1. The 2008 and 2005 White Sox both dealt with seven-game losing streaks at one point. When the 2005 club did it in August, they immediately ceded four games of their once enormous AL Central lead to the Indians, who would eventually shrink a 15-game deficit into just 1.5 games before being finally beaten back […]
Tag: Robin Ventura
South Side Morning 5: Life is Hell and death is no escape
1. Jose Abreu‘s OPS for the month May is nearly 100 points better than it was in April, and if he’s lucky, it will only be the third-worst offensive month of his career, rather than the second. He came into this season with three months in his career where he had hit as few as […]
Mets 1, White Sox 0: White Sox sow horrible things, reap them
The losses have at least gained a measure of uniqueness, after a somewhat boilerplate weekend pattern of triumph-nagging, dread-utter desolation. 1. Then again, hanging Jose Quintana out to dry had become old hat before this year, and the round of applause bands get for playing old favorites will likely be withheld this time. The AL leader […]
South Side Memorial Day 5: Disasterpiece Theater
1. If forced to pick a single head-scratching moment from this weekend’s neverending bullpen meltdown–from which Robin Ventura might have come out looking better than expected since absolutely nothing worked–it would have been the fifth-year manager realizing that closer David Robertson was in a crisis on Saturday from which he could not pull himself out […]
It’s (Probably) Not Time To Panic on the South Side Just Yet
“It doesn’t mean the whole season is going to end up this way.’’ Manager Robin Ventura told reporters on Monday. Ventura is right. Of course, he was more specifically referring to White Sox first basemen Jose Abreu’s recent struggles at the plate, but this quote can certainly fit into a variety of different contexts for his […]
White Sox reach crossroads with Jose Abreu
As bad as the last four games have been, the current White Sox offense is a huge upgrade over last season’s unit and possesses more potential for above-average production than anything that’s been viewable on the south side this decade. But even with their positives, they are not a unit that can paper over their […]
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 […]
South Side Morning 5: Chris Sale finding new ways to astonish
1. Imagine being Chris Sale. Imagine thinking like Chris Sale, even. Imagine reaching the pinnacle of your profession, and deciding to reinvent yourself without being forced, or having it even be suggested. Imagine developing the most coveted skill in the sport — missing bats — to the point of complete supremacy over all your peers, and then set about […]
Matt Albers is becoming a thing
Maybe you noticed Matt Albers this weekend. Maybe it was Saturday afternoon when he blazed a 96 mph fastball on the inside black to freeze Carlos Santana and end an eighth inning jam, or when he was screaming epithets as he stalked off the mound in the eighth, throwing his gum and then high-fiving his entire dugout, even though […]
The Chris Sale Cy Young campaign hasn’t started yet
I predicted Chris Sale to win the 2016 AL Cy Young. We predicted Chris Sale to win the 2016 AL Cy Young. The White Sox playoff hopes are somewhat leveraged on him performing to that level. This wasn’t just based on remembering his murderous eight-start stretch from last June, where he posted a 97/9 strikeout-to-walk […]