First Pitch: White Sox vs. Rangers

Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the White Sox

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

Lineups:

Take a second to support Sox Machine on Patreon
83 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Foulkelore

Welp, we went 2 outs into this game before the next injury to a key guy. Have fun covering 8+ innings with the bullpen today.

PauliePaulie

Oh no.

MrStealYoBase

Have they considered hiring an exorcist?

Or at least retiring these 1983 jerseys which are obviously cursed. Not superstitious but there’s some bad juju with those jerseys.

ParisSox

Just joined. What happened? Leg? Arm? Did it look serious?

soxygen

Right ankle, I think, and serious enough that he couldn’t throw a pitch to test it out.

Foulkelore

It looked like he twisted an ankle or something while planting. It didn’t look too bad, but when attempting his first practice pitch to see if he was ok, he didn’t want to put any pressure on it, and didn’t even try. He got upset and threw the ball into the ground.

ParisSox

Thanks. My inner Pollyanna Wandstedt is saying at least it’s not an arm.

Foulkelore

I agree. We don’t know the severity, but I’d feel a lot worse right now if it was an arm/shoulder injury.

ForsterFTOG

Too big and too strong and too much max effort equals too much injury.

soxygen

And I guess we’re seeing what happens when the players are cut off from the training staff in the off-season and don’t get enough spring training.

ForsterFTOG

Maybe the less contact with this training staff the better.

As Cirensica

Oh shit…just tuning in. More injuries. Fire the trainer, and all players must do and eat what José Abreu does and eats. No exceptions. He is about the only player that almost never gets hurt and plays with no rest.

metasox

MN has a boatload of injuries as well. Not sure exactly how they compare in terms of quality of player and pitcher days lost.

As Cirensica

MN also has a boatliad more wins than us.

metasox

exactly

Augusto Barojas

At least Burger keeps hitting. .840 OPS in 160+ career at bats is mildly impressive. Right now he is better than Moncada, even if he is not a good fielder.

Foulkelore

I don’t know what you’d call Lopez’s current role, but he’s turned into a useful pitcher doing multiple things.

As Cirensica

Leurnaldo Garcéz

ForsterFTOG

He said useful.

LamarHoyt_oncrack

The only way for Sox players to stay healthy is to revoke the CBA agreement and lock them out again.

Foulkelore

There are multiple mascots in the booth with Len and Steve. It will be fun when they do the same bit in the radio booth with the non-verbal mascots.

funkerdan

I don’t know what’s going on. I opted for Herzeleid XXV (Vinyl) instead.

Foulkelore

Interesting, Cueto was scheduled to start tomorrow, but they’re going to bring him in today instead.

asinwreck

Now we can speculate freely on whether Lance Lynn, Davis Martin, or Richard Dotson will pitch tomorrow.

soxygen

Davis Martin was already optioned to AAA.

Foulkelore

This made me laugh, not because it’s not relevant or a good point, but it makes me think that maybe Richard Dotson is a more realistic option.

asinwreck

He is in the organization, and Tony knows him. Plausible Monday starter.

As Cirensica

So Jimmy Lambert it is

metasox

He just pitched anyway. But Lynn pitched on the 8th

Last edited 1 year ago by metasox
Augusto Barojas

So did Cueto (pitched on the 8th). Cueto is on 3 days rest pitching today after 6 innings Wed.

metasox

The question was who pitches tomorrow. Lynn would be on normal rest so unless it was important to give him an extra day, might be available. Today is an extraordinary situation, not something anyone is going to make a habit of

Last edited 1 year ago by metasox
Augusto Barojas

Yet another amazing move by the Russa. I don’t understand the logic, more 4D chess stuff. And down 2-1 already as I write.

As Cirensica

Who would you bring?

Augusto Barojas

A reliever maybe?

As Cirensica

To cover 8 innings?

Augusto Barojas

Lopez is a reliever. If they bring him in to cover a couple innings, why would they use a starter after that? Cueto on 3 days rest? Now someone like Lambert will have to get a turn. It doesn’t matter anyway, we all knew how this game would go after the 2nd batter. This season is fucked.

Last edited 1 year ago by Augusto Barojas
As Cirensica

I see your point. TLR should have used Banks who is fresh. Now we might lose today’s game AND the game Cueto was supposed to start and now has no starter.

Augusto Barojas

That’s what I was getting at. They probably were not going to win this game anyway with Kopech down, but Cueto at age 36 on short rest doesn’t make any sense, and screws up their game tomorrow as well.

It’s masochistic insanity following this team really.

funkerdan

at least someone is getting action

metasox

Someone has to pitch, and they are to the point where they need to take it a day at a time trying to win games.

Willardmarshall

Who had ankle in the IL pool?

Foulkelore

Two runs off 3 pitches is a bad pace for Cueto.

As Cirensica

This team keeps breaking me and here I am watching this shit. Being a White Sox fan is tough.

soxygen

My parenting catch phrase is a rhetorical question: “what’s the worst that can happen?” And it is that kind of curiosity keeps me tuning in to watch the 2022 White Sox.

Last edited 1 year ago by soxygen
Augusto Barojas

Sox will be 16 behind the Yankees after today unless they rally. Yeah this is brutal.

Foulkelore

Damn, right knee discomfort is being reported for Kopech. That could still be minor, but it also has the potential to be more severe than something with the ankle.

asinwreck

Not worst-case scenario, though unclear on what this means for his short-term availability.

Foulkelore

Is Graveman still not able to pitch? I know there are lefties up this inning, but at some point, quality of pitcher matters more than handedness.

Foulkelore

Credit to Tanner for holding them scoreless there.

Foulkelore

Why is Cease the only pitcher warming? There are 13 pitchers. How many relievers are unavailable?

lifelongjd

Tony May have convinced himself it’s October and with warming up Cease after pitching Cueto on 3 days rest a day of a scheduled start

chambers.kevin

The entire point of being a pitcher is to pitch. Banks needs to throw the fucking ball!

soxygen

Seby pinch hitting because handedness

Last edited 1 year ago by soxygen
Foulkelore

Well, 3 free baserunners wasn’t enough to score that inning.

Oh man did the offense get just completely clowned in the tenth. There is no way this team is winning a playoff game if they even get to that point.

soxygen

With Crick still available, and Garcia and Zavala coming up to bat in the bottom half, we really have these guys right where we want them.

ForsterFTOG

Despite today’s outcome, the Sox have proved they can hang with Texas.

soxygen

I wish the Sox had showed us that they could get a single run home when they have a runner on 2nd, no outs, and the heart of the order coming up. If they had showed us that, we’d be listening to the postgame show instead of getting ready for the bottom of the 11th.

Ah shoot the closer throws with his right arm. Game over.

GlossRoad

This season is making me miss when the team was just bad, instead of bad and also really disappointing

sinkerball

It’s just not fun. At least we used to have teams that we did not have to take seriously. But I am dating myself here. How did I convince myself this team was a contender? There are too many holes.

soxygen

I was trying to remember other really disappointing seasons. I think 2007 was the last time I was this disappointed.

Foulkelore

I fell for the smoke and mirrors to start 2016. I vividly remember being excited when the Sox had a big lead (against Texas coincidentally), telling my wife they were going to be 24-10, and that probably means they’re good. They blew a 10-5 lead in that game, and that was kind of the beginning of the end, with the cherry on top of the Tatis/Shields trade after things had already gone south.

soxygen

That was epic!

ForsterFTOG

1919.
I swore I’d never come back.

sinkerball

It is (almost) hard to believe that we have to watch the same pair of relievers (Ruiz and Foster) try to give the game away in extra innings as yesterday. There are no words for this.

Whoom

When was the last time Liam Hendricks pitched? Is there some reason Foster (who got crushed yesterday) is back out again in extras?

Foulkelore

Liam has to be nursing something. This is a home game, so even Tony would have used him if he were available (there is no save possibility for a home game if it’s tied in the 9th or later).

metasox

Kasper and Stone made it sound like there was no one left to pitch. And even Foster is gassed and shouldn’t be out there. So, something is up with Hendriks

soxygen

Foster logged 0 innings yesterday so he should be fresh!

Last edited 1 year ago by soxygen
tommytwonines

He pitched Friday.

Where is Bummer? Is he on the IL?

Foulkelore

Yeah, they put him on the IL this morning.

metasox

yes

Foulkelore

Why did Robert try to tag? His run means nothing! Why is this team so stupid?

metasox

between that and Abreu taking that strike 3 down the middle…

Foulkelore

No kidding. The funny thing is that they would have been better off with him taking strike 3 in the 10th (instead of the double play).

Augusto Barojas

Why is the team so stupid? Great question. With the manager they have they should be razor sharp, I don’t understand how they can make mental mistakes under La Russa’s regime.

metasox

I know the popular thing is to fault La Russa for everything. And maybe there is more that he and the coaching staff could be doing. But these guys have been playing this game all their lives. At some point, they either know how to do it or they don’t.

I also wonder about team leadership. Is that Abreu? Someone else? No one? Players need to take some responsibility for getting themselves right.

Augusto Barojas

You’re right that players need to take responsibility. Robert should know better, that’s fair. But since last July this team has been lethargic, and below .500. They rarely appear ready to play, with any life at least. That’s Tony’s demeanor and energy, completely apart from his dysfunctional decision making and all that he does to kill momentum and sabotage their best chances to win.

Maybe it would not salvage the season, but I suspect that a managerial change would would precede guys starting to hit a lot better, as if by magic. Vibe and energy matter, and TLR is as bad as it gets.

OldMMJ87

The Sox are likely going to go 2-4 in a rather critical six game homestand and Tony will have played a big role in all four losses.

hellotowel

If anyone was still holding out hope that this team was going to sniff the playoffs this season, the last few series should put that notion to rest.

As Cirensica

Yup.
This is no longer a “It’s early” team.
This is no longer a “when it gets warmer we’ll hit” team
This is no longer a “wait until we get our injured players back” team
This is no longer a “the schedule will get easier” team.
This a somehow a bad team with a really bad manager.

Winning the next series against the Twins won’t be enough unless we sweep them. Taking 2 out of 3 only cuts the difference by one game and being 7 games behind, well, that might not be enough.

Last edited 1 year ago by As Cirensica
metasox

La Russa post-game said Kopech may not be serious and could be back on Sunday but sounded still uncertain, Hendriks should be available tomorrow, Lynn and Cease likely moved up to Mon and Tue, don’t know what the bullpen situation will be after Lynn because of how used up it is