Ninety-Eight and Counting

Another game, another loss for the White Sox, this one 3-2 against the Padres in the last home game of the season. Nothing says defeat like a team going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. If the Sox have but four position players worth keeping (Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery, Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel), they have four-plus pitchers: starters Davis Martin and Shane Smith, relievers Grant Taylor—who wants to start—and Mike Vasil. Both relievers pitched yesterday. Vasil went three scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 2.37 in 98.2 innings (!). You have to love those numbers, along with the ones put up by Taylor in his last seven games—twelve strikeouts in six innings with a 0.00 ERA and 2-0 record, plus a save. Wikelman Gonzalez (2.66 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 20.1 innings) probably is a keeper, as is—and trust me, I never thought I’d be saying this—Jordan Leasure. God-awful April through July, the 27-year old righthander seems to have finally figured things out. The 3.09 ERA in August was nice, but nothing in comparison with what he’s done this past month: nine game; eleven innings; two hits; zero runs; ten strikeouts. Pinch me, I must be dreaming. A major-league roster consists of 26 players. By my reckoning, the Sox have fourteen, tops, and that’s if you include Andrew Benintendi; Luis Robert Jr.; Lenyn Sosa; and Miguel Vargas. The remaining twelve will be the difference between progress and a fourth straight season of 100+ losses.