Double the Fun

The White Sox found a way to win in Detroit yesterday that didn’t involve hitting homeruns. Instead, they went with doubles. Sam Antonacci lined the first pitch of the game through the right side of the infield. Because centerfielder Javy Baez (!!##@) let the ball come to him, Antonacci took the extra base and scored on a two-out single by Braden Montgomery. With two out in the third inning and the score tied at one, Colson Montgomery (??!!!) capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a two-run double down the right-field line. Oh, to see more of that from our shortstop. But you take what you can get. Including a pinch-hit double from Randal Grichuk to start the seventh inning. I should also offer up a tip of the cap here, however grudging, to manager Vibes Venable, who went for the righty-lefty advantage with Grichuk batting for Antonacci against lefty Drew Sommers. One out later, Venable stuck with lefthanded Andrew Benintendi against Sommers and was rewarded with what proved to be the game-winning single. Sox 4 Tigers 3. Starter Anthony Kay went 5.1 innings, followed by three relievers, so Venable needs a strong outing from Sean Burke. Because taking three games from the Tigers would be ever so sweep.

Ball of Confusion

My God, this White Sox team is confusing. Colson Montgomery had another o-fer night (0-for-5); Jose Urquidy in his Sox debut (three runs, five hits in 3.2 innings of work) made me think fondly of Erick Fedde; and Drew Romo lowered his BA to a pretty microscopic .132. All that, and they still beat the Tigers in Detroit last night, 9-5. What gives? Well, it helped that Tristan Peters and Braden Montgomery both showed signs of life at the plate, with three hits apiece. Peters socked a two-run homer while Montgomery countered with a two-run triple. More, please. Miguel Vargas also looked to be breaking out of his slump with a four-hit effort, including two homers. Like Peters, Vargas had himself a two-run homer, and, like Munetaka Murakami, a solo shot. More dingers with runners on base, please. Now what? Well, one game at a time and all that. Plus a quality start from Anthony Kay. Please.

Wait Till Next Year

Two years ago, the White Sox went 41-121 while improving to 60-102 last season. Right now, their record stands at 62-58. That may be all the miracle a Sox fan can expect or ask for as their team battles for a division title (and how odd to write those words). Take yesterday afternoon’s 9-8 loss to the Reds (please). Davis Martin stunk, again; Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas both went 0-for-5; Braden Montgomery looks like he’s getting batting tips from the 0-fers; and somewhere manager Vibes Venable made the obvious obvious in his postgame comments. If you believe Bleacher Report and USA Today, the White Sox have the eighth-best minor-league system in all of baseball, and I think those rankings are erring on the side of caution. The team has middle infielders everywhere to go with some intriguing outfield and catching prospects plus enough pitching to keep me wondering how Erick Fedde stays employed. Speaking of which, if I were Davis Martin… Ex-GM Rick Hahn missed a chance to reset the Sox roster both after the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez could have brought sizable returns while the team pivoted to young players like Gavin Sheets and Jake Burger. Instead, we got systemic collapse. Current GM Chris Getz now finds himself in the same situation. He has a left fielder (Sam Antonacci) who looks great when he moves to second base and a second baseman (Chase Meidroth) who can play a very nice shortstop. Plus Getz has a system full of middle infielders, starting with Roch Cholowsky, Caleb Bonemer and Billy Carlson. Something’s got to give, not this season but next. That, or Epic Collapse 2.0.

Oops

I didn’t mean to peak; it just happened. The White Sox beat the Reds 5-0 last night on a combined two-hitter from Luis Castillo (seven innings); Hagen Smith (one inning, three strikeouts); and Huascar Brazoban (one uneventful inning). Pitching is everything. Without it, you have today’s score of Reds 8 Sox 4 in the top of the fifth. Better to focus on the past. I mean, how often does Drew Romo get two hits in a game, including a homerun, along with two RBIs? Chase Meidroth also homered, number twelve, to go with 48 RBIs. In the minors, Meidroth never hit more than nine homers or drove in more than 57 runs. How do you spell “success”? Plus Sam Antonacci had three hits. Too bad he and Meidroth don’t pitch.

What Marvin Gaye Said

A game like last night’s ten-inning, 5-4 White Sox loss to the Reds makes me want to holler; a less mature version would also throw things. Here’s why. The Sox hit three homeruns—all solo shots—to go with seven innings of one-run ball from starter Sean Burke, everything wasted when Cincinnati scored three runs in the eighth to tie the game at four. Manager Vibes Venable thought he could bring in Bryan Hudson to retire three right-hand hitters, two of them switch hitters. Nope. All three singled. Things might have improved with Grant Taylor replacing Hudson, but they didn’t. Taylor was off, that or in love with his slow, breaking stuff. Runners moved up to second and third on a deep-enough flyball to right field on an 87.6 mph slider out over the lower corner of the plate. Taylor then walked a batter before yielding a two-run single to Tyler Stephenson. Did Stephenson hit Taylor’s best pitch? Not unless an 85.1 mph curveball on the outer half of the plate counts. After that, it was just a matter of time. The Reds’ bullpen has the fifth-worst ERA in baseball. How odd that Cincinnati relievers retired eighteen of nineteen batters faced. After the game, Venable said the three softly-hit balls off of Hudson were “[j]ust baseball” and “just part of the game.” [online story in today’s Tribune] What a crock and dodge of responsibility. Venable put in a reliever who left the ball over the plate to three straight batters. Exit velo has nothing to do with it. Did I mention Colson Montgomery struck out three times in an 0-for-4 night? On the year, Montgomery is hitting .213 with 157 strikeouts over 473 plate appearance. In other words, he’s striking out 33 percent of the time. Tell me how you win a division with numbers like that.

Retirement

Ex-White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson made his retirement official yesterday in a Zoom call with Chicago media. The 33-year old, onetime face of the franchise gave voice to joy; sadness; and, possibly, regret during his video announcement. It made me think of my daughter. Unlike Anderson, Clare knew when her career would end; most female athletes do. Every sport has its season. When the calendar runs out after senior year, the playing and competing end, except for a lucky few who play professionally. Was my then 22-year old any less emotional than Anderson yesterday? Probably not; she just did a better job hiding it, what with graduation and graduate school following in the wake of Senior Day. But I’m sure there were moments when she felt a void. Clare had been hitting a ball since before she was four. Anderson mentioned some business ventures along with the challenge of being a father and husband. If he’s anything like my daughter, he’ll find meaning, and perhaps a little joy, in teaching the game he once played.

Heaven-sent

Things looked bleak for the South Side Nine on a Sunday afternoon, Davis Martin their starting pitcher. The pride of Abilene continued his bad habit of late, for the third straight game letting the other side score right out of the gate. This the visitors from Cleveland did twice, only to let the home team cut the lead in half thanks to a double off the bat of that Man from Japan. Then the heavens opened up, and the rain did pour. Not a pitch was thrown for one hour, then two, plus another 23 minutes or so. When it came time to resume, the vibing Venable pointed to rookie Hagen Smith and said, off, my boy, to the mound you go. White Sox 5 Guardians 3. Smith was what you might call effectively wild, striking out three in the second while walking a batter before walking the bases loaded in the third. One line drive to third baseman Miguel Vargas later, Smith not only escaped the jam of his own making, he set himself up for the win. That’s because the Sox scored four in the bottom of the third, three on a Colson Montgomery laser over the wall in right. Montgomery said later he was taking stock of things, offering that, “Success, it leaves clues.” [story today on team website] Yes, grasshopper, it does. Now, make like Sherlock, and figure them out. For reasons best known to himself, Manager Vibes used reliever Trevor Richards for the third time in four games. The overuse showed in the ninth when Richards gave two walks along with two wild pitches, leading to a run on a sacrifice fly by Jose Ramirez. Rookie righthander Tanner McDougal, brought up along with Smith from Triple-A Charlotte, was warming in the bullpen, just in case. For that, I can’t wait. Honestly.