What He Should've Said

The Tall Enigma pitched for the White Sox last night in Texas, but not for long and certainly not well. Over 3.2 very bad innings, rookie lefthander Noah Schultz was pummeled by Texas hitters who tallied five runs on eleven hits. Final score Rangers 10 Sox 0. After the game Sox manager Vibes Venable gave Schultz the verbal equivalent of a participation trophy. “It was a rough [outing for Schultz],” admitted Venable of the ever-so-obvious. “At the same time, he was in the zone. That’s something we’ve really been working hard on, getting him in the zone. He’s done a nice job with that. He just didn’t miss any bats. Got to credit the Rangers big time today.” [story today in online Trib] No, you don’t; let the other guy mete out credit to his player, Vibes. Your job is to get the best out of your roster. What has having Schultz get “in the zone” accomplished, outside of a 3-7 record and 6.04 ERA? Time to drop the rah-rah approach, if only with Schultz. Instead, try pointing out those stats to the person who generated them, and then hint, strongly, numbers like that usually earn demotions. My way can’t be any worse than yours.

Accentuate the Positive

First, the good news—the White Sox really looked like they were going to stink up the joint last night in Texas against the Rangers. First, they let Jacob deGrom off the hook in the first inning, failing to score after putting runners in scoring position and nobody out. Then, they spotted deGrom a 2-0 lead. Thank heaven for Sam Antnoacci and Andrew Benintendi. Long story short, Sox 10 Rangers 3. Antonacci scored the Sox first run in the third and drove in the tying run in the fifth while Benintendi hit a bases-clearing double later that inning to knock out deGrom. The pitcher whom some people like to tout for the Hall of Fame, this despite a mere 103 career wins at age 38, gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. Erick Fedde did his Houdini act for four innings while Chris Murphy picked up the win in relief. This was all to the good, along with Jordan Hicks’ continued resurgence. The righty struck out two in .2 innings when it counted and now has a 0.00 ERA over his last seven appearances. I did not see that coming. The only downer to report is Kyle Teel’s injury, an ankle sprain incurred during a play at the plate in the bottom of the second inning; Teel missed on a sweep tag of baserunner Ezequiel Duran. Here’s the thing—there was no contact on the play. Teel just pivoted on his ankle, and something happened. Oh, well. Edgar Quero’s back with Teel making another visit to the IL If ever a player needed to seize an opportunity, it’s Quero, now. We’ll see soon enough.

Seeing is Believing

It’s plain to see this isn’t your White Sox of 2022, 2023, 2024 or 2025. For proof, look at yesterday’s 3-0 win over the Blue Jays. This year’s Sean Burke is everything that last year’s version could only hint at. The 26-year old righthander went 6.2 innings, yielding three baserunners on two singles and a walk. As for Colson Montgomery, his BA remains an anemic .224, but there are definite signs of improvement. In the sixth inning with the Sox ahead 1-0, Montgomery took a 1-2 splitter from Jays’ starter Trey Yesavage and deposited it over the wall in right. Wait, there’s more. The much-maligned Andrew Benintendi (yes, oftentimes by me), followed with a double, this to go with his sacrifice fly in the fourth. That brought up Braden Montgomery, who capped an eight-pitch at-bat by singling to center on a 1-2 fastball from Yesavage. Talk about textbook approach. Montgomery would foul off a pitch, step out of the box and compose himself, again and again. The rookie had no interest in trying to jack the ball, just solid contact, which he delivered on. Oh, more, more please. Now, consider the ninth inning, when Grant Taylor gave up an infield single and a bunt single to the first two batters he faced, bringing up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Pick any of those past seasons, and you know what Guerrero was going to do, as in going-going-gone! Nope. Instead of a three-run jack, Guerrero lined out to Braden Montgomery in right on a nice play. Mercy. A 6-4-3 double play later, and the Sox took the three-game series. Next up, a visit to Texas for a three-game set with the Rangers. Bad news—they’ll be facing Jacob deGrom. Good news—deGrom is both righthanded and 38. This should be a good game.

One or the Other

Take your pick—the sound of silence, feast or famine. Either one describes the White Sox going from scoring twelve runs on Friday to getting shut out yesterday in Toronto, 1-0. At least Davis Martin pitched well, giving up that lone run in 5.2 innings. With a little ++ defense on a double to center by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a single up the middle by George Springer, Davis could very well have pitched himself to something between a no-decision and a win. Yes, his offense collecting all of four hits off of Shane Bieber and three relievers would’ve made that quite the challenge, but two of those hits were doubles leading off an inning. Then there was the hard-luck case of Luisangel Acuna, who came into the eighth as a pinch runner. Alejandro Kirk got off a pretty crappy throw, only it tailed into the runner, making for an easy tag. It could just sailed away from Acuna. Oh, well. You want to win, you bounce back.

Dance to the Music

Last Friday, we saw Los Lobos in concert, and the White Sox crushed the Athletics, 14-1. Last night, we travelled up to Ravina to see Paul Simon, and the Sox demolished the Blue Jays, 12-4. We may be on to something here. Twelve hits for the visitors, with every starter managing at least one hit. Sam Antonacci clubbed his seventh homerun of the season while Colson Montgomery and Braden Montgomery provided bases-clearing base hits, a double for Colson vs. a triple for Braden. More, please. The starting pitching could’ve been better, with Anthony Kay unable to go more than four. But a shoutout to rookie lefthander Tyler Schweitzer. The pride of Indianapolis and Ball State picked up his first career win with three innings of scoreless relief. At the risk of repeating myself, more please.

A Baseball Game of Musical Chairs

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Don’t get too attached to a White Sox player, especially an infielder or anyone named Andrew Benintendi. With promising middle infielders up and down their minor-league system, the Sox will have to find room for the best of them, and sooner than later. How long before Caleb Bonemer puts up Triple-A numbers that can’t be ignored? Or Roch Cholowsy? But what happens to incumbent shortstop Colson Montgomery? He could slide over to third base to make room for one of the above, but then what happens to Miguel Vargas? Well, he could switch over to first base, but that means something has to give with Munetaka Murakami. GM Chris Getz could let Murakami walk after next season, which would be a real gamble given Murakami’s power and popularity on the South Side. Or he could sign Murakami to an extension and install him as the primary DH, Benintendi’s role right now. The 32-year old Benintendi is signed through 2027. I’m pretty willing to bet the bank he’ll be gone after that, if not sooner. Shortstop is the highest-skill position in baseball, with centerfield coming in second. So, one of the stable of young shortstops could make the switch to the outfield a la Robin Yount back in the day. Then, what happens to Tristan Peters? Like I said, don’t get too attached to anyone on the 2026 White Sox. They might not be here for long.

A Hard, Necessary, Conversation

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; great minds think alike; like father, like daughter—take your pick. Whatever the reason, Clare and I were asking the same question last week when the White Sox picked Landon Thome with the 34th selection in the draft. “Would you tell him to sign or go to college?” daughter asked father, or vice versa. We both agreed, “Go to college.” Let’s count the reasons why. Start with the fact that the Sox are full of middle infielders, and that’s not even counting number-one pick Roch Cholowsky. Five of the top eleven prospects in the Sox system are middle infielders. How exactly does the eighteen-year old Thome expect to jump over them? Also consider the middle infield on the major-league level with Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery, plus Miguel Vargas at third and middle-infielder Same Antonacci forced to play left field. Where exactly does Thome fit in? The younger Thome stands an even six feet and weighs 177 pounds; he looks like he has another year or two of high-school eligibility left. Yes, the White Sox will wait for him to fill out, but the expectation for a professional, as opposed to a college, player is to perform from day one. I’d argue there’s a lot more pressure playing at Single-A Kannapolis than Florida State, where Landon Thome has committed to attend. And any high-school player making the jump puts his body at risk that first year, as it adjusts from playing just 50 games a season to 130-plus games. College offers players a chance to grow both physically and emotionally before jumping into the pros with its expanded schedule. That’s what Clare would be telling her son. Me, too.