While it has been a rough season in many respects, one particularly disappointing aspect of 2016 has been–through misfortune and persistent organizational weakness–the lack of young players to watch with hopeful optimism. After all, once it’s clear a team’s immediate playoff fortunes have been dashed, the most obvious pleasure in continuing to watch derives from […]
Tag: Dioner Navarro
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 […]
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 […]
White Sox 7, Astros 6: Navarro, Shuck carry Sale to 14th win (What?)
HOUSTON — Chris Sale bounced back from a rough first few innings to earn his 14th win of the season as the White Sox beat the Astros 7-6 Saturday afternoon at Minute Maid Park. Things looked pretty bleak for Sale through the first three innings. After allowing a solo homer to Jose Altuve in the first, […]
South Side Morning 5: Cut It Out, May
The title does not refer to Jacob May, potential fourth outfielder of the future. Rather, as we approach Memorial Day, White Sox fans can look back on what has been a frustrating month. 1. While going 8-9 is hardly a disaster, there has been an awful lot of bad luck–the White Sox have outscored their opponents […]
South Side Morning 5: Latos’ struggles becoming hard to ignore
1. The White Sox really should have paced their use of Mat Latos magic over the full year. After a nearly perfect first four starts, where Latos dodged all hard contact and enjoyed the cushion a .167 BABIP provides, now he looks like someone overwhelmed as to how to get major league hitters out. Latos […]
Catching: A Concern
When I was younger, my friends and I would spend hours upon hours in the Michigan winters playing in the snow. One of our favorite games to play as a group was King of the Hill. We’d pile up snow as high as we could, and then half a dozen or so 10-to-12-year-olds would madly […]
South Side Morning 5: A day off to heal grievous facial wounds
1. Todd Frazier looks like someone punched him in the face, right below his bottom lip. Considering the possibilities that were shuffled through after he superhero leaped into the stands in Arlington and stuck a face first landing on a hard plastic seat, before sprinting off the field with his glove cupping his face (to […]
White Sox 3, Twins 1: Can they play the Twins every day?
The sweep is complete. The White Sox moved to a perfect 6-0 against the Twins on Sunday thanks to Jose Quintana’s continued exceptional pitching, a few timely runs and a shutdown bullpen performance. They are now 12 games over .500. 1. We all know that Quintana cannot sustain a 1.40 ERA and 2.10 FIP for […]
South Side Mid-day 5: The benefits of success
1. Hitting being contagious, or a contagion, as Hawk would say, might not scan, but the White Sox certainly enjoyed some effecting of cascading success Wednesday. So brutal was their treatment of Gavin Floyd, Pat Venditte, Drew Storen, and Brett Cecil over the first two nights of action (and all season), that with Marco Estrada rolling […]