Accentuate the Positive

First, the good news—the White Sox really looked like they were going to stink up the joint last night in Texas against the Rangers. First, they let Jacob deGrom off the hook in the first inning, failing to score after putting runners in scoring position and nobody out. Then, they spotted deGrom a 2-0 lead. Thank heaven for Sam Antnoacci and Andrew Benintendi. Long story short, Sox 10 Rangers 3. Antonacci scored the Sox first run in the third and drove in the tying run in the fifth while Benintendi hit a bases-clearing double later that inning to knock out deGrom. The pitcher whom some people like to tout for the Hall of Fame, this despite a mere 103 career wins at age 38, gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. Erick Fedde did his Houdini act for four innings while Chris Murphy picked up the win in relief. This was all to the good, along with Jordan Hicks’ continued resurgence. The righty struck out two in .2 innings when it counted and now has a 0.00 ERA over his last seven appearances. I did not see that coming. The only downer to report is Kyle Teel’s injury, an ankle sprain incurred during a play at the plate in the bottom of the second inning; Teel missed on a sweep tag of baserunner Ezequiel Duran. Here’s the thing—there was no contact on the play. Teel just pivoted on his ankle, and something happened. Oh, well. Edgar Quero’s back with Teel making another visit to the IL If ever a player needed to seize an opportunity, it’s Quero, now. We’ll see soon enough.

Seeing is Believing

It’s plain to see this isn’t your White Sox of 2022, 2023, 2024 or 2025. For proof, look at yesterday’s 3-0 win over the Blue Jays. This year’s Sean Burke is everything that last year’s version could only hint at. The 26-year old righthander went 6.2 innings, yielding three baserunners on two singles and a walk. As for Colson Montgomery, his BA remains an anemic .224, but there are definite signs of improvement. In the sixth inning with the Sox ahead 1-0, Montgomery took a 1-2 splitter from Jays’ starter Trey Yesavage and deposited it over the wall in right. Wait, there’s more. The much-maligned Andrew Benintendi (yes, oftentimes by me), followed with a double, this to go with his sacrifice fly in the fourth. That brought up Braden Montgomery, who capped an eight-pitch at-bat by singling to center on a 1-2 fastball from Yesavage. Talk about textbook approach. Montgomery would foul off a pitch, step out of the box and compose himself, again and again. The rookie had no interest in trying to jack the ball, just solid contact, which he delivered on. Oh, more, more please. Now, consider the ninth inning, when Grant Taylor gave up an infield single and a bunt single to the first two batters he faced, bringing up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Pick any of those past seasons, and you know what Guerrero was going to do, as in going-going-gone! Nope. Instead of a three-run jack, Guerrero lined out to Braden Montgomery in right on a nice play. Mercy. A 6-4-3 double play later, and the Sox took the three-game series. Next up, a visit to Texas for a three-game set with the Rangers. Bad news—they’ll be facing Jacob deGrom. Good news—deGrom is both righthanded and 38. This should be a good game.

One or the Other

Take your pick—the sound of silence, feast or famine. Either one describes the White Sox going from scoring twelve runs on Friday to getting shut out yesterday in Toronto, 1-0. At least Davis Martin pitched well, giving up that lone run in 5.2 innings. With a little ++ defense on a double to center by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a single up the middle by George Springer, Davis could very well have pitched himself to something between a no-decision and a win. Yes, his offense collecting all of four hits off of Shane Bieber and three relievers would’ve made that quite the challenge, but two of those hits were doubles leading off an inning. Then there was the hard-luck case of Luisangel Acuna, who came into the eighth as a pinch runner. Alejandro Kirk got off a pretty crappy throw, only it tailed into the runner, making for an easy tag. It could just sailed away from Acuna. Oh, well. You want to win, you bounce back.

Dance to the Music

Last Friday, we saw Los Lobos in concert, and the White Sox crushed the Athletics, 14-1. Last night, we travelled up to Ravina to see Paul Simon, and the Sox demolished the Blue Jays, 12-4. We may be on to something here. Twelve hits for the visitors, with every starter managing at least one hit. Sam Antonacci clubbed his seventh homerun of the season while Colson Montgomery and Braden Montgomery provided bases-clearing base hits, a double for Colson vs. a triple for Braden. More, please. The starting pitching could’ve been better, with Anthony Kay unable to go more than four. But a shoutout to rookie lefthander Tyler Schweitzer. The pride of Indianapolis and Ball State picked up his first career win with three innings of scoreless relief. At the risk of repeating myself, more please.

A Baseball Game of Musical Chairs

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Don’t get too attached to a White Sox player, especially an infielder or anyone named Andrew Benintendi. With promising middle infielders up and down their minor-league system, the Sox will have to find room for the best of them, and sooner than later. How long before Caleb Bonemer puts up Triple-A numbers that can’t be ignored? Or Roch Cholowsy? But what happens to incumbent shortstop Colson Montgomery? He could slide over to third base to make room for one of the above, but then what happens to Miguel Vargas? Well, he could switch over to first base, but that means something has to give with Munetaka Murakami. GM Chris Getz could let Murakami walk after next season, which would be a real gamble given Murakami’s power and popularity on the South Side. Or he could sign Murakami to an extension and install him as the primary DH, Benintendi’s role right now. The 32-year old Benintendi is signed through 2027. I’m pretty willing to bet the bank he’ll be gone after that, if not sooner. Shortstop is the highest-skill position in baseball, with centerfield coming in second. So, one of the stable of young shortstops could make the switch to the outfield a la Robin Yount back in the day. Then, what happens to Tristan Peters? Like I said, don’t get too attached to anyone on the 2026 White Sox. They might not be here for long.

A Hard, Necessary, Conversation

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; great minds think alike; like father, like daughter—take your pick. Whatever the reason, Clare and I were asking the same question last week when the White Sox picked Landon Thome with the 34th selection in the draft. “Would you tell him to sign or go to college?” daughter asked father, or vice versa. We both agreed, “Go to college.” Let’s count the reasons why. Start with the fact that the Sox are full of middle infielders, and that’s not even counting number-one pick Roch Cholowsky. Five of the top eleven prospects in the Sox system are middle infielders. How exactly does the eighteen-year old Thome expect to jump over them? Also consider the middle infield on the major-league level with Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery, plus Miguel Vargas at third and middle-infielder Same Antonacci forced to play left field. Where exactly does Thome fit in? The younger Thome stands an even six feet and weighs 177 pounds; he looks like he has another year or two of high-school eligibility left. Yes, the White Sox will wait for him to fill out, but the expectation for a professional, as opposed to a college, player is to perform from day one. I’d argue there’s a lot more pressure playing at Single-A Kannapolis than Florida State, where Landon Thome has committed to attend. And any high-school player making the jump puts his body at risk that first year, as it adjusts from playing just 50 games a season to 130-plus games. College offers players a chance to grow both physically and emotionally before jumping into the pros with its expanded schedule. That’s what Clare would be telling her son. Me, too.

The Big Stage

Ordinarily, I don’t care about the All-Star Game, outside of the American League winning. And they did that last night in Philadelphia, 4-0 on a three-hitter by more pitchers than I have fingers. What stood out, though, was Miguel Vargas of the White Sox; he did two things of note. First, he appeared on the red carpet with his parents alongside him. Classy move, that. Then, the native of Havana, Cuba, hit like the game mattered. In the top of the fifth inning, center fielder Andy Pages robbed Vargas of a sure double with a running catch in right-center field. Which set up the eighth inning. Vargas took a slider down and in from former minor-league Dodgers’ teammate Justin Wrobleski and deposited it 433 feet into the second deck at Citizens Bank Park. A giant-sized shot from a regular-sized player (6’2”, 225 pounds) by current baseball standards. Oh, if only that line drive had fallen in. Vargas and not Cody Bellinger, with a two-run single in the first, could’ve been named MVP. Oh, well. What stands out here is both Vargas’ humility and intensity. Both bode well for the White Sox in the second half of the season, starting Friday in Toronto. I can’t wait.

Traditions

If it’s the day before the All-Star Game, that means Home Run Derby, which means watching it with Clare. Evidence of her winning and tying two such contests available on request. Of course, we had hot dogs, and of course we rooted for Munetaka Murakami of the White Sox. He did better than the Yankees’ Ben Rice, so I’m happy. Leo was more bothered than I was that Munie didn’t move on to the second round. MLB may want to take note of this—my grandson, three weeks short of five years old, grew tired of it all after 1-1/2 hours. He left the adults on the back porch to watch the ballplayers while he went into the living room to turn on Bluey. I wanted to join him.

Throw a Righty Against the White Sox—

And you’re asking for trouble. That’s what the A’s did yesterday, and it led to a 9-1 drubbing at The Rate. Noah Schultz, aka The Tall Enigma, put his team in an early 1-0 hole by serving up a two-out gopher ball in the top of the first inning to Shea Langeliers, but Sam Antonacci took care of that with a leadoff homer of his own, thank you very much. More hits and runs followed, capped by a three-run line drive off the bat of Braden Montgomery that just cleared the fence in right to finish off a six-run inning. After that, Schultz pitched up to his potential, tossing five innings while giving up just four hits and no walks. With that, we come to the All-Star break, the unofficial halfway mark of the season; at 50-45, the Sox passed that point a few games ago. What happens next? As long as it’s nothing dumb, who cares? Dumb would be GM Chris Getz trading young talent for a rental player or two. Nope. Challenge the coaching staff to do their jobs. If they come through, the Sox win the Central Division, and maybe get a shoutout from the Pope in Rome. It’s as simple as that.

Feast of a Famine

The A’s started another lefty yesterday, and the White Sox lineup managed all of five hits and a run. But it was enough to win 1-0 when Chase Meidroth doubled in Colson Montgomery for the game’s only run in the sixth inning. For what it’s worth, three righthanded hitters collected all five hits—oddly, three of them doubles—for the Sox. So, I guess this is a good thing. Now, for two tips of the cap in recognition of players I usually say little nice about, starting with Erick Fedde. The veteran righthander ditched the Houdini routine with four shutout innings during which he gave up just two hits and a walk. The 33-year old Fedde is 4-1in his last seven games with a 2.64 ERA over 30.2 innings. You can’t argue with that. Or the way Luisangel Acuna has been playing, for that matter. Acuna six for his last eleven? Yup. But wait, there’s more. The ex-Met (how are you guys enjoying the non-production of Luis Robert Jr.?) has been playing mean defense at shortstop. Yesterday in the top of the eighth with the tying run on third, nobody out and the infield in, Acuna snared a 104.2 mph grounder off the bat of Tyler Soderstrom for the out. I’m not sure that Colson Montgomery makes that play, and I mean no disrespect to Montgomery. If Acuna can keep hitting, his glove and his speed become all the more valuable. One more game before the All-Star break, and the A’s are starting a righthander. This is when good teams pounce.

They Hit

Talk about a perfect Friday night. Michele and I stood, oh, no more than 35 feet from a stage holding members of Los Lobos, if not the greatest rock-and-roll band still standing, then on the short list. Bertha, don’t you come around here anymore. And then to come home to find the White Sox were in the process of demolishing the A’s, 14-1, with Sean Burke pitching seven innings of one-run (and zero-walk) ball while Tristan Peters hit for the cycle for the seventh time in franchise history (and I’ve been around for all of them except for Ray Schalk’s in 1922). Not only that, Sox announcer John Schriffen actually sounded both exciting and professional calling Peters’ eighth-inning triple that completed the cycle. Mercy. Not to break the mood, but the Sox couldn’t touch opener Jacob Lopez, a lefthanded sporting a 7.04 ERA. Good thing the A’s decided to bring in righthander—and ex-Sox—pitcher Aaron Civale; that was good for four runs over the next 2.1 innings. Here’s the thing, though. The A’s are starting lefty Gage Jump, and he doesn’t stink. So, we’ll see, Bertha, we’ll see.

Not T-Ball

The Bad Sox finished a three-game sweep of the Good Sox with a 2-1 win yesterday afternoon. This time, the White Sox had pitching but next to no hitting, as in seven singles. A lefthanded starter, eek! After the game manager Vibes Venable made comments fit for a t-ball coach handing out participation trophies at the end of the season. “We just got beat,” Venable informed reporters of the obvious. “We tried to make a bunch of adjustments. These guys were working really hard pregame to solve for some of these dynamic [!!] fastballs these lefties had and we weren’t able to solve for it. I don’t want to label this one a slump, but [it was] a series where we weren’t able to produce offensively, which is something we are used to doing.” [story in today’s Tribune] Where to start? Oh, I know: “working really hard pregame to solve for some of these dynamic fastballs” the Red Sox were throwing. First, pregame doesn’t count for anything, or at least it didn’t this series. Professional ballplayers are supposed to work really hard. That’s why they’re professional ballplayers. Second, those “dynamic” pitches thrown by Boston starter Patrick Sandoval were part of his first start since June 21, 2024, when a left-elbow injury sidelined him for two-plus tears. Funny how Randal Grichuk and Miguel Vargas looked like they were facing Randy Johnson in his prime. It’s simple—if the Sox don’t hit lefties, they can’t win. And the A’s are scheduled to start Jacob Lopez, a lefty with a 7.04 ERA. Let me repeat. If the Sox don’t hit…

More of the Same

If anything, last night Davis Martin was worse than Noah Schultz. Martin failed to match Schultz’s five-inning start, instead struggling through four innings while giving up five runs on hit after hit, six to be exact, along with two walks. Bad Sox 5 Good Sox 0. By the way, that score means White Sox hitters fared even worse than they did in the previous fame, when they at least scored a run while collecting four hits and two walks. Last night, it was just four random singles and a walk. Boston has sent two lefties to the mound, and the White Sox have been clueless how to respond. Guess what? Another lefty goes today.

Not Ready for Prime Time

White Sox rookie lefthander Noah Schultz barely got out of the first inning last night against the visiting Red Sox, stranding the bases loaded after throwing about a million pitches. Schultz wasn’t as lucky in the second inning, giving up two homeruns to players I’ve never heard of; unlike ESPN, I don’t fixate on the AL East. The runs still counted, though. Bad Sox 8 Good Sox 1. Schultz toiled through five innings, yielding four runs on seven hits and three walks while needing 92 pitches to underwhelm. The final score would’ve been 4-1, but manager Vibes Venable went to the Brandon Eisert well once too often. Did I mention Good Sox hitters managed all of four singles on the night, three by Sam Antonacci? The Bad Sox are throwing another lefthander tonight against a Good Sox lineup that tilts lefty for the first time in I don’t know how long. Alright, it’s time for you righties to deliver. Yes, Randal Grichuk, Junior Perez and Luisangel Acuna, I’m talking about you.

He Got That Right

Today, Michele and I were out of the house pretty early to hit the lakefront. If you haven’t walked it, you have no idea what you’re missing. Think the color blue, sky and water, with a cool breeze. At one point, a couple passed us walking in the opposite direction. “It’s iconic,” the man said in a distinct British accent, the first syllable more “oi” than “i.” Either way, he was right. The number of Sox caps and Cubs’ caps encountered were pretty much even with just one or two sad Bears’ caps begging for attention. A number of years ago, billionaire Ken Griffin paid to separate wheel from foot traffic wherever possible along the path. This kept encounters with bikes, pedal- and e-powered alike, to a minimum. Ditto those lunatics on their motorized wheels. Why is it that roller skaters are attracted to me like magnets? Our reward for walking eight miles is lunch at the Clocktower Café, which serves as the nineteenth hole for the public Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course. We ate on the terrace, where netting protects patrons from any errant golf balls. I recommend the hamburger or brat. And say Hello to Charlie, one of nicest dog hosts I’ve ever met. She’ll make sure you go home without any ketchup or juice on your fingers.

Devo, Houdini

To quote the best group that ever came out of Akron, Ohio, how long can this go on? How often can Erick Fedde get away with his Houdini act? Yesterday in soggy Cleveland, Fedde did Fedde—putting runners on, minimizing the damage—over 5.1 innings to earn the win as the “bulk” pitcher in a 7-6 contest. The veteran righthander was charged with three runs, two earned, and might’ve given up just one run if Colson Montgomery hadn’t misplayed a sure double-play grounder. But eight hits and a walk. How long can this go on? Accentuate the positive, I guess. Kyle Teel homered in the first (then misplayed a foul pop that helped fuel a three-run Guardians’ response in the bottom half of the frame). Montgomery hit a two-run homer while Tristan Peters added a solo shot. The wind cheated Sam Antonacci and Braden Montgomery out of homers good for four runs. Oh, well. Rumor has it Munetaka Murakami could be back by the weekend. I’m less concerned in who the Sox will send down to make room for Murakami than who they should bring up. As in a pitcher, a starter, someone like David Sandlin. Or David Sandlin, even.

Say What?

It’s good to know that my telepathic powers remain strong, even when my subject is playing in a city over 300 miles away. How else to explain Colson Montgomery’s performance in last night’s 3-1 White Sox win over the Guardians? Montgomery hit a run-scoring, opposite-field double in the first and followed that with a solo-shot homerun in the eighth off reliever Tim Herrin (homerun number eight in lefty-on-lefty matchups). Things only got weird in the postgame. That’s when Montgomery noted, “Today, I felt pretty comfortable at the plate. I was more committed to my plan than most days. I feel I’ve been pretty inconsistent with my approach and things like that. Today I just felt pretty committed to my plan.” [today’s online Trib story] Say what? You know you’re not following your planned approach to hitting? Gosh, I made sure my daughter followed hers throughout high school and college. Either pay one of your parents to do the same, Colson, or have a Sox coach remind you. Every game, between innings if necessary. Before I leave and try to figure out how to find today’s game on Peacock, a shoutout to starter Sean Burke (six innings, one run, no walks and eleven strikeouts in six innings) along with relievers Brandon Eisert (two perfect innings) and Grant Taylor (the save with no more drama than facing the tying run after a two-out walk). Now, repeat for the split and a one-game lead in the AL Central.

Second-guessing

I can’t blame White Sox manager Vibes Venable for calling on reliever Seranthony Dominguez last night. Domiunguez was fresh, the Sox were up by two going into the bottom of the seventh, and miracles do happen. But not last night in another walk-off win for the Guardians, 4-3 in ten innings. Dominguez walked two of the three batters he faced, and both those runners scored. Now, though, Venable has to see what’s pretty much obvious to the rest of the baseball world and make Dominguez his thirteenth choice to pitch on any given day. Anything else, and he’s asking for trouble, which is about the only thing Dominguez can deliver on these days. And the White Sox front office may want to think long and hard on whom they want to draft next week. Because I’m down on shortstop Colson Montgomery, big time. Last night, he added two more strikeouts (both called, both hittable, both times Montgomery completely fooled), giving him 111 in 307 at-bats. That comes out to a whiff rate of nearly 34 percent, folks. On top of that, Montgomery has started to get shaky in the field. Last night, he misplayed a two-out groundball deep in the hole hit by Guardians’ catcher Austin Hedges in that fateful seventh inning. A clean pick and Montgomery has a good shot to nail Hedges at first. Why? Because Austin Hedges doesn’t run, he lumbers. Did. Not. Happen. I keep saying the Sox can’t expect to make the postseason unless both Montgomery and Miguel Vargas hit north of .250. Last night, Vargas had two hits, including a three-run homerun, to pull his average up to .248. Montgomery? He went 0-for-4, lowering his average to .218. The Sox will also be hard-pressed to play October baseball with their manager making highly questionable moves, like he did in the tenth last night. With ghost runner Chase Meidroth at second base, Venable elected to go with two righty pinch hitters to face lefty reliever Erik Sabrowski, only Randal Grichuk and Junior Perez both struck out, looking, no less. Ick. Grichuk was hitting for Tristan Peters, who knows how to bunt. Why not let Peters try to move Meidroth to third and then pinch hit Grichuk? Odds are the Guardians would’ve walked Grichuk to set up a lefty-lefty matchup between Sabrowski and Sam Antonacci, who flied out to the warning track to end the inning. That could’ve been a sacrifice fly. But what do I know?

Losing Ugly

Starter Martin Davis walked five and gave up six hits in a paltry 3.1 innings of work last night in Cleveland; Sox pitchers walked nine Guardians on the none, none worse than Grant Taylor’s four-pitch free pass to Rhys Hoskins, forget the righty-righty matchup; Sox relievers frittered away a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth; three Sox runners were thrown out on the bases; Taylor yielded a one-out, two-run walk-off homer to Bryan Rocchio. What’s left to say? Other than good teams learn from mistakes, no matter how bad?

No Dice

Noah Schultz had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the fifth. Maybe he would’ve survived if the White Sox had their A-team behind him instead of Luisangel Acuna and Drew Romo trying to pass for Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel, and maybe if the bullpen had brought it’s A-game instead of letting three inherited runners score. But none of that happened. Orioles 6 Sox 1. The lefthanded Schultz walked four batters, three of them lefties, in 4.1 innings. Not good. Same goes for needing 87 pitches to record thirteen outs. The seven strikeouts were OK+, the 5.86 ERA not so much. Schultz turns 23 next month. Randy Johnson, the pitcher he’s often compared to, wasn’t even in the major leagues until age 24, so I guess in that regard our Johnson is further along. The real Johnson didn‘t have his first above-.500 season until age 26. Three more years of what I saw yesterday? I’d rather things speed up a little. Or a lot. Or David Sandlin gets another look. Or all of the above.

On a Roll

White Sox rookie first baseman Jacob Gonzalez is on a roll. Last night, he collected two doubles among his three hits to go with three RBIs in a Sox 9-3 beatdown of the host Orioles. Gonzalez missed a fourth hit by a foot or so when his flyball in the ninth inning just failed to clear the wall. That’s seventeen RBIs for the 24-year old infielder in 73 at-bats, in case you’re counting. Pitching-wise, Erick Fedde kept putting baserunners on while (kind of) minimizing the damage, with three runs on five hits and three walks in five innings of work. Thank you, rookie reliever Tyler Schweitzer. It would be nice, though, if Noah Schultz stepped up today in his first start off the IL.