Back to Earth

Well, it was nice while it lasted, but you’re never going to extend a four-game winning streak by walking the bases loaded and balking in a run. Rays 4 White Sox 3. That the Sox get any attention at all right now is miraculous. Why? It’s all things Bears, that’s why. “The Ben Johnson Show starts now at Bears camp. All eyes and ears are on him,” reads a headline in today’s The Athletic. “All” basically means each and every media outlet in and around Chicago. That leaves it to yours truly to do the work of a beat writer and/or columnist. What I find fascinating is how the Sox are handling Colson Montgomery, batting mostly down in the order and playing third base instead of shortstop. It feels like Montgomery is being handled differently than, say, fellow rookie Chase Meidroth. Is that a good thing? Yes, maybe. Meidroth has led off or batted second since his arrival back in April. The 24-year old—happy birthday, Chase—recently went through a brutal 6-for-50 stretch. The thing is, Meidroth wasn’t benched or moved down in the order, and now he’s on a 7-for-14 tear with four doubles. Compare that to Montgomery, who batted in the six spot last night and hit his major-league first homerun in the seventh inning. The big concern here is strikeouts—the 23-year old has fourteen in 46 at-bats. Anything more than 30 percent gets problematic. This probably explains why he’s batted sixth, seventh or eighth in the order; playing should also be easier than short, where Meidroth has performed surprisingly well. I’m sure GM Chris Getz and company want Montgomery batting third or fourth long-term. Exactly when is hard to say. I’m not a sportswriter.

What's Going On Here?

After beating the Rays 8-3 last night at what really looks like a minor-league ballpark (and how delicious that it’s named after George Steinbrenner), the White Sox have won four games in a row. Not only that, they’ve scored 35 runs in the process. What gives? Sox manager New-Mickey Venable says that, coming out of the All-Star break, the coaching staff has emphasized a better approach to hitting the fastball. Other than that, ir’a just blather about everybody pulling together, blah, blah, blah. But the reasons for this sudden change do matter. Because if a new approach fixed things, Venable should’ve called for it months ago while his hitters were flailing away at fastballs and just about every other pitch. If my least favorite hitting coach is the primary factor, what exactly is he doing? How is Marcus Thames getting through to players where he couldn’t before? And if it’s because of adjustments made after studying gizmo-derived data, what gizmos and what data? All I know right now is this team is hitting. What made last night so much fun is that the “right” people were getting hits, along with “will he or won’t he be traded?” Luis Robert Jr., who had two RBI singles. Robert is 12-for-33 for the month. Who lit a fire under him? With Brooks Baldwin, at least we know he sought help in slowing the game down. Maybe that explains his three-run homerun off of Rays’ starter Shane Baz in the second inning. Maybe rookie Chase Meidroth did likewise. Whatever, Meidroth went 4-for-5 with three doubles. Miguel Vargas, who may be a textbook case of the streaky hitter, added a two-run homer while Colson Montgomery chipped in with an RBI single. All I can do is Venable goes with another young-player lineup tonight, and the Sox win again. Then, maybe sports’ writers will get around to asking the same questions I have. As they say, hope springs eternal.

Baby Steps

By beating the Pirates 7-2 yesterday, the White Sox became the last ML team to sweep a sereis this season. Well, better late than never, I always say. Of course, parts of the result don’t matter. Mike Tauchman with his three RBIs is pretty much auditioning for a trade to a contender; ditto Aaron Civale with his six innings pitched with zero earned runs allowed. He gone, or should be. What mattered was Grant Taylor striking out three of the four batters he faced in the seventh inning. In truth, the rookie righthander struck out four Pirates that frame because home-plate umpire Jansen Visconti suffered from a serious case of floating strike zone. The less said here the better. But Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas do merit attention, both with two hits and a double, Vargas also with a three-run homerun in the first inning. And Colson Montgomery with an RBI single (while playing third base, like he is tonight in Tampa. Hmm.). Speaking of tonight, Lenyn Sosa gets the start at second and Brooks Baldwin in left. That’ll mean six rookies and young veterans in the lineup. I’d say that’s OK for now.

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.