Negative Nancy

No. I don’t think the White Sox have to run the rest of their schedule to set the tone for the postseason. Still, there were things about last night’s 7-1 shellacking by the Reds that gives me pause. Let’s start with catcher Yasmani Grandal; it’s reaching the point where manager Rick Renteria is playing the contract more than the player. Grandal is hitting all of .234, and, if I’m supposed to be impressed by his .360 OBP, then someone explain to me the 49 strikeouts in 141 at-bats. And the catching. In his first major-league start, against the Tigers, Sox pitcher Jonathan Stiever went 3.2 innings, giving up a run on two hits and two walks; James McCann was his catcher. In his second start last night, with Grandal behind the plate, Stiever went 2.2 innings yielding six runs on five hits, four of them homeruns. Yup, Grandal was the catcher. For me, you’ll go farther the less Grandal plays. And, if you insist on playing him, put him down in the order. Of course, there are at least two other candidates for bringing up the rear. Right fielder Nomar Mazara was acquired from the Rangers for his power. Not only hasn’t Mazara hit a single homerun in 108 at-bats, he’s batting a rather sad .222. Adam Engel must be wondering why he’s on the bench, and Danny Mendick must be wondering why he got sent to the taxi squad. And let’s not forget DH Edwin Encarnacion. As things stand right now, Encarnacion is a lot more famine than feast, hitting a mere .167 with nine homers and seventeen RBIs; also keep in mind the 44 strikeouts in 126 at-bats. It’s going to be hard to generate baserunners in the postseason with Encarnacion and Mazara in the lineup. Ditto Grandal. As for pitching, Jimmie Cordero seems to have righted the ship his past few appearances. Steve Cishek, not so much. Cishek has had 21 games to figure it out, but the best he can do is a 5.89 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. Not good. Enough of this negativity. Wait, did I mention centerfielder Luis Robert? He’s down to .240…