The White Sox have elected to release Lawrie, and will divvy up his playing time between Tyler Saladino and Yolmer Sanchez while keeping an eye on how Yoan Moncada progresses in the minors. The team’s official line is that they want to keep with the spirit of their rebuild by allowing these young players more opportunities to play. Lawrie is younger than Saladino, but Lawrie’s 2,400-plus plate appearances give us a much better view of what to expect moving forward, even before accounting for his likelihood to stay on the field.

One might question the timing of this decision as it pertains to the $3.5M contract the Sox extended Lawrie to play for 2017. It’s likely he was initially retained as a corner infield insurance plan in the event that Todd Frazier was moved. With the season nearly upon us and such a move not yet imminent, it looks as safe as it ever will to part ways, and enables them to utilize spots on the roster in more creative and productive ways. Much like when they released Dayan Viciedo prior to the 2015 season, the organization should only be on the hook for a fraction of Lawrie’s agreed-upon contract.

Good bye, Brett Lawrie. We’ll always have the box jumps and the weird eye black and crazy mouth guard and ramblings about orthotics … Wow, what a strange man.

Lead Photo Credit: Rick Osentosk – USA Today Sports Images

Denial: No way? Are you kidding me?
Denial. It’s the first step. It doesn’t make sense to do this so it must be fake. This is fake news, right? Why would the White Sox keep Robin Ventura around, after all that has happened? Good question! When people say something is a good question, it’s because they don’t know the answer and are buying time while they think one up. I went a step further and explained that, but it’s still not enough time. I don’t know the answer. Doesn’t really make sense!

Anger: This team is trash. They hate their fans, and their fans hate them in return!
It’s ok, you’re right to be mad. Like we already agreed, it doesn’t really make sense. Clearly this is designed just to push you further away from the team you once loved oh so much.

Bargaining: Maybe this is just a way of letting Ventura down easy, allowing him to choose to leave on his own.
Does this make any more sense that actually retaining him? Ventura’s contract is up; he needn’t be fired. What company would go through an elaborate dance, at the cost of a clear PR hit, to possibly maybe make the employee they’re not going to ask back feel a little better about the parting of ways? I don’t really see it. But grief is a hell of a thing.

Depression: None of it matters, the team is bad, and will continue to be bad anyway.
There it is, a more comfortable spot for White Sox fans. Good ol’ depression. But does it matter? Yet another thing I don’t know the answer to. The team is full of badness, lots of gaps to be filled. Does the captain of the ship matter at that point? If the Titanic had a Sully Sullenberger would things have been different? Probably not.

Acceptance: Well the Sox are my team, I’ll end up watching anyway.
It’s true. You will.

UPDATE: The true grieving process doesn’t begin until there is closure, however:

Source: report that Robin Ventura has been offered a contract for 2017 or beyond is inaccurate.

— Dan Hayes (@CSNHayes) September 28, 2016

The initial report did not say that a contract had been offered. In fact, it said that negotiations had not yet even begun. Rather, it stated intention to retain Ventura if he wants to come back. It is, therefore, unclear as to whether this particular deck chair on this particular sinking ship will be rearranged or not.

Lead Image Credit: Matt Marton // USA Today Sports Images

Not much excitement in this one until the end, but the game did begin in a way familiar to those who have watched Shields make starts in 2016. The third Phillies batter of the game, Odubel Herrera, took him deep to put the Sox at a quick 2-0 deficit. On a relative scale, Shields recovered from his first inning, never looking sharp, but keeping the ball in the park from there on out, which was a nice change of pace. Still, he would be unable to survive the sixth inning and was shown the exit when Robin Ventura wisely chose not to allow him to face Herrera for a fourth time.

Shields failed to record an out against Herrera in three tries. He had two singles in addition to his first inning homer. The second of those singles came in the fifth, a run scoring single through the drawn-in infield that plated Philadelphia’s fifth run of the game.

The Sox did manage some of their own offense, with all of their runs condensed into the third inning. A Tim Anderson double and Jose Abreu walk – both occurring with two outs – preceded Melky Cabrera yanking a change-up inside the right field foul pole to give the Sox a tragically short-lived 3-2 lead. Shields contributed to the offense in the fifth with 40 feet of ground ball that kissed along the third baseline at a pace that would have embarrassed Paul Konerko, and ended up an infield hit. He was followed by a somewhat less improbably Anderson walk, and yet the Sox ended the frame without scoring.

22 year-old rookie Jake Thompson, already on his third organization after having arrived from Texas in the Cole Hamels trade, made the start for the Phillies. Thompson was coming off of a stretch of four-straight starts in which he allowed two runs or less. That third inning two-out attack was his only pain point of the night, but it broke his streak and kept the White Sox from falling absolutely flat, which means he’ll probably get a good dressing down by his pitching coach.

The bullpen managed to survive the rest of the game post-Shields without allowing any further scoring, and that included a Matt Albers inning! Omar Narvaez caught his first would-be base stealer in that same frame.

Jeanmar Gomez opened the door for a Sox comeback in the ninth. With the Sox down four runs, A leadoff single by Todd Frazier was followed up by a two-out infield single from Leury Garcia, and a wild pitch walk to Justin Morneau which scored Frazier. Adam Eaton chased Gomez with a double to left center that scored a pair more and Anderson stepped to the plate to face Michael Mariot, on in a real live save situation and with the Phillies clinging to a one-run lead.

But it was not meant to be. Anderson grounded out quietly to short, and Mariot recorded the first save of his career.

Team Record: 72-79

Next game is Wednesday at Philadelphia at 6:05pm CT  on CSN

Lead Photo Credit: Bill Streiker – USA Today Sports Images

In his third start for the Sox, Anthony Ranaudo continued the trend of allowing more runs with each successive outing by yielding six on the night.  The scoring started early, letting up a pair in the first, cruising for a bit — retiring nine straight Mariners — before Robinson Cano ended the bid for recovery by launching his 29th homerun of the season.  When Ranaudo’s third trip through the lineup combined with a Tim Anderson error, the direction of his evening was clear. What was a tie game at the time became a Seattle lead, and Ranaudo would leave the game with the bases loaded for Dan Jennings to clean up and limit the damage.  Technically the damage was limited, but Jennings did promptly surrender a base hit, allowing two of his inherited runners to score and pushing the Mariners’ advantage to three runs.

For their part in the scoring, the White Sox got started quickly as well. Three singles and a run preceded the first out recorded, with two more singles and another run coming in the frame.  A brief moment of panic was had when Adam Eaton was seen holding his hamstring walking back to the dugout after scoring the game’s first run, but Eaton would remain in the game and show no signs of damage thereafter.

James Paxton threw 90 pitches in his five innings, nearly a third of which came in that two-run Sox first.  A six man bullpen was not enough for Scott Servais to worry about dipping into relief help early, but an unfortunate three-run third of an inning for Arquimedes Caminero put the Sox right back into a game they seemed perfectly content to lose control of.

Despite Jennings’ quick hiccup upon entering the game, he was able to get through an inning and third with no earned runs (charged to him, anyway), setting the pace for the rest of the night’s relief squad to go unscored upon as well.  Even Matt Albers got in on the effective fun, allowing no runs in his second straight outing, doing what he can to lower that 7.04 post All-Star break ERA.

David Robertson had his patience tested while trying to get his job done in the 9th inning of a tie game.  Having retired one, and with Ketel Marte on first with one out, two fans ran on to the field causing a delay.  Upon readying himself to resume play, another fan ran out; clear annoyance on the face and in the body language of Robertson announced another delay.  After a warm-up pitch or two, Marte took advantage of the confusion in routine by running on Robertson’s next offering to the batter Aoki, getting an excellent jump and putting himself in scoring position.  Thankfully, Robertson was able to strike Aoki out, and then get Guillermo Heredia to ground out and end the inning.

The top of th lineup would come up for the White Sox in their half of the 9th.  Adam Eaton lead things off with a base hit, his second of the night.  Tim Anderson was then tasked with sacrificing him over to second, and did so successfully.  The move had the effect of earning Jose Abreu an intentional walk, but Todd Frazier, responsible for knocking in two of the previous runs in the game, laced a game winning single into left field to plate Adam Eaton and earn himself a celebratory shower of…whatever it is they keep in that Gatorade bucket. Frazier came into the night with a .586 OPS in the month, and though both of his hits were singles, I’m sure mentally he could really use a multi-hit, multi-RBI night like this.

Lead Photo Credit: David Banks – USA Today Sports Images

1. Carlos Rodon leaned on the double play ball to get him through his night, watching the defense behind him help out four times by retiring two for the price of one. He struck out five and for the first time this season didn’t walk a single batter. Though ball-in-play was a recipe for success on the night, Rodon’s finish in the sixth showed more of what we’ve seen through the rest of the year.

With runners on second and third, the Sox lead threatened, Rodon reached back and attacked Mike Napoli with a 95 mph fastball, setting up a slider to strike him out. Then the control departed, and the only thing that saved giving up his first walk of the game was hitting Carlos Santana with ball four, which also happened to load the bases. Jose Ramirez, who came into the night carrying an inexplicable .937 OPS at Progressive Field this year, rolled one to Tim Anderson’s right. Anderson gloved it, made a high, looping throw that looked sure to take Abreu off the bag, but he somehow managed to stay connected and end the Indians threat to blow the inning, and the game wide open.

Rodon finished 2015 with a stretch of eight consecutive quality starts, beginning in mid-August. After tonight’s six inning outing, we sit in mid-August having watched him notch three-straight. Finishing out useless seasons strong might be frustrating, but it’s better than the alternative of watching a once-prized prospect wither and die.

Chris Beck replaced Rodon to begin the seventh. He was able to record a pair of outs, but he also surrendered a pair of doubles, and exited with the tying run in scoring position. Nate Jones was able to retain the lead through the inning, but created a jam of his own in eighth which he was unable to extricate himself from without allowing Cleveland to tie it up. Jacob Turner, tasked with trying to extend things to extras in the ninth, immediately allowed a double to Abraham Almonte. Almonte moved into third by way of Dioner Navarro — who came in to pinch hit for Narvaez the inning prior –allowing passed ball. From there a simple sacrifice fly from Tyler Naquin was enough to end it.

2. Danny Salazar hadn’t pitched since the first day of August, when he got torched for six runs and two innings and found himself on the DL with right elbow inflammation afterward. This outing didn’t yield much better results. He faced seven batters, walking three of them, and surrendered three runs in his only inning of work. After being lifted from the game, Salazar could be found in the bullpen throwing, a rehab start against the White Sox having gone awry.

Kyle Crockett replaced Salazar and had himself a 1-2-3 inning. His appearance having the extra utility of giving enough time for Mike Clevinger to get ready. Clevinger would have been up in the rotation for this game if Salazar had not temporarily bumped him, and he turned in four innings of two-hit, one-run ball, which was enough to keep the Indians in the game until Rodon began to waver.

3. After capitalizing on Salazar’s control issues in the opening frame, the Sox offense took a nap. Outside of a Melky Cabrera walk to lead off the 3rd, nobody reached again until, naturally, Jose Abreu grabbed himself an infield single. A would-be insurance run was added in the 7th by combination of Anderson and Omar Narvaez, but this was not a night that the Sox were looking to score multiple runs against any pitcher not trying to work his way back from injury.

4. After Anderson doubled to lead off the 7th inning, J.B. Schuck was called upon to sacrifice him over third. Strategy questions aside, what created this situation is Narvaez’s ability to produce quality at-bats. Ventura felt confident that a runner on third with one out was a situation that would net a run with Narvaez at the plate. It did, though with the single he stroked Anderson would have scored either way. The White Sox catcher joins Justin Morneau — who drove in all three first inning runs — as the only Sox players with more than 30 plate appearances to have an OPS over .800. File “The White Sox notch another terrible season but a bright spot is Justin Morneau” under things you never thought you’d read.

5. The White Sox have been one of the worst teams in all of the majors since the All-Star break, but they managed a few wins on this road trip, and now head home to face an Oakland Athletics team that is currently riding a five-game losing streak.

Lead Photo Credit: David Richard – USA Today Sports Images

1. The Sox scored early in the first inning on a Melky Cabrera double that plated a speedy Tim Anderson. If it were up to Joe McEwing, the run never scores, but Anderson motored right past the third-base coach’s stop sign and was validated 90 feet later with the team’s only tally.

The Cubs came right back as a leadoff walk to Dexter Fowler evened the ledger when he came around to score on a Kris Bryant double. In the third, Sale skipped the formalities when putting Fowler on, hitting him with a pitch instead of walking him, and ended up walking Bryant to avoid a replica of the previous RBI opportunity. It was just a stall, Fowler still came around to score on a Ben Zobrist single to give the Cubs all the lead they would need.

2. Chris Sale waited until the fourth inning to record his first strikeout, and managed four overall, all looking. This isn’t to say that he was economic with his pitches. Despite the limited damage of two runs, Sale used 111 to get through his six innings. Two runs and four strikeouts over six innings is a very acceptable outing, though not especially impressive for Chris Sale. Nate Jones did the heavy bullpen lifting, throwing 1.2 innings and getting lifted after allowing Ben Zobrist to score, who led off the eighth with a double. Tommy Kahnle battled Javier Baez for 10 pitches before walking him and making way for Dan Jennings, who retired Tommy LaStella to spare us the spectacle of Aroldis Chapman batting.

3. After two of the first three Sox hitters got hits off John Lackey, he proceeded to retire the next 14 he faced. Who broke up the stretch? Chris Sale of course. White Sox pitchers get hits. It’s what they do. Sale would end up stranded along with Cabrera who singled in the sixth inning as well; the threat ended as he induced Jose Abreu to pop up on the infield following a decent battle. The taxing top half of the inning, combined with a Cubs scoring opportunity in the bottom half, hastened Lackey’s departure. With Addison Russell on second and two outs, Sale intentionally walked Matt Szczur to bring the pitcher’s spot up. The National League chess match worked in Ventura’s favor – at least in terms of getting Lackey lifted – Maddon sent David Ross up to pinch hit for Lackey, and Sale promptly struck him out.

4. The Cubs newly bolstered bullpen goes a long way towards helping Joe Maddon make such decisions regarding his starting pitcher. It’s not quite Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, Chapman, but the North side squad was fully prepared to roll out the back end of their Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon, and Chapman bullpen and see how it fared. Strop completed a scoreless seventh, but a Tyler Saladino leadoff double off of Strop in the eighth gave the Sox some brief hope. After moving to third on an Anderson groundout, Chapman was called upon to earn the four out save. Striking out half of the Sox batters he faced, he converted without any real threat.

5. Abreu had been collecting hits in the week leading up to this game, 10 for 24 in the last seven contests. All but one of those hits were singles, and the man hasn’t connected with a ball that cleared an outfield fence since June 23rd, over 100 at-bats ago. The overwhelming feeling while watching Abreu go 0-for-4 tonight was that he is struggling. That feeling speaks volumes about how different it feels to watch the once-fearsome slugger play without power, even when there is some basic production remaining.

Team Record: 50-52

Next game is Friday vs. Minnesota on CSN at 7:10pm CT

Lead Photo Credit: Caylor Arnold – USA Today Sports Images

Sale having a long outing was a good bet early after eight and nine pitch innings to start the game. He allowed a single to Franklin Gutierrez in the first, then settled in and cruised into the seventh. Working mostly fastball-change, he leveraged the slider where he needed it to dispatch the Mariners over the next five innings with the only blemish being a walk issued to Leonys Martin. In the seventh, things got a little rocky, as a self-made jam was created by hitting both Gutierrez and Dae-Ho Lee with sliders. He then used that same pitch to escape the jam by striking out Kyle Seager, thus ending the threat, but the suggestion that he was not in full domination mode was already made, and would become unfortunately important. Sale finished the evening after having completed eight innings and allowing just a single hit to go with his three walks and six strikeouts.

David Robertson, making his first appearance post-All Star break had some difficulty with the middle of the Mariners order, putting himself in a position to face Lee as the tying run with one out. After working a strikeout of Lee, Kyle Seager lined a single to center to get the Mariners on the board and cause Don Cooper to saunter out for a never pleasant 9th inning mound visit. It was not as productive as hoped. Adam Lind saw two pitches, the second of which he deposited just over the fence in right field, securing misery for all those that care about the success of the White Sox. Sale’s shakiness over his last two innings makes it tough to second guess his removal without the benefit of hindsight, but boy do I wish he was left in for the complete game.

On the positive side, ongoing fear of shutout was silenced early on when Tim Anderson took Wade LeBlanc into the upper deck in the first inning, acquiring a lead the Sox wouldn’t relinquish until that final pitch of the game. The additional tallies were acquired in the 4th inning — Todd Frazier, who seems to have every intention of staying relevant in the home run race, slugged his 26th long ball of the season, this a two-run shot that also scored Melky Cabrera. A cheapie did not exist between the two homers, as early measurements were 441 feet for Anderson’s shot and 427 for the dead-center blast by Frazier.

Not coincidentally, the last time the White Sox notched double digits in hits was the last time they scored more than one run. Of their 11 hits tonight, multi-hit games were had by Cabrera, Avisail Garcia, and Dioner Navarro. Navarro’s good fortune was such that he collected an infield single on a swinging bunt. It may have happened before, but it’s never developed as slowly as his roller to the left side of the infield. Melky’s knocks were accompanied by competent outfield play. Sale was letting the ball into the play with regularity, and a couple of the more threatening fly balls were tracked down by Cabrera, some with what a charitable individual could call a hint of grace. Some with what nobody could call a hint of grace.

Three runs is all well and good when you went through a stretch wondering if you’d ever score any again, but we’d be lying to ourselves if we were satisfied with that output against Wade LeBlanc. The weak spots are still glaring, despite Garcia managing to reach base twice tonight. Jose Abreu, who came into the contest with an OPS of .858 since the beginning of June hit a double in his first at-bat, and then looked downright lost in subsequent appearances, continuing a Jekyll & Hyde act he’s been performing quite a bit this summer.

A team with a pitching staff as shaky as the White Sox once Sale and Quintana are out of the way needs to put up consistent runs, and when they can’t bounce guys like LeBlanc early and stack runs when given those matchup opportunities, the hopes of seeing a season go past what’s already on the schedule are slim and growing slimmer. And of course, ultimately losing the game that pits LeBlanc against Chris Sale is a gut punch this season could have done without.

The strategic curiosity for sliding Anderson into the second spot of the lineup is probably only exceeded by him batting leadoff in the first place, but with his fifth home run on the season Monday, anecdotal evidence says the two-hole is where he belongs and will thrive. In reality it’s still an odd approach for handling the young shortstop. Playing a prime position well while carrying a league average bat in his first exposure to the game’s highest competition suggests he can handle himself no matter how strangely those in charge of him behave.

Team Record: 45-47

Next game is at 9:10pm CT in Seattle on WGN

Lead Photo Credit: Joe Nicholson – USA Today Sports Images

1. A good short-term goal coming into this game for James Shields would have been to record an out beyond the fifth inning. He had yet to do that in White Sox uniform coming into Wednesday night but finally managed the modest achievement by going six and two-thirds innings. He notched a couple of 1-2-3 innings and remained scoreless outside of the Eduardo Nunez leadoff home run, but that lack of runs didn’t come without assistance. In the third, the combination of a double play and a two-out bunt attempt by Brian Dozier saved him. In the fifth, Adam Eaton was unable to catch a Nunez fly to the wall but made a solid throw to nail Kurt Suzuki by a wide margin as he attempted to score from first. It’s going to take a lot of reasonable starts to undo the damage done in his first few outings, but seeing a James Shields that doesn’t look completely broken is nice.

2. Everybody in the starting lineup managed to get a hit Wednesday night. Brett Lawrie continued his torrid hitting – he came into the game with a 1.375 OPS on the homestand – kicking off the Sox scoring with a home run to right center in the second. More solo home runs were to be had, one each for Tyler Saladino and Todd Frazier, making it 13-straight solo shots for the Sox. Saladino added a RBI single to his night joining together with Tim Anderson to create multi-hit bookends to the lineup.

Evidence of advance scouting was on display in the 2nd inning. Poor defensive arms were exploited by J.B. Shuck, first stealing second easily on Suzuki, and then coming around to score on an Avisail Garcia single to left field on what would have been considered a terrible send if not for Robbie Grossman’s more terrible throw. Grossman’s arm is such that Dioner Navarro was able to truck it home from second on a single later in the game without even garnering an attempt at a putout.

3. The White Sox bullpen, perhaps expecting a long evening before the game, likely thought they had found some unexpected rest with the Sox leading the Twins by seven runs before even being called upon. Matt Albers made a short appearance, Michael Ynoa threw a scoreless eighth. And then came the 9th. Matt Purke, pitching without pressure, was unable to record an out before being yanked in favor of Dan Jennings. Jennings pitched well enough to end the game without damage however the final two would-be outs were blown on a Lawrie error, who pitched a feed to second too wide for Anderson, blowing up a sure double play. The gaffe cost runs and made things far too interesting. It took two base hits, an RBI ground out, a hit-by-pitch, a walk before Jennings was pulled. Nate Jones was brought on to stop the bleeding, but after the bullpen was unfortunately taxed, and an already tired fan base needlessly worried.

4. To live in a world in which Melky Cabrera’s absence on the defensive end could cause angina is not ideal, but here we are. Despite his absence, the Sox did manage to survive on both sides of the ball. Avisail in the outfield didn’t appear to cost the team anything in the way of runs on this particular night, but with Shuck currently handling full-time center field duties, this is not a setup the Sox want to press their luck on for longer than they need to. Get well, Melky.

5. Tim Anderson saw six pitches in his first two at-bats to strike out twice. He took the second pitch he saw in the fifth to left field for his sixth double of the year. Once the bullpen took over he was able to work a deep at-bat for a single and earn himself an RBI off of Michael Tonkin. Anderson’s day-to-day comes pretty much as advertised. Displays of excellent ability mixed in with a rough approach and unattractive strikeout-to-walk ratio. The net result of which can most certainly be considered a positive, and he’s quickly become a joy to watch and a main focal point of the nightly viewing.

Team Record: 39-39

Next game is Thursday at 1:10pm CT vs. Minnesota on WGN.

Lead Photo Credit: Matt Marton – USA Today Sports Images

1. Robin Ventura’s lean towards speed at the top of his lineup paid quick dividends when Tim Anderson smacked a double to lead off the game and Adam Eaton saw fit to take advantage of a wet infield by laying down a bunt. It proved successful and then some with Anderson able to score – and Eaton able to move into second – with a throwing error on the play. Next time around Anderson notched himself another double, moving to third on the play as J.D. Martinez had trouble corralling the ball in right field. Once again, Eaton laid down the bunt. A decent attempt to drag it up the first base side was thwarted by a good defensive effort by Tigers starter Jordan Zimmermann, getting Anderson caught up trying to score, and effectively ending that inning’s threat.

The offense did surface at other points. A two-out rally in the fourth notched three runs, and another run was added in the fifth. After being down 10-2, the White Sox eventually brought themselves back within three in the ninth inning thanks to a two-run home run by Tyler Saladino, surely leading to some light PTSD for Tigers fans. It was for naught, 11 runs was ultimately too much too overcome.

Adam Eaton scored twice on sacrifice flies, going 2-for-5 on the night. He’s 6-for-10 in this series after having hit .158/.289/.263 in June prior to the Tigers’ arrival.

2. Coming off of an excellent start in which he walked no batters over six innings against the Nationals, Miguel Gonzalez was unable to find that touch again. He was hit hard out of the gate and struggled with keeping the ball in the zone. Four walks – one of which was intentional – over three innings isn’t a great strategy for run prevention. Weaving them between base hits is even worse as it turns out, unless your goal is to exit the game early, in which case it is great and highly effective.

3. Just a night after working seven innings, the bullpen was again asked to contribute heavily. As the freshest arm available, Matt Purke was first up, looking to soak up as much of the workload as possible. He may have allowed three runs in his two and two thirds innings, but 63 pitches in relief when the bullpen sorely needs it carries some value. Then again, those runs allowed were the difference in the end. Michael Ynoa made his MLB debut which served as an encouraging portion of the evening, allowing no hits, two walks and also striking out a pair in his two innings of work.

4. The Tigers managed nine extra-base hits without any homeruns. The last time Sox pitching was hit so frequently without allowing any long balls was a 1979 loss in Kansas City. As you can imagine, this was a fun one to watch. Every lineup spot in the Tigers order reached base, with an Ian Kinsler ninth inning triple completing the…I don’t know what you call that. “Thorough owning,” perhaps. Miguel Cabrera predictably led the attack with four hits on the night.

5. The managerial complaint department isn’t too busy on this one. The bullpen deployment was…fine. If one was going to cherry pick Robin’s call for the first of the two intentional walks could have caused more damage than was necessary, as loading the bases up for Justin Upton resulted in yet another walk to force a run across. The gamble on his second intentional walk, this one of Miguel Cabrera, yielded positive results, allowing justification for those that are looking for it.

Team Record: 32-33
Next game is Wednesday at 7:10pm CT vs. the Detroit Tigers on CSN.

Lead Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski – USA Today Sports Images

Mat Latos somehow survived the ax when James Shields was added to the rotation. Though it’s likely just a statement about Miguel Gonzalez and his skill set more likely to play up in the bullpen than what Latos is working with, it does provide him at least one more opportunity to prove himself able. Though the Sox have won the last two games Latos has started, run prevention has not been a strong point. He’s managed to finally accumulate some swings and misses on his fastball, but his inability to limit walks hasn’t allowed his extremely modest increase in strikeout rate to play up. He waited until his fourth start of the season to allow his first home run, but has been consistent in allowing one or two per start since. He also lowered his two-seam usage during that time, perhaps not coincidentally.

Joe Ross would seem to be putting together a nice little season thus far, bringing a 2.37 ERA into Tuesday’s contest over 10 starts. That number isn’t reflective of his peripherals, though – cFIP (103) shows him as roughly league average on the season – scouting reports on him from last season project a fourth starter profile for him, which falls more in line to what his early fielding independent numbers are showing. Like Latos, a nice start has caught up to him a bit, as 12 of his 16 earned runs have come in his last five starts after he cruised through the first five allowing just four. An opportunity to take advantage of a trend exists for the White Sox.

Melky Cabrera has returned and seen his shadow, which means summer is here and there is no longer a need for Coats, who has been optioned back to Charlotte. J.B. Shuck will get some extra plate appearances at DH with Austin Jackson hopefully fully mobile in center field again. A glance at the batting order any given day is a plea for the next trade. Jerry Sands found himself DFA’d today, so not everything is chaos.

White Sox Lineup:

1. Adam Eaton – RF
2. Austin Jackson – CF
3. Jose Abreu – 1B
4. Todd Frazier – 3B
5. Melky Cabrera – LF
6. Brett Lawrie – 2B
7. J.B. Shuck – DH
8. Dioner Navarro – C
9. Tyler Saladino – SS

Nationals Lineup:

1. Ben Revere – LF
2. Jayson Werth – DH
3. Bryce Harper – RF
4. Daniel Murphy – 2B
5. Wilson Ramos – C
6. Ryan Zimmerman – 1B
7. Anthony Rendon – 3B
8. Danny Espinosa – SS
9. Michael Taylor – CF

Lead Photo Credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports Images