Teetering

Six games into the new season, and the White Sox are teetering on the brink. Nothing says “disaster” like your pitching staff giving up nine or more runs in four of five losses, including yesterday’s 10-0 embarrassment in Miami. What to do? I say, panic. I don’t know what GM Chris Getz was thinking when he assembled his pitching staff, but it wasn’t anything smart. He’s already cut ties with Jedixson Paez, a Rule 5 pickup from the Red Sox. If Shane Smith, another Rule 5 alum, doesn’t get his act together, he may be joining Paez before long. The team’s purported top starter got clobbered in his second start of the season, just like he did in his first. Against the Marlins, Smith yielded seven earned runs in three innings. Add up what he did against the Brewers, and Smith is 0-2 with a 19.29 ERA. If nothing else, that makes Sean Burke (6.75 ERA) and Erik Fedde (5.40 ERA) look good in comparison. While its parent club struggles, Triple-A Charlotte is off to a 4-1 start in large part because, yes, the Sox do have talent in the minors. The question, how long are they going to wait to bring up players? Sam Anronacci looks like a better fit than three outfielders I could name while Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith and Tanner McDougal could do just as well as three starting pitchers I could name. Then, again, what do I know? The Sox have lost 100+ games three seasons in a row without following a word of advice from yours truly.