When I made a small plea for the White Sox to consider being more aggressive in using Chance the Rapper as part of their marketing effort, it was in the spirit of using the “privilege of the floor” portion of a City Council meeting to say my piece, after all of the real proposals and bills had already been considered.
Lo and behold, the Sox were three steps ahead, and less than a week away from debuting a full-throated marketing effort with Chance at the forefront: selling hats, narrating in-stadium hype videos, throwing out the first pitch at home openers, and perhaps launching into a more long-term ambassador role, even.
VP of Marketing Brooks Boyer did a very good job of summing it up Chance’s appeal:
“We wanted a sound that was younger, hipper, cooler to really connect. The whole goal of the video is to connect with the people in the city, with the White Sox, with our history—so having him do it seemed to make a lot of sense because he is very Chicago,” said White Sox marketing chief Brooks Boyer. “Chance is that next wave, and he seemed to be the right guy.”
Chance is absurdly talented, personable, community-oriented, and the rare combination of a rapper who can show a crossover, family-friendly side while maintaining artistic credibility. These type of figures aren’t just rolling off the assembly line, and even rarer is one that cares about identifying with a baseball team.
Yet even with this magical key to connect with young people on the South side of Chicago dropped in their lap, this decision still seems bold and innovative. The White Sox have dreary attendance and dismal cable ratings, and need to search for compelling ways to expand and invigorate their fanbase more than most, but it’s a rare day an MLB team drifts outside of doing more what they know their built-in demographics will respond to, and for the sake of the city, for Chance and his efforts, and for setting future precedent, I hope they are rewarded for it.
2. It was fun worrying about Carlos Rodon for two innings; it made him seem more approachable. His fastball was missing by feet, his finish on his release seemed inconsistent and sitting at 93-94 mph on his fastball seemed less comfortable when hitters could sit on him until he split the plate.
Despite the opening, Rodon wound up delivering the best White Sox start of the season. After allowing a second inning home run to Mark Canha–that Hawk mislabeled as a “can of corn”–he struck out six of the last 21 batters he faced while allowing only five to reach base. His only walk of the night didn’t come until the sixth, continuing his stretch of improved control that began last July from adjustments that Eno Sarris profiled on Wednesday.
This great control came alongside some of the nastiest, most wipeout versions of his slider. When he combines those elements, the vision of him performing like a No. 2 this year seem attainable.
3. The Sox getting Sonny Gray‘d for most of the night made Robin Ventura put on his managin’ hat for several late portions of the night.
He pinch-ran for Jose Abreu after a single with two outs in the eighth, which certainly had potential to take his best hitter out of the game with little opportunity to benefit, but Todd Frazier was up and it was about maximizing quickly disappearing opportunities. The oddity was keeping pinch-runner Tyler Saladino at first while Frazier and Jimmy Rollins stayed put, even while Rollins was having a brutal defensive night. If the flexibility isn’t there to use his defense, it gets hard to make Saladino useful.
J.B. Shuck was the next pinch-runner in after Melky Cabrera reached to leadoff the ninth, but that was to put him in front of Avisail Garcia, who is doing his best to throw believers in his offseason adjustments off the scent. Shuck seems as good of a bet as any to reach base or push Cabrera over as Garcia at this point, but Avisail is going to get the full confidence of management until he doesn’t.
4. Perhaps it doesn’t make sense to say this about a guy who currently has a .000 ISO, has only played two games, and apparently told Hawk Harrelson he felt beat up after his first game behind the plate, but I came away encouraged by Alex Avila‘s performance so far this season. Not 2012 All-Star level encouraged, but Avila’s walk rate and on-base skills seem like natural products of what he’s doing at the plate rather than a specter of his since-disappeared power.
He’s a prodding, discerning presence at the plate, who not only takes a lot of pitches but shows a lot more ability to employ a good two-strike approach and hit defensively than someone with a ~30% strikeout rate should, even if early indications are that his contact should slump soon. Avila’s issues include durability and he’ll be challenged to stay sharp over the year, but he saw 39 pitches in his first two games and it didn’t look accidental.
5. Avisail Garcia will get his first start in the outfield on Thursday, which he’ll continue to push for, since he abides by the adage that pretty much no player physically capable of playing in the field likes to DH. The Sox are still pitching all the offensive opportunities at the world at him without caution, but defense does look like the first frontier where they are willing to acknowledge Garcia is not their best immediate option for winning games.
Lead Photo Credit: John Hefti // USA Today Sports Images