Smartly Said and Doe

Luis Robert Jr. walked up to the plate in the ninth inning yesterday looking for his third homerun of the series against the Angels. Instead, Robert took a fastball to his left forearm from reliever Jacob Webb. The White Sox centerfielder stole second and third on consecutive pitches before scoring on a triple by Andrew Vaughn. That put the Sox ahead 8-5 in what ended as a 9-7 Sox win. What a coincidence that the Sox and Angels don’t meet again in the regular season. If they did, I’d like to see if Shohei Ohtani merited a pitch to the ribs for hitting seven homers against the Sox. We’ll never know. But at least we know that Zach Remillard made a difference batting leadoff for the first time in his major-league career. The twenty-nine year old rookie responded by going 2-for-4 with a walk, two RBIs and a run scored; the two outs were borderline strikes called on full counts. No, Remillard isn’t the second coming of Nellie Fox. He’s just an intelligent player who right now is showing how to get A-level results out of B-level talent. I also heard him use the word “reiterate” in a postgame interview yesterday. I checked. Remillard went to Coastal Carolina all four years.

Wakeup Call

My daughter fell asleep on the couch last night watching the White Sox-Angels’ game. By now, she’s awake to the fact her team won, 11-5, banging out seventeen hits along the way. Nice to see my “core” of players produced: Luis Robert Jr. and Eloy Jimenez both homering; Andrew Vaughn hitting a three-run double; and Jake Burger showing signs of life with a leg double. Seby Zavala isn’t part of the core, but I’ll take two homers and four RBIs out of the nine-hole any day of the week. Which brings us to Zach Remillard and Lucas Giolito. What can you say about Remillard? He notched three hits, including a picture-perfect bunt he beat out, moving Burger to third along the way during a two-run ninth inning. As for Giolito, there he was, being humble again. “Our offense was the story tonight. Not me, the offense,” he told reporters after the game [story on team website today]. Sorry, Lucas, but your performance deserves some comment, like how you retired twelve straight batters, from the first into the fifth inning; went seven innings on ninety-eight pitches (Michael Kopech, please note); struck out nine while walking none. Not bad. As for those two first-inning runs featuring triples by Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, White Sox outfielders all of a sudden switched from baseball to soccer. No doubt, Rick Hahn will tell that to Giolito’s prospective suitors at the trade deadline.

Clueless, Depressed

Last night in Anaheim, Michael Kopech failed to pitch five innings, again, while Tim Anderson failed to get a hit, again, all of which contributed to a 4-2 loss to the Angels. As ever, manager Pedro Grifol spoke gibber to reporters after the game, offering that his starter’s command “wasn’t typical Kopech.” Oh, yes, it was. Kopech threw 102 pitches in four-plus innings, striking out three and walking seven. This is who he is, a starter who has failed to go more than four innings in four of his last six starts. The question now becomes, will he ever change? As for Anderson, he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts (the same as Luis Robert Jr., whose anointing to true star status may be a little premature, at least when Shohei Ohtani pitches). In the bottom of a first inning that seemed to go on forever, pitching coach Ethan Katz came out for a mound visit, the Sox infield following their coach to the mound. Anderson stood off to the side, took off his cap and studied the insides, as if the answer to his troubles were written somewhere on the lining. I’m serious in saying he may be clinically depressed. At the very least, Anderson looks unable to do anything but go through the motions in the field and at the plate. Come to think of it, so do most of his teammates.

Winners and Losers

Baseball games are won or lost based on performance. Last night in Anaheim, Reynaldo Lopez; Aaron Bummer; and Yasmani Grandal combined to lose a game in the ninth inning for the White Sox. Lopez started by walking Mike Trout, who had struck out his three previous at-bats. Lopez then departed for Aaron Bummer, who promptly walked Shohei Ohtani. Wait, there’s more. Trout and Ohtani were credited with a double steal when Bummer bounced a ball that Grandal couldn’t handle. I’d mention here what constitutes a good catcher, but even a casual observer knows Grandal is anything but. He proved it yet again with one out and Mike Moustakas up. Lefty-lefty matchup that Bummer proceeded to throw away with a…wild pitch, of course. With an assist from Grandal, I should note. A good catcher would’ve kept the ball in front of him, assuming he didn’t catch it in the first place (the pitch landed in the righthand batter’s box). Not only did Grandal fail to locate the ball, which had rolled a few feet behind him, he threw it over Bummer’s head when he did find it. And for this Rick Hahn paid $73 million. Grandal was in the game because manager Pedro Grifol used him to pinch hit for Seby Zavala in the eighth inning. The only way that move works is if Grandal hits a homerun; he struck out. Now, let’s say he got on base. Then what? Babe Ruth in his current state probably runs better. With no other catcher on the roster, it’s Grandal or bust. Which is just how the Sox went.

Accentuate, Repeat

The White Sox opened with Tanner Banks yesterday against the Red Sox; followed with three relievers; and got two homeruns from Luis Robert Jr. in a 4-1 win. How refreshing to take a series. Speaking of Robert, he now has twenty-one homers and forty-two RBIs; project those numbers out, you’ve got yourself one heck of a Strat-O-Matic card. Robert’s ninety-one strikeouts also indicate he’s going to go down swinging close to 200 times. All you can do is take the bad with the good while hoping the good comes with coattails. Maybe a healthy Robert will rub off on Eloy Jimenez while a dangerous Robert benefits the people batting in front of and behind him. Hello, Andrew Vaughn and Jake Burger. That’s how White Sox fans hope, or, at least, I do.

Bloops and Blasts

We White Sox fans always accentuate the positive. Just kidding. But why not just for a change of pace? Yesterday, Sox hitters clubbed four solo-shots in a 5-4 win over the Red Sox, with three of the homeruns coming from among what I describe as the team core: Jake Burger, Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn. Yasmani Grandal also homered, in the same way he had a ball go off his glove in the ninth inning that set up Boston’s tying run. Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered had Tim Anderson handled a one-hop shot at second base, but Anderson isn’t fielding his new position any better than he does shortstop. But we’re accentuating the positive here, so enough of that. With two out in the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets singled on a groundball that handcuffed first baseman Triston Casas. Pinch-runner Zach Remillard promptly stole second base and scored on Elvis Andrus’ bloop to right. Remillard showed some nice speed in beating the throw to the plate. In his postgame interview, Andrus said two things that stood out, that he had an idea of how closer Kenley Jansen would pitch him from having faced Jansen Friday night and that he adjusted his approach after Remillard stole second. All he needed to win the game was a single rather than an extra-base hit. This is a smart ballplayer. No wonder the Sox didn’t sign him as a teenage out of Venezuela and instead waited until he was in his fourteenth major-league season. Oops. I need to stay positive.

Makes Me Want to Cry

White Sox pitching held the opposition to four hits last night. Unfortunately, the Sox defense made two errors setting up two unearned runs in a 3-1 loss to the visiting Red Sox. I hate obnoxious East Coast baseball groupies. Lucas Giolito was very good, yielding one earned run over six innings on three hits and a walk; Giolito struck out ten of the seventeen Boston hitters who fanned on the night. And still they lost. A shoutout to Tim Anderson for volunteering to play second, if only he had shown up in mind as well as body. Giolito made a perfect pickoff throw at second that bounced off Anderson’s glove and led to a run. Anderson is an emotional wreck due to personal problems. Right now, he’s no good to himself or the team. Hitting coaches Jose Castro and Chris Johnson are lucky to work for Jerry Reinsdorf, who values loyalty over results. Sox hitters are twenty-second in BA (.234); last in OBP (.292); and second from last in walks (187). Such is the White Sox approach to winning.

Coach

Clare and a former college teammate went to a softball thing Monday. I say “thing” because it was a game where players vie for individual points. Talk about squaring the circle. Anyway, ESPN broadcasts some of the games. So it goes for college players who suddenly find themselves on the other side of their senior-year season. They do that or try to play for one of the four teams that claim to be “pro,” though the pay level might indicate otherwise. The venues are in Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, so heat shouldn’t be a problem, though it will be a concern. Of course, no major-league scout will bother to go any of these games because it’s softball and women. The person I put into that situation is now the mother of a nearly two-year old. I was teasing her the other day how in ten years she’ll be going to tournaments, this time to watch rather than play. “Just as long as it’s ninety degrees.” A parent should have full experience. Clare made a remark that struck me as both true and good: “Leo will be the only player who has his mother for a hitting coach.” I can’t wait.

Pure Genius

The genius of White Sox general manager Rick Hahn was on full display in last night’s 6-3 loss to the Rangers. Oh, the fruits of Hahn’s rebuild. One of them, Yoan Moncada, is out with back issues and won’t come back until…right now, it’s up in the air in the same way Moncada’s productivity is lost somewhere in the basement. Another, Michael Kopech, started and lasted all of four innings. After the game, Kopech told reporters, “I know what this team needs and I know I’ve been not giving that. To not be getting more than five innings per start, especially in my last few, it’s embarrassing to say the least.” [story on team website today] Yeah, for me, too. Let’s not forget Hahn’s manager while we’re at it. Pedro Grifol was in full gibber mode, saying he didn’t want to push Kopech on account of all the innings he’s pitched, which happen to be fewer than fellow starters Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease and Lance Lynn. Couple that with Grifol’s mantra about learning through losses, and you’re left with the full genius of Rick Hahn, that’s what. I mean, who else would’ve made first-round draft picks out of the likes of Zack Burdi; Zack Collins; Carson Fulmer; and Nick Madrigal? Oh, and let’s not forget Garrett Crochet, who’s gone from having Tommy John surgery last year to getting a cortisone shot in his sore left shoulder this week. Yup, Hahn can really pick ’em. Why, look at all his draft picks and acquisitions at Double-A Birmingham. One dares to ask if the Barons’ 22-43 record doesn’t indicate more than a bit of overachieving. And all that Four-A talent at Triple-A Charlotte has managed to go 33-37. If that doesn’t get Hahn GM of the Year, I don’t know what will.

Compare and Contrast

The White Sox were up to their usual antics last night, blowing two two-run leads, falling behind by two in the eighth. Then lightning struck or this particular dog had his night. Either way, the Sox prevailed over the Rangers, 7-6. Tim Anderson pinch hit during the three-run eighth inning. About all you could say about Anderson’s at-bat with two on and one out is that he didn’t hit into a double play. Just a slow grounder to second that advanced the runners for Elvis Andrus to single in. Thank you, Tim and Elvis. Next up, Zach Remillard, who singled in what proved to be the winning run after the plate ump’s out call of Andrus was reversed when it was determined that catcher’s Jonah Heim block of the plate had left Andrus nowhere to go and was therefore illegal. Again, thank you. What stood out for me was how differently the star and journeyman approached their at-bats. With Anderson, every swing is an overswing, usually resulting in a groundball out. Compare that to Remillard. Twice now in four games, he’s been up with the game on the line and delivered. Each time, Remillard has put the ball in play, nothing more nothing less. Do that often enough, and good things will happen more often than not. The thing of it is, that’s what Anderson should be showing the minor-league callup how to do. I guess these days it’s the world upside down on the South Side.

P.O.'d

Because the White Sox lack pitching depth and they refuse to commit to free agents current or future, e.g., Lucas Gilito, they go the bargain-basement route, e.g., Mike Clevinger. When Clevinger makes one of his visits to the IL, two so far this season and counting, everyone gets reminded about that lack of pitching depth. Tanner Banks opened rather than started, and the Sox lost rather than won, 5-2 to the visiting Rangers. Consider that Sox hitters have the lowest on-base percentage and walk the fewest times in all of baseball. Sox pitchers, on the other hand, have the eighth-worst staff ERA and the second-most walks in all of baseball. Really, a tip of the cap to manager Pedro Grifol and his staff. Some ordering of the above left GM Rick Hahn so worked up yesterday that he actually spoke in the active voice. When he heard that a national reporter had doubts about Grifol’s continued employment, Hahn told reporters, “It pissed me off.” Now he knows how most Sox fans feel.

A Total Waste

I spent a good portion of yesterday afternoon playing trucks with my grandson, which kept me from seeing much of Lance Lynn’s start against the Mariners. But I do know how to read a box score, which shows that Lynn struck out sixteen before being lifted with one on and nobody out in the eighth inning of a 2-1 game. It was imperative not to waste Lynn’s effort and to keep Seattle from adding an insurance run. Mission failed. For reasons best known to himself, manager Pedro Grifol brought in Reynaldo Lopez, who did not disappoint, the Mariners, that is. Lopez issued two two-out walks to bring up the left-handed hitting Jarred Kelenic, the Mariners’ version of Luis Robert Jr. (another two strikeouts there, but I digress). Math wasn’t my major in college, but I can count three lefties in the Sox bullpen. And not one of them faced Kelenic, who sat on a 1-0 fastball from Lopez for a bases-clearing triple. After the game, Grifol was gushing over Lynn, who tied the franchise record for strikeouts in a game. Not a word on Lopez, though, who looked detached to the point of bored. If only that were a onetime thing. But, hey, the Sox are working on draft position for 2024, and with Rick Hahn in charge of things, you never know. Second coming of Carson Fulmer or Zack Collins, anyone?

If Just for a Day

The White Sox brought up infielder Zach Remillard on Thursday to take the place of the injured Yoan Moncada going. The move was both reward and admission. Remillard has been working his way through the system since getting picked in the tenth round of the 2016 draft, and the Sox basically have no one better to bring up. Remillard did not disappoint in his major-league debut. Coming in after a shoulder injury to Tim Anderson in the fourth inning, Remillard set a slew of team and major-league with three hits, a walk and two RBIs. The first RBI single tied the game in the ninth, the second gave the Sox a 4-3 lead in the eleventh which they did not let go of. Manager Pedro Grifol has sense enough to start Remillard at second base today. Remillard was quoted in the Tribune Saturday that, “You play since you are a kid with a dream in your heart to get to this level and compete at the highest level in the world.” Maybe someday that will hold for girls as well as tenth-round draft picks.

Brain Trust

Hats off to White Sox GM Rick Hahn. He’s making me nostalgic for ex-manager Tony La Russa and last year’s coaching staff. Has there ever been anyone more in over his head than La Russa’s replacement, Pedro Grifol? The Sox lost, again, last night, 3-2 to the Mariners. Michael Kopech needed 102 pitches to throw 4.1 innings while Sox hitters struck out sixteen times. But never fear, Grifol foot-in-mouth is here. Grifol said after the game that the Mariners “ran some good arms out there” [today’s online Tribune story] and “Our pitching staff has kept us in ballgames. And they continue to keep us in ballgames. We’re fighting hard, but our pitchers have been doing that for quite some time.” One, I don’t need my team always praising the opposition. Two, 4.1 innings is a sign of failure, pure and simple. As for all the strikeouts by his hitters, Grifol offered that, “I need to look at the tape of the game. I’m never discrediting how hard it is to hit at this level.” [both quotes from today’s story on team website] Kopech was hard on himself in speaking to reporters, but that’s not his job; the manager and the pitching coach should be handling those duties. All I see is Ethan Katz taking notes in the dugout. As for hitting coaches Jose Castro and Chris Johnson, they obviously have nothing of value to say. Luis Robert Jr. struck out four times, Jake Burger and Andrew Vaughn three times apiece. If you don’t put the ball in play, you can’t get on base. It’s not rocket science, it’s baseball. Too bad Hahn and company are so clueless.

Textbook

Bad teams find a way to lose. Last night, the White Sox hit four solo shots and took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth against the Dodgers. Bases loaded, two out, Reynaldo Lopez on the mound. How do you say “tying grand slam”? Of course, if Dylan Cease went a full six innings, then maybe Lopez isn’t in the game. But Cease needed 102 pitches to reach one out in the sixth, hence Lopez. Did I mention Sox hitters struck out sixteen times in an eleven-inning, 5-4 loss? Bad teams often have bad managers; I’ll let you decide about Pedro Grifol. What amazes me, though, is what comes out of his mouth, and doesn’t. Grifol said Lopez “left a fastball over the plate” [today’s online Tribune story] to Chris Taylor. Ya think? And Elvis Andrus got picked off of third base because he “just got caught in an arm fake” by the catcher. Faked out? Andrus is in his fifteenth major-league season. I’m not aware Grifol said anything about Cease, who said “for the most part I commanded the zone pretty well, got ahead in the count and got a few strikeouts. It was pretty solid.” [story today on team website] Cease was chill enough to add, “It’s disappointing, but we fought really hard. Sometimes that’s just the way baseball goes, you know?” At the other extreme, Jake Burger was taking responsibility for not coming through in the eleventh inning, striking out instead of advancing the runner to third. “We like the four home runs,” Burger having one of them. “But for me, I didn’t execute, and that’s it.” Why have a manager if all he’s going to do is repeat what happened while letting his players get to the heart of the matter? Beats me.

My Rebuild

Last night at Dodger Stadium, Jake Burger hit two homeruns, or, one fewer in one game than Yoan Moncada has hit all season. Burger’s first homer gave the Sox the lead, his second tied the game in the eighth inning as the White Sox rallied from a 4-2 deficit for an 8-4 win. There’s speculation Moncada is headed for the IL. Gosh, who knew? I wonder what’s wrong. It can’t possibly be his back. Just because he’s hitting .232 doesn’t mean there’s something wrong, right? To my way of thinking, it doesn’t matter if Moncada is healthy or not. He’s simply not the answer at third base; Burger is. If it were up to me, I’d redefine the team core as Burger; Dylan Cease; Garrett Crochet; Lucas Giolito; Michael Kopech; Eloy Jimenez; and Luis Robert. Andrew Benintendi you’re stuck with because of his contract (and he does get on base). Everyone else outside of Liam Hendriks, I’d try to move, and that includes Tim Anderson. But what do I know? I root for the White Sox.

Why Bother?

I watched Lance Lynn do his thing again, this time giving up four first-inning runs on two two-run homers, setting the White Sox on their way to a 5-1 loss to the Dodgers on the road. I went to bed early and left the rest for TIVO. The box score has Rick Hahn’s fingerprints all over it—Lynn four earned runs over five innings, which pretty much explains his 4-7 record and 6.75 ERA; four more homerless at-bats for Andrew Benintendi, now giving him 230 for the season and counting; one pity hit for Yoan Moncada (no one covering first on a grounder to second base), who’s now hitting .232 and has one homerun since April 2nd; another missed game for the chronically injured Eloy Jimenez; plus ten strikeouts scattered through the order. It doesn’t get much worse than this, until you realize Hahn still has a job and that’s his pick managing in the dugout. Now it’s worse.

Fat Chance

A’s fans hope to pack the Coliseum for tonight’s game against the Rays in an effort to show the powers that be Oakland is a good place for baseball but John Fisher is a bad owner. Good luck with that. Let’s say they pack the place with just under 47,000 fans. Then what? Fisher belongs to an exclusive group, or a cartel, if you prefer, where one baseball team owner scratches the back of another, and Rob Manfred keeps everyone itch-free in his role as commissioner. These guys are going to rise up against one of their own? I doubt it. Anyone in the mood, I suggest they Google “Jerry Reinsdorf baseball public interest” and read what Reinsdorf had to say a little before he joined ownership ranks. Why, owning a team was a “public trust,” and Reinsdorf said he “never did forgive Walter O’Malley for moving the Dodgers” from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Only Reinsdorf later threatened to move the Sox to Florida if he didn’t get a new stadium built for him. Last month, Manfred was up in Milwaukee trying to pressure public officials to find close to $450 million in renovations the Brewers say American Family Field nee Miller Park requires. Wow, twenty-two years old and in need of so much work. According to Manfred, it’s got to be done because the lease says so. Threats implied and inferred are left to the beholder. Yeah, Reinsdorf and Manfred are going to lead the charge to get the A’s new ownership. Just as soon as hell freezes over.

Flush, Flush

Bad baseball teams find a way to lose. If there was ever any question about it, yesterday showed once and for all the White Sox are a bad baseball team. A good team doesn’t blow a 5-1 lead going into the eighth inning or let a .191 hitter get his first homerun in 194 at-bats to lead off the ninth or put the tying run on base by catcher’s interference or give up a two-out, two-run double for a 6-5 loss. A good team doesn’t have a manager call the loss a “heartbreaker” and talk about flushing it in order to move on. (All that flushing of detritus isn’t good for the plumbing, BTW.) A good team doesn’t have a manager who uses Yasmani Grandal to pinch hit for the catcher because, if Grandal gets on without homering, he becomes a liability on the basepaths. A good team doesn’t waste seven innings of one-run ball from Lucas Giolito, thus giving Giolito all the incentive he needs to leave even if GM Rick Hahn were to make a sincere, albeit lowball, effort to resign him. But, like I said, the Sox aren’t a good team.

Say What?

In Friday night’s win against the Marlins, White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson fielded a ball with the infield in and threw out Jorge Soler trying to score from third. Manager Pedro Grifol called it “a hell of a play.” In truth, it’s the kind of play you’d expect from a major-league shortstop. Yesterday, the Sox again played the infield in, this time in the top of the ninth while clinging to a 1-0 lead. Bases loaded, nobody out. The ball again went to Anderson, who bobbled it, thus opening the floodgates for what turned into a 5-1 loss. By my count, that’s the third time this season Anderson has muffed a ball with the infield in. Grifol bent so far backwards after the game in his defense of Anderson that he said the ball had all sorts of left-handed spin on it, only the Marlins’ Bryan De La Cruz, who hit it, bats righthanded. To his credit, Anderson took the blame for not making the play. If Grifol doesn’t want to call out his players in public, fine. But showering them with unearned praise is little different than handing out participation awards the way they do in T-ball. I thought this was supposed to be the big leagues.

Baby Steps

The adult Dylan Cease showed up for the second start in a row, limiting the visiting Marlins to one run over six innings, and he only threw ninety-five pitches. Who knew Cease had it in him? Luis Robert Jr. also showed up for his final at-bat. As Harry Caray used to say about Ron Cey, why would anyone throw this guy a fastball? Robert looked bad all night on breaking balls, down or away, take your pick. Then, with the winning run on second and one out in the bottom of the ninth, he hit a ball that didn’t break enough for the game winner in a Sox 2-1 victory. I can’t bring myself to say how many games the Sox are under .500, but it is half as many as it once was, and we’re talking fourteen here. Baby steps are better than no steps.

Three Pitches

Over the course of three pitches across two games, Jake Burger hit two homers that accounted for six runs. The walk-off grand slam beat Detroit on Sunday while the two-run drive started the scoring in a 6-5 win over the Yankees in the first game of a doubleheader yesterday. Manager Pedro Grifol spoke some gibber about matchups determining lineups. But if that were the case, Yoan Moncada would be playing a lot less. Moncada is hitting .202 with nine RBIs over his last thirty games vs. Burger’s .283 with twenty-one RBIs. Back to you, Skip. Neither Burger nor Moncada did anything in the second game, with the Sox losing 3-0. It’s too bad Grifol didn’t flipflop his starters. If you’re going to lose a game, may as well let Lance Lynn do the honors. Lynn gave up five runs on eight hits over five innings; five of the hits went for extra bases. Something’s not right here. Mike Clevinger looked like a legitimate starter while taking the loss, Lynn a definite liability on the mound in a no-decision. The above plus the Sox just 3-1/2 games behind the Twins. Strange times, indeed.

Say What?

Lucas Giolito pitched six innings of no-hit ball last night at Yankee Stadium,. Too bad it took Giolito 100 pitches to get there. For better or worse, manager Pedro Grifol brought in Joe Kelly for the seventh. The Yankees then got their first hit of the game with a two-out double that Luis Robert Jr. definitely could’ve caught but didn’t in a miscommunication with left fielder Andrew Benintendi. A 3-0 lead courtesy of two homeruns from catcher Seby Zavala turned into a 3-1 game which turned into a 3-2 game in the ninth when Josh Donaldson homered on the first pitch he saw from Liam Hendriks. Three groundouts to Tim Anderson later, and Hendriks had his first save of the season. Good thing I’m not a White Sox beat reporter. Because I’d make it my calling to be Rick Hahn’s shadow, the better to ask him what he’s going to do about Giolito, now 5-4 on the season with a 3.75 ERA. The righthander turns twenty-nine next month and a free agent at season’s end. Is Giolito another Carlos Rodon? No, and with Rodon yet to throw a pitch this season after signing a six-year $162 million deal with them, the Yankees probably wish they had Giolito instead. Is Giolito another Jacob deGrom, now set for his second Tommy John surgery after signing with the Rangers for six-years at $185 million? No, and the Rangers are probably wishing they had spent that money on someone not turning thirty-five in a couple of weeks. How do the Sox intend to replace Giolito? That’s the question Hahn should face every day he appears in public. Does he think Mike Clevinger is the answer? Lance Lynn? Someone in the minors so hidden nobody has heard of him? Curious minds want to know. The thing about Giolito is he’s probably the smartest person in any room he enters. Not only does he know that, he knows everyone in the room knows it, On top of that, he’s self-deprecating so as not to make anyone feel uncomfortable. That’s either an endearing or infuriating trait. I go with number one. If you have to overpay for pitching (and you do), then you give the money to a pretty young player with his head screwed on right as opposed to the likes of Trevor Bauer. Right, Rick? Speaking of the Sox GM, Grifol is a quick learner when it comes to blowing Hahn-smoke. Consider what he had to say about not starting Jake Burger last night. All Burger did in the game before was hit a walk-off grand slam. “I’m not going to sit there and explain why. Just know that if [Burger isn’t] playing, that if it’s [Gavin] Sheets or somebody else playing, that’s a better matchup that particular day. We’re going to put the best matchup out there. And that’s a good problem to have. To provide what Burger provides, who doesn’t want Burger in the lineup? I want him, too. However, we only have nine spots. And it’s really not nine spots because he can’t catch, play shortstop or center field.” [today’s Sun-Times] What Grifol failed to mention was that the righthanded Burger has eight of his twelve homers against righties, along with twenty-one of his twenty-nine RBIs. He hits lefties for higher average—.282 vs. .258 against right-handers—but the tradeoff in power is well worth it. The only possible knock on Burger is that virtually all of his production has come at home; only one homer and three RBIs have come on the road. The one way to change that is to play him more on the road. I mean, if you want the best matchup and all.

The Shameless and the Gullible

Things aren’t going as smoothly in Arlington Heights as the Bears expected. Those pesky school districts aren’t rolling over in support of the idea of letting the team negotiate their real estate tax assessment. Apparently, the McCaskeys aren’t big on literacy for their future fans. So, last week the team let it be known that they’re looking elsewhere for a new stadium. No, not Chicago. The McCaskey family wants to run operations now, be the landlord, not the tenant. Instead, the Munsters are looking at Naperville, a good drive away from Arlington Heights in west-suburban DuPage County. Oh, the Naperville mayor thinks his community could accommodate the Munsters nicely while the Arlington Heights’ mayor he’d be doing the same thing if he were the team, because, really, extortion and due diligence are one and the same. Then, today, I see a letter to the editor in the Tribune from a self-appointed group of Arlington Heights’ business people and residents calling for everyone to pull together to get this “unique opportunity to do something big” “across the goal line.” Talk about good little Quislings. At no point in the letter did the writer acknowledge the school districts that would be affected by a new Bears’ stadium development are doing fine as is; it’s the tax break the team wants that threaten to hurt the schools’ funding. And, of course, nobody talks traffic. You can get to Soldier Field any number of ways. In Arlington Heights, it’s pretty much going to be one or two roads, and they won’t be leading to paradise. What looks to be the most likely site in Naperville is even less accessible. But to point out the obvious renders me a killjoy. So be it.

Props

If I’m going to criticize the White Sox, it’s only fair to praise them when they get it right. Yesterday against the Tigers, they got it right. Starting with Michael Kopech, who was even more of a big boy than Dylan Cease looked on Saturday. Kopech went seven innings, giving up two runs—on a homerun, naturally—on a mere three hits and a walk while striking out nine. More of that, please. And I can’t forget crazy Joe Kelly (might be a nickname in that), who threw a scoreless eighth inning, complete with a quick-pitch strikeout of Jake Rogers. Way to go, Flamingo (check the video, also consider a second nickname). How fitting that Liam Hendriks, in just his third appearance since coming back from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, picked up the win with a one-two-three ninth. I like Hendriks. He’s blunt, approachable, charismatic in an Aussie sort of way. The way he’s handled his bout with cancer speaks volumes about his character. But who’d think I’d have anything nice to say about Pedro Grifol? Well, print it out and clip it. Grifol did some nifty managing in the bottom of the ninth by employing three straight lefthanded pinch-hitters—Andrew Beneintendi, Gavin Sheets and Yoan Moncada—in a 2-2 tie against righty reliever Alex Lange, who had given up all of three runs in twenty-four games this season. Benintendi singled, Sheets struck out and Moncada walked for you fans keeping score out there. Tim Anderson also walked, to fill the bases. Next up Jake Burger, with three strikeouts and a walk on the day. All Burger did was hit a walk-off grand slam. How do you say “sweep”? All the above-mentioned contributors are going to have to keep it up in the Bronx starting tomorrow. Going from sweep to swept is never a good look.

Chutes and Ladders

My grandson is two months shy of his second birthday, and already he exudes more energy than Luis either Robert Jr. or Yoan Moncada, both of whom went 0-for-4 yesterday against the Tigers. It’s reaching the point where Leo can hit a ball further than either of those two. Lucky for the White Sox that the adult Dylan Cease decided to show up for his start. Cease gave up one run in 5.1 innings and could’ve had a shutout going but for 1) Robert not catching a triple (Jason Benetti thought it was a great try, so who am I to think otherwise?); and 2) a wild pitch with Yasmani Grandal catching (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). That was the only run the Tigers scored on the day. And because Detroit manager A.J. Hinch decided to start Eric Haase behind the plate, the Sox won in ten, 2-1, all runs scoring on wild pitches, the first time in over a hundred years that three runs in a game have scored that way. How nice to be a part of history.

Signs and Portents

Romy Gonzalez looked interesting two years ago when he had a cup of coffee with the White Sox. Same thing last season, until he started striking out all the time (thirty-nine whiffs in 105 at-bats). It was the same thing until about two weeks ago, when he came off the IL. Offensively, a whole different player. Then, last night, Gonzalez made two plus plays at second base, one to his left and the other to his right. After making the second play in the top of the sixth inning, he naturally led off the bottom of the sixth against the Tigers. Gonzalez singled for the first Sox hit of the game and scored the first run in a 3-0 win. Does this mean Gonzalez has won the second-base job? Not judging by today’s lineup, which includes the just-activated Elvis Andrus at second. But it does mean Andrus coming back cost Hanser Alberto, not Gonzalez, a roster sport. In White Sox World, this bit of addition through subtraction marks real progress, not to be confused with the recent performances of Luis Robert Jr. (four hits in his last twenty-five at-bats, including three strikeouts last night) and Yoan Moncada (two for his last nineteen). Like I said, White Sox World.

The Numbers Tell a Story

The Bears complain that Soldier Field is too small, with a seating capacity of 61,500. (But they haven’t said how big their hoped-for stadium in Arlington Heights will be. Best not to tick off the fans sooner than you have to.) The Bills, on the other hand, intend to leave a stadium seating just under 72,000 for one that will seat 62,000. I guess the McCaskeys and the Pegulas aren’t in the habit of exchanging numbers. Over in the world of baseball, anything the size of Soldier Field would be considered mammoth. Dodger Stadium has the biggest MLB capacity, topping out at 56,000. Guess how big—or small—the A’s new home will be in Las Vegas? I’ve seen estimates of 30,000 and 35, 000, nothing higher. Gone are the days of close to 80,000 fans watching Bob Feller pitch in Cleveland or over 80,000 cheer Babe Ruth and company in the Bronx. Less is more nowadays. Answer me this, then: If football and baseball owners don’t depend on ticket revenue the way the once did, why is going to a game so incredibly expensive? You’d think teams would hold prices down if only out of pity. But you’d be wrong.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

The old me would’ve been screaming after Lance Lynn gave up eight runs in his latest start, and pointing out that 6.55 ERA is a pretty sure sign of a thirty-six year old athlete in serious decline. But if Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani want to launch balls into the stratosphere on the way to an Angels’ 12-5 win, that’s Zen by me. Lynn talked about having to get better; so did manager Pedro Grifol. Old me would say, “Less talk, more action.” Now, I smile at the flood of postgame cluelessness. Grifol inserted Jake Burger at second base in the eighth inning; Burger had three hits the night before, only to sit for most of the game. Oh, little grasshopper, don’t concern yourself over the ways of rookie managers out of their depth. Just watch Burger hit his eleventh homerun in his only at-bat. And be happy.