Argh!!#@***

Yes, if Zack jumped out the window, Jack would be sure to follow.  In other words, the White Sox are doing what most everyone else in baseball is by opening the season with a 13-man pitching staff.

Tell me, in this age of sabermetrics, the exact advantage of this change, give me a WAR (wins above replacement) number showing the exact value of the last three pitchers on a staff versus the bench players whose spots they’ve taken.  How much more valuable is 1/3 of an inning pitched compared to a pinch hit, assuming the pitcher can get the out without yielding a run?  I’m curious, I want to know.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record (or whatever the 2018 equivalent is), pitcher-heavy rosters make for bad baseball.  For starters, forget about platooning.  Basically, everyone’s a starter, and don’t be fooled by those so-called chess moves of Cubs’ manager Joe Maddon.  Ben Zobrist may be able to play four or five positions, but he won’t be doing it all in one game, unless Maddon starts using pitchers as position players alongside Zobrist.

Pinch-hit is a vanishing skill, along with pinch-running.  You also can’t use that many defensive replacements late in the game because those extra players aren’t on the bench anymore.  But you can get your matchups out of the bullpen to your heart’s delight.

Whoopee.  Argh.