Me, Not Me

If I’m White Sox starter Travis Martin, I’m either throwing stuff in the dugout after leaving last night’s game with one out in the eighth inning or counting down the days to free agency. Heaping praise on my catcher for good pitch-calling wouldn’t factor into it. But that’s what Martin did after going a career-high 7.1 innings. At the time of his exit, Martin had given up just one run on four hits and a walk. Of course, the Sox were down 1-0, but still, there was hope. I mean, a runner on first and one out. What could go wrong? Oh, right, Cam Booser could give up a walk and a single before tossing a big, fat cutter to Julio Rodriguez for a grand slam. Mariners 5 White Sox 1. Martin has a 3.49 ERA to go with a 2-5 record. Sox starters have a 3.85 ERA, tied with the Astros and Giants for sixteenth best in baseball. They’re within striking distance of thirteenth, held by the Pirates with a 3.81 ERA. But the Pirates don’t hit, either. In fact, they’re last in all of baseball with 142 runs scored. The Sox are sixteen better than that, but another one-run performance by the offense could put them behind the Rockies for second-to-last. Yup, that’s something to hang your cap on for a rebuild. Me, I’m the manager, I’m ticked off and showing public displeasure, especially at my offense. New-Mickey Venable prefers rainbows and unicorns. He praised the “really good fastball” of Mariners’ starter Luis Castillo and mentioned “a couple of hard-hit balls early” by Sox hitters. [both quotes from today’s Tribune story online]. Me, I’m the team owner, I’d want to avoid a repeat of 2024 at all cost. But Jerry Reinsdorf..well, it’s hard to say exactly what Reinsdorf thinks because he doesn’t deign to talk to the media. Me, I take that as a message in itself.