Reynaldo Lopez was having a sharp afternoon. Except for Shin-Soo Choo, who walked in both plate appearances against Lopez, the Texas Rangers couldn’t manage a base hit in the first five innings. At one point, Lopez retired seven straight batters when Jose Trevino reached on Tim Anderson’s fielding error.
Only Nick Solak would reach base against Lopez after the third inning by getting hit by a pitch. After 80 pitches, the thought of Lopez lasting long enough to pitch the franchise’s 19th no-hitter was a stretch. Entering the sixth inning, Lopez was mysteriously lifted for Aaron Bummer ending his day at 5 IP 0 H 0 R 2 BB 6 K 1 HBP. 65 of his 80 pitches thrown were fastballs that averaged 96 mph, but there were a few fastballs that sat at 92-93 mph, a good ticks below Lopez’s typical velocity.
The White Sox reported that Lopez left due to dealing with dehydration and flu-like symptoms.
Reynaldo López left today’s game after experiencing dehydration and flu-like symptoms.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 25, 2019
Offensively, the White Sox hitters could only give Lopez one run of support early against Rangers starter Brock Burke. After Eloy Jimenez lined into a double play in the second inning, Jose Abreu converted on the next scoring opportunity in the next frame.
Yolmer Sanchez walked and advanced to second base on Leury Garcia’s failed attempt to bunt for a hit. Anderson would reach on Andrus committing an error misplaying the slow chopper. With runners on the corners, Abreu pulled a change up through the infield into left field plating Sanchez and giving the Sox a 1-0 lead.
Texas had an excellent opportunity to tie or take the lead in the sixth inning. Bummer couldn’t keep Lopez’s no-hitter going as he allowed a single to Choo. Santana would reach after Anderson committed his second error of the afternoon for failing to field the short hop. Rangers would have runners on the corners when Andrus beat out a possible double-play attempt.
Bummer would strike out Calhoun on three pitches for the second out, and Rick Renteria opted to walk Solak loading the bases intentionally. A risky move, but Bummer completed his Houdini act escaping the jam as Rougned Odor grounded out to Sanchez.
In the seventh inning, Rangers reliever Emmanuel Clase showed off his big arm consistently hitting 99 mph with his fastball. Despite the high-end velocity, the White Sox loaded the bases with an Adam Engel single, Sanchez walking, and Clase hitting Leury Garcia with a pitch forcing him out of the game.
Clase was able to find some fastball control by striking out Anderson, but Abreu was able to get the ball in play hitting a very slow roller down the line. Logan Forsythe waited as long as he could, hoping the grounder would roll foul, but he did pick it up in time for the force out. Engel scored giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead, and another RBI for Abreu, his 100th of 2019. In six seasons, Abreu has reached the century mark in five of them.
Jose Abreu extends the #WhiteSox‘s lead with his ?th RBI of the season! pic.twitter.com/ldS5f8thTO
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) August 25, 2019
Evan Marshall and Jace Fry both pitched clean innings building a bridge to Alex Colome. Texas had the tying run at the plate after Colome walked Solak, but Odor flew out to right field, and Forsythe lined out sharply to Anderson ending the game. A combined one-hitter for White Sox pitching as the group struck out eight batters, walking four, and one hit batter.
Game Notes:
- White Sox win the season series against the Rangers, four games to three
Leury García left today’s game with a left shin contusion. X-rays were negative.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 25, 2019
He is day-to-day.
By driving in his 100th run of the season, José Abreu now has the 3rd-most 100 RBI seasons (5) in @WhiteSox history.
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) August 25, 2019
He trails only Paul Konerko (6) and Frank Thomas (10). pic.twitter.com/fkUbCzDpzU
Record: 60-70 | Box Score | Highlights
Congrats to Jose Abreu. I know I’ve been a bit down on him and his prospects for the future, but a fifth season with 100 RBIs on this sad-sack of a franchise (certainly during that time frame) is very impressive.
We also know that RBI itself is largely meaningless in terms of value, but damn I want to make an exception in Abreu’s case.
By the end of the season, he will likely have averaged at 30 HRs (needs 6 more), 100 RBI (needs 12 more) while hitting for decent average over the duration of his contract. Some of us had higher hopes or that he could have fought off age-related decline in his skills, but 20 WAR during his 27-32 years is pretty damn good, I dont think Konerko achieved a similar WAR total over that age span.
Jose has played for mostly pitiful teams (with not very good lineups) during his stint with us. It’s amazing to have 100 RBI with still a week left in August while hitting in this lineup. To have stats comparable to Konerko is a great feat, because Konerko played for much better teams, with much better lineups, and saw better pitches to hit.
I disagree with the RBI being meaningless. Driving in runs is very important. Getting the first run of the game in on a day when both pitchers are throwing well can be crucial, and Jose delivered in that regard today. Later, when we needed an insurance run against a guy who had amazing stuff, Abreu came through with a run-scoring grounder. The latter RBI wasn’t a work of art, but how many other guys nowadays strike out, pop up or hit into a double play in that situation?
There are stats that tell you how many other guys nowadays strike out, pop up or hit into a double play in those situations, and RBI isn’t one of them.
The RBI is a fun side bet to the action that feels like it tells you something, but it’s not really a measure of anything substantive. Like ERA, the stat probably tells you a lot more on a team basis than for individual players.
emptiest RBI totals I ever saw,
Danny Tartabull 1996. 101 RBI’s
Albert Pujols, 2017. 101 RBIs off an 80 OPS+. Hitting behind Mike Trout can do wonders for your RBI totals.
1984 White Sox. Greg Walker, Ron Kittle. Kittle had 43 more PA’s, 1 less RBI (75/74). Walker hit the shit out of the ball, and Kittle was league average (135/100 OPS+).
“Clutch” is a thing, but not that big a thing, I’m led to believe. Kittle had 25% more HR’s than Walker, but struck out at a 25% clip. Walker was around 14%.
Different hitters, different profiles, pretty much the same number of RBIs. What does the RBI tell you about both of them?
George Bell, 1992. 112 RBI with a 99 OPS+ at DH. And all it cost the Sox was a young Sammy Sosa!
I just want to clarify that I may have higher hopes bc of those damn Davenport god-like projections 😉 If Abreu began his MLB career at age 22, I wager he would have reached them!
I think Konerko’s best 6-season stretch was his age 29-34 seasons, producing 16.7 bWAR. His only two 4+ WAR seasons bookended that stretch. Abreu’s 2014 and 2017 seasons were better than any Paulie ever put up in terms of bWAR.
I’m probably his biggest detractor on this site, but can anyone offer any insight on TA’s defense? Is it as bad as it looks via the eyeball test? Is it bad but not as bad as it looks? Are errors not the biggest factor when it comes to judging his defensive play? TA looks athletic as hell and doesn’t look like range or physical limitations should be causing his issues, so is it all between the ears? Is he lazy? Does he not want to be coached or are they coaching him and it isn’t working? What, if anything, can be done in the offseason to prevent another 20 error season?
Again, not saying I’m right, but I’m curious what anybody else thinks.
Double-plus range and athleticism allow him to make plays other shortstops can’t hope to, but his hands are not particularly good and his decision-making is questionable at best. I think he gets into the most trouble when transitioning from glove hand to throwing hand, which leads to a lot of errant throws.
I think his hands are actually quite good but his decision making is very bad. He really needs to know when to just put the ball in his pocket because so often he just makes off balance throws to try to absolutely nail a runner he has no chance to get to and it flies off.
I agree that his footwork is awkward. He rushes at times he doesn’t need to and doesn’t really take a moment to plant and throw to improve his accuracy. I lumped that into “decision-making”.
wouldn’t worry too much about it; he is young and improving. His average is up 80 points this year and ceiling not in sight.
His throwing errors have always seemed really simple to diagnose to me: when he is moving to his left or charging in, he doesn’t set his feet or turn his shoulders before throwing, resulting in inaccurate throws.
The fielding errors are definitely a bit more perplexing. Those I have to say look more like lapses in concentration than anything.
I would be interested in understanding how the approach of the Sox and Anderson to his defense compares to that of the A’s and Semien. The A’s committed to taking Semien from a liability to a plus defender. It took time and effort but worked. How do the organizational and personal goals for Anderson compare?
Maybe a move to the OF will help TA7 and the Sox defensively.
Okay, fine. Who plays shortstop then?
A combination of Yoan and Yolbert Sanchez should be ok, at least defensively. Then maybe Sosa down the road. We have Madrigal for 2B so we need one player at SS. We have a glut of corner IF so moving Yoan shouldn’t be a major concern. I am of course hoping Burger comes back. Or god forbid we spend for Rendon or Donaldson in FA.
Wait, your solution is a guy who isn’t a shortstop and a player whose top level to date is the Dominican Summer League? Let’s stick with the Didi Gregorious idea.
Dede Gregorious
YES!
Agreed. Adding Didi gives us one of the best free agent left handed bats, and would then force Timmy to the outfield. Then sign Grandal. A lineup of Robert, Timmy, Moncada, Eloy, Didi, Abreu, Grandal, Collins, Madrigal looks pretty good.
I think your on to something! Are you reading this Rick Hahn? Rick, after this guidance, give Roke a commission or season tickets.
Add Seven11 to the thank you’s.
Machado
If Yolmer hadn’t wasted all that Gatorade Lopez might have been able to keep hydrated.