WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The last two series, shellackings though they were, involved the White Sox facing playoffs teams, which lent a sort of pre-installed intensity to the preceedings.
Not the case here in The District, where it's two rebuilding teams going nowhere that will very much require every player to bring their own reasons for approaching these games with intensity. Hopefully the presence of Sox Machine will signal to all involved that these games matter.
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It will inevitably be the last games in the White Sox organization for some people. Will Venable wants the communication on that to be nigh immediate for any outgoing members of the coaching staff.
"If there's things that we're going to do, they deserve communication as soon as possible here," Venable said. "And our process getting to some of those decisions still has to happen and will happen directly after the season, and then we'll communicate as soon as we can afterwards. It's not going to be weeks into the season that we have these talks and conversations. It will be immediate, but we just haven't done it yet."
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Yoendrys Gómez hasn't been Cy Young or anything, but he's pitched to a palatable results (4.15 ERA in 39 IP, with 40 strikeouts over 14 walks) over eight starts since showing an impressive ability to install some meaningful midseason changes.
You don't throw guys like that away; at least not again.
"When we first got him, wasn't able to throw strikes, didn't really get a good read on him," Venable said. "He goes and figures it out, comes back and is pounding the zone, getting a ton of a swing and miss, in some tough spots and able to work through, which was really nice to see him progress and put himself in a spot where he's on a roster. We're excited to have him and see what it looks like for him next year."
Not many pitchers have guaranteed rotation spots for next season, and Gómez ain't one of the chosen few, but Venable is willing to put him in the group of guys who will be asked to stretch out next spring.
"You evaluate the context of your roster and I think clearly he's got the ability to do both [start or relieve]," Venable said. "We know he's got the ability to start, which is great. He's been the most productive for us in that role, but I think going into the spring we'll probably want to lengthen some of these guys out and give them the opportunity to start, knowing that if it's the best thing for your roster to shorten them down and have them out of the bullpen, you can also do that too."
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No one really knows when or how Tyler Gilbert is going to get his dang glove back.
"Have not [heard anything], Venable said. "We're in the process of trying to track it down, and he wants it back at some point, but I don't know what the process is. We've reached out and [we'll] figure it out.
Talking to Bellino about it, and Dan's great, he talked it through and said, 'Hey, there's clearly not any intent here, but it's a little too sticky.' I felt it, I told him that I didn't think it was very sticky, but I have no measuring stick for that. And so it was really cordial and it was just like, 'Hey, we've just got to get a new glove. It's not a big deal.' So it was pretty uneventful, but I understand why, even though I didn't think it was very sticky."
Weird benchmarks to follow
--Lenyn Sosa has the team lead with 21 home runs, and Colson Montgomery is still within a monster series of catching him at 19.
--Edgar Quero is at 96 hits for the season.
--There are four Sox pitchers with a winning record this season, and only Mike Vasil (5-3) and Tyler Gilbert (4-2) are on the active roster. Does Gómez (2-2) have what it takes to become the third? Adrian Houser (6-2) and Wilkelman González (1-0) are the non-active guys with winning marks. Have a weekend, Jordan Leasure (5-6).
--Miguel Vargas is the team leader in doubles (32) and runs scored (76). It's improbable he reaches round numbers in either total, but it seemed worth mentioning somewhere, to someone.
First pitch: White Sox at Nationals
TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM
Lineups:
| Nationals | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| James Wood, LF | 1 | Chase Meidroth, 2B |
| C.J. Abrams, SS | 2 | Kyle Teel, DH |
| Josh Bell, 1B | 3 | Colson Montgomery, SS |
| Daylen Lile, DH | 4 | Miguel Vargas, 3B |
| Dylan Crews, RF | 5 | Edgar Quero, C |
| Luis García, Jr., 2B | 6 | Brooks Baldwin, CF |
| Riley Adams, C | 7 | Lenyn Sosa, 1B |
| Robert Hassell III, CF | 8 | Will Robertson, LF |
| Paul DeJong, 3B | 9 | Dominic Fletcher, RF |
| Cade Cavalli | SP | Yoendrys Gómez |
