First Pitch: White Sox vs. Cubs
TV: NBC Sports Chicago and Marquee
Lineups:
TV: NBC Sports Chicago and Marquee
Lineups:
Tonight's #WhiteSox starters vs. the Cubs: pic.twitter.com/pZUU9JCYqg
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 25, 2023
Here is tonight's #Cubs starting lineup at Guaranteed Rate Field!
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 25, 2023
Tune in: https://t.co/Gs2hZXyTjH pic.twitter.com/kHF2p9scv9
Writing about the White Sox for a 16th season, first here, then at South Side Sox, and now here again. Let’s talk curling.
We think it’s better to move a guy who doesn’t play 2nd to second base, instead of simply putting the former second baseman there. I swear, this team exists anymore only to troll the fans.
The defensive difference at 3B arguably makes this no worse than a wash… and Moncada was pretty bad at 2B. You could be pretty bad at two positions, or really bad at one and really good at one
Since we live in Kentucky, my Cubs-fan friend and I usually have fun with the Sox-Cubs series. He texted me a playful, “Go Cubs!” earlier.
I responded: “I, like all Sox fans, have stopped caring. Sox fan forums read like Fredrick Nietzsche and Albert Camus running a book club on Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.”
Believing in the White Sox is functionally nihilism.
nihilists and their gum. they believe in nothing… not even flavor. at least the gum ends where it begins unlike regular bubble gum (false sense of hope that it might last)
I don’t come down to Arby’s and slap the meat out of your mouth.
A Cub fan from Kentucky? I can imagine his reply was, I just spent an hour on Baseball Reference and couldn’t find any of those players.
Starting the broadcast with a respectful nod to Rocky Wirtz…he didn’t deserve it.
for what it’s wirtz, the whole broadcast has been dedicated to him, (in a british accent please say): apparently.
truth be told, no matter how obnoxious the broadcast gets with the bat hitting the ball twice and wishing Tim would hit a homerun, I really don’t listen to the broadcast because of the loandepot and powering chicago commercials. they’re gawd awful.
The powering Chicago commercials are better if you think of the Stonecutters song from the Simpsons when she says, “Who powers Chicago? We do.”
lol, okay, fair. I hadn’t thought of it that way. but I kinda want to hit her voice with a car. sorry, I’m really not sorry.
at least the 2021 Bears death march was only 17 games, holy crap this team is gonna push fans to a point of brain damage with how awful they are. Want them to beat the cubs, but if losing this series means change(hehe yeah I know silly aint it) then by all means, be Soxy White Sox
brain damage, I’ll take two. can I get an extra side or brainbleed?
They also got the #1 overall draft pick out of it as a consolation prize. We’re looking at a top-5 pick (I’d assume) for a guy who chose Vaughn at #3 and Madrigal at #4.
yup…go Sox haha damn this team
I wonder how Vaughn would’ve done if he was selected by someone else. I don’t know if he was a dud or if the Sox are horrible at player development. Maybe a bit of column A and a bit of column B.
The weirdness of COVID didn’t help him, but the White Sox absolutely rushed him and shoehorned him into the outfield out of desperation. But none of that would have changed his bottom-of-the-barrel defense and baserunning; they chose a guy whose only potential skill was hitting. You have to credit a kid for basically walking in off the street and becoming a roughly league-average hitter, but he needs to be a helluva lot more than that and the White Sox should have known that when they drafted him.
They did know it, and so did everyone else. He was a consensus top 5 pick because the combo of visual and statistical evaluation made him as good a bet to be a middle of the lineup 140 wRC+ hitter as possible in the amateur ranks. Sox are the ones that messed him up with dev, not the pick itself.
I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility that Vaughn might have done better elsewhere.
It’s B. They (Menechino?) taught him to be much more aggressive than he was in college. Coming out of Cal, he was noted for the specific skill of letting strikes (like well located breaking balls) he knew he couldn’t really damage go by, when early or ahead in the count. Now he swings at those, and hits grounders right to short.
It’s possible that he’s been forced to adjust because MLB pitchers can throw breaking balls in the zone much more often. But even then, the risk of hanging one and Vaughn riding it out (like Robert does) should be much more present than it is.
I think the prevalence of effective sweepers in college is much lower than in MLB, and that’s what’s killing him.
He’s seeing 30% sliders, 10th-most in MLB. Robert is 2nd overall at 32.2%. Which is obviously only sorta working on the latter. They’re both slightly better than average on SL by value; the difference is that Luis is destroying fastballs and Vaughn is actually struggling vs them, which is new. I think the key for him is that he’s gotta just start looking fastball and have the confidence to spit on almost any breaking ball early on.
Meatball Machine.. like the movie, this game (and team in general) are beginning to look a lot like it. It’s terrible! but yet I can’t look away because it might get better (spoiler, it doesn’t)
Cubs won’t be sellers after this series. Playing the Sox will make any team look like World Champions. If your team is circling the drain, the Sox are exactly what the doctor ordered. Too bad the Sox can’t play themselves.
did you see the twins series? it was like watching a car accident in slow motion, only one twin knew to dodge when everyone else ducked…. it was an epic failure and the twins got lucky.
The Kopech experience is like the Jay Cutler one, and I’m certain the White Sox are planning an extension for him too, because “why not?”….oh Pedro you are a quote gift that keeps giving
Just when we needed Lynn and Kopech to have good games, they don’t. Well, unless Kopech pitches 7 innings with only the 3 runs. I know he’s supposed to be on the no trade list but I’ve had enough.
Between him and Crochet we should have better starting pitchers in our bullpen than any other team next year.
I think you’re on to something!
Swanson may have 2 home runs, but think of the lack of financial flexibility he’s giving the Cubs.
I feel for Cubs fans. They’ll never know how many closers, injured relievers, and utilitymen that Hoyer had to pass on because of the Swanson contract.
Can you imagine how many players he could have DFA’d for that much money?
Hendricks vs Grandal is hypnotizing. Looks like the game is being played in molasses
Waste of a challenge, but how else are you going to change the culture?
Speaking of us fans apathy towards this incredibly disappointing Sox team.,., even though sell out crowd the Sox wasted no time in showing their own apathy in 2nd inning. Did they give that error to TA for the lazy looking throw to first or to Vaughan for his lazy looking attempt at the pick? He coulda rolled it to him with better result. Then, Kopech appeared pretty apathetic himself on the 2 run blast that followed immediately after. All I can say is thank goodness for great local non mainstream media coverage who speak for fans voices (ie. Sox machine), excellent Sox broadcast crew, and especially for Ozzie’s pre and postgames. Chuck does a good job too. Wonder how all those guys feel about having to keep going another 2+ months.
Can we use Burger to block stealers at 2B like an offensive lineman?
What is the major league record for stolen bases against a starter in one game? What a clown show.
I wish I loved anything as much as this team loves ground balls.
I knew the White Sox were bad, but woof this game makes the Cubs look like the World Series team. Crisp baseball on one side nothing but a mess with the Sox. they look checked out or have just become the worst version of the player/coach they could have been. Both are probably true.
2 on, nobody out.
The Cubs have not been safer from being scored upon at any point this game than they are right this moment.
Hmmm..bases loaded with no outs. Promising.?
shit… that looked outta here. Bad luck.
infield hit by Vaughn? What?
Great play by Suzuki stole a grand slam. It must be nice having fun players.
Are you not enjoying the Tanner Banks experience?
They have a great drummer, but like most jam bands, they drag a song out way too far.
Colorado is winning. Tomorrow the White Sox will have the 3rd worst record. Top 3 draft pick baby. Maybe first round overall? Getting that with a 190 M payroll is nothing but extraordinary
There’s a draft lottery now, so I think the third worst team could draft as low as 9th. Although, there are other draft rules involving revenue sharing that also impact that.
Why, this could be the difference between drafting the next Nick Madrigal or the next Gordon Beckham!
True, but I understand the worst 3 records have the best odds to draft on the top.
I can’t wait until the lottery plays out and we find out that the Royals got #1, Tigers #2 (despite finishing well ahead of the Sox), and Sox drop out of the top 6 to #7. To be fair, as Trooper hinted at, #1, #2, #3, #30…it doesn’t matter, the Sox will screw it up. There’s no help on the horizon.
Eat at Arby’s.
We might pick another Andrew Vaughn.
It gives us something fun to do: https://www.tankathon.com/mlb/pick_odds
That table is missing twelve teams: Among them, the Bluejays and the Twins. I wonder why?
Nevermind….explanation is in the footnotes. This lottery draft thingy is confusing.