Pitch Count

One of my jobs as team statistician for Clare’s varsity high-school softball team was to keep a pitch count for our pitchers. If I could do that as a volunteer, why couldn’t the White Sox do the same in last night’s 4-2 loss to the Pirates? Either Sox manager Vibes Venable or bench coach Walker McKinven or pitching coach Zach Bove alone or in some combination couldn’t figure out to do that. (Hint: Just keep tab of every pitch thrown.) If they had, the Pirates might never have scored three runs in the seventh inning. Reliever Sean Newcomb had already struggled a bit in the sixth, needing a double play to keep his pitch count at seventeen. A six-pitch walk to open the seventh put it at 23. Then came a single on the first pitch followed by a single on the third pitch. By my count, that’s a 2-0 score, nobody out and Newcomb at 27 pitches. Now throw in a seven-pitch fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners, one out and Newcomb at 34 pitches. Did Venable elect to go to the pen? Nope. Konnor Griffin capped off a six-pitch at-bat with a two-run single. For those of you out there keeping count, that’s 40 pitches for Newcomb, who needed another eight to record the final two outs in the inning. So, don’t expect to see Newcomb anytime soon. And don’t expect Venable to explain why he kept his reliever in despite a growing pitch count. Oh, and don’t expect the Sox to win many games that way.

Unacceptable

White Sox manager Vibes Venable called a bullpen game Sunday to give Sean Burke an extra day of rest. And how did Burke respond last night against the visiting Pirates? The first seven (!) batters did this in the top of the first: double; walk; double; double; double; single; single. And, just like that, it was 5-0. Wait, there’s more. Here’s Burke in the second inning: single; double; strikeout; walk; hook. In all, the righthander went 1.1 innings while getting smacked around for seven runs on eight hits—half of them doubles—and two walks. How do you say, unacceptable? Make sure you include Munetaka Murakami along the way. The now-in-freefall first baseman went 0-for-4 with, you guessed it, four strikeouts. Colson Montgomery’s 0-for-4 looked stellar in comparison, with just one strikeout and an RBI. And this is how the Sox expect to make the postseason? Good luck, given how the starters have been and way too much of the lineup. Andrew Benintendi had two doubles, and Kyle Teel added two hits, including his second homerun in as many games. But they can’t do it alone. Maybe if the manager stopped holding everyone’s hand and actually challenged his players things would come around. It certainly couldn’t hurt to try.

Time Flies

It was the Sunday before Labor Day, 2006. Michele and I were watching our high school freshman trying to impress the coaches of her new travel team. There was a party somewhere after practice, as I recall. Knowing Clare, she hustled through every drill. Probably like me, she also wondered why Coach took it upon himself at one point to climb up a pole, but that was Harry. He liked Clare, and that was all I could ask for the next two seasons. Don’t ask about what, or who, came next. Thursday, we pick up Leo from kindergarten because Clare will be busy working on the North Shore, part of the never-ending hunt for donations from well-heeled alumni of a certain school. Knowing Leo, he’ll want me to pitch to him when we get home. But I won’t climb any poles.

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.