1. You could almost hear the music from the White Sox Monday night. Chris Sale was so clean and efficient rounding out a seven-inning, three-run effort, it could almost completely drown out the static of him overthrowing for the first three frames and an ugly, snowballing third inning. Nate Jones‘ finishing move to close out the eighth, a swerving 92 mph slider that landed so far away from Khris Davis it looked like he swung just to follow script, was so brutal, it could wipe away the chaos of three relievers coming out in a single scoreless inning on Opening Day, and David Robertson nailing down the save was such a relief, that maybe grievances about one of the most prolific strikeout relievers in the game walking leadoff man Coco Crisp despite starting him 0-2 could be ignored.
If Sale’s early-game loss of command and form didn’t so closely resemble the stretches that made his 2015 so much less than the sum of its awe-inspiring parts, it could be more easily forgiven. It was Opening Day and he was amped up and overthrowing. When he started pumping in more strikes at 94 mph and snapping sliders over the outside corner, he was Sale again, and in terms of problems he could have been expected to have when he shifted to the rotation in 2012, that his stuff looks just as electric and overpowering in Year 5 is a major victory.
2. And you could almost envision a new era of a viable White Sox attack when they reeled and lit up a wild Rich Hill–he hit two of the first three batters!–in their second trip through the order.
Adam Eaton will need to slow down quickly to repeat his April slump of last year, after he reached base three times, and alternated between flashing the ability to slap through the 5-6 hole to left field and showing surprising power by blasting a triple to the Coliseum wall. Jose Abreu saw 26 pitches on the night and crushed a hanging Hill curve so hard in the third it clearly impeded Jimmy Rollins from scoring, and even Rollins himself and Austin Jackson looked hitterish in a lineup that very much needs for their bats to not be dead.
This same group went almost completely silent against the A’s bullpen, Todd Frazier‘s timing looked so off early in the night that a simple lineout to third in his last at-bat was a relief, and the Sox got picked off and popped up bunts into outs two times each. Everything they did to force the issue and initiate energy and push the defense into mistakes blew up in their face nigh immediately, which is not a good look for a team that’s spread a lot of talk about being ready to avoid their umpteenth slow start. But the good news is they don’t need to execute yet. The A’s rotation is too infirm, their defense still relies too heavily on Marcus Semien, and the Sox have enough installed major league competence to wait out the unforced errors.
3. Now that Opening Day has…opened, the Opening Day payrolls have the White Sox with the 16th-highest in MLB with roughly $113 million. A roughly median payroll is fine on its own, maybe even to be expected given how far down the Sox are in terms TV and ticket revenues. Avoiding a scorched Earth rebuild is an understandable, and in my eyes, commendable decision to maintain a decent standard of product during a period of transition. Draft spending has also been commensurate with the league, and international free agency has been trending upward after an impossibly ugly nadir.
It’s all fine, and we don’t need to call anyone “cheap” while still acknowledging that in concert, it’s all very middle of the road activity for a major league club that projects to be middle of the road and is buttressed by a middle of the road farm system. There’s some potential for overperformance, but it’s unsurprising that this all totals up to middle of the road expectations. They need a way to distinguish themselves.
4. Miguel Gonzalez’s contract does not have an opt-out date, reports Dan Hayes. He is pure, unadulterated starting pitching depth for a rotation that often can go long stretches without a natural opening for a spot start.
Mat Latos is already on a short leash as is, but right now Gonzalez is the best threat to actually provide some push from below. Given the way his Spring went, that could just be the thrill of something new. At least Rick Hahn feels good about where Gonzalez ended the year velocity-wise.
5. It’s a little early for the rotation to be in chaos, but the A’s are ahead of schedule. Sonny Gray‘s bout with food poisoning–apparently not an unusual issue for him–means old friend Chris Bassitt will go on Tuesday.
Bassitt’s nice results (3.56 ERA in 86 innings) last year made the Jeff Samardzija trade sting even more, but his 107 cFIP in 2015 sees the Sox being pretty right on in pegging him as expendable. Gray is set to pitch on Wednesday, which will spare the Sox from an encounter with another old friend. Elbow surgery for Felix Doubront–already not a great option–means Eric Surkamp (memorable for a mostly unsuccessful stint as a White Sox LOOGY) is headed to the rotation.
This A’s team was a juggernaut ticketed for a deep playoff run 18 months ago.
Lead Photo Credit: Kelley L. Cox // USA Today Sports Images