Be Positive

Please understand. I have images seared into my memory of the White Sox going off to slaughter in Detroit, Tiger Stadium filled with the likes of Cash, Kaline, Northrup…So, beating up on the Tigers just doesn’t feel like the normal state of affairs. But beat up on Detroit is what the Sox did last night, 5-1, behind Dylan Cease and three relievers. Andrew Vaughn collected four hits for the first time in his career while A.J. Pollock and Luis Robert each collected two. The fog lifts, I hope, for both hitters crucial to the team’s success. Oh, and Danny Mendick got another hit, with a run scored. What’s not to like? Well, I could do without Cease throwing seven-innings’ worth of pitches in five; that would be 108, in case you’re counting. Sorry, but that kind of inefficiency doesn’t work against good teams. Cease proved that in the start before, when he threw 110 pitches in a mere 4.2 innings against the Dodgers. Waste not, want not. The longer Sox starters go, the less they have to rely on a bullpen where the injuries just seem to keep piling up. Joe Kelly comes off the IL only for Kyle Crick and Liam Hendriks to go on, which is more than enough company for Aaron Bummer. Something’s wrong here. Part of the problem may be a combination of bad luck and bad conditioning, but I wonder if it’s not more than that, like the inevitable consequence of power pitching. If all a pitcher does from the start of his pro career is throw hard, he may be an injury in waiting. From what I can tell, teams are content to keep drafting power pitchers to replace the ones lost to injury; talk about oblivious, if not cynical. My kingdom for the likes of Ted Abernathy, Lindy McDaniel, Bob Stanley….