No Dice

Noah Schultz had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the fifth. Maybe he would’ve survived if the White Sox had their A-team behind him instead of Luisangel Acuna and Drew Romo trying to pass for Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel, and maybe if the bullpen had brought it’s A-game instead of letting three inherited runners score. But none of that happened. Orioles 6 Sox 1. The lefthanded Schultz walked four batters, three of them lefties, in 4.1 innings. Not good. Same goes for needing 87 pitches to record thirteen outs. The seven strikeouts were OK+, the 5.86 ERA not so much. Schultz turns 23 next month. Randy Johnson, the pitcher he’s often compared to, wasn’t even in the major leagues until age 24, so I guess in that regard our Johnson is further along. The real Johnson didn‘t have his first above-.500 season until age 26. Three more years of what I saw yesterday? I’d rather things speed up a little. Or a lot. Or David Sandlin gets another look. Or all of the above.

On a Roll

White Sox rookie first baseman Jacob Gonzalez is on a roll. Last night, he collected two doubles among his three hits to go with three RBIs in a Sox 9-3 beatdown of the host Orioles. Gonzalez missed a fourth hit by a foot or so when his flyball in the ninth inning just failed to clear the wall. That’s seventeen RBIs for the 24-year old infielder in 73 at-bats, in case you’re counting. Pitching-wise, Erick Fedde kept putting baserunners on while (kind of) minimizing the damage, with three runs on five hits and three walks in five innings of work. Thank you, rookie reliever Tyler Schweitzer. It would be nice, though, if Noah Schultz stepped up today in his first start off the IL.

Déjà vu All Over Again

Not too long ago, the Orioles completed a rebuild to die for. Talent up and down the lineup, talent ready to make the jump from the minors. But after postseason appearances in 2023-24, things have gone downhill fast, sort of like the 2020-21 White Sox. Bad baseball from the home team was on full display last night in the 10-2 drubbing administered by Vibes Venable and company. The score was actually tied at two going into the eighth inning. That’s when things began to fall apart for the home team. It wasn’t the Orioles’ fault entirely. I mean, nobody in the league has figured out how to avoid hitting Sam Antonacci, who led off the inning with his seventeenth hit-by-pitch. After that, it was only a matter of time. One out, to be precise. After Miguel Vargas struck out, O’s manager Craig Abernaz did something that, analytics-wise, maybe made sense—he kept in lefthanded reliever Grant Wolfram to face lefty-swinging Colson Montgomery. Either Abernaz didn’t have the stats in front of him or, more likely, didn’t bother to check them to see that Montgomery is hitting 37 points higher against lefties than righties. Which helps explain Montgomery’s run-scoring double. After that, the Orioles slowly imploded, giving up six run over the final two innings. But the hitting star of the night may have been another rookie, Jacob Gonzalez, who had two hits to go with three RBIs. That gives the 24-year old infielder nine in his last four games and fourteen in 68 at-bats. More, please. Meanwhile, Chris Getz may want to consider keeping Gonzalez around once Munetaka Murakami comes off the IL. At least, I would.

Pitching, Please

You’d think four runs against a team like the Royals would be enough to secure a sweep, but you’d be wrong. Starter Anthony Kay couldn’t make it through the fourth inning in a 5-4 loss. Oh, and White Sox hitters twice gave Kay a lead to work with. Which leads us to the odd decision by GM Chris Getz to send David Sandlin down after pitching six innings of one-run ball on Friday. What, we have too much pitching? Just look at Kay, whose ERA stands at a hefty 4.50, to know that’s not the case. Oh, Noah Schultz is supposed to be close to coming off the IL. So? There’s no saying Schultz can pitch injury-free, or, if he can, that he’ll be effective. One columnist yesterday beat the drum for Tarik Skubal. Talk about silly. The Sox a team playing with house money; nobody expected them to do anything better than not lose 100 games. It would be shortsighted verging on criminal if Getz shipped off good young players for two or three months of Skubal. With Scott Boras for his agent, Skubal wouldn’t be anything more than an expensive rental on the South Side. See what Schultz and Sandlin can do in the rotation.

History Not Repeating

The game after scoring 22 runs in Boston, the 1970 White Sox managed nineteen fewer in a 4-3 loss to the Senators. A day after scoring 22 runs against the Royals, the 2026 White Sox were held to two runs, and they still won in a walk-off, 2-1. Rookie Jacob Gonzalez did the honors with an opposite field single past a drawn-in shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Grant Taylor got the win, pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth innings. Taylor pretty much threw gas, striking out four of the six Royals he faced. More, please. I have to wonder what’s going to happen to Gonzalez once Munetaka Murakami comes off the IL. After enduring an 0-for-25 streak, the 24-year old infielder has been on a 6-for-12 tear, with six RBIs. Gonzalez makes an attractive trade candidate. I just don’t want to see him shipped off for a rental pitcher. And, yes, I’m talking the likes of Tarik Skubal.

I Remember the Last Time

I remember the last time the White Sox scored 22 runs prior to last night’s 22-1 romp over the Royals. I was dressed in a white tuxedo jacket on my way to Medinah Temple for high school graduation. Walt Williams and Luis Aparicio both had five hits. Bill Melton homered. Chicago 22 Boston 13. I think my mom made her potato salad for the party. Last night, the Sox had 22 runs on 23 hits. In other words, just about everything that could go right, did, the only possible exception being Braden Montgomery going 0-for-5, though he did score two runs. Oh, and just about everything went wrong for the Royals. Flashbacks of Mike Sweeney and Billy Butler lead me to say, Boo-hoo. Miguel Vargas had three hits, which puts him to within four points of the magic .250 BA mark. Sam Antonacci had three hits, which puts him within six points of the magic .300 mark. Chase Meidroth woke up to chip in with four hits while Tristan Peters added six RBIs. David Sandlin was called up for a spot start. The rookie responded with six innings of one-run ball. Sandlin looked almost as sharp as he did in his MLB debut against the Twins. Way to make an impression, young man.

Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One: Two Old Guys…

First thing I do at The Rate is head for the public service desk. So, that’s what I did Wednesday, almost bumping into an elderly gentleman, at least older than me, as we both reached for the same item. And what would that be, you ask? Why, a pre-printed scorecard, of course, with enough to go around. “Old guys’ corner,” I joked, looking up. “Yes, you have to be over 60 or 70 for one of these,” he replied. “Unfortunately, right both times, “ I said as we each went our own way.