Nobody seems to have an explanation.  Shields denies being hurt, Dioner Navarro says he’s not tipping pitches, it doesn’t look like his velocity is down any more than it has been already…What does Robin Ventura think? Robin says he’s not walking a lot of guys* and that he just has to…keep going I guess?

*Shields has walked 9 batters in less than 9 innings with the White Sox.

Even if Shields had thrown a quality start, though, the offense only managed two runs off of the admittedly very challenging Danny Salazar.

If I were to try to put a silver lining on this, I would say that Matt Purke has done admirably as a mop-up guy, Michael Ynoa has been soaking up innings, and Jose Abreu has continued to awaken from his hibernation as his OPS remains over 1.000 for the month of June.  That’s really all I can find here.

But the Shields acquisition is a mess both in and of itself and in terms of what it represents.  The White Sox added a player, he is a historic disaster, and they have no idea why.  Another 0-for-4 day with multiple strikeouts has pushed Todd Frazier below the Mendoza Line.  The team TAv is .253.  For perspective, Juan Pierre‘s career TAv was .250.  Also Juan Pierre played five full seasons and has been retired for two more since the White Sox last made the playoffs.

It is looking much more likely that the White Sox are going to finish below .500 for the fourth consecutive season, and for the seventh time in the past ten seasons.  Given the organization’s history and philosophy, it does not appear likely that they will be sellers at the deadline either, even though if these trends continue their playoff odds will be below 10% by the end of July.  Another reminder of why I did not share the sentiment expressed by many White Sox fans of, “Oh well, they’ll just supplement at the trade deadline.” Most of the season is over by then, and it’s looking like the White Sox’ season will effectively be over by then, too.

But the most troubling thing here is, with Shields blowing up as he has, it’s yet another reason to be concerned that there are massive flaws in this organization at a structural level that are fatal to attempts to compete.  Pair that with ownership’s notorious loyalty and patience, and if you are sailing a doomed course, one wonders if they will even notice until the ship has gone over the waterfall.

Lead Photo Credit: Ken Blaze — USA Today Sports Images.