Coming Down

The beginning of this baseball season, Michele and I were running around Los Angeles, leaving me to catch up on the White Sox through MLB.com. Last week, Clare and I were at The Rate for game four of the ALDS against the Guardians. And now my baseball season is over. On the plus side, no more anxiety or frustration. Colson Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami are done striking out, manager Vibes Venable has made his last head-scratching move of the year. Only, it’ll be another six months—or more, given the owners’ intention to lock out the players in December—before I get to see Sam Antonacci do his thing or before I can gauge Antonacci’s growth. Or Chase Meidroth’s or Miguel Vargas’s. This winter, the only hot-stove league may be in my imagination.

Eek! Eek! A Mouse!

The baseball establishment moved one step closer to full-out panic last night as the team with the 19th highest payroll per USA Today took a 2-0 series lead in the NLCS over the team with the second highest payroll. Brewers 7 Dodgers 4. The big-market team hoping for a three-peat—thereby justifying the need for a salary cap, to protect the little guys, who may or may not be worth a billion dollars—looked, how to put it, old as they got outhit 12-3 in Milwaukee. Maybe things will swing the Dodgers’ way with a change of venue starting tomorrow, or maybe not. But right now, Shohei Ohtani looks every bit the injury-ridden 32-year old. Not that Mookie Betts or Freddie Freeman or Will Smith is performing any better. Pity poor Rob Manfred. If the Brewers go up three games to none tomorrow, he’ll have to start looking at new talking points to justify an owners’ lockout in December. Oh, I’m sure he’ll find them. But I can’t help but enjoy the squirm.

Bad Start

I doubt any baseball team owner outside of Milwaukee is rooting for a Dodgers’ loss in the NLCS. If LA doesn’t get its three-peat, the owners can’t argue for a salary cap when they lock out the players—you can bet on that happening—come December. Big-market, small-market disparities and all that. But lose the Dodgers did, 2-1, The home-team Brewers used fourteen position players and pitcher in total, the only recognizable name belonging to starter Jacob Misiorowski. That’s because MLB and the networks dig the fastball. Only Misiorowski didn’t get the win, D.L, Hall—who he?—did. But Tarik Skubal picked up the loss because his teammates hit like, well, the White Sox. I mean, Ohtani, Betts and company are supposed to do better than one run on seven hits, right? And being the recipients of six walks should lead to more than one run in the second inning, yes? Forgive me if I forgot to mention the three double plays the visitors hit into. The Brewers against the world? In a corporate-boardroom sort of way, yes.

Clueless in Cleveland

The White Sox embarrassed themselves in front of a national television audience last night, losing game five of the ALDS to the Guardians, 2-0. And I don’t mean the pitchers did anything wrong. No, starter Sean Burke along with relievers Sean Newcomb and Grant Taylor pretty much held Cleveland hitters in check all night, except for that two-run shot Jose Ramirez golfed just over the right-field wall in the fourth inning. Here’s the thing, though. If not Ramirez, then someone else would’ve delivered the knockout blow, on a sacrifice fly or a slide under the tag at the plate, or something would’ve done it, a balk or a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth, maybe. Whatever, because when you strike out 21 times in a game the way the Sox did last night, you don’t win games. As embarrassing as that feat was, Sox manager Vibes Venable matched and then-some in his postgame comments, which started with congratulations to the Guardians and praise for the Cleveland pitchers. As for the 21 strikeouts, an MLB record breaking a two-day old record held by you know who, Venable said this: “I thought it was less about chase and more about being attacked in the zone and swing and miss in the zone.” [quote from story today on team website] I must’ve been watching a different game. By my count, Sox hitters generated 72 strikes, nineteen of which were outside the strike zone. That’s 26 percent. In addition, ten of the strikeouts were on balls outside the zone. Seems to me there was plenty of chase, Coach. What I want to know is, what kind of adjustments were attempted? I mean, after the tenth strikeout or so, the coaching staff recognized the problem, right? If not, GM Chris Getz needs to question the team’s approach to hitting. And, if the coaches were trying to get hitters to pull out of nothing short of a death spiral, why didn’t it work? Andrew Benintendi and Munetaka Murakami need to explain their thought processes as they struck four time apiece. Ditto for Kyle Teel and Chase Meidroth for getting punched out three times apiece. Next season will be a bust if the Sox fail to cut down on strikeouts. An Opening Day lineup featuring Murakami and Colson Montgomery, who totaled whiffs between them, gives one pause, and me a queasy stomach. That is not a foundation to build upon. The Sox used ten batters last night, including pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk. The only one who didn’t go down swinging was Sam Antonacci, who also managed one of the team’s three hits. What was Antonacci’s approach, and why didn’t his teammates copy it? Fans deserve to know.

Mike Ditka

Mike Ditka, who died yesterday at the age of 86, lived a life marked by contradiction and paradox: The Catholic boy who found Jesus through his second wife. The player who stood up to George Halas and the coach who ripped his players when they went out on strike. The adopted son of Chicago who regretted not running for the U.S. Senate, thereby keeping another adopted son of Chicago out of the White House. A little bit of Ditka went a long way, and Ditka did not believe in small portions of anything, including himself. Oh, but for just a tiny bit of Da Coach showing up tonight in White Sox manager Vibes Venable, who was quoted in today’s Tribune that you have to give “some credit” to Guardians’ pitchers for getting his hitters to strike out 56 times in four games of their ALDS. Ditka would call out his hitting coach and his players, challenging to come through with the season on the line. Will Venable do that?

Ready or Not

Erick Fedde; Miguel Vargas; Munetaka Murakami; Colson Montgomery; and Sam Antonacci all came ready to play last night in the White Sox 9-5 loss to the Guardians. Alas, Hagen Smith; Jordan Hicks; Anthony Kay; Grant Taylor; Randal Grichuk; and Braden Montgomery didn’t. Compounding matters, Sox manager Vibes Venable made any number of bonehead moves that helped guarantee a game five of the ALDS in Cleveland tomorrow night. Smith started and lasted only .2 innings before getting lifted for Fedde. Why? Because the rookie lefthander walked the bases loaded, that’s why. Of the 27 pitches he threw, only thirteen were strikes. There are three possible reasons for the lack of performance here—fatigue from the day before; fear; and the failure of the coaching staff to note fatigue and/or address said fear in their opener. Fedde relieved Smith in the first and pitched until out in the fifth. Technically, he gave up two runs in 3.2 innings of work, but one of those run came home courtesy of a gopher ball Jordan Hicks served up to Jose Ramirez. A packed house of nearly 40,000 crazed Sox fans—Clare and me included—broke into chants of “Fedde! Fedde!” throughout one of the gutsiest performance I’ve seen by a Sox pitcher. The Sox led 4-3 going into the sixth inning, when the wheels fell off the wagon. Anthony Kay hit a batter with one out and then gave up a line drive to Travis Bazzana that bounced off the glove of a diving Braden Montogomery in right field; it was a tough but by no means impossible play. I have to wonder if the rookie didn’t take out his batting woes to the field with him. Montgomery ended the fifth striking out with the bases loaded, part of an 0-for-5 night. Taylor replaced Kay with one out, a runner on second and the score tied at four. The 24-year old righthander proceeded to give up four runs of his own and the inherited runner from Kay on four hits and two walks without recording an out. Where to begin? Let’s start with an absolutely asinine postgame comment by Venable that, “You’ve got to credit the Guardians. I think they had a really good approach against [Taylor] all year.” [quote from online story in today’s Trib] Then, why use him, and, if you are going to use him, what countermove(s) are you going to employ? Speaking of asinine, consider the Sox lineup that started the game, with Tommy Pham penciled in as dh and Grichuk playing left field. With lefthander Parker Messick starting, Antonacci watched from the bench. When he did come into the game as a pinch-hitter for Pham in the third, what did the South Side pepper-pot do? Oh, he hit a sacrifice fly. Then, in the fifth he drove in another run on a hit-by-pitch (like I said, pepper-pot). Antonacci also singled in an attempted ninth-inning rally that, obviously, fell short. The question here is, why didn’t Venable start Antonacci, lefty-lefty matchup be damned? And why isn’t he the permanent leadoff batter with Meidroth second? Apparently, Venable is too busy praising the opposition to offer a valid reason. With two on and nobody out in the third, Grichuk struck out on a ball shoulder-high. Murakami followed with a walk that set up Antonacci’s sacrifice fly. Some players came ready to play, others didn’t.

Cluck

This is not how you reward a packed house of raucous fans, by laying a big, fat, ugly egg, but that’s exactly what the White Sox did yesterday in their 9-3 loss to the Guardians. Sox pitchers walked ten; Sox batters struck out nineteen—let me repeat, nineteen—times; and manager Vibes Venable provided his share of head-scratching moments. As for the hitting and pitching coaches, I have a question. Per “the plan,” Venable went with an opener, and Sean Newcomb pitched lights-out for two innings, retiring all six Guardians he faced, thanks to a double play, on just 22 pitches. Why not let the onetime starter go another inning or two? Why? Because of “the plan,” per Venable’s postgame comments. Well, Skipper, good leaders adjust their plans as condition warrant. Just because you wanted Bryan Hudson to follow Newcomb, that doesn’t mean you had to stick with him for the four batters you did. Hudson walked his first batter, Travis Bazzanna, on five pitches before going to a full count on Patrick Bailey, who lined out to short. Next up, Brayan Rocchio, who singled on a 1-2 count. That’s two on, one out, fourteen pitches thrown. How much more do you need to see that Hudson didn’t have it? Apparently, not until the run-scoring single by Steven Kwan. While I’m at it, let me ask a question about the lineup composition. Both Sam Antonacci and Randal Grichuk played, with Antonacci the dh. Say what? Antonacci is the better fielder and would’ve had a far better chance at catching Jose Ramirez’s two-run, opposite-field triple with two out in the eighth inning. A 5-3 game suddenly turned into a four-run deficit as Grichuk started his dive for the ball a good half-step too soon. Now, a question for both pitching Zach Bove and hitting coach Derek Shomon—how do you stop a bad tendency from turning a close game into a sure loss? Bove challenged his pitchers to throw strikes, yes? After the first inning, when the Sox left runners on second and third with one out and a run in, Shomon addressed the two strikeouts, by Chase Meidroth and Tristan Peters, that ended the inning, right? And, again, after Peters doubled in a run with nobody out and Braden Montgomery failed to advance him, swinging and missing three pitches high and inside? That one hurt because Randal Grichuk’s subsequent flyball would’ve meant another run. Kyle Teel said after the game, “Today is over with. All that matters is tomorrow now, so throw this one out and get ready to go.” [quote from story today on team website] From Teel’s lips to God’s ears.

Dodging Bullets

The White Sox spent all of yesterday dodging bullets in Cleveland as they rallied to beat the Guardians 4-3 and take a 2-0 lead in the ALDS. I only wish those bullets hadn’t been the result of friendly fire. Starting with the choice of Anthony Kay as opener. The only thing the veteran righthander looked capable of opening was a big inning for the opposition with a single, a walk and a groundout that moved runners up. Kay departed after three batters for whizzing bullet #2, Sean Newcomb. The lefty reliever issued an intentional walk to set up a potential inning-ending double play. Lefthanded-hitting Nathaniel Lowe obliged, sort of, chopping a ball off the plate that Newcomb fielded. There was no way to turn two, but Newcomb still had the out at first. Well, he would have but for throwing the ball into a zip code not inhabited by first baseman Munetaka Murakami. That put Cleveland ahead by two. Good thing for the Sox that the Guardians managed to shoot themselves in the foot during the three-run sixth inning. Kudos to Braden Montgomery for his two-out, two-run, opposite-field double that put the Sox ahead 3-2 and brought Chase Meidtroh to the plate. Meidroth delivered with an RBI single. Here’s the thing. Anyone who’s been paying attention this season—which, apparently, the Guardians’ advance scouts failed to do—knows Meidroth likes to hit outside pitches to the opposite field, which is exactly what he did in this instance. It didn’t matter that the pitch was a 97 mph fastball out of the zone or that reliever Hunter Gaddis had a righty-righty advantage. Meidroth delivered. Now for bullet #3 fired out of the Sox dugout, in the form of manager Vibe Venable’s decision to lift Sean Burke with two out in the eighth and a runner on first. In came Grant Taylor, and out went a first-pitch triple by Jo Adell (say that a few time to get the full affect). First, Burke had retired thirteen straight Guardians before a single by Chase DeLauter. Second, Burke had struck out Adell twice in two previous at-bats. Third, Taylor and the Sox were lucky Adell’s ball didn’t leave the park. But luck plays a big part in postseason baseball. And the lucky Sox have a chance to clinch at home tomorrow, friendly fire notwithstanding.

Waiting

I could keep on talking about the 1937 White Sox, but that gets old after a while, if you’ll pardon the pun. As I stare at the clock, it’s four hours and fifteen minutes before the start of game two of the ALDS between the Sox and Guardians. Best just to wait it out. With righthander Gavin Williams going for Cleveland, the Sox in all likelihood will counter with their lefty-dominant lineup. That means Sam Antonacci at the top of the lineup looking to get on base any way he can (hit, walk, hit-by-pitch, whatever), with Andrew Benintendi in the middle of the order to drive Antonacci in and Braden Montgomery switch-hitting (and getting on base). If Tristan Peters can repeat the eighteen-pitch walk against Williams, which started a six-run inning, fine by me. And anything Colson Montgomery provides will be icing on the cake. Pardon the cliché.

Bonura, Stratton Et Al.

The ball autographed by the 1937 White Sox arrived around the same time Colson Montgomery cued a ball past Jose Ramirez down the third-base line for a run-scoring double in the seventh inning. Kyle Teel scoring from first with two out? Words fail. But the 3-0 win over the Guardians still counts. So, the ball must’ve been with the mail carrier in her truck when Munetaka Murakami absolutely demolished a non-sinking sinker from Parker Messick in the fourth for a 2-0 Sox lead; the ball went an estimated 440 feet to the stands in deep right field. I’d like to think Zeke Bonura would’ve approved at such a display of raw power. Letting slip a little awe would’ve been understandable. As for Jimmy Dykes, he probably would’ve envied the success of all the moves made by his 21st century counterpart, Vibes Venable. With the bases loaded and two out in the third, Venable called on Bryan Hudson to relieve opener Hagen Smith. Hudson ran the count full before retiring Chase DeLauter on an opposite-field lineout to Randal Grichuk in left. Wait, there’s more. With two out and a runner on first in the fourth, Venable summoned Anthony Kay out of the pen. Let’s just say Kay was more lucky than good. The veteran lefty gave up a double and a walk before inducing Brayan Rocchio to line out to right. Wait, there’s more. After Kay pitched a one-two-three fifth inning (pinch me), Venable called on de facto closer Grant Taylor for the sixth inning, and the seventh, and the eighth, and, yes, the ninth. Taylor needed 42 pitches to get the job done. After the game, I took a closer look at the autographed ball. I’d forgotten Dixie Walker was on the team (think players’ revolt, Jackie Robinson) and Jackie Hayes, whose career was cut short by an eye infection that led to blindness. Let it, and a ball like this will tell all sorts of stories. Along with the autographs was a date: July 31, 1937. My guess is that the autographs were collected on that Saturday. If so, it was in Philadelphia, where the Sox shut out the A’s 2-0 behind a complete game by Monty Stratton. And now a ball carrying his autographs and those of his teammates sits on a cigar cabinet in our dining room. Any connection with this Sox team is purely coincidental. Or not.

Meanwhile, Over in the NL…

Yes, Virginia, there’s life after having played for the losingest team in MLB history. Just look at ex-White Sox players Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn. Sheets has become something of a fan favorite in San Diego since he signed with the Padres last year, so much so he merits chants of “Holy Sheets!” whenever he comes to bat. I heard the chants Wednesday night as Sheets walked to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning in the Padres’ wildcard series against the Cubs. Ironically, Sheets was pinch-hitting for another ex-Sox player (though you might’ve missed him if you blinked), Austin Hays. Sheets turned around a 100.8 mph fastball from the Cubs’ Daniel Palencia, sending out a 107.5-mph exit-velocity two-run homer that effectively ended the Cubs’ postseason. Way to go, Gavin. Sheets will be meeting up against Andrew Vaughn, his old teammate on the Sox back in 2024, as the Padres face the Brewers in the NLDS. What an interesting season-and-a-half it’s been for the third pick in the 2019 draft. The righthand-hitting Vaughn just couldn’t reach the next level with the Sox; he was good but not nearly the player his college stats foretold. After 4-1/2 seasons on the South Side, GM Chris Getz shipped Vaughn to Milwaukee, where he became a platoon player. And how has that gone? Well, the 28-year old Vaughn hit .308 with 46 RBIs in his new role last season and .306 with 43 RBIs this year. How interesting if the Sox face either of them down the road in the postseason.

Calm Before the Storm

I’m waiting, for the White Sox-Guardians’ game tomorrow and the mail today. There could be a good-luck charm coming. It’s in the form of a team-autographed ball, the 1937 White Sox, to be precise. They were a few games better than the 2026 squad, at 86-68, good enough for third place, sixteen games behind the Yankees in a 154-game season. It was the best team Jimmy Dykes would have in thirteen years of managing on the South Side. Two names you’d expect to see are there, Ted Lyons and Luke Appling (hey, I met him once!), but that’s not why I bought it. There were two other names, starting with Monty Stratton, a 25-year old righthander who went 15-5 with a 2.40 ERA in his second full season with the Sox. Stratton would match that win total in 1938 and then never pitch again in the major leagues after an off-season hunting accident led to the amputation of his right leg. Jimmy Stewart played him in the move, and I have a photo of a smiling Stratton in his Sox uniform on the wall opposite my work desk. The other autograph I made sure was on the ball belongs to Zeke Bonura, a hitting enigma if there ever was one. The righthand-hitting first baseman didn’t make the majors until he was 25 and played only seven seasons. You’d think anyone who totaled 704 career RBIs in such a relatively short span would’ve had a longer career, but he didn’t. (Baseball) age and WWII got in the way. In our house, there’s a direct connection between Bonura and another Sox enigma, Daniel Palka. When Palka hit 27 homeruns his first and only full season in the majors in 2018, I knew he equaled Bonura’s number for a rookie. My daughter was dumbfounded. There was some other Bonura trivia I aced that brought the pride of New Orleans back to life one summer nine years ago. Stratton, Bonura, Palka—good names deserving of good results in Cleveland starting tomorrow.

Pinch Me

Anthony Kay retiring Yordan Alvarez with two on and the game on the line, then walking Isaac Paredes, then retiring Jose Altuve? Somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming. No, White Sox 7 Astros 3, with the Sox moving on to face the Guardians in the ALDS. Where to start? Might as well get the hard part out of the way first. Sox manager Vibes Venable made all the right moves, going to Kay in the fifth inning with the Sox up 4-3 and using Jordan Hicks along with Erick Fedde for two innings apiece. I can’t stand Venable’s Gosh-Golley, Pollyannish public persona, but he got the job down yesterday. And the players believe in him. Plus he moved the envelope a little, calling a double steal in the sixth before Chase Meidroth clubbed the game-clinching three-run homer. I’ll hold my tongue while Venable works his so long as he gets results like this. Can the Sox beat the Guardians? If they keep attacking, yes. Sam Antonacci led off the game with a double and scored on a single from Kyle Teel on the next pitch. The Sox had five hits, a walk and an error, which I would’ve scored a hit, in the first inning. Then came a stretch of thirteen consecutive outs. No more of that, please. Traffic on the bases wins ballgames.

Youth Movement

Rookie lefthander Hagen Smith opened for the White Sox in Houston yesterday, throwing three shutout innings. Then, it was veterans Jordan Hicks and Sean Newcomb (2.1 innings, two runs); and rookie David Sandlin (1.1 innings, no runs), leading to second-year closer Grant Taylor, who went 2.1 innings, giving up one unearned run in a 6-3 Sox win. Left fielder Sam Antonacci was, well, Sam Antonacci. He led off the game with a walk and scored on a Munetaka Murakami sacrifice fly. In the third, Antonacci singled in two runs. The 23-year old converted infielder also walked and managed to get hit by a pitch. Fellow rookies Murakami scored two runs while Braden Montgomery and Chase Meidroth both had two hits and a run scored; Tristan Peters chipped in with a nice sacrifice bunt. Plus, Kyle Teel looked good swinging the bat. Last but not least, the fog at the plate cleared, if only momentarily, for sophomore Colson Montgomery, who hit a homerun to dead centerfield in the fourth, on an 0-2 pitch no less. Oh, more, please. Can the Sox win again today, even as they face Hunter Brown, who had their number with a 2-0 record and 1.38 ERA in two starts against them in the regular season? Well, you can’t say the visitors lack playoff experience anymore, so, that’s a start to build on.

Mum's the Word

Two recent injuries to Chicago-team athletes highlight the difference between baseball and football. One sport allow the flow of information while the other would control it with a nod to the Kremlin. Back on September 20, Alex Bregman was hit in the face by a foul ball while standing in the on-deck circle during a game against the Reds. Within hours, Bregman had posted a picture of his face, his right eye swollen shut; news that Bregman had suffered several facial fractures came the next day. At no time did it appear that the Cubs tried to control the release of news or keep Bregman from talking to the media. Now, compare that to the injury the Bears’ Caleb Williams suffered a week ago Sunday against the Vikings. The way Williams went down without contact and then grabbed his thigh, it looked to be a fairly serious hamstring injury. Only the next day Coach Ben Johnson refused to rule out his quarterback for last night’s game against the Eagles. Johnson said Williams was “week-to-week.” Then, on Sunday, ESPN reported Williams had a Grade-2 hamstring strain and was expected to miss three-four weeks. Either Johnson and the Bears’ medical staff don’t know how to communicate with one another, or Johnson was blowing smoke at an always-gullible Chicago media and the Eagles. I’m going with door number two. Go on the Bears’ website and search for an injury update, and you won’t find anything official. Look for Williams addressing the injury the way Bregman did his, and you won’t find anything. At least, I didn’t. Not to worry, though. Third-string quarterback Case Keenum guided his team to a 27-7 win over Philadelphia, and all is right in Bears Nation. Except for the part about being upfront about player injuries. That’s so baseball.

Clichés Abound

The White Sox beat the Rockies 4-2 in the last regular game of the season. Now, it’s on to Houston for three games against the Astros. The team with four fewer wins earned home-field advantage after winning the AL West. And they say we’re in a weak division. I keep looking for the right cliché to describe the situation. The Sox need to play smart, but being dumb enough to think they can take the wild-card’s not a bad idea, either. They should strike first, yet be able to take a punch, and leave everything on the field. Push the envelope, but don’t do anything stupid. The Pope’s a South Sider and a Sox fan. I have no problem with a little divine intervention.

Nope

In his biggest start of the year, Davis Martin went one-third of an inning, putting the White Sox in a 3-0 hole they never managed to climb out of. Rockies 9 Sox 6 and AL Central crown to the Guardians. Joining Martin in failing to seize the moment was Colson Montgomery. With two out and two on and the score 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Montgomery struck out on four pitches. Two innings later with runners on the corners, one out and the score still 5-3, Montgomery hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Colorado broke the game open with four runs in the ninth. To me, you want to end the regular season on a high note. And that means winning. Owning up to bad performance(s) after the game is no substitute.

So Close

The White Sox showed no serious signs of a collective hangover from clinching a playoff spot Thursday when they beat the Rockies 6-1 last night before a packed house at The Rate. Almost everyone you wanted to contribute did. Sean Burke gave up a run in a 5.1-inning start and looked sharp. Same for Hagen Smith, Grant Taylor and Bryan Hudson out of the bullpen. On the offensive side, Sam Antonacci collected three hits while Braden Montgomery added two. And then there was Munetaka Murakami with three hits, two of which left the yard, and three RBIs. Of some concern are Tristan Peters, 4-for-39 over his last fifteen game, and Colson Montgomery, who now holds the MLB record for strikeouts by a player in a single season plus a sub-.200 BA. Pick which of these two will snap out of it first. I know my choice. Now, if the Guardians would just lose in Kansas City…

Nice, But—

The White Sox made some baseball history yesterday when they beat the Royals yesterday, 9-1. No other team has ever made the playoffs after two or more seasons of 100-plus losses. The Sox did that three years running. So, it was nice to see David Sandlin pitch like he had a clue, with six innings of one-run ball. The rookie righthander yielded five hits while recording seven strikeouts and not a walk. Please, please, more of that. Speaking of rookies, Sam Antonacci scored three runs and Tristan Peters picked up two RBIs. Braden Montgomery also looks to be coming out of his funk. In his last five games, Montgomery has gone 9-for-20 with four runs scored. See, please, above. Which brings us to the Doug-downer part. Right now, the White Sox have clinched the third AL wild-card spot and are still a game back of the Guardians for first place in the AL Central, with three games to go. Cleveland, which managed two victories against the Red Sox while scoring a total of three runs in three games, now finishes out the season on the road against the Royals while the Sox go home for three against the Rockies. We need to sweep, the Guardians have to lose a game. And while all of that is going on, manager Vibes Venable has to figure out what to do with Colson Montgomery, who has his BA down to .200 and his season-strikeout total up to 223. One more and Montgomery breaks the major-league record. If he plays, he’s going to strike out at least once over the course of three games. If he sits, he misses out on the opportunity to figure things out. But there’s no fixing Montgomery without risking a bit of notoriety. Like the 2024 White Sox, now a team growing ever smaller in the rear-view mirror.

Of Openers and Word Salad

The Royals scored four runs against the White Sox in the ninth inning Tuesday night, and they scored four in the first last night on their way to a 5-4 win. That’s what I meant about momentum. Opener Bryan Hudson didn’t have it, pure and simple, getting tagged for four runs (three earned) on four hits in .1 inning of work. And what did Sox manager Vibes Venable have to say about Hudson’s outing? He told reporters after the game, “Credit the Royals for putting the ball in play, finding the holes and we weren’t able to stop them really that first inning.” [all quotes from today’s Trib story online] I have eyes, Skipper. Tell me why your team, your opener, couldn’t stop the Royals in that first inning. Otherwise, stop insulting my intelligence. The way you did in discussing the play that cost you the game in the seventh inning. With a runner on second, two out, the score tied at four and Hagen Smith on the mound, you decided to have Smith pitch to Maikel Garcia, who already had two hits and two RBIs. Garcia made it three across the board with a run-scoring double. Why give the righthanded Garcia the righty-left advantage against Smith? Why not walk him and have Smith face lefty Vinnie Pasquantino? Get ready for the jibber-est of jibber answers, folks. “We talked about it,” Venable said. “It was just below the threshold as far as the gap between them that we typically do it.” Say what? “In hindsight, you wish that maybe you would [have walked Garcia]. But the process was good. [!!##$%!] That’s just one of those [times] in which the threshold on that matchup was below what we typically do to walk someone.” Words fail me. Venable, too, it would seem.

Almost a Great Game

The White Sox were ahead of the Royals 14-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning in Kansas City last night. Seven late runs later, the Sox had themselves a 14-11 win to remain one game back of the Guardians with five to go. Always lead with the good stuff in a win. The Sox cranked out four homeruns, Chase Meidroth; Brenton Doyle; Randal Grichuk; and Munetaka Murakami doing the honors. Meidroth collected a career-high five RBIs while Grichuk went 4-for-5 with three extra-base hits, falling a triple short of the cycle. And, hey, Tommy Pham scored twice on two walks. Now, for the not good, as in, will Colson Montgomery ever snap out of it? Last night, Montgomery went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, inching him closer to the major-league record of 223. Montgomery has 219 and counting. If the second-year shortstop’s offensive numbers are going down, Anthony Kay’s ERA is heading up, also in the wrong direction. The veteran lefthander struggled through four-plus innings last night, giving up four runs on seven hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. A suddenly with-it Noah Schultz picked up the win with two scoreless innings. In three relief appearances spanning 5.2 innings since his return from Triple-A Charlotte, the maybe-next Randy Johnson has yet to allow a run. The two pitchers who followed Schultz out of the pen, Trevor Richards and Luis Castillo, weren’t nearly as good. Richards gave up three earned runs in an inning of work, Castillo four runs. Ick. That’s the kind of bad mop-up work that can give the other side unwanted momentum. But I’m in good-news’ mode here. Schultz pitched well, and the other A-team relievers got an extra day of rest. Their availability should cancel any bad-guy momentum. I think.

Goin' to Kansas City (Again)

With six games left in the regular season, the White Sox are going to Kansas City for three against the last-place Royals. A very long time ago, the Sox had five games left in the season, with a doubleheader in Kansas City against the last-place A’s. Things did not go well. This Sox team is one game out of first. That 1967 Sox team was 1-1/2 games out. The ‘’67 Sox dropped the first game 5-2 against an A’s lineup that included Rick Monday; Joe Rudi; Sal Bando; and Dave Duncan. Future Oakland A’s Chuck Dobson started and won with Paul Lindblad recording the save. The second game was pretty much a repeat of the first, worse in that the Sox were shut out 4-0. Catfish Hunter picked up a complete game for what would be the last game ever for the Kansas City A’s; the team was on its way to Oakland. And, in what has to be the cruelest of all fates, White Sox great Luke Appling was managing against his old team. These would be the last two wins in Appling’s managerial career (10-30 lifetime), such as it was. Ol’ Aches and Pains was serving as interim manager after the firing of Al Dark. I don’t want history repeating, or rhyming. What I want is the tables turned, ghosts laid to rest.

Now What?

The White Sox showed more resilience yesterday than I thought they had left in them with a soggy, 8-1 drubbing of the Tigers. Now what? Well, with the Guardians one game ahead of them in first place, they have to keep winning. There are six games left in the regular season, three in Kansas City and three at home against the Rockies. One game at a time with the focus on winning all six. It’s entirely within reach if they use yesterday as a template. Sam Antonacci had a two-run double and made a nice catch in left field, both happening when the game was still in doubt. Chase Meidroth hit his fifteenth homerun of the season to put some icing on the cake while Braden Montgomery actually got two hits, including a double that scored the first run of the game. But there can’t be any letting up, starting with Anthony Kay, who goes tomorrowr. Kay hasn’t been anything special over his last fifteen games, going 3-7 with a 4.58 ERA. If he wants to show the baseball establishment it was wrong to let him go and pitch in Japan for two seasons, now would be a good time. A very good time.

One or the Other

The White Sox showed resilience yesterday, that, or a dead-cat bounce. Either way, they defeated the Tigers 3-1 in front of nearly 31,000 fans who didn’t mind rearranging their Saturday plans when the game time was switched from evening to afternoon in order to beat the approaching rain. Sean Burke pitched six effective innings of one-run ball. Noah Schultz (!) and Grant Taylor provided three shutout innings to seal the victory. Miguel Vargas was the offense. Vargas drew a two-out walk in the first, stole second base and scored the first run of the game on a duck snort to left by Munetaka Murakami. Vargas’ 33rd homerun of the season led off the sixth inning, giving the Sox a two-run lead after Sam Antonacci’s sacrifice fly in the fifth. Did I mention Vargas also made at least one run-saving play at third reminiscent of Robin Ventura and Joe Crede? Unless something changes drastically and suddenly, the Sox will sink or swim (or bounce) depending what Vargas does over the next seven games. Murakami along with Braden and Colson Montgomery are just too far gone right now to be of much help. Whatever Antonacci, Andrew Benintendi and Chase Meidroth can bring to the plate would be greatly appreciated. I’d include Tristan Peters to the list, if it weren’t for Peters crashing into the fence Friday night chasing down Kevin McGonigle’s triple. Day to day, as they say. If only the Sox had the luxury of time. They don’t.

Collapse

The White Sox blew an 8-2 lead to the Tigers last night, losing 11-8, which puts them a full game behind the Guardians for first place in the AL Central and leaves them just one game ahead of the Rangers for the final playoff spot. So, what did Sox manager Vibes Venable do? Compliment the Tigers, of course. Oh, and he also went into his talking-box-score routine, stating the obvious to anyone who can read or see what happened. It’s the “why” behind a loss that trips Venable up. Why did rookie starter David Sandlin lose it all at once in the fifth? No answer. Why did Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson give up a combined five runs in the eighth? No answer, though I have one. It’s called “overwork.” Newcomb and Hudson have pitched a combined 151.1 innings so far this season. Live by the opener, and, eventually, you die by the bullpen. Oh, and why did the final fourteen Sox hitters go down in a row? Because happy talk is no substitute for leadership.

A Pulse

Munetaka Murakami and the White Sox both showed a pulse last night at the Rate, beating Detroit 3-1 on a Murakami three-run homer in the first inning, after which pitching and defense dominated. Starter Erick Fedde did the Houdini thing through 4.2 innings. Fedde gave up one run on four hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch, stranding six Tigers’ baserunners along the way. Smoke, mirrors, guile, Fedde is doing something right. Last night, so did the defense. Left fielder Randal Grichuk saved Fedde a run in the fifth by barehanding a ball off the fence to keep Gleyber Torres to a single; Dillon Dingler followed with what would’ve been a run-scoring double. Grichuk also threw out Spencer Torkelson in the sixth when Torkelson tried to take an extra base on a single. The best play of the night, though, may have belonged to Murakami. With a runner on first and two out in the eighth, Mark Clark hit an infield single, beating the throw from third baseman Miguel Vargas. Brett Callahan, the lead runner, kept going and was called safe at third despite a strong throw across the diamond by Murakami. Sox manager Vibes Venable challenged the call, which was overturned upon review. I should also mention here Murakami collected his first MLB triple in the eighth. Which leads us to the bad news, such as it was. The Sox failed on two chances to score that insurance run. And Grant Taylor was scary. Yes, he went 2.1 innings for the save, but he put the tying runs on in the ninth. Lucky for Taylor that Vargas managed a 5-3 double play, with a tag of the runner going to third coupled with a strong throw to first. Now to see if Murakami can continue hitting—and if Braden Montgomery can break out of his slump. Montgomery went 0-for-3 batting ninth last night. The rookie has got to hit for his team to advance.

Sowing and Reaping

The White Sox were hanging on to a 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Guardians in their rubber match yesterday afternoon. That’s when Sox manager Vibes Venable brought in Sean Newcomb in relief of Hagen Smith, two on and two out. Newcomb served up a three-run homerun to rookie Petey Halpin, who came into the game batting .210. So much for the lefty-lefty advantage that should’ve broken Newcomb’s way. Wait, there’s more. Newcomb walked the next two batters before giving up a run-scoring double to Jose Ramirez. The line on Newcomb read four batters faced; two walks; two extra-base hits; two inherited runners scoring; and two runs allowed. What happened? Newcomb said after the game, “I haven’t been myself. Just not being super crisp, hitters being more in tune with what I’m doing.” [today’s Sun-Times] Gosh, do you think Newcomb is a little gassed from pitching 10.2 innings in six appearances as an opener? Perish the thought. Damn’ the torpedoes, full closers ahead! It seems Hagen Smith was gassed, too, trying to go two innings again. Maybe instead of pulling Anthony Kay after four, Venable should’ve seen how long his starter could go. If Chase Meidroth hadn’t committed an error trying to make a tag in the third, Kay would’ve gone four scoreless innings. If Venable was going to roll the dice on Smith (he allowed the move was “debatable”), it should’ve been back on Sunday, against Alec Burleson in St. Louis. But what do I know? I think dropping two of three in Cleveland makes it hard, if not impossible, to win the division. Not Venable, who told reporters after the game, “We knew that this series wasn’t going to define the rest of the year for us. Giving up the division lead, everybody will feel how they feel about it. But I’m proud of the guys and I think we’re in a good spot moving forward.” [from today’s story on team website] Proud of a team that lost a crucial, even defining, series? Not my bowl of word salad.

Maybe, Maybe Not

Maybe the White Sox were fated to lose 7-6 last night on an opposite-field, two-out, two-run, walk-off double on a 0-2 pitch from Grant Taylor to Brayan Rocchio. Or maybe not. I wonder because three moves by Sox manager Vibes Venable put his team in a bad spot to win, starting with his choice of opener. That would be Chris Murphy, who, in his previous appearance, gave up a bases-clearing double that sent the Sox down to defeat in St. Louis on Sunday. Murphy was no better in Cleveland, giving up two homeruns to the Guardians in the first. The Sox were down 3-0 by the time Murphy exited with two outs in the bottom of the first inning. But you have to give credit where credit is due; the Sox climbed back to take a 6-4 lead in the sixth inning. Davis Martin pitched well, giving up one earned run in 5.1 innings of work, while the usual heroes came through to provide the lead. I’m talking about you in particular, Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas. And I could be talking about Sam Antonacci and Tristan Peters, too. But not Jake Rogers. Venable had Rogers start behind the plate for the right-lefty advantage against Guardians’ starter Foster Griffin. Rogers responded with an 0-for-2 effort, putting his White Sox BA at a microscopic .111 (4-for-36). Thankfully, Kyle Teel replaced Rogers and walked twice, the first walk coming around to score in the sixth inning. Venable also continued his unfathomable loyalty to Munetaka Murakami, who struck out four times batting cleanup. In his last four games, Murakami has struck out eleven times. He’s batting .094 over his last fifteen games and .110 over his last 30. This can’t go on. Unless not making the postseason is part of GM Chris Getz’s plan.

See Ball, Feel Ball

It was the single most important at-bat for the White Sox this season to date. Centerfielder Tristan Peters fouled off twelve pitches from Guardians’ starter Gavin Williams before managing an eighteen-pitch walk with nobody out and Andrew Benintendi on second base in the top of the sixth inning last night in a scoreless ballgame. Wait, there’s more. The next batter, Colson Montgomery, grounded a ball to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who threw to second for a potential 3-6-3 double play. Only Lowe hit Peters in the back of the head. The ball bounced off Peters’ helmet into centerfield, allowing Benintendi to score and Peters to move to third base, the start of a six-run inning in a 7-3 Sox win that extends their lead over the Guardians’ to 1-1/2 games. Kudos to Kyle Teel for his two-run double and Miguel Vargas for a two-run homerun. Ditto Sean Newcomb; Sean Burke; Hagen Smith; and Trevor Richards for not allowing an earned run all night. Now, for the brickbats. Munetaka Murakami struck out three times, along with Colson and Braden Montgomery. Colson Montgomery allowed a run to score in the sixth on his second error in two games while a throwing error by Vargas in the ninth made possible a homer by David Fry that shouldn’t have happened. Sloppy defense does not win games. As Tristan Peters knows, heady play does. That, and a good eye.

Why

The White Sox lost 3-1 to the Cardinals yesterday because Luis Castillo pitched on Saturday. Here’s why. Saturday, Sox manager Vibes Venable went the opener route, figuring the odds were Castillo wasn’t going to give him much. That meant 1.1 innings for opener Sean Newcomb before Castillo labored through 2.2 innings. Hagen Smith followed with two innings; then Grant Taylor with 1.2 innings; Jordan Hicks, .1 inning; and Bryan Hudson, one inning. In other words, Venable needed five good relievers in various roles to get the win, blessed be the name of Randal Grichuk. Yesterday, rookie David Sandlin did everything that GM Chris Getz thought he’d be getting from Castillo when he acquired the veteran righty at the trade deadline, and then some. Sandlin set down the first sixteen St. Louis batters he faced before giving up two one-out singles in the sixth inning. Rather than panic, Sandlin struck out Bryan Torres. That made it two on, two out for a righty-right matchup against Ivan Herrera. Sandlin did his job, inducing a hard groundball to shortstop Colson Montgomery, who booted it. (Not to worry. Venable covered for Montgomery in the postgame, baserunner Nathan Church apparently screening Montgomery just long enough to cause the miscue.) That brought up lefthanded-hitting Alec Burleson, at the time sitting on 106 RBIs. Venable chose to lift his starter. But who do you bring in? All the best lefty relievers pitched not even 24 hours earlier. Smith, with 29 strikeouts in 20 innings, would have been the best option if he hadn’t already gone two innings. And maybe he was the best option, if only to get one out. Venable opted for lefty Chris Murphy. Not quite lions vs. Christians, but Burleson still cleared the bases with a double to right. Montgomery had a chance to redeem himself with two out in the top of the ninth and the bases loaded, but he flied out to shallow centerfield. It shouldn’t have come to that. Because of Luis Castillo, it did.

Jaws

The White Sox snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat in the ninth inning last night against the Cardinals with a two-out, two-strike go-ahead homerun that turned a 5-4 deficit into an eventual 6-5 win. Thank you, Randal Grichuk. Yes, that’s the same Randal Grichuk I was complaining about the game before. Given another chance to provide veteran leadership, Grichuk came through, hitting a 1-2, 95.6 mph sinker from Cardinals’ closer Riley O’Brien down the right-field line and over the fence, just out of the reach of a leaping Victor Scott II. Mercy. Now, for an extra bit of good news, and I don’t mean both the Guardians and Astros losing—manager Vibes Venable went with a lineup that reflected reality than rather wishes. Kyel Teel batted second, the Montgomerys eighth and ninth, Colson and Braden, respectively. Both Teel and Colson walked twice, and one of the walks mattered for each of them, an RBI for Colson in the fourth and a second run for Girchuk to bat in with his homer. Now, for the bad news—Luis Castillo pitched, which is to say Castillo gave up a boatload of hits and runs. The veteran righthander labored through 2.2 innings, allowing the Cardinals to score three runs on four hits and three walks. Sean Newcomb opened, going 1.1 innings. He was lifted after a one-out single. Castillo allowed that runner to score, too. Not good to the point that Chris Getz’s big trade-deadline acquisition should grab some bench for the foreseeable future. What to do? Well, maybe Getz is finally realizing he has options at Triple-A. David Sandlin is scheduled to start today’s rubber game. That, plus Venable going with another reality-based lineup could help right things. We’ll see.

Circling the Drain

The White Sox lost their fourth straight last night (and nine out of their last twelve), 7-3 to the Cardinals. Same old same old. Starting with Sox manager Vibes Venable going with Jake Rogers at catcher. Rogers had two walks, which led to nothing, while dropping a throw at the plate that would’ve nailed a runner in what was then a tie game in the second inning. But you have to love his veteran’s presence behind the plate, I guess. Anthony Kay did his usual, too, which in this case means a fourth straight start without getting through the fifth. The veteran righthander, who is starting to look like the journeyman he was before going to Japan, struggled through four innings, giving up three runs on five hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch (which scored). In the fifth, Venable did the same old by demonstrating his misplaced faith in Trevor Richards, who proceeded to turn a one-run game into a 6-2 St. Louis lead. Game over. After the game, Venable displayed some anger, sort of, if blaming yourself ahead of your players counts. Venable put it this way: “Just an ugly one all the way around. Starting with me. None of the moves I made tonight worked. [see above] Offensively, we were fine. [No, they weren’t. See below].” In what has to count as blistering criticism, Venable noted “ Kay was behind in the count really the whole day, kind of piled up on him there.” [all quotes from today’s Trib story online] Venable also made some allusions to bad baserunning, as in Brenton Doyle getting picked off of first base, and defense, as in Rogers dropping the ball. How the offense qualified as “fine” is beyond me. What’s “fine” about going a collective 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position or stranding twelve runners? Consider these two examples of how bad things are. In the top of the sixth, with a chance to answer the Cardinals, Randal Grichuk batted with one out, the bases loaded; he struck out on three pitches. The first one he took, right down the center of the plate; the two way down out of the strike zone he swung at. That is not a veteran leading by example. Which brings us to another three strikeouts by Colson Montgomery, who now has 205 on the season. The record is 223, in case you’re wondering. Starting with June, Mongomery hasn’t had a month where he’s batted higher than .221. And, in ten games this month, he’s hitting an anemic .132. Hope springs eternal, boxers do get off the canvas to win. But here? I’m just not feeling it.

While Rome Burns

At least when the White Sox were losing 100-plus games a season, they were consistent. Now, it’s a matter of two steps forward, one back. Or is it 1-1/2? And on what days? I take no particular joy in saying the Sox manager bears much of the responsibility for the state of things. Why, for example, does he play catcher Jake Rogers? In last night’s 2-0 loss to the Pirates, Rogers went 0-for-3 trying to throw out runners on steal attempts. The last one really mattered because it set up an insurance run in the eighth inning. Did I mention Rogers went 0-for-2 at the plate or that he’s now hitting .118—4-for-34—since being picked up from the Red Sox? While I’m at it, let me also point out that Sox batters have basically stopped hitting. Last night, they managed all of two hits, the first coming with two out in the seventh, and two walks while whiffing eleven times. Me, I can’t believe they got swept at home by Pittsburgh. With the manager, it’s full steam ahead on the Titanic. Naturally, after the game he had all sorts of praise for the other side in his postgame remarks: “It was a tough day obviously. You’ve got to give some credit to these arms that they have over there, which are really good. We saw some really good fastballs this series.” [all quotes from today’s online Trib story] Oh, God, there’s more. The manager also told reporters he thinks “our clubhouse and our vibe inside there is in a really good spot.” News flash, Skipper: It’s the wins that count, not the vibe. If you don‘t know that by now, the vibe will disappear soon enough.

Pitch Count

One of my jobs as team statistician for Clare’s varsity high-school softball team was to keep a pitch count for our pitchers. If I could do that as a volunteer, why couldn’t the White Sox do the same in last night’s 4-2 loss to the Pirates? Either Sox manager Vibes Venable or bench coach Walker McKinven or pitching coach Zach Bove alone or in some combination couldn’t figure out to do that. (Hint: Just keep tab of every pitch thrown.) If they had, the Pirates might never have scored three runs in the seventh inning. Reliever Sean Newcomb had already struggled a bit in the sixth, needing a double play to keep his pitch count at seventeen. A six-pitch walk to open the seventh put it at 23. Then came a single on the first pitch followed by a single on the third pitch. By my count, that’s a 2-0 score, nobody out and Newcomb at 27 pitches. Now throw in a seven-pitch fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners, one out and Newcomb at 34 pitches. Did Venable elect to go to the pen? Nope. Konnor Griffin capped off a six-pitch at-bat with a two-run single. For those of you out there keeping count, that’s 40 pitches for Newcomb, who needed another eight to record the final two outs in the inning. So, don’t expect to see Newcomb anytime soon. And don’t expect Venable to explain why he kept his reliever in despite a growing pitch count. Oh, and don’t expect the Sox to win many games that way.

Unacceptable

White Sox manager Vibes Venable called a bullpen game Sunday to give Sean Burke an extra day of rest. And how did Burke respond last night against the visiting Pirates? The first seven (!) batters did this in the top of the first: double; walk; double; double; double; single; single. And, just like that, it was 5-0. Wait, there’s more. Here’s Burke in the second inning: single; double; strikeout; walk; hook. In all, the righthander went 1.1 innings while getting smacked around for seven runs on eight hits—half of them doubles—and two walks. How do you say, unacceptable? Make sure you include Munetaka Murakami along the way. The now-in-freefall first baseman went 0-for-4 with, you guessed it, four strikeouts. Colson Montgomery’s 0-for-4 looked stellar in comparison, with just one strikeout and an RBI. And this is how the Sox expect to make the postseason? Good luck, given how the starters have been and way too much of the lineup. Andrew Benintendi had two doubles, and Kyle Teel added two hits, including his second homerun in as many games. But they can’t do it alone. Maybe if the manager stopped holding everyone’s hand and actually challenged his players things would come around. It certainly couldn’t hurt to try.

Time Flies

It was the Sunday before Labor Day, 2006. Michele and I were watching our high school freshman trying to impress the coaches of her new travel team. There was a party somewhere after practice, as I recall. Knowing Clare, she hustled through every drill. Probably like me, she also wondered why Coach took it upon himself at one point to climb up a pole, but that was Harry. He liked Clare, and that was all I could ask for the next two seasons. Don’t ask about what, or who, came next. Thursday, we pick up Leo from kindergarten because Clare will be busy working on the North Shore, part of the never-ending hunt for donations from well-heeled alumni of a certain school. Knowing Leo, he’ll want me to pitch to him when we get home. But I won’t climb any poles.

Ebb and Flow

Sam Antonacci and Tristan Peters hit, the Montgomerys didn’t. But the hits—twelve, including two homeruns along with three doubles from Antonacci—far outweighed the outs in a 10-1 White Sox win over the Twins in a Sunday almost-night game scheduled to accommodate the television overlords. The two doubles by Peters gives him 30 on the year. I like that, along with Kyle Teel cranking a three-run homer to dead center in the eighth inning. In his previous at-bat, Teel took a called third strike with two runners on. The TV cameras caught his emotion bubbling up in the dugout afterwards. So, redemption achieved, if just for one game. I wonder what would happen if the entire lineup got hot at the same time. Munetaka Murakami, Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas providing their 30-homerun-plus pop with Antonacci, Peters and Chase Meidroth providing runners to drive in; Braden Montgomery, Teel and the dh duo of Andrew Benintendi and Randal Grichuk, who hit his twelfth homer leading off the eighth, would also be welcome to join in. A fan can dream, right?

Captain Obvious

The White Sox staked Anthony Kay to a 3-0 lead in the first inning against the Twins last night on homeruns by Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery. Kay gave it all back and then some by the time he was pulled in the fifth inning. Twins 6 Sox 4. After the game, Sox manager Will Venable went into Captain Obvious mode, when he told reporters Kay was “[r]eally sharp there up front in the first few innings and then just got in some trouble. Wasn’t able to work out of it, just left some pitches over the plate.” [from today’s Trib story online] Gosh, thanks for the profound insight, Skipper. Oh, and this: “Obviously, [Ryan] Jeffer’s [three-run] homer was killer.” [Trib online] Ya think? Here’s what Venable failed to address. Kay was done by the fourth inning, when he gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. Why did he even come out for the fifth? The first two Minnesota batters reached base in the fifth, and Venable kept Kay in. Why? After Kay managed to retire Kaelen Culpepper on a forceout, Venable kept the lefty in to face the righthanded-hitting Jeffers. Why in God’s name do that? I’d Twins’ manager Derek Shelton had no intention of pinch-hitting for Jeffers, unless he thought switch-hitting Victory Caratini with his .222 BA could come through. Venable should have forced Shelton to decide by bringing in righty reliever Trevor Richards to face Jeffers, not wait another two batters. Did I mention the Tigers beat the Guardians, 6-0? The Sox could now be four ahead of Cleveland in the loss column instead of three. Oh, well. With Captain Obvious at the helm, what could possibly go wrong?

What He Got Right

Rebuilds depend on a front office making more right decisions than wrong. Just ask Rick Hahn. Chirs Getz, Hahn’s successor as White Sox GM, looks to be racking up considerably more debits than credits. It showed last night in the White Sox’s 4-1 win over the Twins. Miguel Vargas, Braden Montgomery and Colson Montgomery all homered. Getz traded for Vargas and Braden Montgomery while he’s exhibited extreme patience with Hahn’s first-round pick back in 2021. Did I mention Erick Fedde? The veteran righthander pitched five shutout innings to even his record at 8-8. I may not be a fan of Fedde’s Houdini act on the mound (absent yesterday in an 83-pitch performance), but he’s done everything asked of him, start, relieve or open. In my humble opinion, he’s best at starting, at least for this season. It’s also worth noting Getz traded Fedde as part of a three-way deal with the Cardinals and Dodgers that netted Vargas and two prospects. Does anyone miss Michael Kopech, also part of that deal? Nobody’s perfect, no GM gets it right every time. Getz whiffed on Seranthony Dominguez and probably with Luis Castillo. Munetaka Murakami? Only the end of the regular season will tell.

Word Salad, With a Side of Gibber

Luis Castillo started for the White Sox yesterday, which is to say the Sox lost to the Astros, 6-2. GM Chris Getz’s most questionable acquisition this season gave up all six runs in four innings. But, hey, he’s trying, according to Sox manager Vibes Venable. Castillo received his very own participation trophy during Venable’s postgame comments with reporters: “Luis’s been doing a really good job of trying to make adjustments, just haven’t found the right one yet. He’s going to continue to work and have a good few days before his next start and hopefully find some better results.” [quote from story in today’s Tribune] Wait, there’s more. Venable also said Castillo is “here to help us and ultimately his job is not to go out there and throw six scoreless innings. He needs to give us a chance to win. And there's been a couple in which we haven't been able to get there.” [quote from story today on team website] What in God’s name does Venable mean by this word salad? Effort alone doesn’t count for anything in baseball; results do. And Castillo is 1-2 with a 7.52 ERA in six starts for the Sox. And who’s this “we” Venable mentioned? Castillo? The offense? The coaching staff? Everybody? God help me, there’s more. Munetaka Murakami is batting .125 over his last seven games, which is actually up over his last fifteen games, during which he’s hit .091. During his last 30 games, Murakami is batting .136 with eight RBIs. But Venable neither sits him nor moves him from his two-spot in the order. Professor Gump would know what to call this kind of decision-making.

A Whole Lot of Dumb

White Sox centerfielder Tristan Peters opened the eighth inning of a scoreless tie last night in Houston with a triple to deep right-centerfield. Catcher Drew Romo followed with a walk, at which point a whole lot of dumb stuff commenced. It started with Romo staying in the game. Why? Because “he’s catching a shutout,” Sox manager Vibes Venable told reporters after the game. [quote from today’s Trib story online] Then, why even keep Luisangel Acuna, whose one asset is his speed? Sam Antonacci proceeded to hit a grounder right at Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena with the infield drawn in. Peters hesitated an instant, then broke for the plate. Bad decision by him, and third base coach Justin Jirschele if he told Peters to go. Yup, out by a mile and defended by Venable in the postgame. With one out and runners on first and second (as opposed to second and third if Peters had stayed put and Pena took the out at first base), Munetaka Murakami singled sharply to right field. Maybe if Romo didn’t look back to check on the ball he scores. And a heck of a greater chance with Acuna running. But, hey, Romo was catching a shutout, right? After Miguel Vargas grounded into an around-the-horn double play (what, no safety squeeze? Oh, right, Romo was on third), Venable elected to stay with Sean Newcomb in a bases-loaded, two-out situation, righthanded-hitting Nelson Velazquez batting. What, no Grant Taylor? Velazquez singled to center. Astros 2 Sox 0. What could be worse than the above? Having Luis Castillo start today, that’s what.

Better

White Sox starter Sean Burke walked the first two Astros he saw last night, prompting a visit from pitching coach Zach Bove, who, according to what Burke told reporters after the game, said, “Look, let’s not go down this road again.” [quote from story today on team website] Bove was referencing the eight walks the 26-year old gave up in his previous start. Lo and behold, the tough love worked, and Burke pitched 5.2 innings of shutout ball. Sox 5 Astros 1. This Burke going back to good Burke is crucial to the Sox making the postseason. Ditto Colson Montgomery staying hot. Last night, Montgomery went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Gotta like that. If only Munetaka Murakami could join in. Instead, it was another three strikeouts for the Sox first baseman. Murakami could use a night off, like the one Braden Montgomery received (Randal Grichuk driving in two in his place). Let’s see if the rest cure pays off tonight.

Unacceptable

Ten walks should lead to more than three runs in a game, but not for the White Sox last night in Houston. Going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position may have had something to do with it, along with leaving fourteen runners on base. Astros 6 Sox 3. Of course, manager Vibes Venable was all unicorns and rainbows after the game, with shoutouts to Munetaka Murakami (three walks vs. one strikeout) and Colson Montgomery (two walks, a double and a homerun vs. one strikeout). OK, but what about Braden Montgomery, Skipper? The rookie went 0-for-5, lowering his BA to a concerning .224, and he seems to be losing focus in the field. He caught a ball over the weekend and apparently thought there were three outs, not two, which allowed a Twins’ runner to move up a base. And last night he made an ill-advised dive on a line drive by Cam Smith that went for a triple. That seemed to throw starter Anthony Kay off his game. Kay proceeded to give Nelson Velazquez, hitting .186, a pitch he could deposit over the wall in left field. The pitch was on Kay, just like the play before belonged to Braden Montgomery. Maybe I’m being too negative here. It is possible Colson Montgomery is getting his swing back; I hope so. It’s also possible that Tommy Pham will be a September catalyst for the Sox. But I doubt it.

Pardon the Cliché

The White Sox went to the well once too often, and, by that I mean they once again used an opener yesterday against the Twins rather than a starter. Only Jordan Hicks and Tyler Gilbert combined to put them in a 3-0 hole after one inning on the way to a 5-1 loss. So much for sweeping the Twins on the road. Two silver linings, starting with Jose Urquidy, who threw five innings of one-run ball on just three hits, two of which stayed in the yard. Here’s your fourth or fifth starter, whichever. Urquidy throws junk, something most hitters can’t stand. When he’s on, the 31-year old righthander can locate his junk all over the strike zone. A manager should like that. Silver-lining number-two: Sam Antonacci went 2-for-4 with a double and run scored. That’s what a leadoff hitter is supposed to do.

Threes

The White Sox managed all of three hits yesterday in Minnesota, to go with three runs in a 3-2 win over the Twins. Three Sox pitchers secured the victory. Andrew Benintendi collected all three hits, falling a triple short of the cycle. Benintendi had two RBIs and two runs scored. The last time a Sox player had three or more hits and the only hits in a win was 1977, when Lamar Johnson did it (while singing the National Anthem, to boot). Yes, I remember. Erick Fedde went five innings in the start, giving up two runs. The righthander gave a Fedde-plus performance, giving up three hits and two walks while striking out four. Fedde has thrown 13.2 scoreless innings over his last three appearances, to lower his ERA to 4.16. Cold, then hot, thy name is Erick Fedde. Sean Newcomb followed Fedde with, naturally, three innings out of the bullpen. Bryan Hudson got the save with a perfect ninth inning. You couldn’t ask for things to go any better, unless, maybe, you were me. I checked the Sox minor-league box scores and saw that David Sandlin threw a two-hit, seven-inning shutout for Charlotte last night. Why not for the parent club?

Delay

We went to watch our son-in-law’s high-school football team play last night (41-6, good guys), which meant not watching the White Sox in real time. Clare told me the Guardians had lost, but, per standing instructions, kept mum on the Sox-Twins’ score. I got the good news after fast-forwarding the TIVO recording. Sox 7 Twins 4. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery actually managed two hits apiece, alas, to go with two strikeouts apiece. Still, that’s progress, especially Montgomery’s three-run homer in the first inning. Too bad starter Luis Castillo squandered a 4-0 lead by the second inning. I guess the good news is that the bullpen bailed him out with five shutout innings. Here’s the thing, though—you can’t keep leaning on the pen to bail you out (or Andrew Benintendi to come up with two RBIs every game like he did last night). At some point in the not-too-distant future, starters need to go deep and take the pressure off relievers. Otherwise, there be trouble ahead, mateys. That said, let’s see if Montgomery and Murakami are ready to go on a tear. Fingers crossed.

Time Flies

The White Sox had a day off yesterday after playing sixteen straight days. I can only hope it provides the pause that refreshes as they start a weekend series in Minnesota. For me, I had time to think. God, just two years ago, the Sox were on their way to a record-breaking 121 losses. I looked at the team roster, and there were names I honestly couldn’t recall, which was probably for the best. New faces, new day. Go, Antonacci! The Sox were off, but not Chris Sale and the Braves. The 37-year old lefthander and onetime anchor of the White Sox staff threw a five-hit, complete-game 1-0 shutout against the Dodgers last night, striking out eleven without a walk. Clare told Michele to tell me this morning, and I told Michele to tell our daughter I knew. We were all Chris Sale fans in our family, my wife saying, “I wish he still pitched for the White Sox.” So do I, but stuff happens in baseball, teams collapse and have to rebuild (and rebuild again, it seems). If there’s any silver lining in re Sale, it’s that he’s more legitimate HOF credentials than Jacob deGrom. On his career, Sale is 158-97 with a 2.95 ERA and 2756 strikeouts vs. 105-74 and a 2.70 ERA and 2010 strikeouts for deGrom. I can just see a rangy, gray-bearded Sale giving his induction speech at Cooperstown. Would he wear a White Sox cap? Maybe if they allowed him to bring a pair of scissors to the podium.

Good News, Bad News

Always lead with the positive stuff, like Tristan Peters homering in five straight games, part of a fifteen-hit barrage that produced a 10-4 White Sox win over the Rangers last night. Oh, and the Sox tied their season high of seven games over the .500-mark. Now, for the bad news, and not just Munetaka Murakami’s continued woes at the plate (0-for-3 last night, resulting in a .219 BA). No, what’s really concerning is Sean Burke. He hasn’t been good his last three starts, giving up ten earned runs in 13.1 innings. It looked early on it would be Burke’s night, even after he walked two Texas batters in the top of the first inning. The 26-year old righthander picked off one baserunner while catcher Jake Rogers threw out the other trying to steal second base. The Sox even took a 2-0 lead in the second. Burke promptly gave it back in the third, on a walk and a homerun by Joc Pederson. The purported ace of the staff walked two more but managed to get out of the inning without any further damage. Then he walked the first two batters in the fourth. After eight walks in three-plus innings, it was, So long, Sean, hello, bullpen. Sean Newcomb was great, going three shutout innings, while Jonathan Cannon was Jonathan Cannon, giving up two runs in three innings. Newcomb is up to 75 innings on the season (the last 17.1 featuring not so much as an earned run) How long can he keep it up? And why is Cannon replacing an injured Huascar Brazoban instead of, yes, David Sandlin or Drew Thorpe? Cannon is 5-6 with a 5.18 ERA in Triple-A, not exactly numbers that give one confidence. As the saying goes, curious minds want to know.

Imaginary, Real

I keep hearing how pitcher Jackob deGrom is HOF-worthy, and, for the life of me, I can’t see it. At age 38, deGrom has a 105-74 record and 2.70 ERA. That includes last night, when the veteran righthander gave up six runs in the first inning to the White Sox, who went on to beat the Rangers 11-7. Nobody is mentioning Sox rookie outfielder Tristan Peters for Cooperstown, though I doubt he cares. After going from one to another to a third organization, the 26-year old seems to have found a home with the Sox. A 3-for-3 night with a homerun in four consecutive games no doubt has Sox GM Chris Getz feeling good about his talent-scouting chops. This is where baseball stands out from the NFL and NBA, neither of which feature 26-year old rookies any more often than Haley’s Comet comes around. In baseball, it happens all the time, though more often with pitchers than position players. From what I can tell, it happened with Peters because of the right combination of skills and coachability. He had a reputation as a plus-defender who could bunt, which got him a look-see in spring training, where he hit .270, good enough for a spot on the roster. Through April, he looked to be a rangy slap hitter, with just three RBIs in 66 at-bats. Then came May and June. Maybe it was Peters’ first homerun, a three-run shot against the Cubs on May 17, that announced his arrival, or just a steady approach to the plate. Either way, the native of Winkler, Manitoba, has established himself at the lower end of the batting order. And, because he can express himself, he’s done a number of postgame interviews in which he’s made comments that touch on coachability. Peters has eleven homers that have basically come in two bunches. During the first bunch, he mentioned that he’s trying to stay within himself after going the power route for a time in the minors. Indeed, last year in Triple A, he struck out 102 times while hitting fifteen homers and batting .266. As we speak, Peters is hitting .277 with eleven homers and 72 strikeouts in 354 at-bats, together with a 342 OBP. I’ll take that kind of production over make-believe HOF stats any day of the week.

Some Questions

Some questions are in order following the White Sox losing 11-2 to the visiting Rangers last night. We’ll start with pitching. Do Luis Castillo and Jose Urquidy have anything left in the tank as starters? Castillo has a 5.89 ERA in four starts since he came over from the Mariners while Urquidy, who lasted a mere three innings last night, clocks in at 5.62. Meanwhile, David Sandlin and Drew Thorpe languish in Triple-A. Now, let’s switch over to hitting. Sam Antonacci is batting .136 over his last seven games, .204 over his last fifteen and .227 over his last 30. I’m hopeful the 23-year old rookie can snap out of it a la Tristan Peters, who homered in his third straight game. Peters, who couldn’t hit a lick after the All-Star Game, is hitting .317 with four homeruns over his last fifteen games. If only Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery demonstrated the same ability to bounce back. Murakami is batting .107 over his last seven games, .148 over his last fifteen. Montgomery, for what it’s worth, is consistent, hitting .192 over his last seven and .190 over fifteen, and that’s an improvement over .171 over his last 30 games. Will they ever produce on a consistent basis? Or for that matter, will Vibes Venable manage like a manager should? Recapping the box score in postgame comments hardly qualifies. Making decisions and motivating players does.

By Any Means Necessary

I was back at the Rate yesterday for the second time in four days. Talk about agony and ecstasy rolled into one afternoon. Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery went a combined 0-for-7; Sox hitters managed two singles through seven innings before scratching out a run in the eighth for a 1-0 lead; and Grant Taylor allowed the tying run in the ninth. Maybe I should mention here Tristan Peters walked it off with a one-out homerun that bounced off the top of the wall in deep right-centerfield. Sox 2 Mets 1 for the series clincher. Some guy across from me needed to let the world know the Mets’ Francisco Lindor was the center of his universe. Other than that, the crowd was pretty pleasant, especially the fan sitting next to Michele who noticed I was keeping score. “If they had Bobby Jenks for late in the game, they’d be in the World Series,” he leaned over to tell me. We both agreed there was a lot of talent on the roster, with more on the way. Hey, Commissioner, how about short centerfield as a new position? That way, we could bring up some of those middle infielders the Sox have been collecting. The starting rotation remains a problem, though the opener-bulk thing worked like a charm yesterday. Sean Newcomb opened with two scoreless innings followed by Erick Fedde with four shutout innings of his own and another two from Hagen Smith. But what are the odds of Newcomb, Fedde and/or Taylor pitching tonight against the Rangers? But that’s a worry for another game. As for this one, a perfect afternoon in late August with a perfect outcome.

No Pitch, All Swish

Well, this was bound to happen. Luis Robert Jr. hit two homers and drove in three runs against his old team last night as Mets doubled up on the White Sox, 10-5. No pitching, and two hitters providing eight strikeouts between them. Luis Castillo gave up four runs on eight (!) hits and a walk in just 2.2 innings of work. None of the three pitchers who followed, including scored-upon-again Huascar Brazoban, provided anything close to relief. Starting pitching, or the lack thereof, is a problem that needs to be addressed yesterday, if not sooner. Ditto the feast-or-famine nature of the Sox offense. Two homeruns, from Braden Montgomery and Tristan Peters, were nice, the 1-for-10 performance with runners in scoring position and the thirteen strikeouts, not so much. Which brings us to the four-strikeouts’ twins, Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery. The one has a .225 BA, the other .215. Last night, Murakami looked more zombie at the plate than hitter while Montgomery continued his distressing habit of taking hittable pitches for a called strike three; he did it twice, once with the bases loaded. Short-term, this has to be fixed to the point both hitters can put up a .230 BA at least. Long-term, the front office has to decide whether either or both of these players is worth building around. I honestly can’t answer one way or another.

Heavy Artillery

The White Sox were dead, dead, dead for five innings last night against the Mets, never more so than in the top of the fourth when centerfielder Brenton Doyle lost a lazy flyball off the bat of Luis Robert Jr. (!) that turned into a double leading to two runs on the ensuing single by Brett Baty. After Bo Bichette homered in the fifth, the 4-0 score felt more like 14-0. Then, Boom!, times three in the sixth. Munetaka Murakami walked with one out, followed by a homerun by Miguel Vargas followed by a homerun by Randal Grichuk followed by a homerun by Colson Montgomery to tie the score. Wait, there’s more, one more to be precise. I have a theory that when a team scores three or more runs from the sixth inning on to tie the score but not go ahead, odds are it will lose. Not last night. With two out and a runner on third, catcher-of-the-night Jake Rogers lifted a flyball that just cleared the fence in left-centerfield. Sox 6 Mets 4. So, Robert Jr. played but did not hurt his old team, and Bichette homered for the sixth time against the Sox (to go with a career .361 BA), for once not deciding the score. Strange times, indeed.

Almost

Leo almost saw his first-ever no-hitter at his second ballgame yesterday afternoon. Thank you, Andrew Benintendi, for that seventh-inning single. Braves 2 White Sox 0. Anthony Kay gave up those two runs in six-plus innings of work. Too bad there’s no manager ERA because Vibes Venable doubled a one-run lead by bringing in Huascar Brazoban with a runner on second and nobody out. Bad decision The 36-year old Brazoban must think he’s still pitching for the Mets. He proceeded to give up a deep flyball to right field that allowed Michael Harris II to tag up and move to third. This was followed by singles of 93.9 and 103.2 mph. t was goodbye, Brazoban, after he managed to strike out Ronald Acuna Jr., and hello, Hagen Smith, who worked 1.1 perfect innings, with three strikeouts. And Venable didn’t go to Smith from the start why, again? That extra run mattered because the Sox put their first two runners on in the bottom of the seventh. In a 1-0 game, you think of bunting in that situation, or at least I do. Down 2-0, not so much, although a bunt attempt would’ve been better than the three strikeouts that followed. Also, with every batter being the tying run, that puts extra pressure on the pitcher. Again, two runs down, not so much. After the game, Venable went into his typical “cover your players” mode. Oh, Atlanta’s pitching was really good and “We’ve got to get him [Brazoban] competitive in the zone,” whatever that means. [quote from story in today’s Sun-Times] No, Vibes, you need players who can produce, and you need to shake things up in a game when they’re not going your way. See seventh inning, above.

Simple as Pie

It’s simple, really. You either protect a lead, or you lose a game, which the White Sox did again last night at Wrigley Field, 4-3. In the seventh and the Sox ahead 3-2, manager Vibes Venable stuck with Huascar Brazoban after a leadoff walk on four pitches. Brazoban rewarded his manager’s faith in him by walking the next Cub batter on five pitches. In came Grant Taylor, who got two strikeouts before yielding a game-tying single to Alex Bregman. Then it rained. That meant Taylor couldn’t come out to pitch the eighth. Instead, it was Trevor Richards, who retired the side in the eighth only to give up a leadoff double in the ninth and a walk-off single to Bregman. Apparently, Venable didn’t check the weather forecast. Otherwise, he might have used his relievers differently. Then again, probably not.

Decisions, Decisions

The White Sox took a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning at Wrigley Field last night, when Sox manager Vibes Venable decided to stick with reliever Jordan Hicks after the righthander had faced and retired one Cubs’ batter in the eighth. Last week, Sox GM Chris Getz decided to acquire veteran catcher Jake Rogers, which meant sending down Edgar Quero, he of the walk-off homerun against the North Siders back in May. In two games, Rogers has hit into two double plays and shown little behind the plate, though he did pick Alex Bregman off of third base in the seventh. But Rogers didn’t show the same ability challenging calls behind the plate. With one out and a 1-1 count to Bregman, Rogers challenged home-plate ump Scott Barry’s ball-call of an inside pitch to Bregman; the call was upheld, leaving the Sox without any more challenges in regulation. This is where it hurts. Bregman walked, and so did the next batter, Ian Happ, even though ball four was clearly strike three. Oh, well. Instead of two out and one on, it was two on and one out for Nico Hoerner, who singled in the tying run. Extra innings it was. With the score still tied going to the bottom of the tenth, Venable called on rookie Hagen Smith to make his fourth major-league appearance. First batter, Pete Crow-Armstrong. Three pitches later, Cubs 7 Sox 5. Where was Grant Taylor in any of this? Or Edgar Quero?

Been There, Done That

The White Sox went back to the longball yesterday in Detroit to beat the Tigers, 7-5, and sweep the three-game series. Drew Romo (!!) and Munetaka Murakami both hit two-runs shots with Miguel Vargas adding a solo blast to account for five runs. A groundout from Sam Antonacci and single by Colson Montgomery (!!) accounted for the other two runs. Manager Vibes Venable continued his streak of knowing exactly what to do when with both pitching and hitting. Venable lifted Sean Burke after 4.1 innings due to the simple fact Burke—four runs on five hits and three walks—just didn’t have it. Hagen Smith and Sean Newcomb provided four spotless innings of relief (Huascar Brazoban gave up a run in .2 innings), with Newcomb picking up the save. Venable’s other big move was to pinch-hit Randal Grichuk for Andrew Benintendi to start the sixth inning, the Sox down a run. Grichuk doubled to dead centerfield and scored on Montgomery’s hit. Talk about reading the situation correctly, and delivering accordingly. More please. The sweep puts the Sox at 65-58, equaling their season high of seven games over .500. To improve on those numbers with three games at Wrigley would be satisfying, indeed. Venable keeps refusing to say that his team has made any statements lately. Trust me, two out of three from the North Siders would constitute one, regardless.

Double the Fun

The White Sox found a way to win in Detroit yesterday that didn’t involve hitting homeruns. Instead, they went with doubles. Sam Antonacci lined the first pitch of the game through the right side of the infield. Because centerfielder Javy Baez (!!##@) let the ball come to him, Antonacci took the extra base and scored on a two-out single by Braden Montgomery. With two out in the third inning and the score tied at one, Colson Montgomery (??!!!) capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a two-run double down the right-field line. Oh, to see more of that from our shortstop. But you take what you can get. Including a pinch-hit double from Randal Grichuk to start the seventh inning. I should also offer up a tip of the cap here, however grudging, to manager Vibes Venable, who went for the righty-lefty advantage with Grichuk batting for Antonacci against lefty Drew Sommers. One out later, Venable stuck with lefthanded Andrew Benintendi against Sommers and was rewarded with what proved to be the game-winning single. Sox 4 Tigers 3. Starter Anthony Kay went 5.1 innings, followed by three relievers, so Venable needs a strong outing from Sean Burke. Because taking three games from the Tigers would be ever so sweep.

Ball of Confusion

My God, this White Sox team is confusing. Colson Montgomery had another o-fer night (0-for-5); Jose Urquidy in his Sox debut (three runs, five hits in 3.2 innings of work) made me think fondly of Erick Fedde; and Drew Romo lowered his BA to a pretty microscopic .132. All that, and they still beat the Tigers in Detroit last night, 9-5. What gives? Well, it helped that Tristan Peters and Braden Montgomery both showed signs of life at the plate, with three hits apiece. Peters socked a two-run homer while Montgomery countered with a two-run triple. More, please. Miguel Vargas also looked to be breaking out of his slump with a four-hit effort, including two homers. Like Peters, Vargas had himself a two-run homer, and, like Munetaka Murakami, a solo shot. More dingers with runners on base, please. Now what? Well, one game at a time and all that. Plus a quality start from Anthony Kay. Please.

Wait Till Next Year

Two years ago, the White Sox went 41-121 while improving to 60-102 last season. Right now, their record stands at 62-58. That may be all the miracle a Sox fan can expect or ask for as their team battles for a division title (and how odd to write those words). Take yesterday afternoon’s 9-8 loss to the Reds (please). Davis Martin stunk, again; Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas both went 0-for-5; Braden Montgomery looks like he’s getting batting tips from the 0-fers; and somewhere manager Vibes Venable made the obvious obvious in his postgame comments. If you believe Bleacher Report and USA Today, the White Sox have the eighth-best minor-league system in all of baseball, and I think those rankings are erring on the side of caution. The team has middle infielders everywhere to go with some intriguing outfield and catching prospects plus enough pitching to keep me wondering how Erick Fedde stays employed. Speaking of which, if I were Davis Martin… Ex-GM Rick Hahn missed a chance to reset the Sox roster both after the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez could have brought sizable returns while the team pivoted to young players like Gavin Sheets and Jake Burger. Instead, we got systemic collapse. Current GM Chris Getz now finds himself in the same situation. He has a left fielder (Sam Antonacci) who looks great when he moves to second base and a second baseman (Chase Meidroth) who can play a very nice shortstop. Plus Getz has a system full of middle infielders, starting with Roch Cholowsky, Caleb Bonemer and Billy Carlson. Something’s got to give, not this season but next. That, or Epic Collapse 2.0.

Oops

I didn’t mean to peak; it just happened. The White Sox beat the Reds 5-0 last night on a combined two-hitter from Luis Castillo (seven innings); Hagen Smith (one inning, three strikeouts); and Huascar Brazoban (one uneventful inning). Pitching is everything. Without it, you have today’s score of Reds 8 Sox 4 in the top of the fifth. Better to focus on the past. I mean, how often does Drew Romo get two hits in a game, including a homerun, along with two RBIs? Chase Meidroth also homered, number twelve, to go with 48 RBIs. In the minors, Meidroth never hit more than nine homers or drove in more than 57 runs. How do you spell “success”? Plus Sam Antonacci had three hits. Too bad he and Meidroth don’t pitch.

What Marvin Gaye Said

A game like last night’s ten-inning, 5-4 White Sox loss to the Reds makes me want to holler; a less mature version would also throw things. Here’s why. The Sox hit three homeruns—all solo shots—to go with seven innings of one-run ball from starter Sean Burke, everything wasted when Cincinnati scored three runs in the eighth to tie the game at four. Manager Vibes Venable thought he could bring in Bryan Hudson to retire three right-hand hitters, two of them switch hitters. Nope. All three singled. Things might have improved with Grant Taylor replacing Hudson, but they didn’t. Taylor was off, that or in love with his slow, breaking stuff. Runners moved up to second and third on a deep-enough flyball to right field on an 87.6 mph slider out over the lower corner of the plate. Taylor then walked a batter before yielding a two-run single to Tyler Stephenson. Did Stephenson hit Taylor’s best pitch? Not unless an 85.1 mph curveball on the outer half of the plate counts. After that, it was just a matter of time. The Reds’ bullpen has the fifth-worst ERA in baseball. How odd that Cincinnati relievers retired eighteen of nineteen batters faced. After the game, Venable said the three softly-hit balls off of Hudson were “[j]ust baseball” and “just part of the game.” [online story in today’s Tribune] What a crock and dodge of responsibility. Venable put in a reliever who left the ball over the plate to three straight batters. Exit velo has nothing to do with it. Did I mention Colson Montgomery struck out three times in an 0-for-4 night? On the year, Montgomery is hitting .213 with 157 strikeouts over 473 plate appearance. In other words, he’s striking out 33 percent of the time. Tell me how you win a division with numbers like that.

Retirement

Ex-White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson made his retirement official yesterday in a Zoom call with Chicago media. The 33-year old, onetime face of the franchise gave voice to joy; sadness; and, possibly, regret during his video announcement. It made me think of my daughter. Unlike Anderson, Clare knew when her career would end; most female athletes do. Every sport has its season. When the calendar runs out after senior year, the playing and competing end, except for a lucky few who play professionally. Was my then 22-year old any less emotional than Anderson yesterday? Probably not; she just did a better job hiding it, what with graduation and graduate school following in the wake of Senior Day. But I’m sure there were moments when she felt a void. Clare had been hitting a ball since before she was four. Anderson mentioned some business ventures along with the challenge of being a father and husband. If he’s anything like my daughter, he’ll find meaning, and perhaps a little joy, in teaching the game he once played.

Heaven-sent

Things looked bleak for the South Side Nine on a Sunday afternoon, Davis Martin their starting pitcher. The pride of Abilene continued his bad habit of late, for the third straight game letting the other side score right out of the gate. This the visitors from Cleveland did twice, only to let the home team cut the lead in half thanks to a double off the bat of that Man from Japan. Then the heavens opened up, and the rain did pour. Not a pitch was thrown for one hour, then two, plus another 23 minutes or so. When it came time to resume, the vibing Venable pointed to rookie Hagen Smith and said, off, my boy, to the mound you go. White Sox 5 Guardians 3. Smith was what you might call effectively wild, striking out three in the second while walking a batter before walking the bases loaded in the third. One line drive to third baseman Miguel Vargas later, Smith not only escaped the jam of his own making, he set himself up for the win. That’s because the Sox scored four in the bottom of the third, three on a Colson Montgomery laser over the wall in right. Montgomery said later he was taking stock of things, offering that, “Success, it leaves clues.” [story today on team website] Yes, grasshopper, it does. Now, make like Sherlock, and figure them out. For reasons best known to himself, Manager Vibes used reliever Trevor Richards for the third time in four games. The overuse showed in the ninth when Richards gave two walks along with two wild pitches, leading to a run on a sacrifice fly by Jose Ramirez. Rookie righthander Tanner McDougal, brought up along with Smith from Triple-A Charlotte, was warming in the bullpen, just in case. For that, I can’t wait. Honestly.

Better

Well, White Sox manager Vibes Venable managed to keep track of mound visits last night, and his team capitalized on a reservoir of emotion following the retirement of Ozzie Guillen’s number 13 to stop a four-game losing streak. Sox 6 Guardians 3. Before I forget, a tip of the cap to starter Anthony Kay for another solid performance (two earned runs in six innings) and GM Chris Getz for going out and signing the 31-year old lefthander, who had spent the two previous seasons pitching in Japan. At 9-5, Kay has pitched like anything but a journeyman with four career wins going into 2026. Chase Meidroth had two more RBIs, as did Tristan Peters. The former Savannah Banana is showing signs of breaking out of a horrendous month-long slump. If so, it couldn’t happen at a better time.

Speaking of Dunce Caps

White Sox manager Vibes Venable donned the dunce cap in the top of the first inning against the Guardians last night when he left the dugout to visit starter Noah Schultz after a two-run single put the visitors up by two and threatening for more. Somehow, Venable missed that pitching coach Zach Bove had already made a visit after Schultz hit Jo Adell to load the bases. And Venable has a bench coach why, again? Sadly, there’s more in this 8-2 loss. Venable brought in David Sandlin, just called up from Charlottee, and the 25-year old righty did all that you could ask on short notice. Sandlin got out of the first without further damage and then kept Cleveland off the board through the fourth. Ah, but the fifth. That’s a different story requiring an even bigger dunce cap. Sandlin got Steven Kwan to ground out before giving up a single to Chase DeLauter. Did Venable think it was time to take out his pitcher? Nope. Ditto after Sandlin yielded a walk and then a hit-by-pitch. Maybe Venable was still in shock from his first-inning faux pas. Whatever the reason, not only did he stay in the dugout through all that but for Angel Martinez’s grand slam as well and two hits after that. What does this all mean? Heaven help the White Sox if the team takes on the personality of its manager, that’s what.

Enough

You know what I’ve had enough of? White Sox manager Vibes Venable complimenting the other team for beating his team. Venable did it again last night after the Red Sox came back a total of five time to tie the score—three times in extra innings—before pushing across the winning run in the thirteenth. Bad Sox 12 Good Sox 11. This was a game the White Sox needed and Venable managed away. He used everyone out of the bullpen except Sean Newcomb. Guess what? I would’ve used Newcomb and/or a starter to get the win. Chase Meidroth gave the Sox a two-run lead with a homer off Aroldis Chapman in the top of tenth, only for Venable to treat Trevor Richards like he was the second coming of Rollie Fingers. Richards gave back both runs, plus one in the eleventh. Instead of saying how good the Red Sox were, Venable could’ve put on a dunce cap. Same message.

Numbers Game

The Bad Sox had their way with the Good Sox last night, shutting out the visitors 4-0. Live by the long ball, die a whole bunch of other ways. Like the stolen base. Boston had three to our zero, and two of those set up runs. Not only did Drew Romo fail to throw out two would-be base stealers, he let one advance to third on a throwing error. Did I mention Romo went 0-for-2, dropping his average down to .132? Romo left it to his teammates to collect three singles and a lonely double. Ah, batting average. The White Sox rank seventh in all of baseball for homeruns, the Red Sox 24th. But Boston ranks twelfth in BA and fourteenth in OBP to 22nd and seventeenth for the White Sox. Did I mention the Red Sox have the third-best team ERA at 3.49 while the White Sox are thirteenth at 4.08? Let me channel my inner Hawk Harrelson here. (Ignore the shuddering.) The Carmines are on an incredible hot streak right now, going 30-5 since June 25. In baseball, it’s not only who you play but when you play them. Which is what all the numbers are pointing to.

Danger

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! Davis Martin is pitching, and for some time now, that’s a bad thing, as evidenced by six first-inning runs at Fenway last night. Bad Sox 14 Good Sox 2. After the game, Martin said he may have been tipping pitches. What, that wasn’t happening in April and May, when he was 7-1 with a sub-2.00 ERA? All I know is he hasn’t gone a month since with an ERA under 5.68. It can’t all be attributed to tipping pitches. The 29-year old righthander has a 6.55 ERA over his last seven starts and 5.54 over his last fifteen. What gives? The analytics’ crew better get their gizmos out to find the answer. And quick.

Then and Now

When the trade deadline passed yesterday at 5 PM, the White Sox showed themselves to be astute buyers, acquiring catcher Joey Bart; reliever Huascar Brazoban; and outfielder Brenton Doyle. They join starter Luis Castillo, traded for over the weekend. GM Chris Getz was able to hang onto all his top prospects. Will it push the Sox over the top and into the postseason? We’ll have to wait to find out. All these names make me think of players acquired for pennant drives long ago: Ken Boyer; Smoky Burgess; Rocky Colavito; Jim King; Frank Lary; Moose Skowron. I remember them all, if not the World Series they were supposed bring along.

Power's Back On

The White Sox hit three homeruns yesterday, beating the Rays 9-1 behind some pretty good pitching from starter Anthony Kay. As ever, I should be happy, but— Will Colson Montogmery ever figure things out at the plate? Yesterday, Montgomey doubled with two out in the top of the first, which set up two runs, so, good that. Only he proceeded to strike out his next four at-bats to leave him batting .215 at the end of the day. Four strikeouts, oh my. Subtract one, and you’ll end up with three, just like catcher Drew Romo, whose 0-for-4 left him hitting a pretty miniscule .134. Would it even be mathematically possible for Romo to get his BA to Montgomery’s .215? Right now, lack of production from behind the plate makes it look like the Sox are playing without a DH in the lineup. And I can think of some Sox pitchers of yore who could hit better, as in Gary Peters and Juan Pizarro. But a win’s a win, and the Sox took the series, two games to one. Now, it’s on to Boston, where I really, really like to see our Sox beat those Sox.

Power Outage

The problem with big-power/low batting-average teams is feast-or-famine syndrome. Friday night, the White Sox hit four homeruns and won. Yesterday afternoon, they managed all of five singles and lost. Rays 1 Sox 0. The silver lining is that Noah Schultz pitched five innings of one-run ball. The Tall One scattered three singles while striking out four and walking no one. Schultz was also pretty efficient, throwing just—for him—67 pitches. The question now is, what becomes of the 22-year old lefty in the wake of the Sox trading for starter Luis Castillo? Bullpen? Back to Charlotte? Tune in, and, while you’re at it, read all the “experts” who think the Sox gave up too much for the 33-year old righthander. All of a sudden, ex-Sox Seranthony Dominguez has a value beyond his 3.99 ERA and five blown saves. Yes, I would’ve liked to hold onto catching prospect Boston Smith (what a name), but what were the odds of Smith leapfrogging from Double-A to take over from Kyle Teel and company anytime soon? In my book, it was a trade worth making. Time will tell.