Words Fail, Words Show

Words alone can’t convey the dread I feel for White Sox prospects come 2024, in part because of the words manager Mickey Mouse uttered last night. They followed another ugly loss, a second 10-2 drubbing by the Twins, this one featuring egregious fielding from Tim Anderson—an error on a groundball and a misplayed popup that went for a run-scoring single—and pitching by Michael Kopech (one inning, four earned runs on four hits). Oh, but to hear Mouse talk about his players. He assured reporters the Anderson of old will return because “he’s not afraid to put the work in.” What in God’s name does that mean? Does Mouse actually believe that taking extra infield practice and BP translates into success? If so, he’s more of a fool than I imagined. As for Kopech, the silver lining was “he was good on the mental side.” You see, “he struggled with stuff, he didn’t struggle with command.” Got that? I don’t. Regardless, Kopech will bounce back, “he’s going to get this right.” Why Mouse would believe that, I have no idea. In his last three relief appearances totaling 2.2 innings, Kopech has given up six runs, all earned. Next April, the reliever/starter/reliever/??? turns twenty-eight. The odds are he won’t get it right. Maybe if Kopech and Anderson had a manager who treated them as adults, things would be different. But the White Sox don’t have that kind of manager and won’t get around to finding until this one gets fired sometime next May or June.