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This team is something. Go sweep tomorrow.
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The Billy Hamilton Experience. Embrace it.(Formerly asindc.)
"I have the ultimate respect for White Sox fans. They were as miserable as the Cubs and Red Sox fans ever were but always had the good decency to keep it to themselves. And when they finally won the World Series, they celebrated without annoying every other fan in the country." Jim Caple, ESPN (January 12, 2011)
"We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the (bleeding) obvious is the first duty of intelligent men." — George Orwell -
What a wild game. Not exactly the best pitching you'll see, but the bats gave them a big enough cushion.
Since Robert's injury supposedly torpedoed the Sox season and opened up a black hole in the lineup, they have scored 9, 1, 3, 9, 9, 9, and now 13 runs.
Good teams win in lots of different ways, and this is a good team.Comment
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Odds and Ends...
Hamilton four hits....did I just write that? Say WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Marshall needs to be sent down to Charlotte and someone else brought up. Guy has lost it and his confidence. The way he looks on the mound, his body language just isn't good. Maybe going to Triple A, less pressure, he can get things back together.
Jose with another good night which is great to see.
Nice to see Vaughn get his first HR. And Grandal maybe heating up.
Hope they get some pitching Thursday and can lock this one down.Comment
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A few tweets I read about today's game that made me laugh:
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Marshall doesn't have any options, and it's too early in the season to waive a guy who was one of the team's best relievers the past two years. The best they can do is move him to a lower leverage role and hope that he figures something out. Fortunately Jose Ruiz has looked awesome all year and looks ready for more meaningful innings.Comment
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How about the wonder first HR of Andrew Vaughn? Congrats and hope it's the first in a long career of them on the south side...Comment
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Vaughn now pushing .800 OPS. Abreu heating up with the bat and other than the foul pop in the first had a stunning night in the field. Rough way for Tim to get his first error. GRANDAL now over .700 OPS while hitting under .150.
Lots of offense and just enough pitching. Hendricks needs more work.
Riding Shotgun on the Sox Bandwagon since before there was an Internet...
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Confidence isn't all that Marshall lacks. Keuchel doesn't match up well against the Twins, but I was hoping he could go at least six. With Kopech and Crochet both limited and taking up spots in the bullpen, I don't think there's really room for Marshall. Tonight, especially after four innings of necessary bullpen use last night, there wasn't much choice. The bullpen was supposed to be a strength of this team. Maybe Hendriks, who has been getting work because there haven't been many close games of late, found something tonight as he closed out the win. Foster and to a lesser extent Heuer have much better stuff than they have shown and were supposed to be part of a superior bullpen. Marshall, I believe, not so much. And while Anderson made an error tonight, not a routine chance, but a chance I'm sure he would like back, some strong defense kept things from being worse. Abreu in particular came up big in the field, and Madrigal and Moncada took away hits as well. If Donaldson had busted it down the third base line in the seventh the Twins would have had another run. It wasn't as if he expected the 3-6-no-force double play, but you would like to think your guys would be embracing the opportunity to score.
Still, there was so much to like about the game. After scoring two runs in each of the last three innings Tuesday, the Sox scored two runs in each of the first two innings today, went scoreless and came back with a five-run inning. They really had a great game plan against Happ, taking him to right and center instead of trying to pull his pitches on the outer half of the plate and outside. Moncada coming up with a double after the double play, Abreu following with a triple to tie the score and Mercedes driving him in established a night of pressure on the defense. The pressure eventually led to runs scoring on a wild pitch and passed ball as the game wore on. In the second, he appeared to be working more inside, but Hamilton beat him for a triple and scored on the wild pitch. Happ retiring the next six in a row before the Sox adjusted and Vaugh's first career homer kicked off a five-run inning. Grandal seems to be more aggressive at the plate, even swinging and missing a 3-1 pitch that may have been ball four before hitting his home run.
All five games in the current win streak have come against Central teams, which is a good thing. An MLB factoid tonight alleged this is the first time in White Sox history the team has scored at least nine runs in four straight games. That doesn't feel like it should be true, but I didn't see any such streak in 1977 when you would think such a streak would have happened. They had three straight in double-digits after an 8-1 win against the Twins in June. But I don't see four straight with at least nine. And there was a 19-12 loss in that 1977 streak. With all the consternation about the injuries, with all the defensive failings early on, as disappointing as the bullpen has been -- this forum has shared plenty of not entirely unjustified complaints -- the White Sox have the best record in the American League. I think people read too much into run differential but no MLB team is close to the White Sox. That doesn't feel like it should be true either. But focusing on the little things your team does wrong ignores that your competition is often failing at getting them right either,
I hope Lynn can go deep Thursday. I don't expect the Sox will score nine or more to make it easy.Comment
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This has developed into a really fascinating season from a positive POV. If we can weather losing both Eloy & Robert and not miss a beat then the division and possibly the AL are ours for the taking. Imagine losing both and having Cease & Rodon pitch like they have. Only little niggle I can add right now is that Keuchel, Gio, & Hendriks have all struggled. In regards to Gio I just hope he is going through a "dead arm" period and that he starts to bounce back once the weather warms up.Vaughn now pushing .800 OPS. Abreu heating up with the bat and other than the foul pop in the first had a stunning night in the field. Rough way for Tim to get his first error. GRANDAL now over .700 OPS while hitting under .150.
Lots of offense and just enough pitching. Hendricks needs more work.
I kind of think Keuchel & Grandal are sunken costs who will give you 2-3 WAR each year. DK has struggled but if he can spot his pitches and regain the control he had last year a high 3.** ERA won´t be a bad outcome. Grandal as has been noted is swinging the bat better and to his credit takes a ton of walks to have a ridiculously high OBP in relation to his BA.Comment
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Keuchel is a control pitcher who's lost some heat and movement on his pitches, so he's getting hit harder than usual. His K/9 and BB/9 are at their respective lowest/highest points since his rookie season in 2012. And his FIP is 4.50 right now so the defense is bailing him out (it could be worse). The guy has been an above-average to average pitcher since his Cy Young season and I'm willing to bet we'll have to settle for average from here on out. This kind of thing tends to happen to control pitchers who really on inducing soft grounders throughout their career. He's signed through 2022 with an option in 2023 so hopefully he can continue to be a pitcher that eats innings and stays under a 4.50 ERA. Given how well Rodon and Kopech have pitched so far this season I'm a little less worried about the starters. It would be nice if Giolito could start pitching like a stud again. As for Cease, I think what we've seen so far is what we'll get; flashes of brilliance followed by bouts of wildness. He has a 3.16 FIP and he's still striking out a ton of batters per 9IP (and he's improved his WHIP from one season to the next) so he should be okay.
I don't see Grandal as a sunk cost. Not yet. He's a plus value at the plate and behind it as well. I still see people who think we should've kept McCann instead and they're nuts. Grandal is an allstar. McCann is currently sporting a -0.4 bWAR for the Mets and leads baseball in GIDP.Comment
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I'm amazed how well the Sox are hitting, with the loss of Eloy and Robert I thought we would be scratching for runs and relying on the pitching to keep us in contention.
So good to see Abreu starting to hit well, he was doing well in RBI but now he's on a pace for 148.Now coming up to bat for the White Sox is the Mighty Mite, Nelson Fox.Comment
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J.A. Happ came into this game with a 1.91 ERA. Now, his ERA is 4.26.
My mom says that when she was going to school in Communist Poland, one of her fellow students showed her a medical textbook. The article about alcohol poisoning in that textbook had a little disclaimer at the bottom that said "does not affect Russians". I feel like statistics about dominant left-handed pitchers should come with a disclaimer that says "does not affect the Chicago White Sox".
Alas, Pineda is right-handed
"Hope...may be indulged in by those who have abundant resources...but those who stake their all upon the venture see it in its true colors only after they are ruined."
-- ThucydidesComment
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The Sox are beating up on the bad teams; this is a good thing. Looking at the schedule, they will continue to play primarily bad teams over the next few weeks; it would be awesome to see them build a huge lead in the division by summer.
Don't stop now, boys!Comment
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Always good to beat the Twins. Except for the As, no team has ****ed the Sox more than the Twins, at least in my time.Comment
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