Same Old Same Old

I hope new White Sox manager Will Venable likes losing because his team sure is off to a losing start, 0-4 in Cactus League play. The Sox have been outscored 36-12 by the opposition along the way. Hitting coach Marcus Thames continues to work his magic with hitters, who’ve put up a .177 team BA. (Amazingly, the Twins are worse at .165. They must be bummed Justin Ishbia took a pass on buying the team.) Wait, there’s more. Pitching coach Ethan Katz continues to work his magic with pitchers, who’ve put up a 9.55 team ERA. Nobody in baseball is worse. Advantage, Sox hitters. Not to worry, right, because it’s only spring training? Then why should I care about Sox rookie catcher Kyle Teel homering off of Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki? If spring training games don’t count for anything, the Teel-Sasaki matchup in a simulated game counts for even less. Which brings me to another question—why does Teel, a big part of the trade that sent Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox, have one at-bat in four games? Shouldn’t Venable and general manager Chris Getz want to see what Teel has to offer right out of the gate? Is there any reason for Korey Lee, Omar Narvaez and Matt Thaiss to be playing ahead of Teel? None that I can see. The White Sox have some 70 players in camp, which means they’re lucky to have 30 worthy of making an MLB roster. Giving everyone an at-bat and touting simulated-game homeruns is both cruel and stupid.