Money's Worth

The Red Sox paid big bucks, as in $170 million over six years, to extend Garrett Crochet, who rewarded them with 7.1 innings of no-hit ball against his old team. The White Sox responded by starting Shane Smith, their Rule-5 find. Ex-Sox, new-Sox Chase Meidroth broke up the no-hitter with a grounder that bounded past shortstop Trevor Story. Two batters later, the score was 2-1 Boston with White Sox runners on second and third. And the White Sox proceeded to get what they paid for. Journeyman Joshua Palacios struck out pinch-hitting for journeyman Jacob Amaya. Future journeyman Miguel Vargas—who struck out three times against Crochet, twice with what can only be called a lumberjack swing—followed with a harmless flyball to left field. Final score: Boston 3 Chicago 1. Let me be blunt—this team has next to no hitting, not on the major-league roster, at the very least, with the jury out on Triple-A prospects Colson Montgomery (who upped his average to .122 with two hits yesterday) and Kyle Teel (hot early but now batting .192). Hats off to Smith for putting up a 2.04 ERA in three starts over 17.2 innings. But you can’t win a game unless you score runs. And that the 4-11 White Sox have yet to show they can do.

Perspective

By walking off the Red Sox, 3-2, with a Brooks Baldwin single against Aroldis Chapman, the White Sox doubled their win total on the season to four, this in under 24 hours, no less. They were 2-12 at the same point last season. So, Yay! for the two-game improvment, and a little perspective. The season before last, the team was 5-9 on its way to 101 losses. Those numbers dampen the excitement. In which case, I’ll try some others. In his rookie season last year, Baldwin needed 114 at-bats to reach eight RBIs; he has seven already in just 39. Cause for hope, maybe. If everything goes really, really well, Baldwin could turn into another Jeff McNeil. Of course, the Sox need another Pete Alonso and Juan Soto, too. But at least it would be a start.

Is He Anything?

The White Sox snapped their eight-game losing streak last night, thumping the visiting Red Sox, 11-1, with rookie Chase Meidroth making an immediate contribution. The 23-year old played a nice second base and went 1-for-1 with three walks and two runs scored. Does it mean anything? As you might expect, the team website today said Meidroth “made great impression vs. former club in MLB debut.” OK, but Zach Remillard had an even better first game back on June 17th, 2023, when he went 3-for-3, driving in the tying run against the Mariners in the top of the ninth and the eventual winning run in the eleventh. From what I can tell, Remillard is now retired. Along with Danny Mendick, another compact infielder who came up with the White Sox. In fact, Meidroth looks to me to be Mendick with better plate discipline. We’ll see. Ditto for tomorrow, when Garrett Crochet gets the start. Talk about brutal. Crochet made some remarks to reporters before the game yesterday that, under ordinary circumstances, would get posted in the clubhouse for motivation. Only they work even better as a warning to Meidroth and his new teammates. Crochet said going to spring training this year “felt like the big leagues, you know?” As for his White Sox experience, “it was not very hard to move on, honestly.” And does he care if the trade works out for his old team? “Not really, no.” [quotes from column and story in today’s Sun-Times] Yikes. Add that to Gavin Sheets saying the other day how Dylan Cease told him he’d love playing in San Diego, and you can’t help but think there’s something rotten in Denmark, I mean, the South Side.

Repeat Season

With their 6-1 loss to the Guardians yesterday, the White Sox lost their eighth straight game to fall to 2-10 on the year, which comes out to a .167 winning percentage. That compares to .253 last year. As if that weren’t depressing enough, manager Will Venable continues to channel ex-manager Mickey Mouse, who never had enough good things to say about the opposition. For Venable yesterday, it concerned Cleveland starter Gavin Williams, from the sound of it, the second coming of Bob Feller. Williams, now 7-15 on his career with a 4.00 ERA, “has really good stuff,” at least against a lineup with five of the “hitters” batting under .186, and that didn’t include Luis Robert Jr. (.154 BA) who had the day off. Oh, Venable’s team “had some opportunities, [and] he [Williams] made some really good pitches, and we weren’t able to string some things together. Credit to him.” No, skip, shame on you. The Sox rank dead last in baseball for runs scored and second-from-last for batting average. Why does hitting coach Marcus Thames still have a job? The team ERA is 3.96, or seventeenth out of thirty. And I’d say that stat is misleading because during those eight straight losses, the staff has given up six or more runs five times. How exactly is pitching coach Ethan Katz helping his young starters? Let’s not forget the front office in all this. The team has been hit with a rash of injuries, including catcher, the one position where they have some promising talent in the minors. So, who do they bring up to replace Korey Lee, on the 10-day IL with a sprained ankle? Why, 33-year old Omar Narvaez, of course. GM Chris Getz did see fit to bring up someone younger in the person of 24-year old Chase Meidroth, one of the prospects acquired in the Garrett Crochet deal. Meidroth could start as early as tonight, most likely at second or short. It doesn’t matter which. They suck at either position.

Strat-O, 101

I’ve been playing the board-game version of Strat-O-Matic Baseball since eighth grade, when LBJ occupied the Oval Office. So, I learned a long time ago you don’t let someone like Smoky Burgess run the bases if the game’s on the line. Instead, you go with a pinch runner. I guess White Sox manager Will Venable didn’t play Strat-O growing up and never saw it happen during his nine-year major league career. With the White Sox down 3-1 in the top of the ninth yesterday against the Guardians, bases loaded and two out, Venable opted not to pinch run for Mike Tauchman, just off the IL with a strained right hamstring. Tauchman represented the tying run at second base. Miguel Vargas took the first pitch he saw from Guardians’ closer Emmanuel Chase and grounded it past shortstop Brayan Rocchio into left field. Jacob Amaya scored easily, Tauchman, not so much. No, he pulled up lame midway between third and the plate, an easy out for catcher Austin once he caught a so-so throw from left fielder Steven Kwan. Final score: Cleveland 3 Chicago 2. And Chris Getz fired Mickey Mouse why, again?

Just Your Run-of-the-Mill Edge of the Abyss

First, the good news—Rule-5 find Shane Smith no-hit the Guardians for 5.2 innings and shut them out over six. Now, the bad news—Smith’s supporting cast couldn’t hit their way out of a paper bag. Sox hitters—and I use that term very, very loosely—managed two singles on the day. Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn each failed to drive in a runner in scoring position. In fact, Vaughn managed that trick not once, not twice, but three times. The team batting average stands at .199, second-worst in all of baseball. Yet hitting coach Marcus Thames gets to keep his job. Maybe Mike Clevinger won’t be so lucky; I can hope. Clevinger started the ninth by failing to corral a low throw from second basemanLenyn Sosa while trying to cover first. Three walks later, and the Guardians had themselves a nice 1-0 win. Nothing in the three stories I read indicated Clevinger’s job was in jeopardy. Oh, well. Then again, why should I expect anything different? The team website ran a story, “Hungry for wins, White Sox front office still has faith in long-term plan,” that pretty much says nobody in the organization possesses much of an appetite. Consider this comment from assistant general manager Josh Barfield: “The worst thing we can do is get in our own way by trying to force something,” as in trying to find ways to win ballgames, I guess. Wait, there’s more. According to Bob Nightengale in Sunday’s USA Today, “White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, 90 [actually, 89], has made it perfectly clear to friends that he has zero interest in selling as long as he remains in good health.” Wow, Reinsdorf has friends. Who knew?

Torpedo That

I wonder if the Mariners or Royals had opened their season by hitting a whole bunch of homeruns with a different kind of bat how long it would’ve taken the national media to take note. Because the Yankees did it with the so-called bottle bat, baseball fans have been hearing about it 24/7. And— So what? A hot team beat a cold team (the Brewers’ pitching staff gave up fifteen longballs), and one of the cold team’s starters, Nestor Cortes, used to pitch for the hot team, which may be why they knew what to expect. Cortes, who grooved five pitches over two innings, is now on the IL with elbow issues. So, there’s all that to consider. Plus the fact that after sweeping a cold team, the Bronx Bomber have gone 3-4, including yesterday’s 6-2 loss to the Tigers. Those torpedo bats haven’t helped Carlos Rodon much. Rodon’s record slipped to 1-2 with a 5.19 ERA on the season. Oh, and no homeruns for the visiting New Yorkers. Before the torpedo bat with its bulging barrel (one person’s torpedo is another person’s humpback whale, by the way), we had the cupped bat; the maple bat; and the ash bat, to name a few types and fads. And did I mention the bottle bat? Nellie Fox used one in the 1950s and ’60s, and it looked pretty much like a bottle, if more 7-Up than Coke. My point is, different bats work for different players for different reasons. It’s too early to say that the torpedo bat is the wave of the future. Maybe a torpedo bat in hickory…