Ebb and Flow

Sam Antonacci and Tristan Peters hit, the Montgomerys didn’t. But the hits—twelve, including two homeruns along with three doubles from Antonacci—far outweighed the outs in a 10-1 White Sox win over the Twins in a Sunday almost-night game scheduled to accommodate the television overlords. The two doubles by Peters gives him 30 on the year. I like that, along with Kyle Teel cranking a three-run homer to dead center in the eighth inning. In his previous at-bat, Teel took a called third strike with two runners on. The TV cameras caught his emotion bubbling up in the dugout afterwards. So, redemption achieved, if just for one game. I wonder what would happen if the entire lineup got hot at the same time. Munetaka Murakami, Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas providing their 30-homerun-plus pop with Antonacci, Peters and Chase Meidroth providing runners to drive in; Braden Montgomery, Teel and the dh duo of Andrew Benintendi and Randal Grichuk, who hit his twelfth homer leading off the eighth, would also be welcome to join in. A fan can dream, right?

Captain Obvious

The White Sox staked Anthony Kay to a 3-0 lead in the first inning against the Twins last night on homeruns by Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery. Kay gave it all back and then some by the time he was pulled in the fifth inning. Twins 6 Sox 4. After the game, Sox manager Will Venable went into Captain Obvious mode, when he told reporters Kay was “[r]eally sharp there up front in the first few innings and then just got in some trouble. Wasn’t able to work out of it, just left some pitches over the plate.” [from today’s Trib story online] Gosh, thanks for the profound insight, Skipper. Oh, and this: “Obviously, [Ryan] Jeffer’s [three-run] homer was killer.” [Trib online] Ya think? Here’s what Venable failed to address. Kay was done by the fourth inning, when he gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. Why did he even come out for the fifth? The first two Minnesota batters reached base in the fifth, and Venable kept Kay in. Why? After Kay managed to retire Kaelen Culpepper on a forceout, Venable kept the lefty in to face the righthanded-hitting Jeffers. Why in God’s name do that? I’d Twins’ manager Derek Shelton had no intention of pinch-hitting for Jeffers, unless he thought switch-hitting Victory Caratini with his .222 BA could come through. Venable should have forced Shelton to decide by bringing in righty reliever Trevor Richards to face Jeffers, not wait another two batters. Did I mention the Tigers beat the Guardians, 6-0? The Sox could now be four ahead of Cleveland in the loss column instead of three. Oh, well. With Captain Obvious at the helm, what could possibly go wrong?

What He Got Right

Rebuilds depend on a front office making more right decisions than wrong. Just ask Rick Hahn. Chirs Getz, Hahn’s successor as White Sox GM, looks to be racking up considerably more debits than credits. It showed last night in the White Sox’s 4-1 win over the Twins. Miguel Vargas, Braden Montgomery and Colson Montgomery all homered. Getz traded for Vargas and Braden Montgomery while he’s exhibited extreme patience with Hahn’s first-round pick back in 2021. Did I mention Erick Fedde? The veteran righthander pitched five shutout innings to even his record at 8-8. I may not be a fan of Fedde’s Houdini act on the mound (absent yesterday in an 83-pitch performance), but he’s done everything asked of him, start, relieve or open. In my humble opinion, he’s best at starting, at least for this season. It’s also worth noting Getz traded Fedde as part of a three-way deal with the Cardinals and Dodgers that netted Vargas and two prospects. Does anyone miss Michael Kopech, also part of that deal? Nobody’s perfect, no GM gets it right every time. Getz whiffed on Seranthony Dominguez and probably with Luis Castillo. Munetaka Murakami? Only the end of the regular season will tell.

Word Salad, With a Side of Gibber

Luis Castillo started for the White Sox yesterday, which is to say the Sox lost to the Astros, 6-2. GM Chris Getz’s most questionable acquisition this season gave up all six runs in four innings. But, hey, he’s trying, according to Sox manager Vibes Venable. Castillo received his very own participation trophy during Venable’s postgame comments with reporters: “Luis’s been doing a really good job of trying to make adjustments, just haven’t found the right one yet. He’s going to continue to work and have a good few days before his next start and hopefully find some better results.” [quote from story in today’s Tribune] Wait, there’s more. Venable also said Castillo is “here to help us and ultimately his job is not to go out there and throw six scoreless innings. He needs to give us a chance to win. And there's been a couple in which we haven't been able to get there.” [quote from story today on team website] What in God’s name does Venable mean by this word salad? Effort alone doesn’t count for anything in baseball; results do. And Castillo is 1-2 with a 7.52 ERA in six starts for the Sox. And who’s this “we” Venable mentioned? Castillo? The offense? The coaching staff? Everybody? God help me, there’s more. Munetaka Murakami is batting .125 over his last seven games, which is actually up over his last fifteen games, during which he’s hit .091. During his last 30 games, Murakami is batting .136 with eight RBIs. But Venable neither sits him nor moves him from his two-spot in the order. Professor Gump would know what to call this kind of decision-making.

A Whole Lot of Dumb

White Sox centerfielder Tristan Peters opened the eighth inning of a scoreless tie last night in Houston with a triple to deep right-centerfield. Catcher Drew Romo followed with a walk, at which point a whole lot of dumb stuff commenced. It started with Romo staying in the game. Why? Because “he’s catching a shutout,” Sox manager Vibes Venable told reporters after the game. [quote from today’s Trib story online] Then, why even keep Luisangel Acuna, whose one asset is his speed? Sam Antonacci proceeded to hit a grounder right at Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena with the infield drawn in. Peters hesitated an instant, then broke for the plate. Bad decision by him, and third base coach Justin Jirschele if he told Peters to go. Yup, out by a mile and defended by Venable in the postgame. With one out and runners on first and second (as opposed to second and third if Peters had stayed put and Pena took the out at first base), Munetaka Murakami singled sharply to right field. Maybe if Romo didn’t look back to check on the ball he scores. And a heck of a greater chance with Acuna running. But, hey, Romo was catching a shutout, right? After Miguel Vargas grounded into an around-the-horn double play (what, no safety squeeze? Oh, right, Romo was on third), Venable elected to stay with Sean Newcomb in a bases-loaded, two-out situation, righthanded-hitting Nelson Velazquez batting. What, no Grant Taylor? Velazquez singled to center. Astros 2 Sox 0. What could be worse than the above? Having Luis Castillo start today, that’s what.

Better

White Sox starter Sean Burke walked the first two Astros he saw last night, prompting a visit from pitching coach Zach Bove, who, according to what Burke told reporters after the game, said, “Look, let’s not go down this road again.” [quote from story today on team website] Bove was referencing the eight walks the 26-year old gave up in his previous start. Lo and behold, the tough love worked, and Burke pitched 5.2 innings of shutout ball. Sox 5 Astros 1. This Burke going back to good Burke is crucial to the Sox making the postseason. Ditto Colson Montgomery staying hot. Last night, Montgomery went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Gotta like that. If only Munetaka Murakami could join in. Instead, it was another three strikeouts for the Sox first baseman. Murakami could use a night off, like the one Braden Montgomery received (Randal Grichuk driving in two in his place). Let’s see if the rest cure pays off tonight.

Unacceptable

Ten walks should lead to more than three runs in a game, but not for the White Sox last night in Houston. Going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position may have had something to do with it, along with leaving fourteen runners on base. Astros 6 Sox 3. Of course, manager Vibes Venable was all unicorns and rainbows after the game, with shoutouts to Munetaka Murakami (three walks vs. one strikeout) and Colson Montgomery (two walks, a double and a homerun vs. one strikeout). OK, but what about Braden Montgomery, Skipper? The rookie went 0-for-5, lowering his BA to a concerning .224, and he seems to be losing focus in the field. He caught a ball over the weekend and apparently thought there were three outs, not two, which allowed a Twins’ runner to move up a base. And last night he made an ill-advised dive on a line drive by Cam Smith that went for a triple. That seemed to throw starter Anthony Kay off his game. Kay proceeded to give Nelson Velazquez, hitting .186, a pitch he could deposit over the wall in left field. The pitch was on Kay, just like the play before belonged to Braden Montgomery. Maybe I’m being too negative here. It is possible Colson Montgomery is getting his swing back; I hope so. It’s also possible that Tommy Pham will be a September catalyst for the Sox. But I doubt it.