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?