bummer and Jake Diekman, a possible wild pitch and full-on disaster. Grifol went with Diekman, and disaster ensued. Will somebody please tell me why you throw a pitch down to a lefthanded batter. Alvarez cleared the bases. Sox lose, 6-3. Rumor has it Garrett Crochet is very close to coming back after Tommy John surgery last spring. That day can’t come soon enough.