That isn’t exactly hyperbole. Even after he burst onto the season with a Rookie of the Year-winning performance in 2014, as a large-bodied, plodding first baseman already in his late 20s when he got to America, it has always felt as if we were playing with house money, trying our best to enjoy the brilliance of Abreu before his body and skill set eventually deteriorated beyond repair.

At the same time, his unwavering consistency during the first four years of his career made it so that we almost came to take him for granted. Particularly as the White Sox transitioned from wannabe contenders into a rebuild, as his old running mates were sent elsewhere and the spotlight transferred to the exciting youth of the likes of Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, and Carlos Rodon, we always knew Abreu was going to be there, producing in the middle of the lineup and providing veteran mentorship just like he has for the better part of the last half decade.

Abreu’s star actually shined brighter at certain times in 2018 than at any point since that memorable rookie season. For two months, he was the best first baseman in the American League. He rode that hot start to a starting spot for in the All-Star Game, an almost unfathomable accomplishment when you consider how otherwise irrelevant the White Sox have been on the national scene not just this season but during his entire career.

It was also notable because that midsummer break took place amid what was the worst slump of his entire career. After two months of hitting like someone who absolutely deserved to start an All-Star game — .298/.360/.522 with nine homers through the end of May — Abreu went on to hit .196/.246/335 from the start of June until the All-Star Break. It was a jarring turn of events for a player whose career has been so defined by consistency.

He rebounded from a statistical perspective, but the prolonged slump was enough to drag his final stats down to numbers that aren’t necessarily bad, but pretty much across the board the worst of his career. To make matters worse, he was sidelined for two different spells, one after needing surgery to repair testicular torsion, and another that required hospitalization for a thigh infection that eventually ended his season.

For the first time in his White Sox career, Abreu showed vulnerability in 2018. And while the good thing about his injuries — as horrendously painful as they sound — is that they’re not exactly the type of back/leg injuries that often befall aging sluggers, it gave us a glimpse for the first time in five years of life without Abreu. At 32 years old by the start of 2019, his position with the long-term future of this team is uncertain, but there’s little doubt even despite a precarious season that the White Sox are better with Abreu — both for his run producing and his mentorship — than without.

Lead Photo Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Jose Abreu has been on the shelf recently due to what was initially described as emergency lower abdomen surgery. While we waited for more details, I started thinking of potential differential diagnoses. Herniation, torn oblique, shattered coccyx. I did not once think testicular torsion.

So what is testicular torsion? Testicular torsion occurs when one (or both) of the testicles twists around itself (usually rotating inwards), resulting in a compression of blood flow through the spermatic vasculature. Think of it as a kinked garden hose: when you obstruct the passageway, you get back up and increased pressure as well as devitalization. This is an absolute surgical emergency as well as a tremendously painful condition. The good news is that it’s fixable and from everything we’ve heard, Jose should recover just fine with a bit more time away from playing. We wish him all the best in his recovery.

Photo credit: Rick Osentoski- USA Today

Then, right before Carlos Rodon went out and threw another quality start, the White Sox made a trade and a few other roster moves.  First the bad news: Jose Abreu is on the DL with an abdomen/groin surgery and early projections have him out until mid-September or so.  Given how many plate appearances they may need to devote to sorting through options like Nicky Delmonico, Daniel Palka, and Matt Davidson — not to mention, hopefully, Eloy Jimenez — perhaps we have seen the last of Jose Abreu for 2018.

The White Sox also made a trade! They sent Luis Avilan and his unremarkable left-handed competence to Philadelphia in exchange for Felix Paulino.  Paulino is a slightly undersized right-handed relief prospect who has spent his age-23 season finally pitching his way out of High-A and has had a rough go of it in his first look at Double-A. Paulino sits in a 90-95 mph band on his fastball and features both a slider and a cutter but he hasn’t missed as many bats as you’d hope for a slightly older pure reliever. Presumably the White Sox picked him because they saw something, as although moving Avilan (who is in his final arbitration year for 2019) clears a 40-man spot, Paulino will need to be added this winter to avoid being claimed in the Rule 5 draft.  He has this in common with Caleb Frare and Kodi Medeiros.

To replace Jose Abreu on the major league roster, the White Sox called up Jose Rondon.  For all that Rondon has whatever the opposite of Kopech’s hype is, he’s 24, can legitimately play shortstop, and has suddenly shown a good amount of power across Triple-A and the majors this year.  That’s certainly a player who could use another decent run of major league time before the offseason.

Last, to replace Avilan in the Chicago bullpen, they called up Ryan Burr.  Acquired for IFA money from Arizona, Burr has breezed through the minors without much difficulty.  Listed at 6-foot-4, 225 lbs., Burr is physically imposing, although his velocity is more good than great.  The right-handed reliever was only in Charlotte for a few weeks, but is certainly ready for a major league look — he’s also due to be added to the 40-man this winter.

Inevitably, for reasons both silly and legitimate, Burr getting called up ahead of Ian Hamilton (Burr. Hamilton. Everyone will point this out whenever they can) was a little surprising from a baseball perspective.  Hamilton scrapes triple digits and has been annihilating all comers with his heat and low-90s slider, and even made it to Charlotte before Burr did.  However, Hamilton doesn’t have to be on the 40-man yet, so perhaps that vaulted Burr ahead of him for logistical reasons.  Regardless, I stand by my position that Hamilton being in Triple-A made/makes even less sense than holding down Kopech and Eloy Jimenez did.

Still, Burr is a legitimate prospect as far as relievers go, and I am excited to see if he and Hamilton can form the nucleus of an elite bullpen despite minimal resources committed.

Lead Image Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

All that said, I’d be remiss to not give a nod, on the rare occasion that it’s warranted, to the major league team when things go right. Sunday’s 8-7 win over the Rays gave the White Sox their first four-game winning streak of the season and first road series sweep since early 2016 in Toronto. The four wins coming against the Royals and Rays isn’t exactly the stiffest of competition to be beating one’s chest over, but positive production for any period of time more than a day or two is noteworthy during a time when that hasn’t happened all that often.

1. In his first start since I wondered allowed if he had “figured it out,” Carlos Rodon lowered his ERA to 2.94 with six shutout innings in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Tampa. He also walked six. Rodon admitted after the game that he didn’t have as good of a feel for his fastball as he would have liked, but was able to wiggle his way out of trouble enough to stay in the game thanks to sharp secondaries. That he allowed just three hits and induced 16 swinging strikes is a testament to how well his stuff can play even when he’s not fully on, but against a better hitting team he may not have been so lucky, and the start just further illustrates how integral fastball command is for Rodon.

2. For players with the age and skill set Jose Abreu possesses, any prolonged slump brings with it worries that the end of his time as a productive player is near. Abreu entered the All-Star break in the midst of the worst slump of his otherwise remarkably consistent career, but has since looked once again like the Abreu of old. Prior to Sunday’s game, Abreu was hitting .357/.438/.768 in 15 post-break games and went 2-for-4 in Sunday’s 8-7 win. He’s raised his OPS by 69 points during that span.

3. OK, so I lied. We’re still going to talk about prospects quite a bit. Kopech rattled off another impressive start Sunday, striking out nine and walking zero in seven innings of work. In the link at the top, of this post, James Fegan goes into detail about both the mechanical and mental adjustments he has made to break out of a midseason slump, and the results have shown in the form of 41 strikeouts against just 4 walks in 31 IP across his last five starts.

4. While the clamoring for a Kopech promotion will only grow louder as he continues to dominate, Dylan Cease has not ceased to impress even after his late-June promotion to Double-A. After Saturday’s 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB,  9 K performance, he’s now tossed 40 2/3 innings since his promotion with a 1.99 ERA, 58 strikeouts and only 13 walks. The buzz around Kopech and Jimenez is real and warranted, but Cease has been the most pleasant surprise of the White Sox minor league season. Jumping levels is one thing, but he’s also already soared past his career-high in innings pitched at 112 and counting.

5. Speaking of Jimenez, there was a bit of buzz on White Sox Twitter Sunday evening when he was scratched from the lineup in Charlotte right around the same time the White Sox announced that Leury Garcia left Sunday’s game with left hamstring soreness. It turned out to be a false alarm, as Jimenez was reportedly kept out because of flu-like symptoms. The hand-wringing continues.

Lead Photo Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

But since then, Abreu has struggled mightily. Over his last 36 games, Abreu is slashing just .183/.239/.317 with four home runs. Amid headlines of being the sole White Sox representative in Washington, Abreu had acknowledged his slump, and credit to him for that. But 95 games into the season, Abreu’s hitting just .253 with a .311 OBP and 13 home runs. I took a look into what has changed during Abreu’s slide.

It seems that over roughly the last month, Abreu is struggling with breaking pitches, and in particular, ones outside of the zone. And as a result, his performance in other offensive categories has waned.

As you can see, Abreu’s average has declined across most pitch types. But against sliders and curves, Abreu’s inability to produce has been significant. Many of these pitches have landed in the lower-outside surroundings of the strikezone. If you focus on the squares outside of the zone on the lower-right hand side of the graphs below, you’ll see that Abreu is taking a lot more hacks at low and away pitches than he did to start the season.

Often times, when players chase outside breaking balls, they swing and miss more often. So it’s interesting that Abreu’s whiff rate hasn’t changed much. In fact, it’s decreased a bit during his slump. In April, his whiff rate was 24.1 percent. It was 23 in May, 22.5 in June and 22.9 in July. So what’s he doing with those low and outside pitches?

Well, hitting a lot of groundballs.

This probably attributes to the biggest sign of Abreu’s slump: Weak contact. Turns out, when you’re hitting grounders on low and outside pitches away from the strike zone, you’re probably not going to hit them very hard! But like his batting average, Abreu’s hard contact numbers aren’t just limited to one pitch type or location.

It’s unknown whether the low and outside grounder was symptomatic for Abreu’s weak contact across the board, but it is known that Abreu’s hitting the ball softer than he ever has. In June, he averaged an exit velocity of 89.1 mph, his fifth-lowest monthly mark in his 22 months at the MLB level. In July, his average EV was just 84.1 mph, by far his worst of any month in the majors.

Overall, the biggest cause of Abreu’s slump is likely his weak contact. The harder you hit the ball, generally, the more success you’ll have. And what can turn this slump around? Abreu has attributed much of his recent decline to his focus on the strike zone, and he may be right. As highlighted above, his swings on low and outside pitches have helped generate ground balls, which aren’t the dingers and liners we’re used to seeing Abreu hit.

As soon as he starts hitting the ball harder, look for Abreu’s average and production numbers to rise. His batting average on balls in play is a very low .282 right now, especially when you consider his lowest BABIP in a season is .327. Yes, BABIP helps to measure a batter’s luck, but it also tends to decline with softer hit balls.

It looks as if Abreu’s simply slumping, rather than pitchers figuring out that he can’t hit a certain pitch or that they can beat his bat to a certain location on the plate. Maybe what he needs is an All-Star break? I guess we’ll have to see.

Lead Photo Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

1. Jose Abreu was voted as the starting first baseman for the AL All Star team, the first White Sox player voted to start the game since Frank Thomas in 1996. Ironically, it comes as he is having the worst year of his career, but given that there aren’t really any other standout years of consequence, it’s perfectly fair to give the nod to the steady and much-loved Abreu.

2. Dylan Cease and Luis Alexander Basabe were also selected for the Futures Game. Basabe has cooled off somewhat in the weeks before his promotion to Birmingham, and continued to scuffle in Double-A.  Still, he is an exciting athlete who got off to a good enough start, and one can easily imagine him putting together a highlight or two in the game itself.  As for Cease, five more innings and he will match his single-season career high in pro ball.  After being brought along very cautiously by the Cubs, Cease carved through his first look at High-A and has gotten off to a strong start in Double-A.  That Cease is putting himself in the picture for a big league arrival in 2019 is a pleasant surprise, particularly given how many other White Sox prospects have been derailed by injury.

3. Between James Shields always pitching at least six innings a game and the White Sox losing so much on the road, their bullpen is still only 17th in the majors in innings pitched. Still, as the season has gone on, Rick Renteria has leaned more and more heavily on Jace Fry and Xavier Cedeno.  They’ve acquitted themselves well, but Bruce Rondon, Chris Volstad, and Hector Santiago have struggled.  All of this brings me to Ian Hamilton, as the 2016 11th round pick continues his march to the majors.  After 25 dominant innings in Double-A, he has yet to allow a run in 6 2/3 Triple-A innings, boasting a K:BB ratio of 9.00. As much as I appreciate the White Sox giving run to a loyal organizational soldier like Volstad, Hamilton and others not far behind him may squeeze him out before we get to September.

4. After 2016, we thought we had a good idea of who Avisail Garcia was. Then in 2017 he went nuts and challenged for the batting title and seemed to cash in on his massive potential, although he did so in a different shape than we’d thought, as his raw power indicates a classic corner outfield masher rather than an off brand version of Tony Gwynn. So 2018 was a chance to get an answer to the question: Who is Avisail Garcia? We may still not know! He was horrible and then hurt … and then since he got back from the DL he just started hitting for all of that massive power we knew was in there but seemed inaccessible. Coming into Sunday’s game, Garcia had hit .333/.348/.803 with eight home runs in his 16 games post-hamstring strain. Sure. Why not?

5. Omar Narvaez has also thoroughly broken out, following a June where he hit .391/.440/.522 with a scorching start to July as well. Unfortunately, our framing metrics still have Narvaez as one of the worst in the majors, but this is the most power he has ever shown (a low bar, but still) and he’s coming up on 600 PAs as a .273/.360/.352 hitter. Neat trick for a catcher. Maybe he can pull a Welington Castillo and randomly fix his framing in his late 20s. Not the steroids thing.

Lead Photo Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

1. An uptick in velocity and command of his breaking pitches were the main fuel behind a month where Dylan Covey seemingly transformed from Rule 5 afterthought to a legitimate candidate for future rotation consideration. A Friday night in Texas where he struggled to command anything and left quite a few changeups high in the zone showed just how small his margin for error is, as Covey was tagged for eight earned runs in just 2 1/3 innings in a start that more resembled his forgettable 2017 than the pitcher we saw for the majority of June.

Covey didn’t show any ill effects of the groin injury that forced him out of his previous start early, but was routinely beat around during a second inning in which he allowed three of the four home runs the Rangers hit off him on the day. The fact that he walked three and struck out zero — he induced just four swinging strikes on the evening — only further illustrated how badly he was locating throughout his 74-pitch outing.

Covey showed enough during his hot stretch to earn more opportunities on a team going nowhere in 2018. But he’s now on a three-start stretch where he’s walked 12 against just three strikeouts, so while optimism regarding the 26-year-old is obviously higher than it was even just a month or so ago, it will be interesting to see how he adjusts and if he’s more like the pitcher we saw for the majority of June or not.

2. Carlos Rodon certainly has more margin for error than Covey in any given start, but the Rangers jumped all over his first sign of command issues and what started out as a dominant start ended earlier than expected. Rodon retired the first seven Rangers he faced, including three strikeouts, but hung a fastball to Joey Gallo in the third inning for a solo home run and lost control in the fourth when a single and a pair of walks came home on a Robinson Chirinos bases-loaded double.

It was the first truly bad start of Rodon’s five since returning from injury on June 9, but what’s prevented him from truly living up to his potential during his three-plus years in the majors has been an inability to consistently command from start to start or, like Saturday, inning to inning. The good news for Rodon is that he seems completely healthy after being plagued by injury for the better part of the last year and a half, but we’re still waiting for Rodon to put together a complete and consistent performance like we know he’s capable of.

3. The White Sox weekend woes were not limited to the poor starts by Covey and Rodon. The bullpen was overburdened and allowed eight earned runs in 8 1/3 innings between Friday and Saturday, although a large chunk of that can be attributed to Bruce Rondon, whose ERA has ballooned up to 8.31 after allowing five earned runs while retiring just one batter on Saturday. Similarly, the White Sox committed a pair of errors in each of their two losses and five for the entire weekend, which is only part of the story of a weekend where a team that already wasn’t exactly known for its smooth fundamentals appeared to lose control of it entirely

Things like this are going to happen when a team rosters a handful of borderline major leaguers or young players still getting their feet wet, but while we’ve somewhat gotten used to the White Sox losing more often than they win, one thing you’d prefer they shore up is on that side of the ball. It’s easy to excuse a rebuilding team playing, say, Adam Engel when his bat isn’t up to snuff,, but when players who are already limited extrapolate things by failing to communicate, missing the cutoff, or some other mental miscue, it becomes much more difficult to excuse. Those are aspects of the game within their control, and while mental errors costing the White Sox wins is hardly detrimental to the immediate future, it’d at the very least make watching the losing more aesthetically appealing, and one would hope they get under control if and when they have eyes on contention.

4. The White Sox did win a game this weekend, as Reynaldo Lopez threw 6 1/3 mostly successful innings in a 10-5 win on Sunday, allowing just two earned runs with three walks and six strikeouts. Most notable in the win, and over the weekend as a whole, was Jose Abreu busting out of his slump and Avisail Garcia putting together a nice post-injury streak. Abreu, who hit was in the midst of a .188/.233/.325 slump from June 5 through 26, is 6-for-20 with a home run, a triple, and three walks since Wednesday, hardly world-mashing numbers, but a vast improvement coming out of one of the worst slumps of his career. Garcia went 4-for-5 on Sunday and is hitting .333 with six extra-base hits in 42 plate appearances since returning from the disabled list on June 22. He’s still hacking away at an absurd rate — zero walks in 118 plate appearances overall this season — but if he can start making solid contact again like he did in 2017, it would be a great sign.

5. A mostly unsuccessful weekend was also felt at the minor league level, where Luis Robert was placed on the seven-day disabled list and Eloy Jimenez left Sunday’s game with an apparent leg injury (the severity is not yet known). The arms fared better, as Michael Kopech tossed six innings on Saturday, giving up just three hits and striking out eight, although he also walked four. Dylan Cease continues to be the biggest bright spot in their stable of prospect arms, rebounding from a rocky debut at Double-A to toss seven innings on Sunday, allowing just one earned run with seven strikeouts and two walks. Alec Hansen has yet to get completely acclimated to the same level since returning from injury, however, as he turned in his third straight rough start on Thursday, giving up three earned runs with five walks and four strikeouts in just 3 2/3 innings.

Lead Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Trade them if you can

Joakim Soria has been more or less exactly the pitcher he’s been throughout his career, which is to say he’s been very good. The 34-year-old’s strikeout rate is identical to what it was a year ago, and actually walking his fewest batters per nine since 2014. He’s also allowed just two home runs in his 28 innings of work. Soria has a $10 million team option for next season or a $1 million buyout, and given the seemingly never-ending bullpen help needed by contenders, one would expect the White Sox to fetch something for Soria’s services. Off the top of my head, you could see the Indians, Cubs, Angels, Phillies, Braves, and Cardinals among the teams that could use Soria. Given the fact that a better and younger reliever — Kelvin Herrera — fetched a trio of mid-level prospects, you’d have to imagine the White Sox would get something less than that in return. Still, Soria’s future is not in Chicago, so the best offer Hahn gets between now and July 31 should be fine.

Similarly to Soria, Luis Avilan is a veteran reliever who could add necessary bullpen depth to a contender down the stretch. Of course, Avilan is significantly less valuable given the fact that he’s .. well, not as good of a pitcher. As I mentioned, teams always seem to need bullpen help and they particularly always seem to be in the market for left-handed bullpen help. The White Sox got Casey Gillaspie for Dan Jennings a year ago. That’s nothing special, but if the White Sox get something similar in return for Avilan it wouldn’t be shocking.

Hector Santiago and Xavier Cedeno are two other veterans in the bullpen. I don’t know if we’re going to have another “Every Arm Must Go” bullpen sale again this year, but if there’s a deal to be had for either, I’d expect Hahn to take it. Nate Jones remains a viable option, too, but would need to prove he’s healthy within the next month before that can happen.

Maybe … probably … yes, do it

James Shields hasn’t been the outright albatross this year that he was the last two seasons, but he’s still a below-average starting pitcher, with peripherals that match up fairly well with his 4.59 ERA. Still, the fact that there’s any semblance of a market for the White Sox to trade him is something that would’ve been unheard of at the start of the season. But should they? Yes … probably. Re-litigating the White Sox disastrous acquisition of Shields is neither here nor there, but at this point there’s something to be said for what he’s provided the White Sox both in terms of his un-quantifiable veteran presence and his simple ability to eat innings. Yes, the White Sox have a lot of young pitchers both at the major league level or who will be here fairly soon, but even if you envision a second half rotation that includes Carlos Rodon, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Michael Kopech, and Dylan Covey (yes, really), and even if all of them are performing well, depth is still necessary. Even if it’s just a matter of limiting some of their innings down the stretch, Shields provides value.

All that said, you still trade him. Even if all of that is true, any kind of value you can extract out of Shields in terms of a lottery ticket prospect or something of that sort is probably worth cashing in on over 2-2 1/2 months of his veteran leadership and inning eating. Besides, as far as the latter is concerned you also have Santiago and Chris Volstad around.

YOU WILL PRY HIM FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS

The most obvious asset I’ve yet to mention, of course, is Jose Abreu, who despite a recent slump is still putting together his fifth consecutive stellar season and will undoubtedly be the only White Sox representative at the All-Star Game.

We’ve discussed both the quantifiable and un-quantifiable of Abreu’s presence on the White Sox. From his middle-of-the-order production to his mentorship to some of the young White Sox hitters, Abreu has meant and continues to mean a lot to the team. Yes, he’s 31 and unlikely to remain productive for too much longer, but whose to say he can’t for another 3-4 years? IF (it’s a big if) the White Sox window for contention truly begins opening in 2019, the odds of Abreu still being one of the premiere first basemen in the game remains strong. Ditto 2020. You can project all you want what the White Sox lineup is going to look like once their plethora of prospects start graduating, but there’s no reason Abreu can’t be part of it throughout whatever growing pains those players go through.

Sure, if Hahn were blown away by some impossible to refuse offer from, say, the Colorado Rockies, I would understand his inability to say no. But I think his value both to the present and future of the White Sox is high enough that unless something like that happens, it’s not something they should pursue.

Lead Photo Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The White Sox banged out seven straight hits to start the game against Seattle’s Mike Leake, with the only out recorded during that time coming when Avisail Garcia was picked off. They led 7-0 after two innings and never looked back, as all 10 players to appear registered at least one hit.

1. I wrote Monday about how the White Sox being bad is a lot more tolerable if the young players we hope are going to be part of the next contender show progress. Monday’s win saw a lot of that, most specifically from Yoan Moncada. We’re still early enough in the season that one big game can do a lot for one’s batting line, and Moncada’s 3-for-5 evening brought his OPS from .729 all the way up to .838. A triple, double, and home run all before the end of the fourth inning will do that for you.

One of the strangest complaints we’ve had about Moncada’s tenure with the White Sox to date is that he seemed, at times, almost too passive at the plate. In the first, he laced a 1-0 sinker into the gap (it would’ve been a double if not for a misplay by Dee Gordon, but I digress), in the second he crushed the first pitch, a hanging knuckle-curve, over the head of Mitch Haniger for a double off the wall, and in the fourth … well, he took a couple of called strikes before ending Leake’s night with his fourth home run of the season.

2. Carson Fulmer took a small step toward giving the White Sox rotation more strikeouts than walks on the season, and an even bigger step in helping reestablish confidence he can succeed long-term as a starter.

Fulmer struck out three and walked just one in six innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Strangely enough, all three of the hits he allowed went for extra bases, including his only mistake, a 1-1 fastball to Mike Zunino that the catcher took out for a two-run homer.

It was an efficient outing if not overly impressive. Fulmer was able to induce contact using primarily his fastball, which he threw 67 times out of his 97 pitches. He only induced three swings and misses, but routinely hit the mark, succeeding in A) not falling behind, and B) not giving Seattle hitters anything to drive.

3. As strange as it may be, I often think about — particularly in seasons where the White Sox are as bad as they are currently — who the team’s All-Star representative is going to be. Right now, the answer is pretty definitively Jose Abreu, who is up to six home runs and a .949 OPS after Monday’s 4-for-5 performance.

Amid all of the focus on the White Sox young players and what they are or aren’t doing, it’s easy to overlook the continued brilliance of the 31-year-old first baseman. Plenty has been said about his mentorship to Moncada and the plethora of youngsters in the clubhouse, but he’s off to the best start since his rookie season and he’s performing on a level among the top first basemen in the game.

4. Chris Beck is back. The White Sox added him to both the 40- and 25-man rosters on Monday after the team placed Miguel Gonzalez on the 10-day disabled list with right rotator cuff inflammation and transferred Danny Farquhar to the 60-day DL.

Beck was the White Sox innings pitched leader among the relievers in 2017 kind of by default as he stuck around through the trades of every reliever with any semblance of value. And in those 64 2/3 innings of work he was … terrible, walking 34 against 42 strikeouts with a 6.40 ERA.

He’s back, though! And picked up his first career save by virtue of tossing the last three innings of Monday’s win. Saves are dumb, man. He throws hard, though, which has a lot (or all) to do with his continued opportunities, and gave up a lot of hard contact — and two runs — in his three innings of work. He also was the benefactor of one of the weirdest double plays I’ve seen in a while.

5. With Beck, who was starting in Triple-A before his promotion, tossing three innings on Monday and Gonzalez disabled, the White Sox rotation is up in the air, as  Chris Volstad, who last pitched Saturday when he tossed three innings, will take a turn on Tuesday as Hector Santiago was used Sunday.

Beyond Tuesday, things are more unclear with a taxed bullpen and doubleheader against the Royals on the horizon. There’s no indication they’re ready to give Michael Kopech his highly-anticipated debut, but given the state of the rotation, clamoring for exactly that will only grow.

Bonus Morning 6: While Monday’s win had plenty of positives, Avisail Garcia left with a right hamstring strain after coming up lame on a groundout in the third inning. It’s unknown at this point whether the injury will require a DL stint, but if it comes to that it will likely mean a healthy dose of Trayce Thompson in right field. Daniel Palka would be a logical replacement in the interim, as it’s hard to imagine Eloy Jimenez — who hit two home runs for Double-A Birmingham on Monday — would be the choice at this point.

Lead Photo Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

1. Fulmer was about as effective as hoped following a precarious spring. He sat 94 with his fastball and consistently threw both his changeup and cutter for strikes. The cutter, in particular, was working from the start. In the first inning, he struck out Justin Smoak on three pitches following his only walk of the game, and ended a first-and-third threat by getting Randall Grichuk chasing on a 2-2 cutter.

In all, he threw 48 of his 73 pitches for strikes, including 12 of 14 changeups and 14 of 16 cutters. Nine of those 26 strikes were of the swinging variety, according to Brooks Baseball, and three of his five strikeouts came swinging.

There was a reason Fulmer only threw 73 pitches, of course, as Rick Renteria had a quick hook following back-to-back hits — a Josh Donaldson single and Smoak double — to lead off the sixth. But, in general, the start was exactly what we saw out of Fulmer at the end of last season, only against real professional hitters instead of the Quad-A rosters of teams 30 games below .500. The stuff has always been there for Fulmer, but his ability to maintain his mechanics and consistently throw strikes both with his fastball and secondary stuff are going to dictate whether or not he’s a starter long-term. It’s one start, but so far, so good.

2. After the Opening Day dinger-fest, I wrote that the White Sox probably aren’t going to lead the majors in home runs. Well … five games in, the White Sox lead the majors with 14 home runs, including Wednesday’s solo shots by Matt Davidson and Jose Abreu, the latter of which proved to be the game winner.

Of course, the aforementioned statement is still true, but there’s no denying the White Sox have been more powerful than one could possible imagine thus far. And it’s not just that the balls are leaving the yard, it’s how they’re leaving. Avisail Garcia’s 481-foot homer Tuesday was the longest by a White Sox hitter in the Statcast era. Yolmer Sanchez — YOLMER SANCHEZ — hit one 442 feet!

Abreu’s power is never going to be a surprise, and when Davidson makes contact and it doesn’t leave the yard, that’s surprising, but even in the current run-scoring environment, the White Sox weren’t particularly dinger-heavy a year ago. The likes of Anderson, Sanchez, and Welington Castillo getting into the act is a welcome sight, for however long it continues.

3. The White Sox bullpen got beat around in Tuesday’s 14-5 loss, but bounced back for four scoreless innings in Wednesday’s win. Sure, Aaron Bummer allowed two inherited runners charged to Fulmer to score, but after he got two outs, the game ended with 3 1/3 hitless frames by Danny Farquhar, Nate Jones, and Joakim Soria.

There’s a lot of volatility in the White Sox bullpen. Bummer and Greg Infante are erratic, and the likes of Farquhar, Soria, and Luis Avilan .. well, there’s a reason the veteran arms were available for very little. Still, after last year’s reliever clearing sale, the fact that the White Sox have any semblance of competence in the middle innings without breaking the bank is pretty impressive.

A team, whether it’s rebuilding or not, could do a lot worse than the Jones-Soria duo in the eighth and ninth innings, and while it’s yet to be determined how the rest will shake out, there’s a lot of upside in the eclectic mix of veterans and guys trying to prove themselves as major league relievers.

4. Oh yeah, back to the play. While it was refreshing to see replay work in what appeared to be correct fashion, and it obviously played out in the White Sox factor, the overturn also overshadowed what was a horrendous play on the basepaths by Castillo. With the bases loaded and one out, the leaping, falling-to-the-ground, initially-called-a catch by Curtis Granderson somehow didn’t turn into a run at first as Castillo didn’t tag up and attempt to score.

It was what amounted to a brain fart that didn’t have an affect on the game’s outcome, but baserunning woes have plagued the White Sox for some time now. Last year, they made 58 outs on the basepaths (doesn’t include pickoffs or caught stealing), which, while not among the worst in the league, was still worse than league average. This year that number is already at four through five games, and doesn’t include blips like Castillo’s.

The flip side of this, of course, is that aggressiveness can beget more runs if executed wisely. Last year, the White Sox were almost exactly average according to BP’s baserunning runs stat, ranking 14th in baseball at -0.1. Stats this year are, of course, far from stabilizing, but it’s maybe worth noting that they’ve taken the extra base on a league-high 67 percent of opportunities through this minuscule sample size after ranking slightly below average in the category a year ago.

There are a lot of noise in these stats, so take them with a grain of salt, but seeing how the White Sox balance aggressiveness with smart baserunning will be something worth watching throughout the season.

5. The White Sox home opener is today, weather pending, with James Shields making his second start of the season against Detroit and Jordan Zimmermann. There will be festivities — including A.J. Pierzynski throwing out the ceremonial first pitch — weather pending.

The Tigers have looked as bad as every expected them to be through five games, going 1-4 against the Pirates and Royals. The White Sox get to play them 19 times this season, so if they have any interest in staying competitive later into the season than anticipated, beating up on this team would be a good way to do so.

Lead Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports