Nostradamus

Can I see the future or what? Just like I predicted, Colson Montgomery played a different position last night; Egar Quero sat; Kyle Teel caught; and Josh Rojas got a start at third base. White Sox 10 Pirates 4. Montgomery struck out twice; Teel got two hits; and Rojas somehow managed to double in a run and raise his BA to .177. As much as it pains me to, I have to give kudos to manager New-Mickey Venable for two decisions, starting with Montgomery. Rather than have the lefthanded rookie face lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson with two runners on, Venable went with righthanded Austin Slater to pinch hit, and Slater singled in the tying run. Montgomery was 0-for-2 on the night with two strikeouts. Risking three risked a setback in Montgomery’s still-shaky confidence at the plate. The second kudo comes from an old-school decision by Venable to call for a sacrifice bunt in the seventh with two runners on and nobody out; Brooks Baldwin delivered as asked, and Lenyn Sosa singled in both runners. Ah, Sosa. If Nancy Faust were still around on a regular basis, I wonder if she’d be tempted to play “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria” as Sosa’s walkup song. If only the guy could field the way he hits. Last night, Sosa went 3-for-3 with three RBIs; two runs scored; and a walk. It helped, at least defensively, that he wasn’t playing the field. A DH can’t muff a ground ball. My suggestion would be to alternate the 25-year old between second base and DH for the rest of the season; that would minimize the damage from his defensive limitations. Did I mention the guy can hit? What I like about Sosa is he seems to understand he’s 5’11” and leaves launch angle/velo to the big folks. Rather, he puts the ball in play and takes his RBIs. That said, Sosa also has nine homeruns. I keep wondering if the Sox have any idea who Mike Heath was. For that matter, Daniel Murphy.

If Only

If only this were the Luis Robert Jr. who showed up for every game, like the one in Pittsburgh last night who went 2-for-2 (plus two walks!) with two runs scored and two runs batted in and who made a great play in the outfield. But that would be too much to ask. So, you take what you can get, the Robert who showed up yesterday and may or may not today. In the meantime, you savor that play he made, running to deep left-center field to make a diving, backhand catch of a ball off the bat of the Pirates’ Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the bottom of the third. And you also cross your fingers that these are the real Jonathan Cannon and Edgar Quero. Cannon needed just 86 pitches to throw seven innings of one-run ball in a 10-1 Sox win. The 25-year old righty didn’t walk anybody, which is great, while only striking out two, which probably leaves the analytics’ crowd flustered. Those are the people who put a premium on strikeouts, damn’ the likelihood of injury to the pitcher. Instead, Cannon went old school, and depended on his fielders. Along with Robert, Michael A. Taylor had a nice, sliding catch in left field in the second inning, when the Pirates had two on and one out and it was still a ballgame at 3-0. Old school works for me. As for Quero, he had a double and a homerun, along with two runs scored. Right now, Quero’s hitting (.274 BA, 21 RBIs in 190 at-bats) is ahead of his catching, but we’re talking about a 22-year old here. I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Sox should be playing both their catchers as much as possible. In the name of Mike Heath, you just don’t have to play one position if you’re a catcher. Odds are, manager New-Mickey Venable will sit Quero and start Kyle Teel; it seems he’s learned his lesson not to DH one of his catchers while playing the other behind the plate. Bad things can happen, like losing the DH when you pinch run for the catcher. Fellow rookie Colson Montgomery has a better chance than Quero to play again tonight. The only question is where? Venable put Montgomery at third with Chase Meidroth at short; it was Montgomery’s second start (and third appearance) at the hot corner vs. eight starts at short. Does the Sox “brain trust” see Montgomery as a possibility at third base? Instead of Josh Rojas? If only.

Treading Carefully

Everyone was over for Michele’s birthday yesterday, my grandson, of course, wanting to hit in the backyard. At one point, he was on the backporch, practicing his swing, Tiffany-inspired lampshade be damned. Nothing got smashed. I made sure to give Clare a story in the Tribune about Kim Ng and the new Athletes United Softball League. The story had two takeaways—Ng has spent most of her career in major-league front offices and an AUSL game drew 2000 fans, apparently an impressive number. The birthday girl cum grandma wanted pizza for dinner (along with chocolate cake from the Oak Park Bakery, talk about your recipe for a night of dreaming). This meant a trip to Carbone’s in Berwyn, by the Burlington Northern tracks. I had to wait a few minutes, which was just enough time to see what the bar had on the TV. As in a guy striking out against a softball pitcher. So, I’m guessing this was ESPN or the MLB Network, part of an effort to elevate softball to equal status with baseball. The baseball-player-striking-out-against-softball-pitching is a staple in women’s sports, dating to at least to 1961, when Joan Joyce struck out Ted Williams. Never mind Williams was just short of turning 43. Joyce was 20 at the time. What if Williams were, too? And how about some money on the line? Maybe the results would’ve been the same. Even if they were, questions remain. The most obvious one is this: If a great softball pitcher can strike out a great—or even a good—major-league hitter, why aren’t there women pitching in the bigs? What, they don’t want to? Do I think a woman can pitch in professional baseball? Yes, but not windmill style. To the best of my knowledge, Joyce wasn’t standing 60’6” when she faced Williams. Hand size and leg size would tend to work against a female pitcher, unless she could be another Tim Lincecum (5’11”). I could see that. Where I really think women could excel would be at the plate. Pick a guy 6’ or under, and a female hitter could do that. But baseball—and softball, for that matter—runs from the possibility. Better to establish a Negro Leagues 2.0 than look for the next Jackie Robinson. But if I make this point too strongly or for too long, someone I cherish gets upset. So, I tread carefully, pass along a story, make a simple point and ask for another piece of pizza.

Compare and Contrast

Milwaukee is what you might call a small-market city. By contrast, Chicago is a big market where the sports’ teams often go small. The White Sox are the Brewers, minus the track record. Right now, the Brewers are one game behind the Cubs—whose ownership pretends not to belong to a billionaire family—in the NL Central. The White Sox are in a slightly different position in the AL Central, trailing the first-place Tigers by 27 games. I’m not hopeful they can close the gap. The Brewers are smart, the Sox not. Milwaukee traded for Andrew Vaughn and then found a way for him to produce, as in ten RBIs in fourteen at-bats. In exchange, the Sox received pitcher Aaron Civale, who’s gone 0-4 with a 5.58 ERA in six starts. Good luck flipping him. Far be it from me to dump on Sox GM Chris Getz, at least not until I’m done fulminating over the reign of his predecessor, Rick Hahn. Back in 2022, Hahn selected pitcher Peyton Pallette in the second round; Pallette is 6-15 with a 4.35 ERA over three minor-league seasons. Hahn could’ve taken Jacob Misiorowski, which the Brewers did with the next pick. Need I say more?

Well, That Was Dumb

Baseball is nothing if not dumb at times, like last night’s All-Star Game in Atlanta. It’s hard for me to say which I disliked more, the automatic-balls-and-strikes system (ABS) or the tie-breaker format. The idea behind ABS is to get calls right. OK, but do you want a game decided by a pitch the system calls not so much “in” the strike zone as “on” the line? That’s pretty much what happened in the top of the ninth, after the American League had tied the game at six with two runs in and the go-ahead run at second base, two outs. Randy Arozarena took a called ball that the NL appealed and the ABS determined was a borderline strike. End of rally. The NL couldn’t do anything in the bottom of the ninth, so it was time for the tie-breaker, used for the first time ever in an All-Star Game. Each side picks three players, each of whom gets three soft-toss pitches to hit; team with the most homeruns wins. To which I can only say, where was Aaron Judge for the AL? Most likely showered and long gone from the park after being lifted for Arozarena in the bottom of the fifth. Lucky for the NL Kyle Schwarber was still around to jack three balls into the stands. Four homers for the NL, three for the AL. NL wins. The Yankees’ Aaron Boone managed the AL. Boone obviously didn’t consider the possibility of a tie or, if he did, wasn’t able to prevail on Judge or any of the other AL starting players to hang around. I can see why Yankees’ fans might not be in love with Boone as their manager.

Same Old Same Old

The White Sox took two high school players, a shortstop from California and an outfielder from nearby Nazareth Academy, with their first two picks in the MLB draft Sunday. You have to wonder why, given their recent track record with prep athletes. In 2019 and 2021, two out of their first three picks were high schoolers, and one in 2020, 2022 and 2024; only in the 2023 draft did the Sox go with three college players in the first three rounds. And that strategy resulted in what, exactly? Out of seven prep players drafted, only one, first-round selection Colson Montgomery class of ’21, has reached the major leagues, and to say that doubts linger about Montgomery’s bat would be an understatement. Otherwise, names like Matthew Thompson; Jared Kelley; and Wes Kath serve more as brainteasers than prospects for Sox fans. Wait, there’s more. Here are some of the college players the Sox drafted in the first three rounds during that same period: Andrew Vaughn; Garrett Crochet; Sean Burke; Jonathan Cannon; and Grant Taylor. High school or college? You be the judge.

Is It Me?

Is it me, or does White Sox manager New-Mickey Venable basically look clueless in the dugout? Put another way, what good is a bullpen if Venable doesn’t know how to use it? A team like the Guardians—a minimum of three switch-hitters and three lefthanded hitters in the lineup all four games—can pose a problem for any righthanded-leaning staff. The Sox presently have no lefty starters (the sooner Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith get here the better) and three lefty relievers. Maybe pitching coach Ethan Katz could introduce them to their manager. Friday’s game went ten innings; lefty relievers threw 1.1 innings. On Saturday, Venable replaced starter Sean Burke with righthanded Jordan Leasure, and you know what that meant, yes? Leasure coughed up a game-tying homerun to lefthanded-hitting Kyle Manzardo. Wait, there’s more. Yesterday, the Sox carried a 3-0 lead going into the sixth inning with Aaron Civale pitching. With the bases loaded and one out, Civale didn’t think to cover first base on a double play that would’ve gotten him out of the inning. I’d be tempted to lift him just for that bonehead play. But, No, Venable let Civale pitch to Manzardo, righty-lefty, and the lefty hit a three-run homer in a game Cleveland won in ten innings. Things will go better in the second half. Right? Sure.

By the Numbers

Another game for the White Sox, another loss (6-2 to the Guardians), another pathetic display of hitting yesterday. Nothing says no-pop like six singles to go with eleven strikeouts. Part of the problem is talent. GM Chris Getz and manager New-Mickey Venable seem content to run out the likes of Josh Rojas (.176 BA in 159 at-bats) and Will Robertson. Who he? A pickup this week from the Bluejays. After going 1-for-10 for Toronto, the 27-year old (dare I say journeyman?) outfielder has fit right in on the South Side, going 0-for-5 in two games. But part of the problem is…you tell me. Chase Meidroth looked great for a while, but now he could pass for Jacob Amaya at the plate; the rookie second baseman is batting an anemic .159 over his last 30 games. Miguel Vargas is another guy who went from hot to cold, as in .182 over his last 30 games. And Luis Robert Jr., well, if only he ever got hot or lukewarm even. But a .189 BA on the season points to cold, cold, cold. Did I mention ex-Sox Andrew Vaughn, who needed 185 at-bats to manage 19 RBIs before he was sent down, and then traded to the Brewers? Since being recalled by Milwaukee this week, Vaughn has gone 6-for-14 with two homeruns and ten RBIs. Why is that?

Old School

The White Sox executed two sacrifice bunts—I repeat, two sacrifice bunts—in extra innings on their way to a 5-4, eleven-inning win over the Guardians to earn a doubleheader split last night. The big story here was reliever Mike Vasil, who threw three scoreless innings for the win. Talk about old school. Vasil pitched out of bases-loaded jams in both the tenth and eleventh innings. In other words, he pitched to contact and survived to tell the story. So far on the season, the 25-year old waiver-claim has a 4-3 record with a 1.59 ERA in 22 relief appearances over 51 innings. With only 44 strikeouts, Vasil is the kind of pitcher the analytics’ people love to hate. May he continue to get it done. Unlike, say, hitting coach Marcus Thames. The Sox totaled eight hits for two games. In a 4-2 loss in game one, they managed a homerun from Luis Robert Jr. and a single from Chase Meidroth. Both Meidroth and Kyle Teel have been struggling lately. If those two don’t hit, there goes your rebuild. Yes, Edgar Quero is hitting (.269 with 20 RBIs) and Lenyn Sosa (a two-homer game two), too. But why don’t I hear anything about how Thames has helped them? For that matter, Colson Montgomery walked three times last night, which gives him six in 28 plate appearances. That matters because there were concerns that Montgomery was swing-happy. So far, so very good. Is Thames responsible for this newly found plate discipline? Curious minds would sure like to know.

Laying the Foundation

Anytime my grandson comes over, we have to hit. Nest month, he turns four. Clare has been working on fundamentals: positioning the feet; holding the bat; seeing the ball. Considering the results, you wouldn’t know Leo’s four weeks short of turning four. But he is. Last week was the first time I’ve pitched with wiffle balls; the sooner Leo uses regulation-sized equipment, the better, I think. The wiffle-ball bat is longish, the ball just about the same size as a league. This way, what he does in the yard will seem just like what they do on TV. He’s been hitting the ball hard ever since late last summer. Until last week, the big problem has been focus. Kids get goofy, at least this one did after awhile. Swing for the fences; fall to the ground; and just lay there. That kind of thing. But last week was different. My grandson stood there, a smirk on his face. He got that from me, because that’s what I do when I’m pitching. It’s a simple way of communicating the disregard pitchers have for hitters. And the little punk was giving it back to me. And then hitting me, almost literally. Balls hit the fence and one of the Chihuly globes we have hanging in the yard; St. Franics, a woman and elephant, all in statue form, are other popular targets. Did I mention my forehead? This went on for a good twenty minutes, which isn’t bad for someone that old, or outrageously young. My grandson particularly enjoys going with me to retrieve the balls from our neighbor’s yard. We open the gate; make sure there are no cars racing down the alley; and proceed accordingly to the next gate. Then we reverse the process, until right before our gate. Then my grandson tries to lock the old man out. And we go back to hitting. Duck.

Staying and Going

Lo and behold, the White Sox snapped the Bluejays’ ten-game winning streak yesterday afternoon with a 2-1 pitching gem anchored by starter Adrian Houser. How I’m going to miss that guy. The 32-year old righty went seven innings, giving up just one run on seven hits and two walks. Nine baserunners suggests Houser got help somewhere, and he did. How many times is a first baseman involved in three double plays, starting two of them? Hello, Tim Elko, called up for an injured Brooks Baldwin, who, yes, hurt his back in the weight room. Houser now sports a 5-2 record with 1 1.56 ERA. How it pains me to say the Sox would be stupid not to shop him, but it’s true. Maybe we could get a good hitting coach in return. More on that later. Houser was followed by Grant Taylor and Jordan Leasure, both of whom worked a scoreless inning. Michele was sitting next to me on the couch, granddaughter Maeve on her lap, wondering why I was mumbling about Leasure coming in for the ninth. “Isn’t he a good pitcher?” asked my better half. “No,” I answered, “he isn’t.” But he was yesterday, picking up his second save in five attempts. Edgar Quero had two doubles and an RBI; I figure he’s sticking around. Will Lenyn Sosa? I don’t know, but he did fine at DH, singling in what proved to be the winning run in the fourth inning. As I’ve said more than once, the guy can hit. Now, back to Elko, who struck out all three times. He’s fouling off hittable pitches; chasing after balls out of the zone; and taking pitches down the heart of the plate. Yet, as soon as he goes back to Charlotte, he’s hitting the cover off the ball. Baldwin credited a visit to the team’s mental health coach for helping him slow down the game and get hot at the plate the past week or so. Elko might want to do the same. I see talent. What I don’t see is coaching that helps that talent succeed.

“Good”—No!

White Sox manager New-Mickey Venable has two bad habits, in addition to making head-scratching decisions from the dugout. Ask him a question, and he’ll always start his answer with “Yeah,” then go into spin mode. Just once, I wish a reporter would try to trip him up with, “You’re clueless out there, aren’t you?” But what really irritates me is his Old-Mickey way of praising the opposition. Last night, the Sox laid an egg against the Bluejays, losing 6-1. Thank heaven the heavens opened up and stopped the game after six innings. Otherwise, who knows what the final score would’ve been? After the game, Venable complimented Toronto starter Chris Bassitt (traded away long ago by Kenny Williams) for doing a “really good job down in the zone.” Why, “He can beat you in a lot of ways.” Especially if “you” are a bad ballclub with a bunch of retreads sprinkled in with rookies trying to figure it out. Help from the hitting coach optional. Maybe that’s how Bassitt “did a good job getting us on the ground.” Venable also said the Bluejays “do a good job of controlling the zone and doing damage on pitches in the zone.” Especially if the other team is throwing out a bargain-basement starter like Aaron Civale. Andrew Vaughn, with four RBIs in his first two games back in the bigs, for Civale why, again? But, hey, center fielder Luis Robert Jr. “feels really good.” [all quotes from today’s Trib story online]

Hansen/Montgomery

How old am I? Old enough to remember the White Sox trading away Luis Aparicio in a deal that brought Ron Hansen to the South Side. It wasn’t a bad trade, thanks to the haul of talent the Sox got—Hansen, Pete Ward, Dave Nicholson and Hoyt Wilhelm—for future HOFer Aparicio and Al Smith. Hansen was four years younger and a whole lot bigger than Aparicio, 6’3” to Aparicio’s 5’9”. Hansen was solid defensively and could hit for power, when he was healthy. But he had a bad back from the time he was nineteen. Hansen played as a regular until age 30 and hung on for another four years as a utility player. Like Hansen, Montgomery stands 6’3”, though he weighs 40 pounds more than Hansen did at 190. The 23-year old rookie also has suffered back issues, including this spring. Montgomery has been doing a lot of diving at shortstop (and looking good in the process) since he was brought up last week, and everything seems to be holding. The good news here is that treatment of the spine has improved a whole lot since the 1960s. Aparicio played until he was 39, outlasting Hansen by a year. It’s unreasonable to expect Montgomery to become another HOFer at short. I’d be happy if he could avoid the back problems and have a Ron Hansen-plus career, as in more than 1007 hits; 106 homeruns; and 501 RBIs. You could do worse.

Good and Bad

The bad first, another blah pitching performance from rookie Shane Smith, 4.1 innings and five earned runs in a 6-4 White Sox loss to the Rockies. Smith coughed up a two-run lead in the fifth, after which Sox bats pretty much reverted to (non-existent) form. Also bad, Miguel Vargas going 0-for-3 to push his BA down to .221. Smith—whose ERA climbed to 4.20—and Vargas: I wonder. Now, the good, starting with Colson Montgomery, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Like I said, it was smart to call up Montgomery to face the worst pitching staff in all of baseball. It gets real tonight, though, when the first-place Blue Jays come to town. Fingers crossed. All of which leads us to Mike Vasil, who pitched three innings of two-hit, scoreless relief. Vasil has pitched 59 innings in 24 games, three of them starts. He has a 1.69 ERA pitching 48 innings in relief. Talk about old school. Five of his nine recorded outs came from contact. Again, how old school. I’d be tempted to compliment GM Chris Getz and manager New-Mickey Venable here if not for one thing (OK, if not for a number of things)—the way they’re handling first base. Getz and Venable act as if Ryan Noda is the answer, his 3-for-34 and one RBI be damned. So, if Noda is better than Tim Elko, why did Venable pinch hit for him in the ninth inning yesterday, with rookie Kyle Teel, no less? I mean, Noda had the lefty-righty advantage over Rockies’ closer Seth Halvorsen. Maybe because Noda had struck out twice already? Venable obviously didn’t think he’d collect his second walk of the day. In which case, why play him?

Scouting

Periodically, a player will catch my eye, and I think, “Hey, he might be good.” The first time that happened was with Bill Melton. David Justice was another. More recently, I’ve been impressed with how Brooks Baldwin has worked his way up the minor-league ladder to reach the majors with the White Sox; you have to feel good anytime a 12th round draft choice does that, and you have to tip your cap to the scout who found him. The lower the draft choice who can make a difference, the better the organization. The switch-hitting infielder-outfielder started hitting once he reached High-A and earned a cup of coffee with the Sox late last season. What I saw was a nice, level swing and an ability to reach the gaps. Also, fast out of the box. This year, Baldwin made the team out of spring training and hit OK into the middle of May, when he was sent down to Triple-A Charlotte. Instead of moping, Baldwin hit .368 for the Knights with eleven homeruns. He got called up in the middle of June, only to strike out three times in three at-bats over three games against the Rangers. He kept swinging through pitches and chasing balls shoulder high. That meant to a quick trip back to Charlotte. The injury to Luis Robert Jr. led to another callup at the beginning of July, when it was another three strikeouts (plus a walk) in three at-bats in two games against the Dodgers. Then, maybe something clicked, because Baldwin has gone 5-for-11 in the three games since, with two doubles and a homer. Yesterday, he went 2-for-5 with a double; run; and RBI in the Sox 10-3 win over the Rockies. More, please. Baldwin credited team mental health coach Cristian Guzman for helping him figure out “how to slow the game back down and not trying to do too much.” Baldwin says the adjustment helped him “see the ball a little earlier and put good swings on it.” [quote in Saturday’s Tribune] OK, I’ll buy that. And whatever helped Colson Montgomery go 3-for-5 with a triple and an RBI. I can’t say I have a feel for Montgomery’s swing the way I do Baldwin’s, but all that matters here are results. And I will say Montgomery looks calm at the plate in his first two major-league games. Like Montgomery, Lenyn Sosa collected three hits last night, which makes it easier to forget his failing to get an out with runners on base and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh. Reliever Jordan Leasure fielded a comebacker and threw to Sosa, who was nowhere near the bag and whose throw to first failed to beat Hunter Goodman running down the line. But this is the Rockies’ year to suffer, and Leasure worked out of it without a run scoring (!!). Sosa doubled and homered to go with four RBIs and two runs scored. Like I’ve said, the man can hit. Good idea that manager New-Mickey Venable has him DHing today with Chase Meidroth back at second. That’s how you win games.

Comings and Goings

The dawn of one era signals the end of another. Adieu, Vinny Capra. Greetings, Colson Montgomery. And thank you for that sensational play in the bottom of the second innings, when the Rockies’ Ryan Ritter flared a ball into short left field that looked destined for an RBI single. Nope. Montgomery made a diving, over-the-shoulder catch, unlike anything a Bears’ receiver has managed the last few seasons, no, since almost forever. Now, get your first MLB hit, Colson. Speaking of rookies, catcher Edgar Quero hit his first MLB homerun, a solo shot in the sixth inning that proved the difference in a 3-2 win. Quero is hitting .273 with a .347 OBP. Not bad, which leads me to wonder how will manager New-Mickey Venable find a way to play both Quero and fellow rookie catcher Kyle Teel? Curious minds want to know. Speaking of rookies, Grant Taylor rebounded from his LA meltdown to record the save, his third in four tries. Not bad. Now, how will Venable handle his bullpen should the Sox be leading late in the game tonight? Curious minds fear the worst.

What Satchel Paige Said

It doesn’t pay for the White Sox to look back, not after a sweep by the Dodgers (except maybe for the two hits, one a homerun, from Brooks Baldwin in last night’s 6-2 loss). Better to look ahead to the next series, with the Rockies. In what actually qualifies as a smart move, GM Chris Getz has called up shortstop Colson Montgomery, who should sport the nickname of Mr. Rollercoaster. The lefthand-hitting Montgomery arrives on a 10-for-18 tear for Triple-A Charlotte, with four homers, seven RBIs and ten runs scored. Here’s what I mean by rollercoaster—all that lifted Montgomery’s BA to .218. Hmm. At the risk of repeating myself until I turn blue in the face, Getz bring up Tim Elko while he’s at it. Why not jumpstart two careers instead of just one?

Late Night

I went to bed last night knowing the White Sox were beating the Dodgers 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. I woke up this morning to find that the Sox gave up three runs in the bottom of the ninth to lose, 5-4. After watching a replay of the ninth, all I can say is, hats off to manager New-Mickey Venable for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The ninth opened with Michael Conforto singling past second baseman Lenyn Sosa. If the idea is to win ball games, then Josh Rojas should’ve been at second, instead of third, and Miguel Vargas at third, instead of first. Why do we have Ryan Noda, if not to play first base? Grant Taylor was in his second inning of work. The Conforto hit seemed to upset Taylor, who threw eight straight balls for two walks. Why wasn’t he lifted after the first walk? Instead, the 23-year old faced Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded and nobody out. Ohtani grounded to second. Sosa got the out at second, but Chase Meidroth couldn’t turn the double play. See above for best option in the ninth inning at second base. Venable then brought in Steven Wilson, who gave up a game-tying sacrifice fly, followed by a walk. That put runners on first and second, two out, Freddie Freeman up. Freeman had the lefty-righty advantage over Wilson and singled in the winning run on the first pitch he saw. Venable could’ve rolled the dice by walking Freeman to move the winning run to third while bringing up the righthanded-hitting Andy Pages. That’s what I would’ve done, but, hey, I was in bed asleep at the time. As opposed to Venable asleep in the dugout.

Upon Further Review

Shane Smith started out like gangbusters. The Rule 5 pickup from Milwaukee had a 2.37 ERA in his first thirteen starts for the White Sox. But Smith’s last three outings have qualified as nose-holding bad, as in seventeen earned runs over eleven innings. Hold the Rookie of the Year talk, at least for now. Like Smith, infielder Miguel Vargas had himself a nice run, shooting extra-base hits all over the place, but that seems ages ago. Vargas is 1-for-25 over his last seven games and 9-for-58 over his last fifteen. Hold the Steal of the Year talk, at least for now. Last night, Smith gave up four runs in the bottom of the first, after retiring the first two Dodgers he faced. The 25-year old righty also gave up a two-out run in the third and fourth innings. Dodgers 6 Sox 1. Vargas had nothing to do with the sole Sox run, going 0-for-4 on the night. Unlike Lenyn Sosa. Sosa went 2-for-3 with a two-out RBI double in the fourth inning, when there was at least a faint chance his team might come back. It’s nice when your second baseman is hitting .278 at the start of July. Too bad Sosa’s teammates combined for one other hit in the game, along with twelve strikeouts. Smith, Vargas, Sosa—who in this group is not like the others? I have an idea.

What If?

The White Sox are the kind of team that makes a person wonder, what if? What if Chuck Comiskey hadn’t lowballed his sister Dorothy, who out of spite and/or anger then sold her controlling interest in the team to Bill Veeck? What if Veeck had kept youngsters Earl Battey; Johnny Callison; Norm Cash; Don Mincher; and John Romano after the 1959 season instead of trading them for some veteran pop (Gene Freese, Minnie Minoso, Roy Sievers)? All that young hitting with all that pitching, oh, my. What if Veeck had sold to anybody but Jerry Reinsdorf? What if Reinsdorf didn’t hate overpaying for pitchers? Would Jack McDowell have pitched his entire career on the South Side? Or Chris Sale? Or Mark Buehrle? The team is unveiling a statue of Buehrle next week. Fans will be reminded of the two no-hitters (one a perfect game) the lefthander threw for the Sox among his 161 wins for the team that drafted him and should have paid to keep him from ever leaving. What if Reinsdorf used the unveiling ceremony to admit his mistake? That’s when we would know that pigs do indeed fly.

Dazed and Confused

White Sox GM Chris Getz and manager New-Mickey Venable are nothing if not confusing. Take yesterday. Before the game, Getz sent down rookie pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez, which meant that he kept Jordan Leasure. Sure enough, that move came back to bite Venable in the fifth inning when Leasure walked in the go-ahead run against the Giants. Luckily, there’s more, as in a Sox catcher saving the day for the second game in a row. Only it was Kyle Teel instead of Edgar Quero. Teel delivered a two-out, bases-loaded double in the seventh to put the Sox ahead in an eventual 5-2 win. Oh, and Mike Vasil picked up a five-out save, the second game in a row the Sox closer went over an inning for the save. Now, back to catching. This situation will have to be resolved one way or another, Quero or Teel. Right now, the sample size is too small to make anything close to an intelligent decision. Figure the two rookies continue to share time all season. After which, pick one and then decide to trade the other or move him to another position. Teel played in the outfield a handful of games in college and has appeared in left for the Sox one time. I say play him in left or at first on days he doesn’t catch; that way he could come in for Quero if necessary and Venable wouldn’t lose his DH. Or see what Quero can do in left and at first. Neither is a prototypical catcher, as in big and (kind of) slow. Teel is 6’, a trim 210 pounds while Quero is 5’10” and 205 pounds, and both look athletic. So, learning an extra position does not appear to be out of the question. Unless Ryan Noda, batting .111, is the long-term answer at first, in which case I am very confused.

What David Bowie Said

I love the unpredictability of baseball. You just don’t know what will happen when or how. Like yesterday’s White Sox -Giants’ game. The Sox managed all of one run, on a homerun by Andrew Benintendi in the bottom of the sixth. And that’s all they needed for a shutout made possible by a seven-inning start—let me repeat, seven innings—from starter Adrian Houser followed by a two-inning save—let me repeat, two innings—from Grant Taylor. Two pitchers for nine innings: Analytics be damned. As sweet as lefthanded Benintendi connecting off of lefty Robbie Ray plus the old-school efforts by Houser and Taylor, we’re probably talking about a 2-1 loss if not for catcher Edgar Quero. Consider that in the top of the sixth, the Giants had runners on second and third, nobody out, and Rafael Devers up. Oh, my. And what happened? First off, Houser struck out Devers swinging. Then, Edgar fired a throw to third baseman Josh Rojas, who tagged out baserunner Brett Wisely trying to get back to third. It’s the third time this season Quero has picked off a baserunner. For this kind of heads-up defense and a focus on putting the ball in play, Quero gets my vote as #1 catcher over Kyle Teel. And just for one day, Sox fans had four heroes to choose from.

As Professor Gump Would Say—

Stupid is as stupid does. Just look at the lineup White Sox manager New-Mickey Venable went with last night against the Giants and what he had to say about one player in particular. Venable thought it would be a good time to give Ryan Noda, who normally plays first base, his second career start in right field (as opposed to 136 at first). Noda is “kind of a sneaky athlete, good baserunner and a guy who moves, covers some ground more than I think I gave him credit for just looking at him and his overall profile,” Venable told reporters before the game. “That was part of the attractiveness of acquiring him, his defensive versatility and his ability to go to the outfield.” [quote in today’s Sun-Times] Noda did not exactly reward his skipper’s faith. With two on and one out in the sixth inning of a tied game, Noda dove for a ball that skipped past him for a triple. End of game, 3-1. Later, this is what Venable had to say: “Probably have to play that [ball] in front. Good aggressive play, you like the thought.” [quote in today’s Tribune story online] No, I don’t. And for this we got rid of Gavin Sheets?

Crossing Lines

The White Sox and major league baseball indefinitely banned a Sox fan from attending MLB games after an incident Tuesday in which the 22-year old allegedly made remarks to Diamondbacks’ second baseman Ketel Marte concerning Marte’s mother, who died from injuries suffered in an auto accident in 2017. To which I say, Yes, but. No doubt, a line was crossed, but what about the Dodgers Sym-Phony? A difference of kind or degree? Or is it OK because it’s in the past? And what about any and all Philadelphia fans? I doubt the Phillies make much of an effort to curb their fans’ “enthusiasm” at the start of a big series Fans cheer, they boo, they heckle. I have a distinct memory from 1990, of letting Ron Hassey have it after the A’s catcher muffed a foul ball. I didn’t mention anyone in Hassey’s family. I just pointed out the error, if at the top of my lungs. The point is, a modicum of behavior is to be expected and enforced. A line crossed demands a quick response. But professional sports should stop pretending it doesn’t look away every once in a while.

Do the Math

Miracle of miracles, the White Sox beat the Diamondbacks yesterday afternoon by a score of 7-3. Starter Sean Burke looked good, second baseman Lenyn looked even better. Burke threw five innings for the win, giving up two unearned runs. Sosa and rookie catcher Kyle Teel provided the offense, collecting three hits and two runs apiece. But the nod goes to Sosa, who hit two homeruns, both with two strikes. Sosa also hit an 0-2 pitch for a run-scoring single and had four RBIs on the day. Like I’ve said, he’s a bat-first kind of player. Oh, and rookie Grant Taylor pitched two innings, giving up an unearned run. The Sox used fifteen players total on the day. Of that number, six—Burke; Teel; Sosa; Taylor; Chase Meidroth; and Miguel Vargas—are worth keeping into next season. Add pitchers Jonathan Cannon; Wikelman Gonzalez; Davis Martin; Shane Smith; and Mike Vasil along with catcher Edgar Quero and you’ve got your 2026 keepers. That comes out to twelve players, which leaves fourteen spots being kept warm and nothing more. There are a handful of people in the minors who may or may not be ready next year; ditto for starter Drew Thorpe, who’ll be coming back from Tommy John surgery. That still leaves a whole lot of holes, especially on the positions’ side. Here’s a thought. Josh Naylor, who hit a two-run homer in the first (his tenth against the Sox to go with 40 RBIs and a career BA just shy of .350), will be a free agent at the end of the year. How about going after him?

Yeah, Right

When White Sox GM Chris Getz addressed the media Monday, he did a lot of smoke blowing in regards Luis Robert Jr., including the assertion the team could hold onto their non-hitting center fielder well past the July 31st trade deadline “That’s a real possibility,” Getz said with what I presume was a straight face. Robert would be gone if only he could hit in the same way Andrew Benintendi would be gone if only he could hit a little more and some contender had a gaping hole in the outfield. But Robert can’t hit, and Benintendi runs the other way every time his BA approaches .250. So, here we are. Last night, Robert hit a homerun for the Sox’s only tally in a 4-1 loss to the Diamondbacks. By going 1-for-4, Robert actually upped his average a point to .185. He also has 88 strikeouts in 249 at-bats for a strikeout rate of 35 percent. Yum. Meanwhile, Benintendi went 0-for-3, lowering his BA to .235. Like I said, yum. Manager New-Mickey Venable keeps using openers. Some days, it’s due to an injury to the scheduled starter, other days as a way to manage the workload of a young staff. I’m not sure the reason for opening with Jordan Leasure last night. Whatever, the idea still uses up pitchers, four last night. The team keeps losing while sending out the same lineup while people in charge keep singing the same happy tune. This is somewhere between insanity and hell.

Cost vs. Benefit

Last night, we saw minor-league talent at major-league prices as the host White rolled over for the visiting Diamondbacks, 10-0. The game basically ended in the first inning after Josh Naylor’s double off Shane Smith with one out brought in the first two runs. Lucky for us we didn’t have to pay for the luxury-suite tickets and parking. I figure we would have been out a cool grand, give or take. Instead, we were guests; it pays to know people who can afford this kind of thing. It was the first time we’d ever seen a game in airconditioned comfort, other than that time with Clare at the Astrodome. I mean, who knew you could take an elevator to your seats? The hallway leading to the various suites was pure AMC Theatres, with gray walls and gray-black carpeting. The suite itself was a combination of white, black and gray. Michele and I had a hot dog each; she went with a can of Diet Coke, I gulped down two Barq’s Root Beers. When the dessert cart came around, I went with a slice of carrot cake, plus a chocolate-chip something for Michele. According to the box score, there were 12,579 fans in attendance. If so, a good half of them was rooting for Arizona, and they weren’t disappointed, unless the back-to-back homeruns from Ketel Marte and Pavin Smith in the fourth inning is some kind of desert-downer. Talk about the home team being flat. And talk about the home team: According to GM Chris Getz, there’s cause for optimism. “Overall, I feel pretty good about things,” Getz offered, according to the story on the team’s website today. Getz held court with reporters before the game. He also said, “Going into the year, the focus wasn’t just primarily on the record because we knew that there are so many things that go into improving this organization long term.” [second quote from today’s Tribune] Last year at this point, the Sox were 21-58 under manager Mickey Mouse. This year, they’re 25-54 under New-Mickey Venable. Improvement is in the eyes of the beholder, I guess. What I do know is that if Vinny Capra pitches in a home game, like he did last night [two unearned runs in an inning of work], fans should get their money back. Our hosts yesterday certainly deserved better.

What I Saw, What He Said

Aaron Civale shouldn’t have pitched seven innings yesterday, not with the stuff he had, as in five earned runs on nine hits in a 7-1 loss to the Bluejays. In part, Civale was done in by analytics’ logic that dictates the use of relievers ASAP; a doubleheader on Thursday that saw the use of eight White Sox relievers; and Sox manager New-Mickey Venable’s inability to keep his pitchers rested. So, seven innings it was. What really gets me, though, is Venable’s pathological urge to sugarcoat mediocre-and-worse performance. Civale gave up four runs in the first two innings. End of ballgame, right? Right? Nope. According to New-Mickey, “After a tough start there, where he [Civale] just left a couple of pitches in the heart of the plate and paid for it, he did a great job of settling down.” We must be looking at a different box score. But wait, there’s more. Venable also said that Civale “did a great job of settling down and getting back to his game plan and did a good job of hitting spots and pitching where he wanted to pitch. Just unbelievable to be able to cover seven innings on a day where maybe at the beginning [he] didn’t have his best stuff.” [both quotes in today’s Tribune] Ya think? I’m thinking of starting a new parlor game called Venable the Disaster, pun intended. One person picks some disaster over the course of history while the other imagines how Venable would spin things. It’d be a hoot.

Stopped Clock

A stopped clock gets the time right twice a day, or so the saying goes. White Sox GM Chris Getz has achieved stopped-clock standing. Getz called up relievers Wikelman Gonzalez and Jake Palisch. Not that he wanted or planned to but because injuries to Davis Martin and Cam Booser forced him to. Well, injuries can be opportunities. Maybe my mind meld reconnected with Getz. Whatever the case, two prospects pitched in last night’s 7-1 Sox win in Toronto. Grant Taylor “opened” with a scoreless inning. Gonzalez pitched a scoreless seventh inning before giving up a run in the eighth. How Gonzalez got out of the eighth is what impresses. With two out and two on, he got Vladamir Guerrero Jr. to line out to left. Getz may even have added some players with character here. Gonzalez told reporters Friday, “I’ve been dreaming of this [day] since I was three-years old. For me baseball is happiness. Being on a baseball field is a joy for me.” [quote in today’s Sun-Times]. Amen to that. Palisch, the other callup, has not one but two degrees. One more, and he’ll be on my level, but I digress. The 26-year old lefty echoed Gonzalez on being promoted: “It means everything. It’s the dream everyone’s had since they were a little kid. To have that finally come true is hard to put into words. It doesn’t completely feel real.” [quote in today’s Tribune] Maybe a couple of scoreless innings will change that.

D-Y-S-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N-A-L

If the White Sox were a real major-league organization, I doubt either GM Chris Getz or manager New-Mickey Venable would have a job outside a spot on the maintenance crew, and only as junior members under strict supervision at that. Where to begin? Yesterday’s doubleheader loss to the Cardinals offers so many examples of dysfunction, almost too many. Start with the roster—Mike Tauchman started one game and appeared late in the other. Michael A. Taylor started both games. They’re both 34. How does their playing move the rebuild along? Ditto for relievers Tyler Gilbert (age 31); Dan Altavilla (32); Cam Booser (33); and Steven Wilson (30), all of whom pitched yesterday. How do any of the promising relievers in the minors benefit with these people ahead of them on the parent club? Beats me. Then we have the matter of Vinny Capra, who appeared in both games, gong 0-for-2 to bring his average down to .106. What could possibly be worse than Getz putting Capra on the roster? Venable playing him. Speaking of Mouse II, he made at least three moves in the nightcap that qualify him for ex-manager status, pronto. Andrew Benintendi hit a game-tying grand slam in the seventh only to be pulled from the game; in came Capra as part of a multi-position shuffle. Of course, this came back to bite the Sox in the bottom of the ninth, with the score tied. Tauchman led off the inning with a walk, after which a passed ball and groundout put him on third base. Instead of Benintendi batting, it was Capra. Two problems here. First, Tauchman isn’t one-hundred percent because of a lingering groin issue. Second, Capra was up, apparently because Venable had run through all of his bench already. A suicide squeeze would seem to have been in order, but, No, Capra grounded to third and a slow-moving Tauchman was out at the plate, oh, by a mile or thereabouts. Cardinals win in extra innings. The Sox have lost eight in a row. By Sunday afternoon in Toronto, there’s a good shot for streak to hit eleven. I can’t wait to see what Mouse 2.0 will have to say about that.

I'm Not Alone

The more New-Mickey Venable speaks, the more he sounds like Old-Mickey Mouse, which is troubling. I thought this season was supposed to be better than last season. I mentioned that Miguel Vargas and Lenyn both made errors in Tuesday’s 12-2 debacle against the Cardinals. This is how Venable described Vargas’s bad throw to first: “He makes that play nine times out of ten there and [it] just was one that he wasn’t able to convert, and we weren’t able to close the door there.” News flash: Any major-league third baseman with a .900 fielding average won’t be a major-league third baseman for long. Except maybe with the White Sox. Then I’m reading Paul Sullivan today, and he offered this gem from Venable after Saturday’s loss in Texas: The feeling that we feel after this game is one that we can feel.” [both quotes in today’s Tribune] Mercy. And look out below. No, wait, we’re there.

Not Buying It

The White Sox record stands at 23-50 after last night’s 12-2 beatdown from the Cardinals. That’s all of four games better than last year, in case you’re wondering. That strikes me as being within the margin of error for another horrific season. I would think the entire Sox organization would be motivated to avoid repeating anything close to resembling last season’s 41-121 disaster, but, No, manager New-Mickey Venable keeps acting like Old-Mickey Mouse, especially when it comes to first base. Last night, he had Lenyn Sosa at first and Miguel Vargas at third; each one made an error because each one was playing out of position. Sosa should be at second; Vargas at first; and somebody other than Josh Rojas (.184 BA, four RBIs in 103 at-bats) at third. Hint, hint—Bryan Ramos. Speaking of talent wasted in the minors, consider the case of Brooks Baldwin, just recalled only to be sent down after three at-bats to make room for Sosa off the IL. Did Baldwin sulk at the demotion? No more than Tim Elko did when it happened to him last week. Baldwin went 3-for-3 with a homerun; two RBIs; and four runs scored. Another Four-A player? That, or someone who isn’t getting the necessary coaching at the big-league level. Baldwin struck out each of the three times he batted over the weekend in Texas; I saw two of them. He was doing what got him sent down in the first place, chasing shoulder-high pitches. What, nobody throws that in Triple-A? More likely, Sox hitting coach Marcus Thames doesn’t focus on it. A rebuild is supposed to be about hard decisions and letting young players go through growing pains. Instead, Sox GM Chris Getz and his manager play musical chairs with players who shouldn’t be here. Ramos should be playing third base, Baldwin second, or the outfield, where Luis Robert Jr. will be gone soon enough and Michael A. Taylor should be. Ditto Austin Taylor and Ryan Noda at first base, too. Hard decisions—that means figuring out what to do with Sosa, a bat-first player. Either trade him or move him to DH. Then let Elko hit until his average dips into Vinny Capra territory. Right now, that would be .108.

Pairings

I see in the box scores that ex-White Sox starter Dylan Cease got pounded by the Dodgers last night, giving up six runs over five innings in a 6-3 loss. For the season, Cease has a 2-6 record with a 4.69 ERA. A couple of observations here. If Justin Ishbia is in fact pumping money into the Sox, he should avoid the temptation of throwing a pile of it Cease’s way when the 29-year old righthander becomes a free agent. Let Soctt Boras fool somebody else. Though Cease might do well pitching for the Sox, Red, that is. He and ex-Sox Lucas Giolito are pretty tight. That friendship may help explain the two good years, 2022-23, Cease had on the South Side before his trade to the Padres at the start of last season. Pitchers are weird. A friendly face may be just what Cease needs. But it won’t happen on the South Side.

Connect the Dots

Yesterday, the Rangers started Kumar Rocker against the White Sox. Rocker came into the game with a 1-4 record; 8.87 ERA; and 1.84 WHIP. In other words, he was giving up nearly two baserunners an inning. But White Sox hitters healed him. Rocker threw five shutout innings for the win in a 2-1 game, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out six. For the game, Sox “hitters” struck out twelve times while walking twice. Wait, there’s more. The recently demoted Tim Elko homered for Charlotte yesterday, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Elko is hitting.325 with the Knights, .155 with the Sox. Maybe he’s just a 4-A ballplayer. Or maybe Jim Rickon is a really good hitting coach. In which case, a team that was handcuffed by a pitcher with a 8.87 ERA should give serious thought to promoting him.

A Whole Lot of Dumb Going On

For all the college degrees associated with analytics, it still makes for a lot of dumb baseball, like the idea of carrying thirteen pitchers on a 26-player roster. That leaves a four-player bench, which is sort of like having four sips of water left in your canteen for a hike through Death Valley. Yesterday, White Sox manager New-Mickey Venable took his four gulps way too early, and his team paid for it. Down a run in the eighth yesterday in Texas, Venable opted to pinch-run for catcher Edgar Quero, who’d opened the inning with a single. It was a decision both odd and dumb. First off, the 22-year old Quero doesn’t even look like a catcher, which means he doesn’t run like one either, as evidenced by his twelve stolen bases in A-Ball three years ago. Second, Venable should’ve thought twice about lifting Quero because Kyle Teel, his other catcher, was DH’ing. You know what that meant, right? Teel came into catch, and the pitcher hit in Quero’s spot. Reliever Tyler Alexander grounded out to end the tenth inning with the go-ahead run on second. Wait, there’s more. The Rangers actually gave Luis Robert Jr. a two-out intentional walk in the eleventh inning. Why? Because that brought Vinny Capra to the plate, and he did not disappoint, the Rangers, that is. Capra flied out, and Texas won on a two-out walk-off single from Adolis Garcia. I would’ve walked Garcia to pitch to Jonah Heim, who was 0-for-5 on the day, but what do I know? Then again, what does GM Chris Getz know? Before the game, Getz sent down Tim Elko and replaced him with Ryan Noda. Elko is 26-years old, Noda 29. Elko is a career .291 hitter in the minors to .255 for Noda, who hit sixteen homers with 54 RBIs and a .229 BA for the A’s in 2023. After yesterday’s 0-for-3 debut, Noda has a .210 career BA. He’s not the future. Who/what is? Miguel Vargas at first and Bryan Ramos at third, or Vargas at third and Ryan Galanie at first. Who’s Galanie? He’s the first baseman at Double-A Birmingham, with seven homers, 52 RBIs and a .302 BA, that’s who. He and/or Ramos should be here, not Noda.

Miles From Nowhere

I should be happy—my mind meld worked to the extent yesterday that White Sox GM Chris Getz promoted Brooks Baldwin and DFA’d Joshua Palacios. Getz also promoted #1 prospect Noah Schultz to Triple-A Charlotte. So, we’ll see how close the 21-year old lefty is to starting in the bigs. But, in a way, it won’t matter how Schultz fares. Why? Because good pitching is wasted without major-league hitting, and the Sox lack the necessary hitters to compete. Last night, down 3-1 in the top of the ninth against the Rangers, Michael A. Taylor batted with the bases loaded and two out. Even with the righty-lefty advantage going for him against Roberto Garcia, Taylor struck out on three pitches. Maybe two were in the zone. Taylor whiffed three times in the game; Vinny Capra merely made three outs batting ninth. You’re not going to win with batters like them at the bottom of the order. Getz either doesn’t know this; doesn’t care; or has nobody to take their place. I think there are better options at Birmingham and Charlotte. Bring ’em up.

Revised Opinions and Goodbyes

I haven’t been the biggest Miguel Vargas fan, but after last night, that may change. Ditto Tim Elko in the opposite direction. Vargas went 3-for-4 in Houston with two doubles and a triple in a 4-3 White Sox loss to the Astros. The triple and a double came against Framber Valdez, who on the whole had himself a pretty good night with twelve strikeouts in five innings of work. So, Vargas got it done along with rookie Edgar Quero, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Talk about having a plan. Twice, Quero went to the opposite field to drive in a run. Quero, all of 22, seems to know what he’s doing. Elko, not so much. Last night, he struck out three more times. On the season, he’s fanned 24 times in 58 at-bats, and fourteen times in his last 23. Throw in a .155 BA, and we have a problem at first base. And it’s one where Andrew Vaughn won’t be part of the solution. GM Chris Getz traded Vaughn this morning to the Brewers in exchange for starter Aaron Civale. On the upside, that should cut down on the Sox using an “opener” once every five games. But who’s on first? It may as well be Elko for the next three games in Houston, if only to see how the exit of Vaughn affects him. Either he puts up some nice numbers over the weekend, or off to Charlotte he goes. The logical step would be to switch Vargas to first for the rest of the season and see what Bryan Ramos can do at third. And, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, add Brooks Baldwin—who hit his seventh homerun for Charlotte last night—to the mix. I really don’t need to see another three-strikeout performance from Joshua Palacios to know that he can’t hit. Baldwin can play the outfield or infield. Going in rebuild mode doesn’t mean having to lose all the time. Baldwin offers a chance at the occasional win.

Steps Forward and Back

I don’t get it. The White Sox bring up a bona fide prospect like reliever Grant Taylor only to play some of the people they did last night in a 10-2 loss to the Astros. Start with shortstop Vinny Capra. OK, he went 1-for-3 with a run scored, which means for the season the 28-year old is batting.096 (.158 with the Sox). In case you were wondering, Brooks Baldwin went 2-for-4 last night, raising his BA to .382. If the Sox are ever to see .500 in Pope Leo’s lifetime, I doubt outfielder Joshua Palacios will be playing on the South Side. Bring up Colson Montgomery to play short and put Baldwin in the outfield. Oh, and please, stop using retreads out of the bullpen. Last night, it was Owen White, who gave up three runs on seven hits over 4.1 innings in his Sox debut. White had two cups of coffee for the Rangers before the Sox picked him up on waivers from the Yankees, who picked him up from the Reds, who picked him up from the Rangers. White went 0-5 with a 5.24 ERA as a starter for Charlotte. He has a career 4.48 ERA across four-plus seasons in the minors. Wikelman Gonzalez, another player who came over from Boston in the Garrett Crochet deal, is 5-0 with a 3.06 ERA coming out of the pen for Charlotte. Why didn’t he get called up instead?

All According to Plan

Grant Taylor threw twelve pitches in his major-league debut, six of them clocked at over 100 mph, his best reaching 101.5 mph. That was good for two groundouts and a flyout in a perfect inning of work. White Sox 4 Astros 2. Shane Smith picked up the win with six innings, giving up a run on seven hits and two walks. Factor in three double plays, and Smith had himself a nice outing. Edgar Quero contributed a two-run single while Luis Robert Jr. woke up to hit a double and homerun good for two RBIs. Now, if my mind-meld connection with GM Chris Getz can hold just a little longer, Brooks Baldwin and Bryan Ramos will get called up before too long. Baldwin is hitting .375 with six homers; something’s clicked since his demotion last month. As for Ramos, he’s 7-for-27 in June, with three homers, a double and six RBIs. I can think of a couple of people I’d DFA to get Baldwin and Ramos up here. Now, if I can just get Getz on the same wavelength.

“Someday”—Today?

Did I say “someday”? The White Sox front office actually did something intelligent by calling up starter/reliever Grant Taylor from AA-Birmingham while DFA-ing Bryse Wilson. Why can’t I have this power all the time? Now, for my next pronouncement: In for a penny, in for a pound. If Chris Getz is going to see what Taylor can do (beside throwing the ball at 101 mph), he should also start promoting any and all of Tyalor’s fellow relievers on the Barons: Andrew Dalquist (0.94 ERA); Zach Franklin (1.90); Shane Murphy (1.75); and Jake Palisch (0.77). I mean, what do you have to lose?

Someday

Someday, when the White Sox get serious about their rebuild, they’ll start promoting pitchers from within their system and avoid games like yesterday, a 7-5 loss to the Royals. First off, Chris Getz has plenty of starters to choose from, which would eliminate the need for “openers” and “bullpen days.” Pitchers either start or relieve; they don’t, or shouldn’t, open. Mike Vasil should be coming in to relieve, not pitch three innings as the “opener.” Need a starter? Then consider Noah Schultz or Hagen Smith, both at Double-A Birmingham. Too valuable to have the clock start ticking on team control of either? In which case, Riley Gowens could be a sleeper, as evidenced by a 5-1 record starting for the Barons. Yesterday’s game was tied 2-2 going into the seventh, when manager New-Mickey Venable called on Jordan Leasure with a runner on second, one out. Not only did Leasure allowed the inherited runner to score, he added one of his own. That pushes his ERA to 4.56, bad but not as bad as Bryse Wilson’s, which climbed to 6.95 after he gave up three runs in the ninth. Once upon a time, the Sox used their young starters out of the pen, e.g., Mark Buehrle and Chris Sale. Why not do the same with Schultz and Smith? If not that, then why not call up one or some of the relievers dominating at Birmingham? Grant Taylor has a 1.01 ERA in fifteen appearances, nine of them in relief. Shane Murphy is 3-3 with a 1.75 ERA in seven appearances, five of them starts. Jake Palisch is 4-1 with a 0.77 ERA in fourteen games, six of them starts. Zach Franklin has a 1.90 ERA in eighteen relief appearances while Andrew Dalquist is 5-2 with a 0.94 ERA in nineteen relief appearances. Like I said, things could change, if and when the Sox decide they want them to.

As Simple as One, Two, Three

A rebuild on a good day: Tim Elko hit a two-run homer; Chase Meidroth added a solo shot; and Edgar Quero chipped in with a sacrifice fly. White Sox top Royals, 4-1. So, you dream about possibilities while trying to forget who didn’t pan out the last time losing was endemic. Elko could really develop into a power presence in the lineup, or go the way of Matt Davidson. Meidroth looks to be what Nick Madrigal was supposed to be, that or the injuries lay waiting somewhere in the future. And I don’t ever want to put Quero’s name—or Kyle Teel’s—on a list with Zack Collins’. So, you dream, and wait to see if this rebuilding team can make it four in a few hours.

Figures Don't Lie

With an eventual/maybe/possible new owner for the White Sox, Chicago media is all agog about a possible new stadium. That inevitably lends a platform to a local “stadium consultant,” quoted for a story in yesterday’s Sun-Times. You see, “It’s going to take some public money to keep the White Sox in town one way or another. The economics of baseball are such that the value of being in a large television market have become far less relevant.” What? Does Mr. Consultant mean that attendance matters more? If so, would a new stadium hold closer to 30,000 or 40,000? I mean, if attendance matters, it should be the latter. Only nobody is designing stadiums with larger capacities. Last night, the Sox had their first sellout of the season, with just under 37,000 fans on hand to see Kyle Teel make his rookie debut. Teel did not disappoint, going 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored on a pretty-mad dash to home on a wild pitch in the eighth inning; the 23-year old also threw a runner out trying to steal. Sox 7 Royals 2. The point here is that Sox fans will show up if the team puts some talent on the field and shows people some respect, e.g., last night’s Mexican Heritage Night. Wait, do you think the team is unhappy with the type of people it draws at 35th and Shields? In which case, shame on them.

Devils Known and Unknown

Hats off to Jerry Reinsdorf (and Tim Elko, for his tenth-inning walk-off single against the Tigers yesterday). As ever, he turned easy into hard. Just try following the press release the team issued Thursday afternoon. Reinsdorf, finally, agreed to sell the team to billionaire Justin Ishbia, maybe. But it won’t happen until 2029 at the earliest. That begins a four-year period during which Reinsdorf can initiate the sale, after which Ishbia can do the honors. And nothing requires “that any such future transaction will occur” at all, even though Ishbia “will make capital infusions into the White Sox as a limited partner in 2025 and 2026 that will be used to pay down existing debt and support ongoing team operations,” this, apparently out of the goodness of his heart. The Sun-Times tried to stir things up today with a story about Ishbia’s Nashville connection—a law degree from Vanderbilt and a seat on the law school’s board. Steve Greenberg then spun that into “major ties” to a city interested in being home to a major league ballclub. I doubt that Ishbia is spending $40 million-plus to build a mansion on the North Shore in order to move the Sox to Nashville and be an absentee owner. What we know for sure is a billionaire might sell the team to another billionaire, or not, and the other billionaire’s brother has been a so-so majority owner of the NBA Suns and would in turn be a minority owner of the Sox. Got all that? Best to wait and see, about ownership and rookies. Kyle Teel got called up and will start behind the plate tonight while Elko gets another start at first and Chase Meidroth at…

Stupid Is as Stupid Does

I hope there’s a special place down below for the genius who came up with the idea of an “opener.” It’s gibber-analytics at its worst, especially when employed by a talent-challenged team like the White Sox. New-Mickey Venable ”opened” with Jared Shuster last night. Not a good idea, given that Shuster gave up four first-inning runs. Venable then compounded the error in the eighth inning by calling on Jordan Leasure to keep the go-ahead run at second base. Nope. Tigers 5 Sox 4. In the first game of the series, Venable decided not to burn a reliever in a blowout loss, so he used utilityman Vinny Capra to pitch the ninth, and Capra junked his way through a scoreless inning. Better that than that.

Wheat and Chaff

The White Sox beat the Tigers by a score of 8-1 last night, leaving me to wonder, yet again, how the Brewers left starter Shane Smith unprotected in last winter’s Rule Five draft. The 25-year old righty went 5.1 scoreless innings for his second victory of the season. Two wins all year may not seem like much, but considering the White Sox have won a mere nineteen games so far this season, it’s something. Smith has started twelve times, going 2-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 62.1 innings and a 1.14 WHIP. Those numbers add up to a “keeper” in my book. But not Austin Slater or Michael A. Taylor. Yes, a combined three hits and six RBIs are nice, but Slater is 32 and Taylor 34. Why are they playing if it’s a rebuild? Two reasons, starting with the organization lacking outfield talent worth taking a look at. Considering that both Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets saw action in left and right, respectively, this is a problem that’s gone on way too long. At the very least, GM Chris Getz could play prospects Kyle Teel or Tim Elko in left, but that would take something approaching guts. In which this organization is lacking, which gives us reason #2. Oh, well.

Criminal and Clueless

Jerry Reinsdorf lives, if only to further irritate his critics while demonstrating a jaw-dropping cluelessness. Yesterday, the Sun-Times quoted from a letter Reinsdorf wrote to federal authorities regarding Mike Madigan, former speaker of the Illinois General Assembly convicted of ten corruption counts and awaiting sentencing. Reinsdorf spoke of Madigan’s “character and his lifetime commitment to improving the lives of all Illinoisans.” Never one to abandon a friend, especially one who engineered a publicly-funded stadium back in 1988, Reinsdorf wrote that, “Saving the White Sox resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefit to Illinois, not to mention making possible the first World Series championship in 88 years.” That’s one way of looking at it. So far, though, no word from Reinsdorf on the pitiful play of the White Sox, who lost to the Tigers at home last night by a score of 13-1. Just as I predicted, Detroit starter Jack Flaherty lowered his ERA from 3.94 to 3.72. At the same time, Luis Robert Jr. lowered his batting average to .177 after an 0-for-3 night batting seventh. But only one strikeout. Jerry Reinsdorf, friend of felons, enemy of good baseball.

Sad or Pathetic, You Choose

The Orioles have a god-awful 5.27 team ERA, and that’s after holding the White Sox to five runs in three games over the weekend. Did I mention the Sox lost all three games, including yesterday, 3-2? As May turns to June, the Sox rank 27/30 in runs scored (201); 29th in batting average (.221); and 27th in on-base percentage (293). For this they have a director of hitting? Yup, and he played all of one year in the minors. The Sox also have a hitting coach, though you’d be hard-pressed to see any evidence of his handiwork looking at the six-through-eight hitters in tonight’s lineup against the Tigers. That would be Joshua Palacios (.211); Luis Robert Jr. (.180); and Josh Rojas (.164). Detroit starter Jack Flaherty has a 3.94 ERA. What are the odds for it going down some?

Good News

Am I upset the White Sox lost—again—or that Luis Robert Jr. went 0-for-5 with three more strikeouts? No. Why? Because I’ve taken to heart what Chicago rock band Friko sings: Get Numb to it. Yes, the Sox lost to the Orioles 4-2 yesterday and New-Mickey Venable talked about grinding and getting better. Whatever. But I’m downright giddy, nonetheless. The mighty Knicks crashed and burned last night in Indianapolis. Too bad. No game seven for the Eastern Conference Finals from “The Garden” with the New York glitterati assembled courtside. No Spike Lee. No Timothee Chalamet. No Tom Thibodeau with the perpetual whiny scowl on his face. Nope, the Pacers took care of business at home, handing the world’s greatest NBA franchise a trip home with a 125-108 beatdown, in Flyoverville, no less. How humiliating, sort of like those eighteen Knicks’ turnovers the Pacers turned into 34 points. Ouch. That’s not the Knicks Way. No sirree. So, instead of advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, the team that stirs the drink that is the NBA goes home for the summer amidst grumbling that Thibodeau played his starters too long. Oh, my. Bye-bye.

Enough Already

Another game, another bunch of strikeouts for White Sox centerfielder Luis Robert Jr. Yesterday, Robert racked up three more in a 2-1 Sox loss to the Orioles. If you go by at-bats, Robert is striking out 34.6 percent of the time; by total plate appearances, it’s a slightly less egregious 30 percent. Oh, and he’s batting .187 with five homeruns; 20 RBIs and 24 runs scored. The major-league leading 20 stolen bases hardly make up for any of the other stats. If the Sox and Robert were ever in sync, that ended a long time ago. The situation is so bad right now that Robert can’t do the one thing he needs to for a change of scenery, and that’s hit. Not many teams will trade for a player having the kind of season Robert is. Check that, the onetime projected cornerstone could get a change of scenery another way. All it would take is for the front office to DFA him. Unfortunately, that’s looking more and more likely.

She's Not Going to Like This

Clare called me yesterday to say MLB is partnering with the new Athletes United Softball League. AUSL is another attempt at a pro softball league. According to a story posted on mlb.com yesterday, “The investment, which is part of MLB’s ongoing commitment to supporting the growth of softball at all levels, will include joint sales and marketing efforts, extensive promotional support and broadcasts on MLB Network and MLB.com to raise the visibility of the AUSL and its athletes.” Hmm. Notice how there’s no dollar amount attached to this “investment.” Also no mention of how this investment would help women interested not in pro softball but baseball. Without some nod in that direction, this all strikes me as more Negro League “separate but equal.” I know my daughter will disagree, but that’s how I see it.

Recalculating

In the not-so-distant past, I’ve dissed Miguel Vargas, Lenyn Sosa and Mike Vasil. Time to un-diss. Vargas hit all of .217 in April with one homerun and seven RBIs. In May, he has seven homers and seventeen RBIs to go with a somewhat misleading .275 BA. By “misleading,” I mean the 25-year old is hitting .310 over his last 30 games. And he has fifteen doubles, including one yesterday in the White Sox 9-4 win over the Mets. Sosa didn’t do too badly, either, with three hits on the day plus an RBI. Also 25, Sosa is hitting .280—and .340 over his last fifteen games—with seventeen RBIs. Not bad. So, let me regrade them as solid-B prospects with this caveat—they have to stay at one position, Vargas at third and Sosa at second. If and when Colson Montgomery gets a crack at shortstop, that will mean Chase Meidroth slides over to second. Not good for Sosa, but I wouldn’t try to turn him into a utility player to take advantage of his bat; he’s just not that good of a fielder. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I have my doubts Montgomery will ever play an inning on the South Side. On to Vasil. Now, this is a guy I find intriguing. In seventeen appearances out of the pen, Vasil—yup, he’s 25, too—has pitched two or more innings eleven times and three innings six times, including three scoreless innings yesterday. Talk about a throwback player. Vasil has pitched 34.1 innings on a still-young season. I’m guessing I like him better than the analytics’ crowd because he only has 24 strikeouts. In other words, he pitches to contact. But, if people catch the ball, who cares? And, given his 2.10 ERA, it looks like people are catching balls. The Sox move onto Baltimore for a weekend series with the disappointing Orioles. Here’s hoping the three 25-year olds keep it up.

Feel the Excitement

If the White Sox win today and salvage a game against the Mets, they’ll have eighteen wins on the season. That would be three better than at the same point last season. You can feel the excitement. I mean, today’s lineup has just two players—Josh Rojas (.154) and Michael A. Taylor (.196)—hitting under .200 and two more—Andrew Benintendi (.216) and Joshua Palacios (.222)—hitting under .223. The Sox lineup totals 86 RBIs to the Mets’ 190. A tip of the cap to Sox hitting coach Marcus Thames. This time last year, the Mickey Mouse-led Sox were in the midst of a fourteen-game losing streak. Right now, New-Mickey Venable is working on a three-gamer. So, of course, I’m optimistic. Just kidding.

Whatever

I’m supposed to get excited because Adrian Houser is the fourth White Sox pitcher ever to go six-plus scoreless innings in each of his first two starts for the team. Wow. If he keeps that up, GM Chris Getz should be able to flip him for a mid-level prospect at the trade deadline. Yes, it was nice that Houser shut out the Mets for six-plus innings yesterday at Citi Field. Too bad the bullpen couldn’t hold a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the eighth. Instead, Franciso Lindor hit a walk-off sacrifice fly for a 2-1 Mets’ win. As if that wasn’t bad enough, New-Mickey Venable offered his dumbest comment yet, and that’s saying something. Venable complimented catcher Korey Lee for the numbers he’s putting up during a rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. Not that a .302 BA and eight RBIs in eleven games necessarily means Lee will be back on the South Side anytime soon. You see, “Korey’s in a good spot down there. He’s feeling really good and continues to play well. Happy with everything he’s done this whole year.” [quote from story in today’s Tribune] I’ll bet you Lee is anything but happy that he’s still down there. Triple-A catcher Kyle Teel has also been on a tear, and Venable is “[s]upper excited” for what he’s done. Again, not that Teel will be called up to play first base or the outfield to get some big-league at-bats. Better to keep playing musical chairs in the infield. Funny, Tim Elko and Andrew Vaughn get sent down so they can clear their heads and have a reset, but not Luis Robert Jr. (.191 BA) or Josh Rojas (.140). I’m sure there’s a reason for that. Whatever.

How Bad Teams Lose

It starts with a manager who is either crazy or dumb because he keeps doing the same thing while expecting different results. In this case, it’s White Sox manager New-Mickey Venable calling on Jordan Leausre to protect a one-run lead going into the ninth of yesterday‘s game against the Rangers. Leasure did as I thought he would, which was to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. First, he hit Josh Jung, on an 0-2 pitch, no less. Then, third baseman Miguel Vargas paid a price for choosing not to play on the line for pull-hitter Jake Burger, who promptly hit a hard grounder past Vargas for a double. Wait, there’s more, but don’t forget we could be talking about two out and nobody on right now. Instead, with one out and runners in scoring position, infield in, Kyle Higashioka hit a shot to Vargas, who couldn’t field the ball cleanly to get the runner at the plate. So, Vargas did the next best thing and threw to first base, where Lenyn Sosa was a good two-three feet off the bag when he caught the ball. Usually, a first baseman wants to have a foot on the bag in order to record the out. Wait, there’s more. Venable decided to keep Leasure in the game to face Adolis Garcia. How did that go? Garcia doubled in two runs for the lead. Wait, there’s more. Edgar Quero left off the bottom of the ninth with a double and scored on a one-out double by Michael A. Taylor. Sox down a run, 5-4. Guess who got picked off of second base? Final score, 5-4. Leasure is 0-4 on the season with three blown saves. At Triple-A Charlotte, the Sox have Wikelman Gonzalez, who’s 5-0 with a 1.42 ERA in seven appearances, all in relief. Gonzalez came over in the Garrett Crochet deal. You’d think the Sox would want to see what they have in him. Oh, and James Karinchak 3-1 with a 3.13 ERA in nineteen relief appearances. Karinchak used to embarrass the Sox when he pitched for Cleveland. Apparently, no one wants to see if he can do the same for the South Side. Double-A Birmingham has three relievers worth a look: Peyton Pallette, eight saves and a 3.43 ERA; Zach Franklin, 1.96 ERA in fourteen games; and Andrew Dalquist, 1.16 ERA in fifteen games. The Barons also have starters Noah Schultz and Grant Taylor, their #1 and #7 prospects, respectively. They can’t pitch out of the pen? Now, it’s on to New York for three games against the Mets. I hear Juan Soto is slumping; facing the Sox should help. He might consider hitting the ball to Vargas or Sosa. They’re both playing different positions today. We wouldn’t want them getting used to playing just one position adequately, now would we?

Which Proves What, Exactly?

The White Sox beat the Rangers 10-5 yesterday. It’s always nice to win a game or, in this case, two in a row. But to what end? The Sox are in full rebuild, or not. Only one true prospect, Chase Meidroth, and two possibles, Miguel Vargas and Lenyn Sosa, started in a lineup populated by the likes of Michael Tauchman; Joshua Palacios; Matt Thaiss; and Josh Rojas. Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr., two people Chris Getz would trade in a heartbeat for any prospect with a hint of upside, also got the nod. Sosa had a bases-clearing double to go with two hits; he’s now batting .284 with sixteen RBIs. He’s a C+/B- talent in my eyes, and you shouldn’t want anybody under a B in the lineup, not if you’re serious about winning (see below). Sosa might be the real deal with his bat, not so much his glove. He’s average at best playing second, and he’s at first base today. What’s the plan here, guys? Say Colson Montgomery gets his callup next month and Meidroth moves to second, where he belongs. Sosa is not the answer at first base. Maybe Vargas is at third, but right now I’d put him in that same C+/B- category; he’s also seeing time at first. Why? And right now Bryan Ramos is starting to heat up at Charlotte. Shouldn’t he get a shot? Somebody’s got to go here, and just shuffling people around merely delays the inevitable. Unless— You put some of the borderline prospects in the outfield; better that than retreads on the corners, like yesterday. I’d do that because the Sox cupboard is bare of major league-ready outfielders. Way to go, Rick (Hahn) and Chris. The Sox just released Oscar Colas, by the way. Did I mention they used four pitchers yesterday? Only Mike Vasil looks to be a keeper. The minor league-system is full of both starters and relievers. If they don’t get the call now, then when? Unless, of course, Getz and pitching coach Ethan Katz see something in Miguel Castro and Brandon Eisert that escapes my untrained eye. Did I mention Manager New-Mickey Venable is starting 28-year old Vinny Capra, with a .103 career BA for four teams, at shortstop today? Why, exactly?

Clown Show

Something clicked last night for White Sox starter Sean Burke, who actually managed to pitch six innings throwing under a billion pitches. But a 4-1 win can’t hide the clown show on 35th and Shields. Before the game, not only did the team send down rookie first baseman Tim Elko, they optioned incumbent Andrew Vaughn as well. GM Chris Getz told reporters that Vaugn needed “[s]ynching up his lower half and upper half” while Elko had to “[t]ighten up the strike zone, [and] there was some chase [of pitches out of the zone].” [quotes from story in today’s Tribune] Apparently, Triple-A Charlotte is just the place to make it all happen. Or not. Charlotte’s hitting coach was a career .257 hitter during a four-year career that peaked at Double-A (no RBIs at that level, though). And he’s going to tell Vaughn, what, exactly? This is how I worked through it? The same holds for Elko, who pretty much through force of will made it impossible for the team to ignore him any longer. What does the coach who had all of 30 at-bats in Double-A tell the rookie who’s already had 31 at-bats in the majors? Once upon a time, the White Sox employed the likes of Bill Buckner Gary, Ward and Greg Walker—bona fide major leaguers all—as hitting coaches. Now, it’s pretty much any guy with access to tech. Maybe there are more and better gizmos in Charlotte than the ball mall. Oh, and did I mention that third baseman Miguel Vargas is now first baseman Miguel Vargas? Or that Getz replaced two first basemen with two outfielders, Mike Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi? Or that Joshua Palacios and Vinny Capra are still on the team? Those two don’t need a Triple-A reset, I guess.

With an Asterisk

I just finished reading an op-ed piece in the Tribune slamming Commissioner Rob Manfred for reinstating Pete Rose and, in particular, Shoeless Joe Jackson. You’d think the writer was the second coming of Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Save the bluster for the living, friend. Yes, I think Jackson was in on the fix of the 1919 World Series, just as I think being banned for 100+ years is punishment enough. If a HOF veterans’ committee wants to vote Jackson in, that’s fine by me. Just make sure all the evidence pointing to his guilt gets included on his plaque. Same goes for Rose, a few years after if and when Jackson wins admission. Why? Because Rose was a jerk who’d make Ty Cobb blush over his excesses. In addition, there’s a good chance Jackson is enshrined well before a plaque listing all of Rose’s transgressions could be ready. The one that especially bothers me concerns the allegation he had sex with a minor in the 1970s. Pointing out the age of consent in Ohio—where Rose admitted a sexual relationship occurred, though not with a minor—was sixteen at the time hardly constitutes a defense in the court of public opinion. That said, all that included (plus maybe a video of the sucker punch of a shoulder into Ray Fosse at the 1970 All-Satar Game), let ’im in.

How Bad Teams Lose

The White Sox are a bad—make that very, very bad—team, so inept they may come close to breaking their own record for losses (121) in a season. Witness yesterday afternoon. With the score tied at four, rookie Chase Meidroth hit an opposite-field single to die for or, in this case, to score the go-ahead run. That put runners on the corners, one out. Miguel Vargas, on his way to an 0-for-4 day, then struck out. With runners on second and third after Meidroth stole second, Matt Thaiss also fanned. So, the Sox settled for a 5-4 lead. Which lasted all of four pitches, until reliever Mike Vasil could give up a single and two-run homerun, the latter to Leody Taveras, the #7 hitter; it was Taveras’s second homer in 123 at-bats. The 25-year old Vasil is on his fourth organization since December, by the way. Andrew Vaughn singled to open the bottom of the ninth, but, being a very, very bad team, the Sox failed to score. Nothing says “train wreck” better than being 20 games under .500 going into Memorial Day weekend.

Dirty

With child #2, Clare is up all hours of the night. In a way, softball helped prepare her for that. Hit the road at 6 AM during the travel season, up past midnight for practice in college. God knows how long my daughter had been up when she walked into the kitchen this morning. Wednesdays, we watch Maeve, grandchild #2. If 7:45 AM seemed a tad early for Grandpa, not so for mother and daughter. Luckily, they were both in a good mood, which probably had something to do with adequate amounts of sleep. Anyway, my daughter had just enough time to talk about the White Sox before she was out the door for a from-here-to-eternity commute to work in north-suburban Evanston. “I know their record doesn’t show it, but at least this year they have people who look like they want to play,” she offered. Because her parents taught her well, Clare had an example in mind, rookie second baseman Chase Meidroth. “I don’t want to call him ‘scrappy’ but ‘dirty,’” by which I think she meant the usual condition of his uniform after the second inning. Last night, Meidroth had two of his team’s seven hits and scored the only run…of the ballgame. Only run for the Sox you expect, but for the ballgame with just-signed journeyman Adrian Houser making his first start of the season—this after being released by the Triple-A Round Rock Express—that, you don’t expect. But a tip of the hat to Houser for throwing six shutout innings followed by three more from four Sox relievers. Cam Booser managed not to give up an eighth inning grand slam in back-to-back games and Jordan Leasure actually recorded a save. Oh, my. As for Meidroth, he opened the bottom of the third with a single and then stole second base. He scored on a one-out single from Joshua Palacios. By then, his uniform was already dirty.

Me, Not Me

If I’m White Sox starter Travis Martin, I’m either throwing stuff in the dugout after leaving last night’s game with one out in the eighth inning or counting down the days to free agency. Heaping praise on my catcher for good pitch-calling wouldn’t factor into it. But that’s what Martin did after going a career-high 7.1 innings. At the time of his exit, Martin had given up just one run on four hits and a walk. Of course, the Sox were down 1-0, but still, there was hope. I mean, a runner on first and one out. What could go wrong? Oh, right, Cam Booser could give up a walk and a single before tossing a big, fat cutter to Julio Rodriguez for a grand slam. Mariners 5 White Sox 1. Martin has a 3.49 ERA to go with a 2-5 record. Sox starters have a 3.85 ERA, tied with the Astros and Giants for sixteenth best in baseball. They’re within striking distance of thirteenth, held by the Pirates with a 3.81 ERA. But the Pirates don’t hit, either. In fact, they’re last in all of baseball with 142 runs scored. The Sox are sixteen better than that, but another one-run performance by the offense could put them behind the Rockies for second-to-last. Yup, that’s something to hang your cap on for a rebuild. Me, I’m the manager, I’m ticked off and showing public displeasure, especially at my offense. New-Mickey Venable prefers rainbows and unicorns. He praised the “really good fastball” of Mariners’ starter Luis Castillo and mentioned “a couple of hard-hit balls early” by Sox hitters. [both quotes from today’s Tribune story online]. Me, I’m the team owner, I’d want to avoid a repeat of 2024 at all cost. But Jerry Reinsdorf..well, it’s hard to say exactly what Reinsdorf thinks because he doesn’t deign to talk to the media. Me, I take that as a message in itself.

Karma

The older I get, the more I tend to believe in reincarnation if for no other reason that it would explain my being a White Sox fan. I must’ve been very bad in a pervious life. At 14-33 after yesterday’s 6-2 loss to the Cubs, this team is not one game better than last year’s disaster was after 47 games. In three games at Wrigley Field, the Sox scored all of eight runs, vs. the 26 they ever so generously provided the home team in their sweep of us. How the Rockies and Pirates have managed to score fewer runs than we have is a mystery to me. This year’s team is supposed to be better defensively; you could’ve fooled me and most of the Western Hemisphere over the weekend. Yesterday, Brooks Baldwin dropped a ball that led to a run, and Luis Robert Jr. failed to catch a ball hit by Pete-Crow Armstrong that turned into a leadoff triple and the first run of the game. All weekend, Armstrong offered a master class on playing the outfield and hitting at the top of the order. But I doubt Robert was paying attention. Last season, this kind of game would’ve generated all sorts of excuses from ex-manager Mickey Mouse. It’s no different this year. Manager New-Mickey Venable continued his habit of praising the other side—just like old Mickey did—while making excuses for his players. Mickey 2.0 told reporters after the game, “I think with the elements, that added a layer of plays, probably four or five, that left us leaving here feeling like we played worse than we probably did in most areas.” [quote in today’s Tribune] If those aren’t weasel words, I don’t know what are. I promise to lead a better life from now on. I can’t go through this again in my next go-around.

Explain Two Things to Me

First, what’s up with Sean Burke, and how are they going to fix it? Unless New-Mickey Venable and his staff are happy with a starting pitcher who walks five batters in 4.2 innings while giving up five earned runs in a 7-3 loss to the Cubs. Oh, and the rookie righthander needed 97 pitches to do it. You either throw strikes or perish in baseball, a message that has to be sent fast and clear. Yesterday, neither catcher Edgar Quero nor pitching coach Ethan Katz was able to do that. And it doesn’t help to have Venable offer up one of his milquetoast observations, that “We’ve just got to get him back on track and competitive in the zone.” Ya think? Now, tell us exactly how you’re going to do that, New-Mickey. While you’re at it, why don’t you call out your right fielder, Joshua Palacios, who did a middle-school impersonation yesterday of a major-league right fielder? What I don’t need is milquetoast gibber about the conditions at Wrigley Field and “Just one of those things where you’ve got to battle, do everything you can and hope you’re able to make plays.” [both quotes from today’s Tribune] Hope doesn’t get the ball caught, New-Mickey. The second thing I’d like explained to me was Venable’s decision to pinch hit for Tim Elko in the ninth inning. Elko was 1-for-2 with a homerun and a walk. Why not see what he could do against right-hand reliever Porter Hodge? If anybody deserves to be lifted for a pinch hitter, it’s Luis Robert Jr. Unless the manager and his staff are OK with another 0-for-4 performance that included two strikeouts, that is.

Sliding Back into…

Nothing cures delusions of progress like a 13-3 humiliation, which was what happened to the White Sox yesterday at Wrigley Field. Outside of Miguel Vargas going 4-for-4 with two homeruns, there was precious little evidence of a major league team at work. And maybe starter Shane Smith, who gave up six runs in five innings and still saw his ERA go down to 2.05. In other words, somebody caused five unearned runs to score. That would be you, catcher Matt Thaiss. In the bottom of the second, Thaiss had two chances to record outs at the plate; the first time he missed the tag, the second time he dropped the throw. Hold onto the ball and five runs don’t score. Not to harp, but if Edgar Quero is the or one of the catchers of the future, Thaiss really shouldn’t be spending all that much time behind the plate, especially with a .213 BA. But what do I know? Me, I’m looking to build a bullpen and checking on any talent in the minors. Chris Getz, he’s looking for warm bodies. Four pitchers followed Smith, and not one of them was developed by the Sox. In fact two, Miguel Castro and Yoendrys Gomez, were acquired last week in separate transactions. Castro and Gomez allowed a combined five runs to score. Chase Meidroth managed two hits, and Quero got one from the DH spot. On a day that saw three homeruns, Tim Elko sat so Thaiss could catch. New-Mickey Mouse is as New-Mickey Mouse does.

Tell Me Why

First off, why pitch Bryse Wilson and his 4.88 ERA if you want to sweep the Reds? If there’s some gibber answer about how well Wilson did in his previous start (five innings, one run against the Marlins), then why run out the lineup you did, New-Mickey Venable? I mean the lineup with Jacob Amaya (.102 BA going into the game, .097 BA in 62 at-bats after going 0-for-3 on the day) starting but not Chase Meidroth, Tim Elko or Edgar Quero. News flash: Lenyn Sosa is not a first baseman. Wilson went 5.1 innings, giving up seven earned runs on ten hits. Sox “hitters” managed three singles and a double in a 7-1 smackdown of a loss. Will it be any better today, against the Cubs in Wrigley Field? Well, Meidroth and Quero are slated to start, but not Elko. Yeah, we wouldn’t want a slugger getting his first look at the Friendly Confines, now would we?

More, More, More

Last night in Cincinnati, Davis Martin took his cue from Jonathan Cannon the night before. Cannon threw six shutout innings on 96 pitches; Martin went 6.2 innings, giving up one earned run on 95 pitches. The White Sox spoil Pete Rose Night, topping the Reds 4-2. Meanwhile, Andrew Vaughn must be channeling his inner Satchel Paige, who advised against looking back, unless you want to see something or somebody gaining on you. In Vaughn’s case, that would be first baseman Tim Elko. Vaughn has three RBIs in the four games Elko has played since being called up. Nothing like a little healthy competition.

Like That

Last night, Jonathan Cannon threw five more pitches than Sean Burke did the day before, and it got him through six shutout innings. He would’ve won the game but for reliever Steven Wilson grooving a full-count, 82.5 mph blah of a sweeper to Elley De La Cruz to tie the game at one in the bottom of the ninth. Fear not, because the Sox scored four in the tenth to win 5-1 over the Reds at Great American Ballpark. Chase Meidroth whacked a 1-2, shoulder-high fastball through the right side for a run-scoring single ahead of a three-run homer by Miguel Vargas. How odd to write that. Supposedly, Vargas has “tweaked” his stance, something about where/how he holds the bat. Whatever. If it works, great. William James—look up “pragmatism,” in case you’re wondering—may have been the greatest hitting coach of them all.

The Good and Bad of It

On Sunday, White Sox rookie righthander Sean Burke gave up one run over four innings, which is a good thing. But to do that Burke needed to throw 91 pitches, and that, my friends, is a very bad thing. I watched enough of the game to see that Burke had no idea where his pitches were going. How ironic that all the pitching gizmos teams use now for developing pitchers can’t help them with location. If I make a comment like that, you can pretty much guess what I’m going to say next—that young man needed a good talking-to. And the people to do it should’ve been his catcher, his pitching coach and, maybe, his manager. A pitcher has to get into the mindset that he’s going to throw strikes. Catcher Matt Thaiss needed to get Burke there, even if it meant letting Burke call his own game. That message needed to be repeated by pitching coach Ethan Katz. Manager New-Mickey Venable would’ve been a last resort. I will say this for Venable: He didn’t lose the game, and he didn’t burn his bullpen winning it. Venable actually had reliever Mike Vasil pitch three innings. If Venable makes more decisions like that, I may even give him his first name back.

Three's a Charm?

The White Sox blew it with Jake Burger and Gavin Sheets. Maybe they’ll hold onto Tim Elko. The 26-year old rookie recorded his first major-league hit in the bottom of the sixth inning of yesterday’s game against the Marlins, a three-run homerun that proved the difference in a 4-2 win. We’ll save the insanity of Sean Burke needing to throw 91 pitches to get through four innings for another day. Elko stands 6’3” and weighs a sculpted 250 pounds. He kind of swatted at a curveball from 2022 Cy Young award-winner Sandy Alcantara down in the zone in a way that reminded me of Mark McGwire, who stood two inches taller and weighed 35 pounds less. But I’m willing to bet Elko’s muscles, which allowed him to drive the ball 381 feet into the left-field stands, are not the science project that McGwire’s were. One game does not a career make. But it gets one to dreaming…

Pointless

A week ago today, Michele and I were walking up and down Montmartre, one of the nine hills of Paris, desperate not to lose sight of our guide. Let’s just say it was a very challenging 428 feet this way, then that; one crowded street, then another; right foot in, right foot out. At the end, we shook all about. But at least our guide knew where she was going; the four-hour walk had a beginning, middle (with countless steps to the top, trust me) and end. With the White Sox, it’s more about walking in a meaningless circle. Last night, they wasted six shutout innings from starter Shane Smith; talk about a find. Smith has a 2.08 ERA over eight starts spanning 43.1 innings. But this team doesn’t hit (as evidenced by their four hits total in a 3-1 defeat), and they have no real bullpen. Jordan Leasure picked up the loss. Wow, there’s a surprise. The 2025 Sox under manager New-Mickey Venable have the same 11-29 record the 2024 team had under the original Mickey Mouse. Yes, the starting pitching is young and at times pretty good, with three more intriguing arms—Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz and Grant Taylor—putting up nice numbers at Double-A Birmingham. But winning depends on good pitching with at least a teeny assist from the offense. That’s not happening, and it doesn’t look like it will anytime soon. These hitless blunders rank 27th out of 30 both in runs scored (135) and on-base percentage (.291). Their team batting average is a baseball-worst .214, and yet Marcus Thames stays employed as hitting coach. Tim Elko went 0-for-3 last night, robbed of a run-scoring single in the seventh inning by Marlins’ second baseman Mario Sanoja. All I can do is hope Elko stays in the lineup and doesn’t panic. Oh, and stay as far away from Thames as possible. The same goes for the other young Sox players, starting with Brooks Baldwin, Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero. All three have shown flashes, though with Meidroth it comes with concerns he’s going to break down the way Nick Madrigal did. As for the one or two bats in the minors—Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery—take your time. It's not like this team is going anywhere, except in circles.

I Predict

Actually, I did almost two weeks ago, about the possibility of the Sox calling up slugging first baseman Tim Elko. Hitting .348 in Triple A didn’t hurt, and having Andrew Vaughn funking along at a .188 clip—including a homerun in last night’s 6-2 win over the Marlins—probably forced things, too. I just hope the guy can hit. Promoting Elko to the major-league roster means someone has to go. I wonder if it’ll be Nick Maton, just recalled to take the spot of Andrew Benintendi. Maton is “hitting”.167 with four RBIs, stats which explain why the team outrighted him to Charlotte in late April. When he was called back up on Wednesday, manager New-Mickey Venable raved about Maton’s presence in the clubhouse. I’m sure opposing pitchers feel pretty much the same way.

It's Official

It’s official—I’m back from Europe, and White Sox manager Will Venable is the new Mickey Mouse. After 38 games played, the 2024 White Sox had a record of 10-28 on their way to a 121-loss season. The record of this year’s team? Yup, 10-28. The pitching’s better, the hitting’s worse. Again, hats off to Marcus Thames for being able to keep his job. Yesterday, I got home from O’Hare in time to see the Hitless Blunders lose their fourth straight in Kansas City, 10-0 to the Royals. Starter Davis Martin gave up four runs in 4.1 innings on seven hits and a walk. Not a quality start. Check that. Mickey Venable told reporters after the game that Davis “actually pitched OK, then in the fifth ran into some trouble trying to keep it close.” What does that even mean? Venable’s team was already down 2-0 when Davis gave up a walk and a single to start the fifth. The triple to Maikel Garcia came two outs later. Wait, there’s more. The Blunders managed six hits on the day; that’s five shutouts and counting. But not to worry, New Mickey has a way out: We’ve just got to keep going. Just string as many quality at-bats together as we can. Leadoff guys in innings have done a good job. And just got to get consecutive good things to happen so we can score some runs.” [both quotes from story in today’s Tribune] We just got to keep going through the chaff until we find someone who can manage.