Growing Up

Clare-a Barton took a few minutes away from caring for her two patients last night to call. “I can’t believe Billy Hamilton,” she said. I was a few minutes behind watching the White Sox game on TIVO and hadn’t yet seen what the recent (re-)addition to the roster accomplished. But, yes, wow. Hamilton came in to run for Yasmani Grandal after Grandal opened the bottom of the eighth with a single and the Sox ahead of the Twins by a run, 5-4 (and wouldn’t you like to see those two in a tortoise-and-the-hare race?). Hanser Alberto sacrificed Hamilton to second, and that’s where he scored from on a groundball out by Elvis Andrus to second baseman Jorge Polanco. The play at the plate wasn’t even close. Talk about a tantalizing skill set. Hamilton is exceptional both at running the bases and playing the outfield; the man just can’t hit. He has a career .239 BA, and it hasn’t been that high or better since 2017. Hamilton is still playing because of that skill set and his willingness to do whatever is asked of him to help his team. If only Dylan Cease did as much. Last night marked Cease’s sixth start of the season. He hasn’t gone more than six innings since Opening Day on March 30th, while his last four starts have gone four; four; five; and five innings. Last night, he blew an early 3-0 lead. The four walks didn’t hurt him, but the five hits certainly did. Another homerun by Nick Gordon? Really? After the game, Cease told reporters, “It wasn’t good, but it was good enough.” [today’s Sun-Times] No, it wasn’t, not for someone who’s supposed to be the staff ace and one of the best pitchers in baseball. Cease has a 4.58 ERA. I’m sure Scott Boras will spin that as a reflection of the bad baseball the White Sox are playing. And Dylan Cease is right in the middle of it. Bad pitching makes for bad scores.