Two Takeaways

Here are two takeaways from last night’s 3-1 White Sox win over the Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Whatever: Joe Kelly is injury-prone, and something has to be done about third base. Kelly got the first two outs in the eighth inning before removing himself with a hamstring tweak (fingers crossed it’s nothing more). Kelly once hurt his back boiling crawfish for his teammates with the Dodgers. He looks to be another Nate Jones, just as injury prone if more talented. Now, third base. Tony La Russa responded to Yoan Moncada’s lack of hitting by dropping him all of one spot in the batting order, to third. Moncada responded with an 0-for-4 night, giving him a .136 BA on the season, still sixteen points higher than his mark in spring. Every time Moncada steps into the batter’s box, his body language pretty much screams out that he doesn’t want to be there. Eyes and/or ears, La Russa should get his checked out. The White Sox won last night because dh Jake Burger, just recalled from Charlotte to take the place of COVID-suffering Luis Robert, waited back on a Rich Hill sixty-seven mph changeup and hit it 444-feet for a three-run homer. That comes out to one fewer RBI Moncada has had all season. Burger is a little over six weeks older than the 26-year old Moncada, who’s been the starting third baseman on the South Side since 2019. Except for that first year, every season has been a disappointment. How long do you wait? Burger has seventeen more at-bats than Moncada on the season and is hitting over a hundred points better. He’s a slightly better than average fielder while Moncada is a definite plus at the hot corner. But you don’t stay in the starting lineup batting .136, at least not outside Chicago. What to do? Well, first off, Rick Hahn should hire me, or someone just like me, to coach Burger, who has the same bad habit my daughter did hitting; the two of them love(d) sliders, the further outside the better. “And where would the ball go if you managed to hit?” I always asked a certain child after I threw a slider, away. Clare hated when I said that, as she still reminds me, but it worked. Check the school records for what she accomplished. Burger needs the same constant, unrelenting, if not quite as irritating reminders to stay focused at the plate; don’t chase pitches outside. There are no hits there, even if you do make contact. Know your pitch, and wait for it. As for Moncada, find out what’s wrong; I think it’s more mental than physical. He needs to talk to somebody, and the coaching staff needs to listen. Right now, playing third base and hitting second is not working. The question is, Why? The longer the Sox take to find out, the more they risk putting the season at risk. In the meantime, play Burger at third. When Moncada’s ready, ask him to switch back to second base, where he came up in 2018. I can’t imagine things could get any worse for him or the team.