The White Sox have struggled since I began writing about them in 2010, and look to have a grueling road ahead, even if it provides reward in the end. Most would say that this is a lousy beat, filled with drudgery and repetition. This conclusion is not based on nothing.

But I am thankful for the moments that peaked above the top of this cage, that lifted us to somewhere else, and the worse things get, the more I try to remember.

From the small collection of games I was fortunate enough to cover from the press box this year, I will remember the robust roar a two-thirds full U.S. Cellular Field released, diffusing a great weight when a decisive Avisail Garcia three-run home cleared the wall off future World Series losing pitcher Bryan Shaw, in the second home game of the year. It wound up being the rising action to an early crescendo

Still, I am thankful for the moment I was walking with Scott Merkin, 110 percent as kind of a man as he is rumored to be, after the Sox wrapped up their April sweep of Texas, and Scott and I pondered if this was the best Sox team we had seen in the decade since the World Series winner. It wasn’t out of fandom, but appreciation that we could be seeing something special, and being thankful for being able to see it happen in this place, in this city.

I am thankful for Chris Sale‘s April 15 start in Tampa and his May 13 in New York, and how simple he made the game look, and the feeling it gave me, as if I could just rewatch it and understand everything. I thought if I saw all his machinations and wrote down all the ways he toyed with his competition, I would see how pitching worked and how all major league hitters can be rendered into loyal subjects. For a day or two after, I thought he had truly solved the great riddle once and for all, but then the game had more to teach the both of us, and I am thankful for that too.

I am thankful every time I watch Jose Quintana. When I watch him I often feel like I am alone, observing a painting in a private study which only I know exists. The hilariously frustrated Josh Donaldson quote about him only throwing fastballs from earlier this past season showed that his effectiveness continues to be this little secret we all get to be in on. Donaldson destroyed Quintana while the rest of his teammaters were baffled. He could see him better than anyone, staring at his work from the best possible viewpoint, and yet couldn’t see what actually made him special at all, but we can. It’s nice to feel special about some things.

It’s been an amazing five years for Quintana, more than anything we could have dreamed for him and likely a longer and more dominant run than he could have seen for himself. Baseball’s brutality creeps in quickly, and the span of time of which the world belongs to certain men can be as short as a day, or even an inning, and the ratio of moments we take to breathe that time in to hours we spend mourning its leaving is impossibly small.

I watched Mat Latos win his fourth game of the year in April. With his ERA still at a microscopic 0.74 and the whole room too drunk on his success to squint and see the rotting framework behind it, a reporter read his incredible stat line aloud to Latos just to see if he had a word, or a thought about his incredible success. Instead, Latos bowed his head, closed his eyes and breathed deeply enough for the to be caught on our recorders, before ending the moment and breaking the tension with a well-timed rapping of his knuckles on the wooden side of his locker. And now, months later, I felt that he knew, and was still thankful.

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

Of course, the entire idea of needing to rejoice because this season is “finally over” brings us back to the initial issue with the season itself — 2016 was a massive disaster that no one saw coming.

From Adam LaRoche grabbing national media headlines in March, to waving the white flag at the end of July, bright and quirky moments such as the Matt Albers Game, to the addition of Tim Anderson to the major league roster, 2016 was spanned the range of emotions for White Sox fans.

But there were just too many telltale and strange occurrences throughout the season, more than I’ve ever seen squeezed into a single year, as a White Sox fan. So in case some of you have forgotten just how strange this season was at 35th and Shields, let’s take a look back on my top seven oddest moments.

L’Affaire LaRoche

Fans should have sensed right away that things were going to get a little weird this season when the White Sox were grabbing national headlines and exploding the Twitterverse before Opening Day. Adam LaRoche’s abrupt decision to retire came as a shock to baseball, but what came as even more of a shock was the reason behind his retirement. After being told he was no longer allowed to bring his son, Drake, to the clubhouse, LaRoche decided to call it quits on March 16th. After Adam Eaton‘s comments that the White Sox lost a “leader” in Drake and Chris Sale‘s claim that the team was “bold-faced lied to by someone we were suppose to trust”, fears emerged of not only a division in the clubhouse, but also that a front office vs. players war was about to ensue before a pitch had even been thrown in 2016.

White Sox acquire James Shields, DFA Mat Latos

I think we can all agree that Mat Latos was simply terrible. Just like the rest of the South side crew, he started off hot, giving the White Sox hope that Don Cooper’s pitching magic was able to salvage a player many felt was dead on arrival. But as the calendar changed from April to May, things went south for Latos, who started six more games in a pinstripe uniform to the tune of a 7.62 ERA in 31 innings pitched. This problem needed to be solved.

Alas! James Shields, aka “Big Game James!” failed to provide a respite after coming over in a major trade. Shields had struggled a bit after hitting a sudden rough patch in San Diego, and the White Sox front office thought they could possibly capitalize on this tiny blip on Shields’ radar to get a discount and have Cooper do the rest. If this was 2009, perhaps that logic would have held up. As it was, and the White Sox sent failed starter Erik Johnson (who recently underwent Tommy John surgery) and infielder Fernando Tatis Jr. to San Diego for Shields. The Padres even threw in $22 million of Shields salary, what a bargain!

Wrong. The struggles Shields endured during his final days in San Diego were more foreshadowing than blips on the radar, and his struggles became even worse as the dingers sailed farther in a smaller ballpark (31 in 114.1 innings). Somehow, Mat Latos and his 4.62 ERA on the season seemed like that one person whose phone number you wish you hadn’t thrown away…

Jimmy Rollins…

Veteran leadership was the guise under which the acquisition of 37-year-old shortstop Jimmy Rollins was sold to the White Sox fan base. It took the famed shortstop of yesteryear 41 games before the Sox brass realized that his .221/.295/.329 slash line were not sufficient among a lineup that also included names such as Dioner Navarro and Avisail Garcia and their less than stellar offensive marks. Rollins may certainly have brought veteran leadership, wisdom, and experience to the clubhouse, but batting him–often at the top of the order–in more than a handful of games for the first two months of the season didn’t slow the Sox slide down from their hot start. Hey, at least we can all go get Jimmy Rollins Sox shirseys on the clearance rack though, right?

The Justin Morneau Thing

Yes, it’s a thing because on June 9th, when the White Sox began to realize that they were at the crossroads of “We Can Get Out of This Slump Avenue” and “This Season Is Over If We Don’t Move Quickly Lane”, they decided to sign a 35-year old, banged-up first baseman in Justin Morneau. Sounds bad already, but there was more! He wouldn’t even be able to join the team after rehabbing from an injury (Sounding even better!) until after the All-Star Break.

Morneau was the red flag that was waved before the white one was later unfurled. He was everything the White Sox aim for, and a symbol of everything wrong with this team’s idea of fixing a poor situation. Some felt a twinge of hope that perhaps by some unbounded miracle Morneau would play the way he did when he was 25 because baseball can be magical sometimes, but others saw the White Sox take the wrong turn at the crossroads.

Matt Davidson, Charlie Tilson, and the barrage of ruined major league debuts

The White Sox were already having a weird season injury-wise, after Jason Coats‘ bloody outfield collision during his debut, and catcher Kevan Smith being placed on the disabled before even officially appearing in a single game, but the worst two of all certainly had to be Charlie Tilson and Matt Davidson‘s debuts.

Davidson has been in the White Sox system for a very long time. After posting strong power numbers and lackluster performances in all other aspects of the game for parts of three seasons, his status as future star third basemen fizzled, and has remained dormant for quite some time. Davidson finally made his debut with the White Sox on June 30th, and while running the bases in his first major league game, he fractured his foot. Goodbye season, goodbye Matt Davidson.

Tilson, who was originally drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, was traded to the White Sox for reliever Zach Duke at the 2016 trade deadline. Tilson made his major league debut with the White Sox on Aug. 2, and right after collecting his first major league hit in the third inning, two innings later he curiously fell over while chasing a liner to the gap. The effort had torn his left hamstring, requiring season-ending surgery. 

“I can’t even imagine,” Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “This is a dream. He gets called up, gets a hit in his first at-bat and after that it all gets taken away from you for a while. It’s tough. All the guys on the team, as much as you want to put it out of your mind, you feel for the kid.” 

One can only find so many ways to say “bizarre,” and this season exhausted them all.

“We’re mired in mediocrity”

Unforgettable is probably the word I would use to describe how I felt the moment I read this quote from the only person in which I still had unwavering faith in the White Sox organization, general manager Rick Hahn. It was just before the trade deadline, and the White Sox still had over two months of a season of baseball left to play, yet the only person for which myself and many others looked to for direction through the murkiness of 2016 had found a way to eloquently dress up the phrase “It’s over.” I’d known for a while, much like many Sox fans, that the season was nearly over. The hope still hung by a thread though. But Hahn’s words on that afternoon cut that frayed little thread for me — with half of a season of baseball left to play. White Sox fans didn’t know how or what to feel, and despondency quickly took the place of hope on the South side.

Chris Sale cuts up an entire team’s jerseys a few hours before first pitch

After a week that felt as though it had lasted a decade in the lives of White Sox fans, another bizarre moment occurred. ESPN updates lit up phone screens across the city as Chris Sale abruptly left the White Sox clubhouse an hour before his scheduled start. Coming less than one week after Hahn’s white flag waving comments sparked conversations on whether Sale would be moved at the deadline or not, and days before the deadline, this moment felt as though the thin walls of sanity still propped up at 35th & Shields and around Sox fandom during these perilous times were crumbling down.

For a time during his inexplicable absence from the clubhouse, it seemed he must have been traded, confirming the dire situation long feared: that the organization really had to trade their franchise player. But, as it turned out, Sale simply had a meltdown, and destroyed the entire team’s uniforms just before the start of the game because they were “uncomfortable”. Just when folks thought things couldn’t get any weirder for the White Sox, they did.

White Sox fans have suffered their share of heartbreak over the last decade, but it’s safe to say that 2016 has provided them with a vast array of reasons to feel like this year was unique. From a 23-10 start to Guaranteed Rate Field… 2016 saw everything. Bring it on, 2017! It can’t get much weirder than this (But it still can).

Danks’ story is a sad one. He had a great frame, simple mechanics, a solid fastball, and a plus cutter. Throw all of it together and you had the makings of a high-end No. 3 or a low-end No. 2 starter depending on some variation. Then, after a contract extension, his shoulder went pop and his fastball became pretty bad, his cutter lost all life, and he attempted to forge onward armed purely with guile and a changeup. The fact that he managed about 500 innings of replacement-level pitching was a testament to his work ethic and savvy, but by 2016 it became clear that was no longer enough.

After he was released, Danks wasn’t picked up by anyone, and unless he comes back with a knuckleball or something his career is almost certainly over before his 32nd birthday. At the very least, he has a singular triumph to remember forever, which was his dominant outing in Game 163 in 2008; arguably the most important non-2005 game for the organization in…well, decades.

Latos was arguably a success, especially when you take expectations into account. Like Danks, he once had the look of a mid-to-frontline starter and then had his career derailed by injuries. Unlike Danks, Latos bounced around the majors and there were always rumblings that he was a handful in the clubhouse. He was a long shot to succeed, and his cheap contract was a reflection of that.

Still, even if it was smoke and mirrors, for a while he did succeed. And while peripherals give you an idea of how someone is going to do moving forward, through March and April, Latos had an ERA of 1.84, which is pretty much a 90th percentile result for a temporary scrapheap stopgap. Having Cy Young caliber run prevention–flukey or not–for a month helped the White Sox get out to a 23-10 start. He imploded pretty quickly afterward, and he latched on with the Nationals on a minor league deal.

Jacob Turner’s acquisition was really, really weird.  Even at the beginning. In a vacuum, adding a down-on-his-luck former top prospect isn’t weird, but adding one who looked so done on a guaranteed major league deal is weird. Especially for an organization that acts like $1.5 million might make a difference in making some other necessary acquisition or not.

Turner pitched so badly that the White Sox turned to him when all else had failed and only let him make two starts before permanently banishing him to the bullpen. Evidently he showed so little that when Anthony Ranaudo got pummeled repeatedly to the point where there were legitimate questions as to whether he could keep his ERA under 10.00, he was still deemed to be a more attractive option than Turner. On Wednesday, the White Sox outrighted Turner to AAA, removing him from the 40-man roster. Whatever they saw must have vanished quickly, and to date, their fear that if they didn’t give him a major league deal he would be scooped up by some other team remains without evidence.

Speaking of Ranaudo, he was acquired in the same way as Hector Noesi and it worked out just about as well as that acquisition did too. You know, the “wow, he looked great while the White Sox’ miserable offense annihilated him for another team” scouting method.

I am not discussing the biggest success and biggest failure from this area of the roster, as those each deserve their own article. But Ranaudo and Turner represent two more evaluation failures to be left at the feet of the front office.

Lead Image Credit: Kim Klement // USA Today Sports Images

In the last week:

—Mat Latos was designated for assignment, and James Shields made his debut, which was worse than anything Latos had managed all season.

—Jimmy Rollins was designated for assignment, Tyler Saladino was effectively returned to a utility role, and top prospect Tim Anderson was promoted and installed as the starting shortstop.

—Justin Morneau was signed. His injury history makes him best utilized as a designated hitter, occasional first baseman, where he figures to be a left-handed salve to a DH situation overly reliant on Avisail Garcia. He was immediately added to the disabled list, where he is expected to remain for another month.

—Austin Jackson was placed on the disabled list with a medial meniscus tear in his left knee that is expected to keep him out of action for six weeks.

That last item does not really belong in the same category, as it is not so much a move as something that happened to the White Sox against their will, but in the immediate, it has the same impact of the first three items combined, if not more.

Jackson was hitting .282/.356/.369 from May 1 on (check the current OBPs across the roster if that clip sounds worthless), but his absence has more of a cascading effect that the simple loss of his individual production. He was the one solid defender at a premium position who decreased everyone else’s responsibility. Adam Eaton was allowed to become a superb right fielder, Garcia was spared the indignity of playing defense at all, and J.B. Shuck was able to remain a slap-hitting pinch-hitter/defensive replacement/pinch-runner that could avoid the scrutiny that regular playing time — and hitting fifth — brings.

Jackson’s absence necessitates a move, ideally not a duplicative addition of another light-hitting defensive center fielder who will lack a purpose in six weeks, but Jay Bruce, Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Braun; the more improbably aggressive, the better. They need the impact bat that they will still lack for another month even in the best-case scenario for Morneau; another veteran with whom the Sox are hoping to stumble on a late-career burst of production.

At 31-32, the Sox are tied with the Yankees — who mostly made Chicago news this weekend for the possibility that they could sell off — for the ninth-best record in the American League. Never at any point projected to be world beaters coming into this season, with PECOTA only tracking them for barely over .500 for the rest of the year, the Sox are at the point where they could dig a hole they will be unable to fill in.

Anderson is less an upgrade than an acknowledgement that Saladino and Rollins offered no certainty to be immediately better, and they might as well start the youngster’s grueling adjustment to the majors now and hasten the arrival of his peak. Shields is the most fitting acknowledgment of the urgency of the situation, and allowed the Sox to avoid the brunt of the impending disaster of Latos’ diminished abilities that had really only started to arrive. But his debut certainly provided no immediate relief, and his mundane assignment to be a No. 4 starter looks to be more appropriate than hoped.

Both Shields and Morneau stand to be a referendum on the Sox ability to scout and identify which veterans have something left in the tank and which are toast, an area in which they have not covered themselves in glory of recent. But can either raise the Sox to a new tier of talent level? Above the Indians, who were projected to be significantly superior and now have a 4.5 game lead? Or above the glut of Wild Card contenders?

A fully operational Jose Abreu might be able to do that. A version of Adam Eaton unlike the one that has a sub-.300 OBP over the last month might do that. But if the Sox leave it at that, they will remain in this middle space where it is impossible to tell how dedicated to winning in 2016 they really are. They have a mostly short-term roster, they have been extraordinarily active, and of recent, almost ruthless with their willingness to cut bait on marginal contributors who are not producing, but the major addition, and the major investment, that puts them undisputably in line with the AL contenders remains missing.

Lead Image Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski // USA Today Sports Images

I. Mat Latos — DFA’d — Despite his fluky April, Latos crashed back down to Earth with a horrifying splat.  It turns out that when you give up more home runs and walks than you strike batters out, you’re going to have a hard time.  Latos’ stuff is already bad, so the fact that he couldn’t locate it at all made him expendable.  Throw in the persistent rumblings about Latos being detrimental to the clubhouse, which have followed him throughout his career, and it’s no surprise he was let go.

II. Tyler Danish — contract purchased from Double-A Birmingham — This move is almost certainly to make sure J.B. Shuck doesn’t have to pitch on back-to-back nights.  Although Scott Carroll and Jacob Turner are in Triple-A Charlotte (and almost certainly better qualified for the majors at the moment), it is likely that this simply syncs up with Danish’s throw day so he’s ready to go.  By all accounts, Danish has a phenomenal makeup and he’s easy to root for, but his profile is not encouraging.  While it’s true that his recipe for getting hitters out has always been dependent on getting lots of grounders, I am skeptical that any pitcher can get enough grounders to make up for striking out fewer than six batters per nine innings.  And presumably he’s not going to strike out more major league hitters than he does Southern League hitters.

III. Justin Morneau — signed to a 1-year, $1 million deal — Morneau was a decent hitter as recently as last year.  Unfortunately, he is still recovering from surgery on his left elbow and he was immediately placed on the 15-day DL after signing with the White Sox, with Rick Hahn saying he will likely be ready to join the White Sox in mid- to late-July.  Morneau is injury prone and solidly past his prime, but since the White Sox have turned to DHing the likes of Jimmy Rollins of late, there’s no way this is a bad idea.  So while this reeks of “Too Little, Too Late,” at least they’re doing something, and even the ghost of Morneau is a decent bet to outhit the likes of Avisail Garcia.

And if he’s done, well, you can always DFA him just like you did Latos, because…well, look at that contract.

But Rodon’s rage is what sells it as an act of extreme, almost disruptive caution to a young pitcher who who believes himself sore, rather than injured, and the White Sox’ cautious handling of Chris Sale and their prized arms give them the benefit of the doubt on this single issue.

2. So Rodon might be just fine, but now, even though James Shields‘ arrival was meant to reinforce the starting depth and kick one of the White Sox’ unqualified rotation members to the curb, that result won’t yet be achieved. Instead, Rodon, who has the peripherals to suggest he can take a step forward if he just keeps the ball in the yard, is being replaced by Miguel Gonzalez, which at least might give the Sox an opportunity to boot the right guy out of the starting five this time.

Mat Latos may not seem like he would make much of a reliever, and he probably wouldn’t be, but he has now delivered one quality start in his last seven outings (a six-inning, three-run outing against the Indians where he blew a lead is the exception). He has 32 strikeouts to 25 walks in 60.1 innings, and between not missing bats, not throwing strikes, not getting grounders nor soaking up innings, there is nothing he is doing well.

It’s only a low-risk flier contract if the organization can cut bait when it’s a disaster.

3. Shields is finally here, but is he too late? The White Sox have not merely ceded their early-season gains, but by posting a .240 winning percentage over a 25-game stretch, they have dug their own hole to a .500 record and fourth place in a division with no juggernaut. The standard has switched from their needing to keep pace with their opposition, to needing to overtake them, with a club that was never projected as much better than an 85-win team to begin with, and with even more teams between them and the second Wild Card than the division title.

To do that, this team needs offense, preferably left-handed offense but they have been using J.B. Shuck and Jimmy Rollins as designated hitters, so really any kind would do, and they probably need another high-level reliever so they can stop trotting out Matt Albers in high-leverage situations (he leads the club in innings and appearances and has a 112 cFIP).

How soon can that happen? How deep does the hole get before all the tweaks and financial commitments–some of which clearly could have been seen as needs preseason–are made and in place? The White Sox opened the year with a flawed team, and even a hellacious start and the impetus to improve it brought didn’t create a tight enough timeline to avoid a collapse. Which is astounding, really.

4. Speaking of too late, Jerry Sands was designated for assignment, sticking on for over two months despite the only defensive value added coming from backing up Jose Abreu at first base, and hitting .236/.276/.291 in 58 plate appearances with no discernible impact against lefties. If that sounds like a small sample size, that’s partially because of the hesitance Ventura showed in using him at all, and also the nature of being a Quad-A guy without a track record of major league success.

Whereas someone like Abreu, who has absolutely dominated in the past, can get multiple seasons to get back into his groove before the Sox have to give up on him, Sands is not worth sticking with if he can’t immediately provide a hot streak of crushing lefties. It may not seem like the fairest measure of his talent, but beware of Quad-A guys with large splits collected in tiny bits over several years holding up in larger roles. The Sox never got that, and yet stuck with taking a bath on this roster slot, and lacking any complement to Avisail Garcia‘s predictable struggles, for a third of the season. Bruce Levine has a column Wednesday identifying the red-hot Jay Bruce on the truly miserable Reds as a logical trade target, which would be nice, but I would refer to Point No. 3 again.

5. The Sox have been back-and-forth with their strange desire to carry a eight-man bullpen for the last couple of weeks, and have been sending out flotsam instead of Zach Putnam in medium-leverage situations for a few days, and now there is an explanation: he’s been unavailable due to elbow soreness that hasn’t been to the level of putting him on the disabled list.

Leverage matters in relief, and while his innings total wouldn’t suggest it, Putnam has been mostly hidden from the most intense work. But he still has the second-lowest ERA of the regular relief staff at 2.28 (behind Dan Jennings somehow) and his 84 cFIP would suggest he could be primed to have the best year of his career if he stay healthy. He should be the No. 3 guy in the bullpen hierarchy.

Lead Image Credit: Caylor Arnold // 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

Well, six weeks later and the question I asked has most likely settled into its inevitable answer: Though the success Latos was displaying lasted until his start in Texas (subsequently, also when everything else began to unravel for the South siders), it appears that now we have seen more bad starts than good, that the real Mat Latos has arrived and might be here to stay.

In the month of April, Latos had a shining ERA of 2.18, struck out sixteen batters, and allowed just six earned runs the entire month. Sure, among those runs were three home runs, but heavier home run totals were something that was anticipated due to Latos’ poor fastball command — something the White Sox were aware of going in.

In May, the major differences in Latos’ performance was abrupt. Latos didn’t see a drop in strikeout rate, as his strikeout rate stayed nearly identical from month to month. It’s common knowledge that these days, Latos is not the type of starter who stacks up the Ks every night. The major difference in May was that Latos saw a drastic rise in his walk rate, coupled with a large decrease in his strand rate — a combination that can never lead to any good. Take a look.

Some of the numbers Latos posted in April such as his strand rate and ERA were obviously not sustainable for extended periods of time unless he suddenly morphed into Chris Sale overnight, but that being said, I’m not sure anyone expected to see this large of a disparity in his performance from one month to the next.

Command has been a growing concern for those interested in Latos since he injured his knee, which mostly thought to be the origin of his poor mechanics. The problem with the White Sox taking on a pitcher such as Latos, whose main issue is mechanical, is that we can’t be quite sure that the old school, pitching-from-feel master Don Cooper is the man to make the significant changes that Latos needs to succeed in his current form. Latos has it in him, he’s demonstrated that in the past over the course of his seven-year career, and though he’s endured a major knee injury, it’s possible to reinvent yourself on the mound with the proper repertoire and guidance. Latos just has not been able to do that, and his command has suffered for it, something that his new low velocity style of pitching is not equipped to compensate for.

Latos mainly relies on four pitches: his fastball, sinker, slider, and splitter. All of these pitches have flaws that are visible to the naked eye, and could some tweaking to lead to better results. Starting with his fastball and going down the line, let’s look at the major issues each of these pitches has.

Fourseam Fastball

Latos has used his four-seamer 32 percent of the time in 2016, making it his most frequented pitch and of course, his most troublesome. Take a look at the map on the left, his location on all fastballs thrown in 2016. Latos lives high and away to righties, but he also lives pretty much in the middle and upper portions of the zone, something that as the map in the middle characterizes, is not fooling batters. The middle map shows how many whiffs per swing Latos’ fastball is inducing, and as you can see, he’s created virtually zero deception with the pitch, leaving the hitters whiffing on just a neat and tidy area right over the heart of the plate. Finally, the last map shows us which of these pitches batters are making quality contact on, and it’s — as expected for a pitcher who throws his fastball at 92 mph in upper portion of the zone — the high fastballs and the ones Latos leaves right down the middle that get him into trouble.

None of this is very promising for a low velocity, pitch-to-contact type who uses his fastball as often as Latos does. The main reason Latos had a strong stride of success in April with his fastball is because he was keeping it low in the zone, which he something he needs to work to continue. Once May rolled around, Latos began elevating the pitch, and as a result saw his batting average on the pitch rise by 55 points.

Sinker

The location of these sinkers looks odd. That’s because a quality sinker should not be located where Latos is leaving it, and certainly not when it’s his second-most frequented pitch. Latos has thrown his sinker with 25 percent frequency in 2016, and as you can see, it’s not inducing a ton of whiffs when batters are swinging at it. The sinkers that aren’t breaking well and end up being located over the heart of the plate are being crushed, and the ones that Latos is leaving off the plate are going for balls (Latos’ sinker has gone for a ball 38 percent of the time so far in 2016). Hitters are swinging at the pitch with 44 percent frequency, while whiffing on it just under five percent of the time. I know what you may be thinking, ground balls, right? Not really. Latos is only inducing ground balls with his sinker around nine percent of the time.

Latos’ sinker is currently seeing the least amount of vertical break it’s seen in his career, which has something to do with why he’s not seeing the ground ball results you’d expect to see out of the pitch, while the horizontal movement on his sinker has gotten progressively worse over the last four years. More vertical break = more ground balls is the key for Latos on a offering that’s meant to induce contact outs.

Slider

Well, maybe this is a pitch that Latos is seeing bit more luck on: the slider. This is Latos’ third most frequented pitch, thrown 17 percent of the time in 2016. Latos is currently earning a nearly a 15 percent whiff rate on it, but is also allowing a .324 batting average and .559 slugging percentage on it, so maybe not so much luck in contact department. But hey, at least when the pitch isn’t being punished for hanging over the plate, he’s getting batters to swing at it when it’s located low and nearly in the dirt. There’s always a bright side.

Latos’ slider has been all over the plate this season, but in April, he was doing a better job of keeping in the lower half of the zone which led to less of the contact you see in the batting average map above. That’s more indicative of the result he’s seeing when he leaves the pitch high in and around parts of the plate that sliders shouldn’t ever be allowed to see, which has happened more frequently in May. Keeping the slider low and continuing to induce those whiffs is all Latos has to do to see more success with this offering. If only it was that easy.

Splitter

The fourth and final pitch that Latos most frequently uses is his splitter, which he offers at an 11 percent clip. Mostly used as a pitch to chase out of the zone when he’s ahead, Latos actually has a good amount of success with his splitter when it’s well located and has the correct breaking action. As you can see from the batting average maps, that hasn’t been happening all that much, leaving Latos vulnerable to letting runners score when he’s in a two-strike count.

Latos has actually seen a increase in success with the pitch in May, inducing ground balls on it at a 14 percent clip and whiffing batters near 17 percent of the time. So there is at least one pitch that Latos has potential to keep in good standing.

The largest concern with Latos from month-to-month is the fact that he went from having shaky command, but still able to induce good contact outs while keeping the walks to a minimum, to becoming a pitcher who is most likely suffering the plight of mechanical issues rearing their ugly head and making his passable command worse, leading to walks and the inability to hold the runners that he puts on base. Latos is currently seeing the lowest outside the zone swing rate on his pitches of his career, at just 28 percent, as well as the lowest overall swing rate. His swinging strike rate is at just 6.8 percent, a career low, while his contact rate is at a career-high of 85 percent; not exactly a recipe that lends itself to success.

One can only hope that Don Cooper is able to supply the type of assistance that Latos needs to salvage even a decent if unspectacular season on the South side. With John Danks gone and Miguel Gonzalez at this point showing more potential for success, Latos could become the biggest liability in this rotation.

The real question remains however, is he a worse option in the rotation than Erik Johnson, or whomever else is lurking around in Triple-A? I’m not sure I’m quite ready to give you a concrete answer on that yet.

Lead photo courtesy of Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

19 teams total have weathered a losing streak as long as eight games–the streak the Sox were staring when the fell behind 4-0 after five innings Tuesday–in the Wild Card era and lived to see the postseason, and four of those 19 teams have come since the playoffs expanded again in 2012. None of those teams can be found in the the last two years, though, and no White Sox playoff team ever–there have only been nine in 115 years–has endured an eight-game losing streak.

As such, Tuesday night’s sudden comeback in New York not only salvaged the sanity of a weary club, but saved the Sox from the brink.

In the wake of this breakthrough, reports of the Robin Ventura managin’ long craved finally began to surface.

Robin Ventura apparently addressed the team after one of the games in KC, told them not to quit.

— Dan Hayes (@CSNHayes) June 1, 2016

Latos also talked about postgame words of encouragement from Ventura this weekend in KC that the team has taken to heart.

— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) June 1, 2016

The timing for the players to reveal this is a little convenient, or well-strategized, as it serves to show Ventura providing value as the team returns to form, rather than efforting in vain before another loss. But if we want to drive a stake in the ground for the argument of Ventura as a leader of men, this will be a moment to call back to if the team endures a jaw-droppingly awful stretch and stays in the playoff race.

It would be a fair credit to hand him, but might paint an overly dramatic view of Ventura’s leadership. He’s not a confrontational team meeting type, but a steady supply of positivity. Todd Frazier was making notes of his positive reinforcement even back when the home series against the Royals was going in the tank, and it’s easy to see this new bulletin on words of encouragement in a similar vein. Despite his demeanor, it’s always been clear Ventura is active, and not indifferent, it’s just a question of whether it works.

2. It was a good time for warm, fuzzy feelings to make their way into the clubhouse, because the pre-game statements from a Surprisingly Present in New York Rick Hahn were open for interpretation.

Here’s the full Rick Hahn quote on Robin Ventura’s in-game management. pic.twitter.com/6wFzInM7Al

— Colleen Kane (@ChiTribKane) May 31, 2016

A charitable read is that Hahn wants to close himself off for good as an outlet through which to second guess or double check the in-game work of Robin Ventura, and to make it sound like it would be as out of place to ask Hahn about tactics as it would be to ask Ventura about potential trades.

A more dastardly way to read it is that Hahn is claiming he can only vouch for all the information and prep work that goes into the in-game decisions, and is throwing up the shruggie as far as the actual product on the field.

The former sounds a lot more like what a public statement from someone as cautious as Hahn would be trying to put out, but votes of confidence for coaches and managers are often more notable for what they leave open rather than what they plainly state.

3. Tyler Saladino was already regularly making a show of all the athleticism on defense he could flash that Jimmy Rollins could not, but now that he’s capped off an improbably hot month of May (.372/.417/.545) with two home runs in the last three games, and his absurd Tuesday night with a go-ahead blast (off a right-hander), reaching base in all four plate appearances, and his first two stolen bases of the year, he’s blowing his elder off the field. Rollins only got 21 more plate appearances in May and hit .206/.275/.302.

There’s a lot of fun in Saladino’s game right now, even if he shouldn’t be looked at as much more than a good utility hitter on a hot streak. He’s sitting at .290/.320/.449 with a good glove at short, which should be enough to hold off a raw prospect on a hot streak, even if Tim Anderson is “forcing the issue” as Hahn put it. That is real organizational value being provided by Saladino, because not every Sox prospect–especially the rawest ones–needs to be promoted after their first good month in Charlotte.

4. Mat Latos benefitted greatly from the fifth starter treatment Tuesday. Two errors are certainly the last thing the regular starter most starved for strikeouts in baseball needed, but they also shifted the focus to how he dodged total disaster in the first two innings, and away from how much of his own work played into pushing the game closer.

His slider was his best pitch and he used it aggressively to rack up a season-high five strikeouts, but his fastball was still low-90s with lots of mistakes up in the zone, and the Sox yanked him after five innings without letting him complete a third trip all the way through the order. Objections about his stuff and its viability remain, but treating Latos more like the Latos who has shown up in Chicago and less like the former No. 2 starter can only help.

5. Robin Ventura hinted that Austin Jackson could return by Friday, making his absence a very reasonable three games, which is both suitable for avoiding a disabled list stint and maintaining a tolerable level of J.B. Shuck as the everyday centerfielder.

Turf toe is a sprained ligament and time will tell how much this will be an issue limiting and re-aggravating Jackson’s speed-based game over the rest of the season. He was showing some No. 2 hitter properties when he went down, which was a relief given Ventura’s insistence on a speedy, contact guy in that slot, though if Brett Lawrie ever comes out of his funk, he could be dynamite at that spot, where he was tried out Tuesday.

If Saladino provides any service, it’s displacing a No. 2 hitter option that offers a name brand but not the production. If Saladino himself becomes the No. 2 hitter, well, then, all is lost again.

Lead Image Credit: Brad Penner // USA Today Sports Images

1. Matching a season high for strikeouts generally deserves effusive praise. It’s a different story when your season high is five. Such was the case for the walking smoke-and-mirror-show known as Mat Latos. Stepping up against a team he had previously owned to the tune of a 2.87 ERA, Latos’ final line was 5 IP, 4 R (2 ER), 4 H, 3 BB, and 5 K. Latos probably would have taken the ball to start the sixth in an American League park, but he was pulled in the top of the sixth for pinch-hitter Jerry Sands, who continues to provoke the question “What is Jerry Sands doing on a major league roster?”

Latos wasn’t helped by his defense as two miscues allowed runners to score in the first and second. He also wasn’t helped by his exceptionally hittable fastball. The Mets were turning on “heaters” all day, shooting a number a liners just foul or deep into the outfield. Hard contact and long outs are a terrifying way to make a living, and they finally caught up to Latos in the form of a Neil Walker no-doubter to right, giving the Mets a 4-0 lead. If there were positives to take away from another mediocre start, it was an improved curveball which drew several swing and misses. If the fastball is going to remain a 91 mph straight shot, it’s going to be increasingly important for Latos to locate and draw swings on breaking stuff outside the zone.

2. Tyler Saladino had himself a day and took another step towards becoming the everyday shortstop. His Baseball Tonight moment came in the eighth when he tomahawked a high fastball from Hansel Robles into the left field seats for the game’s deciding runs. Beyond the highlights, he managed to draw two walks against the stingy Matz and stole consecutive bases in the sixth before scoring the Sox third run. Hawk was quick to alert us that he is the smartest player on the field. This is comical. His moustache finger swipe has been added to the pantheon of odd seizure-esque White Sox gesticulations. This, too, is comical.

3. Todd Frazier proved a difference maker on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately for the Sox, making a difference is not always a plus. A defensive shift in the first saw Frazier covering second base and dropping a glove flip from Brett Lawrie. In the second inning, a high throw brought Jose Abreu off the bag for another E5. Both runs came around to score and helped the Mets put up the Fibonacci sequence through the first three innings. Frazier was able to atone for both mistakes in the sixth by driving in the Sox first two runs with a three-iron to center for his league leading 16th home run.

4. Coming into the game, Matz was on an impressive roll. He’d won his past seven starts while averaging just over nine K/9. The first time through the order looked to be more of the same, as the Sox hitters continuously pounded balls into the ground. However, the wheels came off in the sixth, where he gave up three earned before getting the hook.

5. There was a surprising appearance from Thor, who had his last start cut short after firing a fastball behind Chase Utley and getting tossed. Syndergaard stuck to a fastball and slider mix for his single inning and was predictably dominating. Pumping 101 mph heaters and 94 mph sliders is silly enough from a closer. The White Sox are understandably pleased to only have encountered him for an inning.

6. And, finally, the bullpen didn’t blow a lead. All is right in the world.

Team record: 28-25

Next game is Wednesday at 12:10 p.m. CT at New York.

Lead Photo Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports