Stop the Presses!

Here I was going to talk about how frustrating White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito can be, dominant against the Blue Jays one game, struggling against the Pirates in his next start. Oh, and it would be nice if he could field his position without straining a hamstring. Instead, Clare called, twice, both times Leo Joseph trying to add his two cents to the conversation. Phone-call number one was to let me know the Sox had called up Gavin Sheets and Matt Foster while activating Billy Hamilton off the IL. That led to five minutes of father-daughter complaining how Sheets never should have gone down in the first place once Jake Lamb returned form the IL. We said our goodbyes, happy the Sox had beaten Pittsburgh last night 4-2, and that was that, only it wasn’t. Clare called back to report that the Sox had DFA’d Lamb and purchased the contract of minor-league infielder Romy Gonzalez while putting Tim Anderson on the 10-day IL. Wow, a lot of stuff there. Getting Hamilton back means having two Gold-Glove caliber outfielders (along with Luis Robert, with Adam Engel still on the IL) available for the ninth inning. Having Sheets means seeing how he handles the pressure of playing in September for a clubs fighting for homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. Ditto for Foster, who either finds his control now or risks being shown the door come the offseason. With Anderson, better to sit him altogether than play him every third game or so. Calling up Gonzalez is downright intriguing. He’s an 18th-round draft pick from 2018 who’s worked his way up through the Sox minor-league system. The 24-year old shortstop has hit 23 homeruns this year between Double-A and Triple-A. If he makes an impression now, that could affect the White Sox thinking on what to do with Cesar Hernandez. Oh my. Did I mention my daughter wants to know why the Sox sent Sheets down instead of releasing Lamb a month sooner?