Sort Of

Well, things went according to plan yesterday, sort of. Jonathan Cannon pitched 5.2 innings of three-hit ball. If only two of the hits weren’t homeruns, speaking of which, the White Sox hit four on their way to an 11-3 win over the Rockies. It was a team-leading number fifteen for shortstop Paul DeJong, and the more the merrier, I say. DeJong reminds me of Dayan Viciedo, who would swing and miss at the same pitch eight times and then hit it for extra bases the next three times before going back to swinging and missing. Will the real Paul DeJong please stand up? Oops, that is the real Paul DeJong, a career .230 hitter who just so happens to have amassed 131 homers along the way. Maybe the Dodgers could use him with Mookie Betts out. Lenyn Sosa also homered, but he’s going to have to do that a lot more to be considered an option at third base; a .218 BA with three homers and eleven RBIs in 124 at-bats doesn’t exactly scream Robin Ventura, or Pete Ward, for that matter. Put up or move on, young man. Korey Lee connected for his eighth homer of the season, which is nice, given that he’s batting .198 over his last 30 games. The soon-to-be 26-year old has a strong arm and looks to be bonding with Cannon and Drew Thorpe, so, he’s a keeper. Yes? Last and certainly not least of the four homer-hitters yesterday is Luis Robert Jr., who clubbed a ball 470 feet to left center in the sixth inning; Robert also walked and struck out three times. Keep or trade? That, my friends, is the question. Robert is Eloy Jimenez-Lite when it comes to injuries, as evidenced by his paltry 111 at-bats this season. Aside from injuries, I wonder about Robert’s comfort level on the South Side. Life is rarely easy for Latin players in the majors, and, judging from his body language both at the plate and in the dugout, Robert doesn’t appear to be any too comfortable. The right manager could change that, but Mickey Mouse isn’t the right choice to do anything other than lose on a consistent basis. Here's an idea—with Garrett Crochet pitching in today’s finale, how about another four homers? That would give me more to think about.