1. Here’s a deal: play Avisail Garcia. Play him! As much as he seems burnt out and without upside, now that Charlie Tilson has torn his hamstring, the other outfielders this playing time would go to are J.B. Shuck, Jason Coats, or Austin Jackson if he ever is healthy again this year. If Avisail can […]
Author: James Fegan
White Sox 6, Tigers 3: Sox rough up Zimmerman to dodge Detroit sweep
Like much of Detroit’s roster, Jordan Zimmerman looks like a troubling asset going forward. He’s owed $92 million through 2020 after this season, and his strikeout rate had collapsed to a career-low 15.2 percent coming into Thursday afternoon’s finale. Despite all this, like much of Detroit’s roster he had been effective in 2016, and healthy […]
Chris Sale still doesn’t look familiar
Chris Sale‘s outing Wednesday night looked like a return to form in many respects. Though they used to roll in for him as easily as the morning tide, he victimized the Tigers with his first double-digit strikeout effort of the season and his fourth complete game. His slider, restrained to a slower, slurvy, strike-grabbing version […]
The year without youth
Tim Anderson forced his way to the majors ahead of any reasonable schedule, and was always going to struggle to find a foothold with his aggressive approach. He’s still highly entertaining, but the much-anticipated rookie struggles have come for him, and he’s been under a .600 OPS since July 1. Hopefully he’s been very entertaining, […]
What to watch from the White Sox after the trade deadline
Since, you know, there’s no pennant chase. Jose Abreu: Normally, declining veterans are not a great reason to watch in the dog days of a lost season, but a full year of listless and powerless Abreu might actually place a real decision at the feet of White Sox management. On the other hand, any stretch of […]
Carlos Rodon’s year of running in place
Carlos Rodon returned to action Sunday after missing most of July with falling-up-the-stairs-related injury, and turned in something that fits in very comfortably with his disappointing but not disastrous season: 6.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K and two home runs that were bazooka’d to Mars, inflating his season ERA to 4.67. […]
White Sox 6, Twins 5: Sox climb back from bullpen meltdown
Despite slumping through 12 lifeless innings Friday, and resting a gimpy Adam Eaton Saturday night, the White Sox offense pounded out 15 hits and staged multiple late-inning rallies to rescue the team from a bullpen meltdown in Minnesota. Who knew? 1. Facing a 5-4 deficit in the ninth with two outs, Melky Cabrera drilled his third […]
Twins 2, White Sox 1: Shrimp in Minnesota
Baseball games are full of tiny events, tiny performances and a variety of contributors, which makes it seem little unfair when something so pathetic and humiliating happens at a key moment that the whole day gets defined by it. But then, something as ridiculous as losing to the moribund Twins by just giving four free passes […]
Do we need to talk about Anthony Ranaudo?
I mean, probably not. The first images of Anthony Ranaudo Wednesday night were infuriating. Here’s a guy who has spent the last few seasons bouncing around between increasingly slim opportunities to stick, and finally found some traction in Triple-A Charlotte by filling up the zone with his middling stuff, and here he is in a nationally […]
South Side Morning 5: Crosstown Cup Afterglow
1. As illuminating as Chris Sale‘s statements to Scott Merkin were on Monday, about how discontent in leadership from the franchise player could indicate a larger loss in confidence and stability in Robin Ventura’s leadership, Tuesday was more of a customary circling the wagons. Ventura assured he was capable of working with Sale just fine, […]