Nowhere for Dallas Keuchel to go but up … or out

Dallas Keuchel’s ugly start on Tuesday hurt him in two ways.

There’s the matter that he became just the second White Sox pitcher to allow 10 runs while recording three outs, and the other start occurred back in 1934. It’s the worst start of his career, it put his staff in an awful position with a minimum of 15 innings left to cover of a doubleheader, and now his ERA stands at a disturbing, distended 16.50. It’s rough when Manny Bañuelos going 0-for-10 in his attempts to record the third out of of the third inning back in 2019 looks three times as good.

But it’s not great news for his attempt to reach 160 innings, which would turn his $20 million club option for 2023 into a guaranteed fourth year. He started out needing to average 5⅓ innings over 30 starts in order to reach that threshold. Now that average is 5½, because this start was practically a missed start in terms of accruing a workload.

In terms of likelihood, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of use fixating on that 160 innings. It’s reminiscent of Kelvin Herrera needing 21 games for his 2021 option to vest, only to see the White Sox cut him after two. Those were the last two games he pitched in the big leagues, so the Sox could not be accused of shenanigans.

With Keuchel, it’s more that he occupies this weird space where both pitching too well and pitching too poorly generates cause for concern. A start like this simplifies matters by obliterating the concept of “pitching too well,” and now the hunt for adequacy is on.

Keuchel’s postgame comments could be read as tone-deaf:

Keuchel was charged with a career high 10 runs (eight earned). He struck out one batter and walked none. Despite the awful line that launched his ERA to 16.50 over two starts, Keuchel knew he deserved better.

“Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you really haven’t,” Keuchel said.

Keuchel felt like he made only two bad pitches, one of them a cutter to Ramirez that was ripped for the Indians’ third slam of the young season.

“I’ll take nine singles and a blast,” Keuchel said. “Three hard hit balls all day. First pitch swings, ground balls, I mean, really all I wanted.”

To me, there’s equal parts truth and denial. Sure, any luck-reliant argument lost a lot of its weight when Tanner Banks replaced Keuchel and threw four perfect innings.

Yet the premise of a Keuchel start is well understood. Everybody needs to make the most of his first 50 pitches, because everything that happens afterward could unravel in a hurry. Had Keuchel been backed by even a pedestrian defensive showing, he would’ve been through four batters on eight pitches:

  1. Myles Straw, 88.3 mph grounder on the first pitch
  2. Ernie Clement, 79 mph grounder on the fourth pitch
  3. José Ramírez, 76.5 mph flyout on the second pitch
  4. Gabriel Arias, 64.6 mph grounder on the first pitch

Instead, thanks to the defensive showing, it was still only the second inning when the loud contact arrived, and Keuchel never escaped it.

Not giving Keuchel even the most elemental form of defensive support is like forgetting flour when baking a cake: It doesn’t stand a chance of holding up.

There may be a time to consider cutting Keuchel, but it’s not after a two-start sample that’s tainted by the worst game of Tim Anderson’s career. He may not be distinguishing himself from Banks, Jimmy Lambert or Vince Velasquez, but the White Sox currently have nobody else behind Banks, Lambert and Velasquez.

Now, if a three-start sample looks similar to this two-pack, the White Sox could be closer to a critical mass of legitimate alternatives. Johnny Cueto starts for Charlotte on Saturday and Lucas Giolito returns to the White Sox rotation on Sunday. I wouldn’t pencil in Cueto for starts until he shows what he has — there are reminders of Sox fans wanting Tim Lincecum to replace John Danks in 2016 when both were toast — but it’s better to have him in the fold than not.

In the meantime, Keuchel won’t start for another four days, which gives everybody ample time to recenter their concerns over an offense with a team .613 OPS, and figuring out how much of that is the function of an environment where five teams were shut out on Wednesday, and the Sox somehow weren’t one of them.

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Jim Margalus
Jim Margalus

Writing about the White Sox for a 16th season, first here, then at South Side Sox, and now here again. Let’s talk curling.

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As Cirensica

Jim brings a good point. Keuchel should be a bit concerned of Cueto. Cueto could be toasted if it wasn’t for his funky delivery which is a nice trick to remain effective. Cueto averaged 5+ innings with the Giants last year, and he could perfectly be a more than adequate 5th starter.

If Cueto is decent, and health finds its way to Lynn and Giolito, Keuchel becomes redundant. Even more if Vince and Rey-Lo keep their heads above water because right now, Keuchel is down in the water buried up to his knees in the seabed.

Foulkelore

Um, Leury is batting third again and Haseley is in the lineup again.

calcetinesblancos

The funny part about The Russa is how he’s even worse than I ever dreamed he could be.

GrinnellSteve

It worked well yesterday. You gotta play the hot hand.

jhomeslice

Thank you for your humor during this dark time, lol!

Kelly Wunsch N' Munch

There’s absolutely no defending Leury batting 3rd in any Major League lineup. I’m looking around for Rod Serling at this point because this has to be the Twilight Zone!

Greg Nix

Leury in the 3-spot is demented. I didn’t even think a person could get that senile.

joewho112

LaRussa is playing 3 dimensional chess. He is turning the conversation to his terrible lineup instead of Keuchel/Anderson’s terrible performances #playersmanager #sarcasm

Joliet Orange Sox

I think it might be chess in more than 3 dimensions. TLR is thinking at a level most of us can’t begin to comprehend.

Last edited 11 months ago by Joliet Orange Sox
Joliet Orange Sox

Beyond the obvious sarcasm in my previous post, I am grateful that almost no one thinks TLR is a genius these days. The first time around starting in 1979 there were many people who responded to any critique of TLR by talking about his brilliance. It’s been a mercifully long time since someone has mentioned TLR’s law degree to me. 40+ years ago my dad’s brother repeatedly would say to me “You know he’s got a law degree. You can’t imagine how hard that is and how smart he must be.”

Joliet Orange Sox

I read my previous post and want to make clear that I don’t think law school is easy. I do think like any other education program that plenty of people could get through it if they took it seriously and worked at it and his degree is not evidence that TLR is a genius.

jhomeslice

He may have been smart at one time. Maybe. But he’s 77 freaking years old, and sure isn’t now. People decline. In my own family I saw alcohol related mental declines way before 77.

He will be shaking hands with invisible people before the season is over.

PauliePaulie

This is what Tony does when people criticize. ‘Cause he’s a 77 year old brat.

soxfan

Couldn’t Keuchel have gotten through two facing the minimum? I might be misremembering, but that third error with a runner on first was a potential double play in the making. I know official scoring can’t assume a double play, but I have to imagine that Keuchel’s struggles were as much mental as mechanical/physical after watching the defense fail him. If he could get through two and pitch without guys on base maybe he’s able to stick to his game plan and make more pitcher’s pitches rather than have to come back to the hitters because guys are on and he can’t afford a walk.

tl:dr – don’t care; it’s 162-game season for a reason.

calcetinesblancos

Yeah yesterday I was like wtf this guy is terrible, but today I’m realizing hey this guy isn’t Cease; he doesn’t strike people out and he needs to defense to make plays or the game is going to look like that.

HallofFrank

This is too generous. In the 2nd inning, there was one error and he gave up 10 runs. Look at the EV chart above. He may have been unlucky. But you don’t give up 10 runs being only unlucky. He was also terrible.

HallofFrank

It won’t be a 162-game season for Keuchel if he keeps pitching like this. Put simply: you can never assume perfect defense in baseball. There was one error in the 2nd inning before the utter collapse. If a veteran like Keuchel can’t mentally work his way through that, then he doesn’t belong in the rotation.

I hope he bounces back. But the early returns are not good. And on a team with big aspirations and him coming off a terrible year, he needs the early returns to be good. Unless he turns it around, and fast, I’ll be surprised if he’s still starting games when Lynn returns.

texag10

I mean, Keuchel isn’t good. However, his defense seemed hellbent on getting the Guardians lineup a second look at Keuchel as soon as possible. His final line would have looked a lot better if he wasn’t constantly pitching with a runner on.

soxfan

I’m assuming far from perfect defense. The first error was a boot – fine. Keuchel recovered and got another routine grounder that should’ve been a double play – another boot. Now you have a ground ball pitcher who can’t trust the defense will do what it needs to do on ground balls. Okay, back at it. Best hitter in the opposing lineup flies out, but he has to nibble around the next guy because runners are on and loads the bases with a walk. Then another ground ball that could’ve been a double play only gets one out. That’s three defensive failures in the first six batters that could’ve been retired over two innings. Then the second starts with another ground ball error and Keuchel has to be wondering what else he can do.

Rather than holding him accountable for stinking last year, I’d say the team should know that they have to go the extra mile to support him. The guy’s not a robot, he has to know that he’s becoming expendable, and the team isn’t doing anything to help him keep his job. An error here or there is fine, but when you’re executing your pitches and getting soft contact (the first 7 and 9 of 10 balls in play were less than 95 mph EV) the defense has to turn those into outs. Keuchel could get BABIPed to death, but you can’t give the opposition extra outs and allow him to get BABIPed to death and not expect it to take a toll.

roke1960

That is a very good assessment. I think yesterday needs to just be thrown out. See what he does in his next few starts. That first through the order has to be the worst defense I’ve ever seen.

HallofFrank

Sure, the defense was bad—terrible, even. But again: one error in the 2nd inning. I mean, what’s the narrative here? That error happened, then he just completely mentally collapsed?

This is far from a death sentence. He’ll have the opportunity to turn it around. But to pretend that he didn’t just get absolutely rocked because the defense was bad is to pull the wool over our eyes. Again, it’s not over. But the early returns aren’t good.

roke1960

Well, actually he melted down after 4 infield errors in the first nine batters. For a ground ball pitcher, that really has to hurt.

HallofFrank

It was three errors and, again, only one happened in the second. I don’t buy that the two errors in the first really affected his psyche. The run wasn’t his fault and he got out of the inning largely unscathed You move on. The 2nd inning was just a complete hit parade.

I’m willing to give the guy a little slack and, again, he’ll get get more opportunities at redemption. But you can’t just toss out the whole game. The guy got shelled. It was a terrible outing for him—period.

Just John

The narrative in inning two probably should have been left unsaid, but Keuchel spelled it out in post game. I don’t think any of the first 5 batters of inning 2 had “hard” contact. Not all soft, but nothing scorched until he was J-Rammed. At that point, he’s probably feeling, this has been not only the unluckiest start of my career, but of any I’ve ever seen. Whether or not you agree with the contact assessment, it’s clear Dallas remembered soft stuff, which is what matters, as it was his mental game affecting the outcome. Players are humans yo.

HallofFrank

Actually, three of the balls hit by Guardians batters in the 1st inning were classified as hard hit by Statcast. In fact, one of the errors had an xBA of .250. It should have been an out, but not exactly automatic.

Players are human, sure. I’m not saying the poor defense didn’t affect Dallas. I’m saying that’s not an excuse. He may only remember the soft contact, but there was hard contact from the outset. It was simply a poor outing for Dallas. I don’t see how anyone can get around that.

Qubort

Yes, Keuchel is bad. That doesn’t excuse the Sox being faaaaaar from perfect defensively. They lead the league averaging 1.09 errors a game. That doesn’t account for balls that have been misplayed (which has been many). You can replace Keuchel, but the team making careless errors should be a major concern.

HallofFrank

Agreed. I’m not at all attempting to exonerate the defense. It was awful. Inexcusible. I’m only saying we can’t just shrug it off, like Keuchel didn’t just get rocked.

Alfornia Jones

Yes, the defense let him down and the 2nd inning got out of hand. After 4-5 runs he now reverts to an innings eater, and he has to get through the inning and hopefully 2 more.

He couldn’t get anyone out, he can’t pitch in the big leagues anymore.

knoxfire30

Keuchel was never gonna get to the 160 but can he break 100 before getting DFA’d at this point?

The stuff is still pretty diminished and its laughable he thinks he made 2 bad pitches, 1 of course being a total meatball to maybe the best and certainly the hottest hitter in baseball with the sacks packed.

Now he is borderline throwing teammates under the bus…. not a great look and if Lambert is at least meh as an option or say Tanner Banks or Roberto Lopez continue to look good in extended innings then Dallas may soon find himself without a team. Especially once Giolito and Lynn come back.

mrridgman

I agree with this assessment, but I think the level of team preparedness to play in game 1 was so bad that they beat Keuchel to the bus.

knoxfire30

GARCIA BATTING 3RD AGAIN!!!!!!!!! VAUGHN NOT IN THE LINEUP

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

gibby32

Only someone with unquestioned job security could present this lineup.

roke1960

You’re right. Hahn has absolutely no say in whether LaRussa keeps his job.

knoxfire30

Maybe hahn shouldnt of given garcia a ridiculous contract which let TLR keep his favorite toy

As Cirensica

Leury hitting 3rd again. Baffling. I blame Hahn for giving TLR three extra years of Leury. Leury is a great bench if only he is used as one.

calcetinesblancos

I’d be shocked if Hahn isn’t kicking himself for that move at this point. I think Tony needs an intervention, and not just for his drinking problem.

roke1960

I agree. Batting Leury 3rd is just plain stupid. Batting him 3rd two games in a row is a fireable offense.

Last edited 11 months ago by roke1960
As Cirensica

I present to you, The Leury Paradox:

Leury’s good stats for an utility bench player can only be achieved if he plays like a regular player.

LamarHoyt_oncrack

This is a farce. Not even worth following this team when they are that badly mismanaged. It would take another DUI or him assaulting an umpire for him to get fired. I’ll find better uses for my time than watching this shitshow.

He is managing exactly the way one would if he hated the fans. No team will ever win a title with someone who is this much of a demented halfwit at the helm.

jhomeslice

The only explanations for Leury hitting 3rd again and benching Vaughn/Engel in favor of Haseley are either cognitive decline/mental illness, or willful sabotage. Are they going to wait for TLR to run this team into the ground?

roke1960

I could at least defend Haseley playing in that he has a good batting eye, plays good defense, is hitting 9th, and both Vaughn/Engel played both games of the DH. I see absolutely no reason that anyone would put Leury 3rd in the lineup. His obsession with Leury must stop for the good of the team.

Foulkelore

There’s one more explanation: being stubborn. I doubt TLR reads what people say on the internet (does he know what the internet is?). However, he was questioned about his lineup yesterday. He might have even been questioned by someone internally. So, he’s going to show it’s his lineup and he’s smarter than everybody else.

Greg Nix

This is a good point.

jhomeslice

Then he’s just an ahole who will goose his own ego to the detriment of the team. Either way, I think it’s been established that he’s a mental midget at this point in his life who isn’t fit for the job he has.

joewho112

I think he learned from last year that the Sox stunk in the playoffs when they were able to coast in the second half. So this year he making sure to dig a big hole in the first half so they can’t coast into the playoffs

As Cirensica

That’s 3 dimensional chess shit.

PauliePaulie

He did this last year. I was hoping someone with a better memory than I could recall the situation. I want to say it was a late game bunt call that backfired.(or maybe a defensive substitution) He was criticized for it. So he did the exact same thing the very next night.

Shingos Cheeseburgers

Hey you gotta reward the guy who represents the emotional high point of the rebuild to this point!

calcetinesblancos

Maybe the worst part of that bad defense behind Dallas is that it prevents us from getting a clear, objective picture of how he’s pitching.

itaita

While yesterday was an extreme i think you can see that he lives on a knife edge. Where if things go according to plan he can scrap out 4-5 innings of passable ball but if the Defense isnt on top of the grounders it will spiral quick.

Shingos Cheeseburgers

2016 Mat Latos:2022 Dallas Keuchel::2016 James Shields:????????

tbsoxfan

Madison Bumgarner is a great fit here as somebody who would still be eating relatively ineffective innings on an expensive contract three years down the road. Meanwhile, Christian Mena will be hitting the Diamondbacks roster as the #1 pitching prospect when the deal expires

BenwithVen

I honestly hate the Vaughn has to cede playing time to Sheets (who I’m not convinced is anything more than a DH-only platoon bat).

dwjm3

He is essentially on the bench today for Haseley which is just insane. Shame on Hahn for not sending Haseley down last night.

BenwithVen

Yeah, I’m not really sure what he’ still doing on the roster. Sure Eloy has a sore ankle, but that’s why you have Vaughn and Engel?

Hopefully he get’s sent down after tonight’s game, but I’m guessing he won’t.

mrridgman

A thought – what if Hahn sent both Hasely AND Leury down (can Leury be sent down without his consent?)? That would be a bold, but appropriate statement. Perhaps the end of Hahn in Chi, but respect around the league.

As Cirensica

Leury cannot be sent down. He can be DFA’ed or traded.

mrridgman

OK the former.

Augusto Barojas

Does Leury need to be traded or cut to not play every bleeping game?

mrridgman

It’s kind of sad, Leury has value but not the way TLR is using him. A laughing stock not of his own making.

roke1960

It would be worth it to lose this game if Leury came up with men Timmy and Robert on base every time and struck out if it would get LaRussa fired.

roke1960

I hope someone has the guts to ask the moron why he’s batting Leury 3rd. I’d love to see his explanation.

jhomeslice

If they came up with a WAR for a manager, I’ll bet TLR’s would be between -5 and -10 by the time this season is done. Already one loss on him for sure. He brings less than nothing.

lifelongjd

Not for nothing, but Sox pitching gave up a total of 3 runs outside of Keuchel yesterday. That’s a glaring stat that can’t be ignored. Him saying it was just bad luck has some merit, but he’s now entering his second straight season of bad luck.

NDSox12

Leury hitting 3rd for the Sox and Collins hitting cleanup for the Jays. WATTBA!

As Cirensica

In Collins defense, he has been hitting pretty good.

400/429/800 with a wRC+ 264 and already 0.4 fWAR with 21 PAs

What?

Last edited 11 months ago by As Cirensica
calcetinesblancos

I smell a Collins for Leury swap brewing.

BenwithVen

a Jays fan acquaintance went on a rant about how bad their offense has been and ended it with “Thank god for Collins” lol

Last edited 11 months ago by BenwithVen
calcetinesblancos

This article is interesting.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/zack-collins-enjoying-return-to-batting-roots-with-blue-jays/

Really makes you question everything the Sox do/did, to be honest. Bo Bichette sounds like he knows more about hitting than anyone in the Sox org lol. Why did they waste so much time trying to get rid of his “hitch?” And if they thought it was such a massive issue, why did they draft him in the first place?

jorgefabregas

I wish Zack well, but he has the same strikeout rate as always and a .545 BABIP. Let’s see what the rest of the season brings–hopefully good things for him.

jhomeslice

If he continues to do even reasonably well and attributes it to the Jays not imposing their will upon him, it will show yet again how sub-par the Sox are at developing players and getting the best out of them.

calcetinesblancos

“This guy can hit, but it’s debatable whether he can stick at catcher. So obviously the solution is to mess with his hitting.”

chipporter

2 Salient comments…

“The manager didn’t get them ready to play,” La Russa said. “I take the heat for that.”
but he didn’t have them ready to play all last year either.

There may be a time to consider cutting Keuchel, but it’s not after a two-start sample that’s tainted by the worst game of Tim Anderson’s career.” Except that his 5.28 ERA from last year is a pretty good sample.

You are who the scoreboard says you are.

LamarJohnson

What the hell are we gonna do when Leury goes 3 for 4 with 2 HR today?

Foulkelore

Well, watching pigs flying around everywhere seems like a fun pastime.

Kelly Wunsch N' Munch

I’ll happily have my helping of crow. But let’s just say I’m not planning on poultry.

jhomeslice

God forbid. He might hit 3rd the rest of the year then. I’m worried that the walk he just got will start the wheels in TLR’s head turning.

GrinnellSteve

I hate that I’m on here defending Keuchel.

Yes, he sucked last year. I’ve felt like he’s done a better job this year making his pitches. Yes, it spiraled terribly out of control yesterday, but that game no more defines his ability than Timmy’s game defines his ability. Keuchel was inducing weak contact that wasn’t resulting in outs, whether errors or hits. Suddenly the pitch count is up and the arm is fatigued, the bases are clogged, the confidence is down. Keuchel deserves a mulligan.

Moving forward, the Sox need to recognize his limitations and get him out before it falls apart. They should also try to play the best defense they can behind him. He has his uses, maybe as a 5-inning guy, maybe a long reliever, maybe a lefty groundball machine in the 6th inning.

We really need to just forget about the horrors we witnessed yesterday and move on. Now, if Keuchel’s ERA stays above 10, then DFA is rightly on the table. For now, we need to collectively chill a little.

jhomeslice

That’s fair, although Keuchel will obviously need to prove himself, and quickly. But when your defense allows 3 errors (the 3rd leading off the bottom of the 2nd) before you even record an out in the 2nd inning, it sets the table for a pretty bad day. He looked really good to me (and Stone) in the first, and should have had a 1-2-3 inning. He might suck once in a while but give them a handful of decent games. We can’t know until he has at least a couple more starts. If he sucks, then yeah, bench or DFA him.

He is the least of their problems at the moment.

soxygen

Leury and his .077 average is batting 3rd…Clearly, Tony doesn’t want to move Jose or Yaz from the 4th and 5th spots. And of course, though Jimenez is healthy enough to bat, he isn’t healthy enough to bat 3rd…so, you know, it all makes sense.

Last edited 11 months ago by soxygen
roke1960

I wonder if Robert realizes it’s okay to get a hit every now and then. It doesn’t matter who hits 3rd if he and Timmy continue to be easy outs.

roke1960

And another error for Timmy.

joewho112

Tim is going to pass his error total from last year before the end of the month

Shingos Cheeseburgers

The year is 2032. Rick Hahn is is working on his fourth rebuild still looking for that elusive ALCS appearance. Player-Manager Leury Garcia takes the mound. Jose Ramirez doubles giving the Guardians a 7-0 lead. No one is able to see the game because MLB signed a 500 year deal making CNN+ their sole broadcast partner.

Last edited 11 months ago by Shingos Cheeseburgers
calcetinesblancos

I really wished you could have fit AOL in there somewhere.

Foulkelore

Horrible read there. Robert needs to score standing up on that. They can’t afford to keep getting the few runners they have thrown out at the plate by 20 feet.

roke1960

Yes, he probably shouldn’t have been tagging, but Leury can’t be running right behind him. He had nowhere to go. It should have been bases loaded nobody out.

Last edited 11 months ago by roke1960
Foulkelore

Yeah, I agree with you there. Once it’s determined that Robert is tagging (which was a mistake – he should have gone halfway once the RF started drifting towards the wall), the situation should have been mitigated by Leury holding up at second.

calcetinesblancos

Tony is 100% thinking “grrr I showed them!” after that Leury walk lol.

roke1960

And then he forces Robert to try and score on Abreu’s fly. Leury has the baseball IQ of a doorknob. What will it take to get him out of here. I’M SO SICK OF HIM!!!

jhomeslice

Don’t hate Leury. Hate the manager who plans on starting him 155 games.

roke1960

Or the GM who thought he was worthy of a 3-year, $16M deal.

Joliet Orange Sox

Profar got a deal from the Padres prior to the 2021 season that will essentially be 3 years $20M since Profar will very likely exercise his player option for $8.33 M next year. Leury has higher career bWAR and higher career bWAR per 162. I think Leury’s deal is not crazy high.

(TLR does play him way too much and batting him 3rd today is mystifying but those are different issues.)

roke1960

No way you give a utility player 3 years when you have a bunch of guys in the minors who can do that job for 15% of the cost.

Torpedo Jones

I tend to agree. Some sort of super-utility guy who can play average or better defense and provide passable offense maybe, but Leury seems to be “meh” in all defensive spots and mediocre on offense at this point. Throw someone like Mendick out there for those results and save the money.

soxygen

Drawing a walk doesn’t justify Leury in the 3-hole. And so far today he has also run us into an out (Robert at the plate) and lost a pop up (Sheets made the catch). Just more really bad baseball by Leury in 2022…

As Cirensica

So, is Jose Ramirez hitting something like .800 average vs the White Sox, right?

Just John

Gotta be. Berger’s 114mph screamer line out followed by JRams 43 mph single has Dallas considering retirement.

a-t

This series feels cursed for the Sox

jhomeslice

If they keep their moron/senile manager, this season might be.

If they don’t make the playoffs, might that end the batshit crazy La Russa experiment?

roke1960

This team is almost unwatchable now. The amount of mental/physical errors is staggering. At least I could turn game 1 yesterday off in the 2nd inning. These last 2 games are just so frustrating. There is absolutely no life in this team.

Torpedo Jones

Completely agree. Losing isn’t a sin – sometimes you play well and just get beat by a good team. But this version of the Sox looks like a team vying for a top 5 pick next year.

As Cirensica

Well. The Guardians gave away 2 runs with horrible defense …are you not entertained?

roke1960

It’s a lot more entertaining when the other team screws up!!!

As Cirensica

and Graveman brings the trombone….womp womp

As Cirensica

Tim Anderson…brutal with the glove. WOW

jorgefabregas

Eh. That one was a weird play.

As Cirensica

He never had control of the ball. He “caught” it before colliding with Norris, but he actually never caught it.

jorgefabregas

He was hurrying because the runner was on top of him.

Shingos Cheeseburgers

Byron Buxton hitting balls into this defense should produce hilarious results this weekend.

roke1960

He’ll be running the bases so much, he’s bound to get hurt again.

Augusto Barojas

The only reason I would attend a game is to bring a “Fire La Russa” sign. How about that for a promo night?

roke1960

What a promotion! Give them to the first 20,000 fans. It would be a certain sell-out.

roke1960

Burger can flat-out hit. Either try him at 2nd when Yoan comes back, or get back with Oakland to see if they will part with less than 2 years of Montas for 5+ years of Burger (and a couple of lower minor leaguers). They’d be crazy not to. Burger would hit cleanup for them for years.

knoxfire30

When did balls thru the 5 hole become a double, this isnt teeball

Jesus baseball official scoring is a joke, you have to absolutely butcher a ball or make a terrible throw for an error to occur.

How many non plays have the sox had, on top of the hard to make errors that they have piled up?

As Cirensica

Aaron Boone intentionally walked Miguel Cabrera as he searches for the hit 3,000 at Comerica Park. Fans are unamused.

As Cirensica

Hilariously, it did not work as Detroit scored anyways, and the Yankees lost.

jhomeslice

Right now, the probability of Leury getting a hit this season is less than 7 percent. And he is hitting THIRD.

As Cirensica

His OPS is currently .232
This is not a typo.
It is OPS.
Not batting average.
Not OBP

roke1960

Note to Tony- When a guy has an OBP of .130 and it is significantly higher than his SLG, he probably shouldn’t be hitting 3rd.

As Cirensica

Mike Zunino and Alex are the only ones with a worst OPS with at least 20 PAs. None of them are hitting 3rd any time soon

As Cirensica

A routine grounder to 2nd becoming an infield hit. Just an unwatchable product. I wonder what kind of preparation are the White Sox players subject to. It feels so little league right now.

GrinnellSteve

Time to point out a basic truth: You’re not as good as you look when things are going well, and you’re not as bad as you look when things are going poorly.

roke1960

Yes, indeed. A couple of good games this weekend and all will be well. Of course, there’s a better chance of the Sox having a good game if Leury is NOT hitting 3rd.

HallofFrank

But the Sox didn’t look good when things were going well. They looked good against the Tigers. They have not looked good since. Since, they’ve scored four runs or more once: and that was in the pouring rain vs. a LHP. They were outscored by the Mariners and the Rays. And they looked completely outclassed in this series. Frankly, they are lucky to be 6-6.

I’m not panicking or anything. It’s early. Guys are getting healthy. I still think this is a really good team.

But they don’t look like a really good team right now.

Just John

Holy cow what a series. I’m sensing there will be some frustration in recapping this. I hope Josh can make it through the podcast.

BenwithVen

lol@ Eloy having a significantly higher GB% than Madrigal.

I know it’s early, but we saw this exact same thing last year from him and it’s becoming worrisome.

DuckSnorting-CanofCorn

White Sox Afternoon Baseball: We make you happy to be at work.