Due Diligence

A good baseball organization does its due diligence on the people it wants to hire or acquire. From that perspective, the White Sox look to be less than good, though the hiring of Tony La Russa as manager can’t be blamed on GM Rick Hahn; that was the product of owner interference. But Cesar Hernandez and Craig Kimbrel are a different story altogether. Hernandez led off again because Tim Anderson sat again. (In a town ruled by that mediocrity known as the Chicago Bears, the media can’t be bothered to look into what if anything is wrong with Anderson, who has yet to address his aches and pains in any public way I’ve come across. But tune in to see who the Bears are auditioning for their offensive line.) Hernandez went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. He’s hitting .133 over his last seven games (.227 on the season), and still La Russa insists on batting him in the leadoff spot. What Hahn saw in Hernandez as an upgrade over Yolmer Sanchez or a Danny Mendick-Leury Garcia platoon is beyond me. That no one has been able to get La Russa to put someone else at the top of the lineup speaks volumes to his status as best bud of owner Jerry Reinsdorf. I keep thinking of the energy that Yolmer could bring to the dugout, an energy totally lacking with Anderson (mysteriously) sitting and Hernandez forever playing. Right now, Garcia is on concussion protocol (and Yolmer is playing at Triple-A Gwinnet for the Braves, in case you’re wondering). If Leury doesn’t start playing second base when he comes back, you may as well rest Anderson for the rest of the season, for all the good it will do the Sox. As to Kimbrel, I haven’t a clue what his problem is, other than that he absolutely stinks pitching in the eighth inning. Last night, he came into the bottom of the eighth in Toronto, the score tied at one. A hit along with a groundout and two wild pitches gave the Jays what proved to be the winning run. “Wild” doesn’t do justice to the pitch that scored the run. Not only did Kimbrel throw it, he then hesitated covering home as catcher Seby Zavala retrieved the ball, that just so happened to bounce his way. Pinch runner Breyvic Valera was safe on a close play. Kimbrel supposedly doesn’t care what inning he pitches, but you could shorten that to he just doesn’t care. He’s 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in ten games since joining the Sox. What’s up? It’s hard to say because Kimbrel isn’t in the habit of addressing the media after a game. Lance Lynn, on the other hand, never hides from reporters, good game or bad. Last night, Lynn—who gave up one run in seven innings of work—said he threw a “stupid” pitch on 3-0 to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the bottom of the sixth; Guerrero hit it for a game-tying single. Lynn also said he told La Russa the pitch was his fault. A pitcher who takes responsibility vs. a pitcher who goes mum vs. a manager who thinks games in late August don’t really count. Your Chicago White Sox.