On Full Display

One day after their 17-4 thrashing of the Reds, the White Sox showed the full ineptitude of Rick Hahn’s rebuild of the team. What else would you call a 12-4 loss to the Royals? By way of context, know that only the A’s have fewer victories in all of baseball. Dylan Cease is supposed to be the staff ace, based on the fact that he pitched as an adult last season. This year, not so much. For the sixth time in eight starts, Cease failed to make it through the sixth inning. Two-run lead going into the bottom of the fourth? Gone by the fifth. Back to a tie going into the bottom of the sixth? Royals score eight in the bottom of the frame, three off of Cease, four off of Aaron Bummer, one off of Jimmy Lambert. Cease’s record falls to 2-2 with a 5.58 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. How sad that Cease went into full “it ain’t quacking like a duck” mode following the game. In essence, he advised everyone to ignore what they saw for this: “I was throwing in the zone much better. Just working through some things right now, but I think it’s close.” [today’s story on team website] Close to excrement, maybe, but not major league pitching. Wait, unfortunately, there’s more. Pedro Grifol, Hahn’s pick for manager, was either full-out delusional or earning extra pay as an enabler when he told reporters, “I actually thought Cease had really good stuff. His velocity was high. He felt good. He was strong.” [today’s Sun-Times] And I am the walrus. Silly me, I thought the Sox had a shot at sweeping the Royals. If the Royals sweep the Sox, guess who drops into last place in the AL Central?