First Pitch: White Sox vs. Royals

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TV: NBC Sports Chicago

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As Cirensica

Leury hitting 9th. That’s something I won’t criticize.

If Kopech stays healthy he’ll hit his innings limit if he gets to 30 starts at around 5 innings each. I wonder if we’ll see a lot of 4 inning starts from him or if they’ll just ignore that innings limit when/if we get there.

I honestly don’t think Kopech is on a hard cap limit. Probably the org will drive it by ear. Maybe a bit more spacious in between starts once the rosters expands and the White Sox is comfortably securing a post season slot.

jhomeslice

I’m sure they want to be a little careful with him but he is almost 4 years removed from TJ surgery. As you said I think they can assess as the season unfolds. A lot has to go right for him to get to 150, he will have short starts when he doesn’t have good stuff. If he pitches well and stays healthy enough to approach that, it will be a good thing to have to worry about. I don’t see where they would be alarmed if he exceeded that.

As Cirensica

The White Sox cannot babysit Kopech forever. This way we only make sure other organization signs him (like Rodon) and enjoys the efforts. The guy is closer to 30 than to 20. Let him pitch.

Last edited 1 year ago by As Cirensica
jhomeslice

Totally agree. I’m quite glad he has gone 5 innings a couple times already, I did not think they would let him do that until 2nd half. He doesn’t look like a great bet to get through 5 today.

roke1960

Right back to another lame offensive effort. I was hoping yesterday would jump start this offense. I guess I was asking for too much.

joewho112

Check out the Texas-Houston game. Perez is perfect through 6 innings and Verlander has a 1-hitter going.

joewho112

And just like that, Perez gives up a double

As Cirensica

Martin Perez flirting with a no-no against the Astros. The Rangers sign him for a 1 year contract worth just 500,000 more than Vince Velasquez.

roke1960

Leury should be hitting 2nd!!!

metasox

Leury transcends batting order

jhomeslice

My fear is that TLR had the same thought, only he will take it seriously.

Foulkelore

Wow, thanks, noodle-arm. I couldn’t believe they were sending him, but then I forgot, oh yeah, Benintendi.

calcetinesblancos

I’m very confident I could have made a better throw than that.

As Cirensica

Lately, Aaron Bummer terrifies me when he is in.

Foulkelore

No kidding. He was one ball away from first and second with nobody out. Instead, three pitches later, the inning was over.

As Cirensica

Right on cue….he blew it. How much money are we wasting on this dude?

Last edited 1 year ago by As Cirensica
jhomeslice

I’m just not convinced he is all that good. He can be, at times, but overall is inconsistent and sometimes awful. The loss of Crochet really hurt. I know it’s such a small sample size, but I wonder if Banks will wind up the Sox best lefty reliever.

As Cirensica

Even when he is good, he allows too many hitters to reach bases. his walk % is not good. He seems to need too many pitches to either get a hitter out or on base. I like my relievers to be direct…paw paw paw…you are out.

jhomeslice

Relievers that come in and don’t throw strikes drive me nuts. Bummer was pretty good the last two months of 2021 after a pretty awful stretch, but man he is not off to a good start at all.

metasox

Or maybe someone else. But it is April so I understand that now is the opportunity to get him straightend out, but I wonder how many chances he gets.

roke1960

Not many more. He is completely unreliable.

As Cirensica

Not directly to you per se, but aren’t we putting too many “It’s only April” to cover up inefficiencies? It is April for the Jays, they have 12 wins. Or Minnesota, they have 11 wins.

roke1960

You’re right. The Twins have won 7 in a row. They now know that the Sox are beatable. That makes a huge difference mentally. Seasons can be lost in April.

metasox

Sure, but point I am making is this is the chance to see what guys can do before needing to look for alternatives, not that April gives anyone a pass.

metasox

Not sure why Anderson wasn’t running in the 9th. Is he hurting?

Root Cause

I have complained here before regarding trotting to first. I know there is a risk of running like your on fire but I think it is dumb to assume an out by default. At least make them hurry a bit and hope.

metasox

It is all situational. Leading off the 9th of a tie game with the guy who is just about the team’s best base runner is normally a time to run.

roke1960

Any pitcher that can’t throw strikes consistently should never be in clutch situations.

Root Cause

That run qualifies for a situation where you have an 8 run lead in the 8th inning and its pouring rain. Timmy is my favorite player but that was just a poor decision. Not the end of the year but we need more to get out of this funk.

As Cirensica

Maybe he is trying not to get hurt since the White Sox players aren’t ready to go to certain level of speeds (Hahn’s mambo-jambo words)

Root Cause

If the first thought before every move is not to get hurt then that would explain the record.

metasox

have tuned him out

OldMMJ87

This would be funny if it weren’t so annoying

I’m in my late 30s which means I’ve seen about 30 middling or worse White Sox seasons. One more is just a drop in the bucket.

roke1960

This team is in trouble. There is just no life at all in them.

dwjm3

They are as emotionally invested as Jerry is. The organization did next to nothing in the offseason to signal to the players that they cared about winning.

jhomeslice

And there is no life in TLR. He can’t put a good hitter at 2b when there isn’t one on the roster, but still. They have been lethargic since July last year. I cannot fathom this team doing anything positive that is sustainable while he is skipper. Get TF rid of him already.

roke1960

Completely agree. He is dragging this team down. But we all know he’s not going anywhere.

jhomeslice

A really bad season would make it more likely that TLR and/or Hahn would be replaced. Trying to look on the positive side. But we still have the same owner, which paints a bleak future regardless.

roke1960

A really bad season means dumping Giolito and Moncada next year- and closing the window. That can’t happen.

As Cirensica

The window might already be closed and we don’t know it yet.

jhomeslice

I’m afraid you might be right on that. They blew the past two offseasons completely, there isn’t really a way to make that up. I said before that if Grandal is the biggest contract they take on during the rebuild, they won’t win a title. I’m not sure they will even come any closer than the past two Octobers.

dwjm3

Honestly, I’m not sure I want Hahn replaced by this owner. I say that not because I’m a believer in Hahn but because I think Jerry could do worse than Hahn. I just don’t think there is much hope until Jerry is gone.

jhomeslice

That’s really the harsh reality. They need better players, and Jerry won’t sign them. The rest is really hoping and wishing for miracles.

OldMMJ87

There is almost no chance that happens.

Shingos Cheeseburgers

While a very public failing of the TLR hire would be very satisfying to me personally it’s not like they would go through a comprehensive process to find a replacement.

They bumbled their way into some good prospects because they couldn’t assemble a competitive team around their established big leaguers. There’s really no reason to think they would get it right the second time particularly considering it’s the exact same decision makers.

roke1960

If this year goes off the rails, I really don’t know what Jerry will do. Tony will almost certainly resign, and Jerry will most likely cut payroll. These next few months are very critical to the future of this franchise. It’s up to the players to dig them out of this hole, because Tony will be of no help.

Last edited 1 year ago by roke1960
roke1960

I just wish Tony would come to the realization that he’s just not up to this at 78 years old.

jhomeslice

That’s something Jerry should have known before he hired him like a dumb F.

roke1960

Jerry just wanted to right a wrong that happened 37 years ago. That is NOT the way to hire a manager. But Jerry doesn’t care.

dwjm3

I wonder if Jerry met up with his high school girlfriend and aplogized for not telling her she looked pretty in her poodle skirt.

I mean since his first order of business is righting old wrongs.

calcetinesblancos

I’m still confused as to what “wrong” needed to be righted. Didn’t Tony manage the Sox for parts of eight seasons? He was given a chance.

dwjm3

I don’t think anybody can give you a good explanation. It was an eccentric move by Jerry. I mean Tony went on to win multiple WS titles and make millions of dollars. I suggest Jerry walk east and south from the ballpark if he wants to see real injustice.

Shingos Cheeseburgers

To nit pick the next few months are critical to the medium term success of the on field product but likely won’t make a huge difference to the franchise as a business entity or how they operate. Those are two very different and often times uncorrelated things.

roke1960

You’re absolutely right. I couldn’t care less about this franchise as a business entity. Unfortunately, that’s the only thing Jerry cares about.

Shingos Cheeseburgers

To be fair I think he cares about the on field success he just sucks at building an organization that is any good.

He’s spending $194mil. If this season continues to go south, I see a Reds-like payroll purge as a real possibility.

roke1960

They really need Robert and Moncada to breathe life into this team. If that doesn’t help, then they are in serious trouble.

a-t

Jesus Christ, you guys gotta calm down. It’s April. No, seasons are not lost in April. The league fucked around with the ball again and for whatever reason(s) right now it’s hurting the Sox offense more— significantly more— than any other team in baseball. When they change it back and/or the weather warms up they’ll be due for a huge rebound.

They aren’t walking much because they’re being aggressive, it’s true. They’re also second in the league in xSLG after only the Yankees, so the aggression at the plate is very well justified even though the results have not yet been there. They’ll start walking more once these “warning track” balls start leaving the yard like usual and pitchers get appropriately scared of that. I said the same thing yesterday; this annoying game in 40-degree weather doesn’t change that truth. It’s always a good rule to follow, but especially so in April: trust process over results.

Torpedo Jones

You’re right that we’ll be hitting more dingers when the weather warms up, but forgive me for not looking at Jerry, Kenny, Rick, and TLR and giving them a “trust the process” vote of confidence.

Getting some balls to leave the park will help, obviously. Hopefully their tried and true process also includes finding people who can play defense (including our roving gang of first basemen roaming the outfield) and a replacement level 2B.