Neither Nor

Before yesterday’s 4-3 loss at home to the Blue Jays, White Sox manager Rick Hahn talked some gibber about whether he’s going to be a buyer or seller at the trade deadline. Outside of Joe Kelly, who’s turned into an arsonist out of the bullpen, it doesn’t matter, unless we’re talking about Lucas Giolito. Giolito gave up two runs in six innings against Toronto. He has a 6-5 record with a 3.51 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in105.1 innings so far on the season in eighteen starts. How will the Sox replace that? I wouldn’t be surprised if Giolito gets traded and Hahn says he wouldn’t be opposed to trying to resign him as a free agent. Right, and he’ll sign Shohei Ohtani in the offseason, too. Hahn would be better off in the short run finding himself a hitting coach who can communicate the importance of situational hitting to Sox batters. Last night, Tim Anderson tripled with one out in the eighth and his team trailing by a run. Luis Robert Jr.—yes, I know, he hit a three-run homerun in the sixth—popped out and Eloy Jimenez flied out. I won’t even mention the three strikeouts that ended the game.