With a victory over the middling Washington Nationals on Sunday, the White Sox will have three consecutive series victories to point to as a sign that things are moving in the right direction. With a loss, well then they're 5-4 in the last nine games and you know, whatever.
But there are other indicators of progress that some will point to.
"The boys are bopping," said hitting coach Derek Shomon. "The last 12 games, relative to the first 15, we're top-10 in just about every category. We're walking at a very high clip, I think second in the big leagues the last 12 games. We're making very good swing decisions, I think eighth as far as chase is concerned. No. 1 in expected OPS, if you're into that kind of thing. I've said a few times [it's a] multi-faceted offense when this thing's firing off at all cylinders; we have guys that can slug, we have guys that can move the baseball forward, we have guys that can will and can and will lay down a bunt, that's cool. It's not just a one-trick pony. Even though some nights it feels like it is, right?"
The White Sox often give Will Venable one day per week off from his pregame media responsibilities--usually Sundays--for an assistant coach, or maybe someone like Ryan Fuller or Brian Bannister to speak instead. Shomon taking up responsibilities this time allowed him to break down his dugout exclamations for home runs.
"I yell, ‘Holy shit, he booked him,’" Shomon said. "Hearing guys over the years when we went over pitchers that we were facing, and someone in the room in the advance meeting would be like, ‘Oh yeah, I got him. He’s in the book. I got him in books.’ So I think I started yelling that. I yell a lot of stuff."
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The Sam Antonacci feature was a labor of love and we do hope you take some time to read it, even in today's fraught attention economy. But if you truly refuse to, Shomon summed it up.
"Psychopath, and I want him to lean more of that because that’s who he genuinely is," Shomon said of Antonacci. "When guys come up to the big leagues, it could happen where you start to lose yourself and you think you have to be somebody that you’re not. It’s just like, be that crazy little bastard that’s hitting your helmet and stuff all the time, and the boys are going to back you 100 percent."
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Bryan Hudson is opening for the second time this series, likely giving way to Sean Burke after the first inning.
Speaking of things happening for the second time, Lucas Sims is back in the White Sox organization on a minor league deal after getting designated for assignment (also for the second time) earlier this week.
Jonathan Cannon is beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday.
First pitch: White Sox vs. Nationals
TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM
Lineups:
| Nationals | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| James Wood, RF | 1 | Chase Meidroth, 2B |
| Curtis Mead, 1B | 2 | Miguel Vargas, 3B |
| Daylen Lile, LF | 3 | Munetaka Murakami, 1B |
| Brady House, 3B | 4 | Everson Pereira, DH |
| CJ Abrams, SS | 5 | Colson Montgomery, SS |
| Jacob Young, CF | 6 | Tanner Murray, LF |
| Luis García Jr., DH | 7 | Derek Hill, CF |
| Nasim Nuñez, 2B | 8 | Drew Romo, C |
| Drew Millas, C | 9 | Luisangel Acuña, CF |
| Foster Griffin | SP | Bryan Hudson |
