If you saw a White Sox lineup card that had Josh Harrison batting first, Adam Haseley second and Leury García third, you’d probably assume the other team would have no problem holding them in check.
That’s exactly what happened this afternoon. With five regulars sitting, Triston McKenzie and four Cleveland relievers limited the White Sox to a run on three hits. McKenzie’s usual control problem added four walks and a hit batter to the tab, but that’s where the lineup’s shallow nature came into play.
It’s understandable why Joe McEwing sent Adam Engel in an attempt to score from first as the trailing runner on Danny Mendick’s double that got checked up by the tarp down the left-field line. It wasn’t a good send, in the sense Steven Kwan cut down Engel by about 20 feet for the first out. McEwing’s thinking was justified when Harrison and Haseley struck out on seven pitches between them, including four whiffs.
The White Sox only had one other at-bat with a runner in scoring position.
On the other side of the ball, Jimmy Lambert’s day was marred by two breaking balls — an inside slider that José Ramírez managed to keep fair for an RBI double in the first, and a true mistake 0-2 hanger that Oscar Mercado clubbed for a RBI double with two outs in the fourth. Around those events, he struck out five over 3⅔ innings, after which Reynaldo López, Bennett Sousa, Kyle Crick, Aaron Bummer and José Ruiz limited the Guardians to a hit and a walk over the remaining 4⅓ innings.
Pair Game 2’s run prevention effort with Game 1’s lineup, and maybe the Sox split this doubleheader. Then again, with the offense scoring 12 runs over the last six games regardless of the name-brand quality, maybe not.
Bullet points:
*Sousa committed a throwing error on a pickoff, but this one didn’t hurt.
*Harrison contributed an impressive leaping over-the-shoulder catch in shallow left field, then dodged a sliding Andrew Vaughn with a tumble. That’s what it takes to retire Ramírez.
*Harrison then left the game with shoulder soreness, so Jake Burger was the only one of the sitting starters to play in this one.
*Lambert was optioned to Charlotte after the game, so Haseley remains for the time being.
Record: 6-5 | Box score | Statcast
Frankly I think it’s unfair to expect the White Sox to be able to compete with large market, free spending franchises like the Guardians who are able to sign the best players to hundred million dollar contracts.
Harrison, Haseley, Leury batting 1-3. You could go back the past 10 years of MLB games and be hard pressed to find a worse 1-3 in any lineup. They had Grandal, Sheets, Vaughn, and Engel playing. You don’t hit the worst 3 hitters on your roster at the top of the lineup, maximizing their number of at bats.
I think this goes beyond dumb/questionable choices. I had two alcoholics in my family. One of their tendencies was to make bad choices in life even while sober. Low self esteem, self sabotage, etc. I refuse to believe that even TLR is dumb enough to put those 3 at the top of a lineup by accident. He makes bad choices just like someone with real psychological issues makes. As people said last year, if this team goes anywhere, it will be in spite of TLR. He is just a huge drag on this team.
Grandal, Sheets, Vaughn and Engel were 0-13 with a walk. With the way the guys have been hitting – maybe with the exception of Vaughn – you could pretty much make the lineup card by throwing darts and it would come out the same.
So because better hitters are struggling, you should be worse hitters in the optimal batting spots. Especially in a game, you lost by one run. Got it.
Outside of the 2nd inning disasterpiece it was a pretty sleepy doubleheader where you can tell both offenses hasn’t played in a few days. And because of that i dont know why TLR sat half the lineup for game two.
Moncada, Pollock, and Jimenez are out due to injury, and TLR chose to sit Anderson, Abreu, and Robert all game. It’s hard to win with that many regulars out … half by choice.
This choice to rest them after two off days. They lost a DH instead of a split because TLR fucking blows. Cost them games and home field last year and probably will again this year. Hiring him was as asinine as he is.
TLR is already managing like it is August and the White Sox are 10 games ahead of whoever is in 2nd place.
He is managing like the fool that he is. What is sad is that no amount of mis-management will change this. It would take another DUI, or for him to lose it and slap an umpire Will Smith style.
At one point TLR was a better than average manager (presumably). WTH has happened to him? Age? Refusing to change when everyone else has?
Until now, I have been waiting for his competitive switch to turn on; no more. He won 3 WS – were those teams just so much better than everyone else that they overcame him? Or has he seriously gone downhill?
He had some damn good teams to work with. A’s had Mac, Canseco, Ricky Henderson, Stewart, Welch, and oh… Eck as closer. Not many managers could screw that up. They were in 3 straight WS (lost 2 of them). His first WS win was in 1989, when he was 45. He is now 77. I mean nobody’s best days are not way behind them at his age. And surely his alcohol issues have not helped him stay sharp or age well.
He looks dull and lifeless, and can’t possibly be a good motivator. Obviously his decision making is off the rails. People close to 80 are not good fits for a job that requires the energy and decision making of a big league manager.
I understand that with Baseball Reference, Fangraphs and Baseball Savant there are a lot of baseball stats available on a moment’s notice. But how does a person search the entire history of #3 hitters for both lifetime OPS and current season BA and come up with the answer in minutes? In medieval times, such a feat would be considered be considered the work of supernatural spirits, good or evil.
Its 2022 and I’m still convinced that man is a witch.
Does Leury have a sex tape of TLR he’s using as blackmail? The guy has value off the bench but Tony’s love for him is insane.
Nah, TLR is just shit at his job and the Sox won the Central last year in spite of him being the manager.
After the first game, I decided to watch Rodon bully the Mets (with only his FB no less). I see I made the right choice.