Dodgers 5, White Sox 4 (11 innings): Grand slam biggest, least of problems
If you can look past the abrupt manner in which the White Sox face-planted into a 4-4 tie, that score after six innings at Dodger Stadium isn’t necessarily the problem.
There were a couple moments after Reynaldo López gave up the game-tying grand slam that better reflect how the White Sox can’t achieve escape velocity from being 10 games under .500.
No. 1: In the seventh inning, the White Sox had runners on the corners with two outs after Elvis Andrus doubled, moved to third on a Gavin Sheets groundout, and watched Luis Robert Jr. draw a walk. Robert then ran on a 1-1 high fastball that Eloy Jiménez swung through, and Will Smith faked the throw to second. He didn’t go through with it because Shelby Miller was one strike away from ending the inning himself, so he didn’t need to be the hero.
But Andrus thought otherwise, and when Smith motioned toward second, Andrus broke for home, only to realize when peeking around Jiménez’s recoiling frame that Smith still held the ball. Smith threw behind him to Taylor at third, and Taylor slapped the tag on Andrus with a dive before Andrus could get to the plate. Just like that, a play that never works for the White Sox worked against them, and their susceptibility to it explains why they always try it themselves.
No. 2: A 3-1 slider from Garrett Crochet clanks off Yasmani Grandal’s glove, allowing the automatic runner to move to third with still nobody out. That complicated Crochet’s task considerably, and he ended up throwing 22 pitches without retiring a batter. He should’ve had one out, because Miguel Rojas tipped a high 3-2 fastball into Grandal’s mitt with a checked swing, but the home plate umpire didn’t catch it, and that call wasn’t reviewable. Then he had to suffer through a 12-pitch walk to Mookie Betts that loaded the bases before Freddie Freeman ended the game with a deep fly ball to center that Robert saw no point in pursuing.
(Also, Crochet’s velocity was down by 2-3 mph, which brought the trainer out to the mound.)
Just like that, the White Sox saw a winnable series at Dodger Stadium escape their grasps. However, if you don’t really care about moments, then you can just point to the scoreboard and say the White Sox didn’t score after the fourth inning, even with six innings against the much-maligned Dodger bullpen. They failed to score either Zombie Runner they had, which Veterans Committee member Dan noted in our group chat means they’ve stranded him in seven of 11 innings. In 2022, they stranded the runner seven times in 25 chances.
On to the bullet points:
*Dylan Cease’s fastball-slider combination was rather effective, as evidenced by his 10 strikeouts. It might’ve been too effective, in the sense that he threw 102 pitches over 5⅓ innings. He allowed just three hard-hit balls, but he allowed 25 foul balls for just the fourth time in his career, which dragged at-bats out.
*Cease departed after giving up singles to two of the first three batters he faced in the sixth, and on elevated sliders. In came Reynaldo López, who got a flyout to right before allowing a single to James Outman, followed by the slam to Taylor.
*Robert and Eloy Jiménez went back-to-back in the first off Michael Grove, and then Jake Burger and Andrew Vaughn did the same in the fourth, allowing everybody to Remember Some Guys.
*Robert and Jiménez both struck out in the 10th inning to strand the runner on third, and Burger struck out to start a fruitless 11th. They finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, but six of those at-bats happened in the last two innings.
*Both teams struck out 16 times, and the Sox struck out in clumps: Burger four times, and Robert, Jiménez and Clint Frazier with three.
*The White Sox’s own bullpen work was wasted post-López, as Joe Kelly, Gregory Santos, Kendall Graveman and Aaron Bummer all threw scoreless innings, with Bummer getting the game to the 11th despite starting the 10th with the winning run on second.
*The White Sox are 1-2 when hitting four homers in a game this year.
*I’m mostly mad at López for ruining the “Grove Downers” headline I was totally going to use when it was 4-0.
Record: 30-40 | Box score | Statcast
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They were competitive in the series against a good team. Let’s not give up hope yet.
In a perfect example how different expectations are between the two franchises the Dodger fans i know talk like this Dodger team is the one 10 games under .500. This is a “bad team” according to some!
Dodgers pitching has had some injuries (Urias, Buehler). They are like 21st in team ERA, which isn’t great. Urias and Buehler are huge, so stands to reason they aren’t as good as LA fans are used to. They were 1st in mlb in team ERA last year (sub 3, incredibly), so quite a dropoff for them.
Sox could certainly send them Kelly/Graveman/Gio/TA (a couple of, or some combo) for a couple of decent prospects. Seem like ideal trade partners.
It’s a shame to see Reylo go from “Potential Front of the Rotation Starter” to “Low Leverage Reliever put into High Leverage situations”
Who could’ve predicted Reylo would give up a HR? Wait, maybe Middleton could. WTG Pedro, use your most unreliable arm as the first man up in a tight game. Anyone else noticing that he’s not getting any smarter?
Two nights before, I went to bed thinking they White Sox would lose. They won
Last night I went to bed with the White Sox winning 4×0 after 5 innings thinking, they got this one. They lost.
I don’t know what else to add. This team can’t find a way to win consistently. I am trying to not see what it appears to be there. This is the real White Sox team. A mediocre team that does not have the ability to climb out of the hole they dug out early in the season.
I’ll watch tonight’s game with the same hopeless hope because that’s all White Sox fans job.
The grand slam doesn’t bother me nearly as much not cashing in the Manfred Man in both extra innings. Come on now.
I like a bad fielding but healthy and power hitting Burger more than a good fielding, offensively inept, and oft injured Moncada, as the future 3b of this team. I’m not sure I’d let Moncada start when he gets back to be honest. To get Eloy and Burger in the lineup together requires one of them plays the field. That shouldn’t be Eloy. I think their best team now is Burger at 3b, Eloy at DH, and Yoan on the bench.
Yoan Moncada is starting to resemble Joe Crede. Promising 3B that was out of baseball at 31 due to back problems. I hope Yoan recovers and has a longer career.
Burger is a year younger than Moncada as well. I’d have never guessed that until I looked it up. I’ll all for Burger at 3b and maybe move Moncada to 2b at some point. Moncada on the books for 17M this year and 24M for next year. That’s a lot of $ to bench.
Yeah, Moncada makes a ton. But he has been useless since 2021, really. Burger’s fielding detracts from his value, but his hitting offsets it enough to make him better than Yoan, for now. Yoan doesn’t hit well enough to be a starting mlb 3b. Not if his 2022/23 numbers are what to expect.
The roster doesn’t work, 2-4 players need to be traded ASAP. Sometimes less is more, they can win this dead end division without some key players and still get some value. They need more SP, and a catcher for next year. TA needs to go, Eloy or Vaughn needs to go, Gio’s value will never be higher than now, move the highest return pieces in the bullpen. Doing nothing is more professional malpractice.
Unfortunately, I agree. This roster is terribly constructed. There is no way Hahn can build a contender next year with this core.
I would trade BOTH, Eloy and Vaughn.
I would trade Sheets.
I would trade Anderson.
I would trade Moncada.
I would trade Giolito and as many relievers as I can trade
I do not expect any significant prospect in most of these trades except with Giolito. He should bring back a top 100 prospect
I will keep Benintendi (no one is taking that contract). Let Grandal, Lynn, Clevinger and Elvis walk away
For 2024, the core and its supporting cast will be:
Burger (DH)
Robert Jr
Cease
Kopech
Benintendi
Zabala
Lenyn Sosa
Oscar Colas
Whatever cromulent relievers are left
Which brings a daunting task:
1) Fill in 3 SP spots
2) A good RF (a ghost Hahn has been unable to fill)
3) A decent SS
4) A main catcher
Number 1) will be truly difficult considering that Hahn must fill the roster with a truly impactful hitter. Hahn must focused on athleticism. Bring players capable to field the ball so their floor is not a basement. Not injury prone. Before you say it is impossible to win with only Robert as the super star, I invite you to look at the Rays roster. They built around Arozarena and Wander Franco. The complement pieces are athletic. Can play defense. They don’t suck value. So it can be done.
The only problem in all of this is Rick Hahn cannot be the architect. He cannot build these type of teams. This is a task for a smart baseball executive which Hahn is not even close to be.
Moncada making 24M next year. Good luck trading that contract, unless they do the Weird Al thing and “Eat It”.
I said I am not expecting any good prospects in most trades. Certainly not with Moncada. I think Moncada can be traded. If a team believes he can regain health, he will be worth his contract and take the gamble he will bounce back.
According to bref, he is also due $5 mil as a buyout of the ’25 option. Good luck moving that
BTV values his contract as $12.1MM underwater. That’s not a ridiculous amount of cash to attach in a trade, and it may be the smart move to make, but I don’t anticipate Hahn doing that for a guy on someone else’s roster bubble.
Am I being overly cynical in imagining Hahn would rather have an unproductive Moncada to point to and say “injuries doomed us” than to move on from the headliner of his signature trade?
I agree with your assessment of who to trade, although trading Eloy or Vaughn makes sense only if they get something of value. They both still have some potential. Getting rid of those two for its own sake is not going to make the team better, even if they are both huge disappointments compared to what was hoped their potential would be.
There are too many holes to fill. The “daunting task” will take years to fill, and can only be done by competent people, and an owner willing to give out contracts bigger than what they gave to Benintendi. Good luck to any GM, no matter how bright, being constrained to work with this ownership. A retool if not closer to a full rebuild needs to be initiated though, basically. There are too many guys leaving soon to do otherwise. Better than letting guys leave and getting nothing.
I do think some combo of Gio, TA, Kelly, Graveman is worth a couple good prospects if they packaged them right. A team like the Dodgers could use all of them. Send all 4 their way. For all 4 I gotta believe two top 100 prospects is not out of the question. That’s something. Get the catcher or Michael Busch as the centerpiece of the deal.
As frustrating as this roster construction is, the 1B/DH types are probably more valuable to this year’s team (and the next 3) than what they would bring back.
I think it is more valuable to not have them than to have them. You can keep one.
I think they’re probably more valuable to have than what little they would bring back (would love to be proven wrong) + a Yonder Alonso type replacement. The recent track record of teams taking a veteran FA approach to 1B/DH (Guardians, Cubs, Brewers) is not very inspiring.
I agree that Moncada is untradeable. I would keep Eloy and Vaughn- they are worth more to the Sox than they would be to any other team.
I think it’s time to explore moving Moncada to 2nd base. There is still a black hole there, and he is not producing the offense needed from a 3rd baseman. If you are going to have to pay him, then at least see if he can be the solution to 2nd base.
Timmy needs to go. He needs a fresh start with all of his personal issues going on. I would trade Giolito and Timmy in July, and also Grandal and Lynn, if anyone would take them.
Again, the problem with all of this is it really doesn’t matter what they do if the 3 Stooges are still in charge. This team has no chance of long-term success if Jerry is the owner.
But since we’re stuck with him, this is who I would build around for 2024.
Benintendi (untradeable) lf
Robert cf
Colas rf
Burger 3b
Moncada (untradeable) 2b
Vaughn 1b
Eloy DH
Cease, Kopech sp
I would seriously consider picking up Clevinger’s option, though he will probably decline it if he continues to pitch well.
There are just no good free agents that would fit in Jerry’s price range. So that above core is average at best. They would have to wait until 2025 for Montgomery to play short, and they somehow have to find a franchise catcher and several good starting pitchers. The outlook for this team is bleak- and this is supposed to be the middle of the contention window with multiple championships. Good job Jerry and RicKen. You should be proud of yourselves.
This is basically the same team we have/had this year and one year older. I’ve got news for you: it is bad. I have come to the realization that we can’t do 2024 with 75% of the same team we have now. Eloy will play 75 games. Vaughn kinda sucks. Why insist on keeping them? Your roster has the same clump: Eloy/Burger/Vaughn. We cannot win with those three. They are slow, they can’t field. Eloy is injury prone. We can keep one. I chose Burger.
When I wrote what I wrote, I wasn’t thinking on what have more value for the White Sox. It was more like finding the answer to the question, “what does not work?”, and get rid of it.
Because if you don’t have Eloy and Vaughn, who do you have? Victor Reyes and Sheets. Vaughn is OPSing .768 with an OPS+ of 110. Who are you going to replace that with? I agree it’s the same team but one year older. But unless they strike gold in a Gio or TA trade, they are not going to get someone better. And they are not going to trade either of those guys for a 1B or DH. They have way too many other holes. I know you dislike Vaughn very strongly based on your posts all season, but he is at least a credible threat in the lineup.
“Because if you don’t have Eloy and Vaughn, who do you have?”
Not Eloy and Vaughn together. That’s already better.
I’m sorry…go catch the fly ball, Luis. It’s your job. For all we know, the runner on 3rd could’ve pulled a Ruben Rivera.
I’m sure everyone will disagree, but I just hated that. It just bundles all the apathy of the past two years into one play.
Give me a break.
Seriously.
Instead of pulling a Rivera, Robert might pull a hamstring trying to catch a ball in a useless play.
The ball was hit to the moon. It’s too much for him to jog over and throw the ball in? What if the runner left early?
They were not playing the White Sox. A runner is not going to leave early on a deep fly ball with there being no chance of being thrown out. There are enough things wrong with this team. Leave this one alone. Every team does the same.
Pardon me for asking him to jog over and do his job. He’s got $9.5 million reasons not to. My mistake. Carry on.
I don’t think fake hustle would have made anyone feel any better about last night’s game.
Except one person.
7 hr in 30 innings…. Is that bad? Remember when people thought Reynaldo was gonna be a closer ‘cuz he threw hard at the beginning of the year? There are too many pitchers on this roster that would be sent down or released if they were on teams with any sort of depth.
If this team sold at the deadline it would expose how bad the organization’s underbelly is because they’d finish the year 10-40… and that is why they will not sell.
I don’t think they have much to sell or buy with. They’re firmly stuck…. (everyone together now)… in mediocrity.
I was one of those guys that thought Reylo could close, obviously I was wrong about that. I don’t understand the purpose of that comment. Was it to make people who made a wrong prediction sound stupid?
I haven’t seen many games recently so haven’t seen Sheets’ at bats. But man, the results are ugly. Is there any reason for optimism or is this about where Sheets is settling in?
He showed some promise in 2021, but realistically is just a left handed bat off the bench guy. And not a great one, at that.
Sheets would’ve been a good bench player when pitching staffs were 10 men deep.
Unfortunately, about six other Sox players fit that bill as well.
Imagine hitting four homers and losing lol.
Ball go far, record go down?