Report Card

Hey, White Sox fans, want to know if going down to Guaranteed Rate Whatever and check out your team’s rebuild is worth the bother?  Well, read on.

First off, know that there’s basically no bullpen.  The Sox used four relievers in Saturday’s 17-7 blowout loss to the Rangers, and not one of them had an ERA under 6.00; two had ERAs north of 8.00.  Maybe it’s too early in “the process” to worry about who follows the starter.

Did I say “starter”?  Well, we seem to have one in Carlos Rodon, a lefty with nasty stuff; you can only hope Rodon’s mysterious arm injury that lasted from spring training into July won’t return next year.  Right now, the Sox are half-way to duplicating the old Boston Braves’ refrain of “[Warren] Spahn and [Johnny] Sain and pray for rain.”  Rodon might do a passable imitation of Spahn (half of whose victory total would still come out to 181 games).  After that, it  looks like a lot of rain.

Reynaldo Lopez had one good start and one not-so-good during which he hurt his back to end up on the DL.  Carson Fulmer made his 2017 debut against the Twins three days ago and, shall we say, stunk up the place, as in two three-run homers in the second inning to leave with an ERA of 40.50.  Factor in eight relief appearances last year, and the career ERA goes all the way down to 11.77.  Cubs’ Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Ian Happ was available in the same draft, but we took Fulmer.  Makes you wonder, no?  Lucas Giolito, one of the pitchers from the Nationals obtained for Adam Eaton, gave up four runs in six innings in his debut Tuesday night.  Even with the three home runs Giolito coughed up to Twins’ batters, he looked light years more advanced than Fulmer.

And how about hitters for the rebuild?  Well, Matt Davidson is a legitimate power threat, if only he weren’t stuck on 22 homers.  But that’s what happens when a team lets the opposition throw at its batters without threat of retaliation.  It’s been open season on Davidson and Jose Abreu.  Davidson has been out since he was hit on the wrist the first week of August.  With luck, he’ll return next week and go back to hitting long balls.

The one real—and pleasant—surprise has been infielder-outfielder Nicky Delmonico, hitting .315 in 73 at-bats with a .425 on-base percentage.  Delmonico has six homers, 12 RBIs and 13 walks vs. 14 strikeouts.  Compare that to the much-heralded second baseman Yoan Moncada.

The centerpiece of the Chris Sale trade is hitting .192 in 99 at-bats.  Moncada has three homers and 11 RBIs with 18 walks, which is nice, and 43 strikeouts, which isn’t.  Unlike centerfielder Adam Engel, who’s now hitting a god-awful .182, Moncada hasn’t looked anywhere near as good in the field.  Tim Anderson, the other half of our double-play combination of the future, appears lost at times, with a .239 BA and 25 errors at short. A groundball up the middle is a real adventure for Moncada-Anderson.  Let it be noted, however, that Moncada’s last three hits have all been doubles and Anderson delivered his first-ever walk-off hit against the Twins last night.  I hope as well as despair. 

There you have it, an up-close and personal look at the rebuild in progress.  A show of hands of who want to pay for the price of admission to a game?