Former White Sox outfielder AJ Pollock headed to Seattle

AJ Pollock

Former White Sox outfielder AJ Pollock has agreed to a one-year contract with the Seattle Mariners worth $7 million, according to recent reports. 

You may recall that when the offseason began, Pollock's future was one of the big questions surrounding the Sox. Would the veteran accept his $13 million player option to remain in Chicago? Or would he opt out and take a $5 million buyout?

Pollock opted out and entered free agency. From a purely financial standpoint, he cost himself $1 million with that decision. He's got the $5 million from the Sox. Add the $7 million from Seattle, and that's a total of $12 million -- which is less than $13 million.

But from Pollock's perspective, perhaps the chance to choose his own team was worth giving up the $1 million. He never asked to come to Chicago -- the Los Angeles Dodgers traded him to the Sox for Craig Kimbrel last spring training, in a deal that really didn't pan out for either side. 

Had Pollock opted in with the Sox, there's a pretty decent chance he would have been traded to parts unknown this offseason. He could have ended up on a non-contender in 2023, or in a place where he would have had limited playing time.

After posting a career-worst .681 OPS in his age-34 season with the Sox in 2022, it's not unreasonable to think Pollock wasn't part of Sox GM Rick Hahn's plans for this season.

He probably knew that, so he opted out to keep control of his fate, even if it cost him some money. You can make a case that it worked out for everybody: Pollock chose his landing spot and signed a contract with an AL West contender in Seattle. The Sox saved $8 million when Pollock walked away, and that money was used to sign Andrew Benintendi, an outfielder that appears to be a better fit on the South Side at this time.

We'll see how it plays out as 2023 moves along.

AJ Pollock declines player options to return to White Sox (this is good news)

White Sox outfielder AJ Pollock had a choice this week. He could do one of two things:

1. Exercise his player option and make $13 million as a member of the Sox in 2023, or

2. Accept a $5 million buyout from the Sox and elect free agency.

Given that Pollock had a down season in 2022 -- he batted .242/.292/.389 with 14 homers and 56 RBIs -- and given that he's entering his age-35 season, I expected Pollock to take the sure money on the table.

Surprise!

He declined the option, in a move that may cost him financially. He would need to get at least $8 million on the free agent market to equal the contract he could have had with the Sox. I wouldn't expect that to happen.

But hey, that's his problem. The Sox certainly will not be among his suitors. After Pollock's disappointing season, the team is almost certainly happy to move on, and to have that extra $8 million available to spend on someone else.

The question is, can they find a legitimate corner outfielder who can help in 2023?

Lance Lynn, Elvis Andrus help White Sox win opener in Seattle

The White Sox offense still has trouble generating runs consistently, but it does seem as though veteran right-hander Lance Lynn has regained his form.

Entering Monday's series opener at Seattle, Lynn had allowed only five earned runs over 24.2 innings over his past four starts -- two wins and two no-decisions. Over that same span, he struck out 29 batters while walking only two.

Against the Mariners, Lynn (5-5) came up with his best outing of the season. He went seven innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits in a 3-2 Sox victory.

Lynn struck out 11 and walked only one, while generating 25 swings-and-misses on 89 pitches -- 63 of them for strikes. There were some pretty nasty shadows on the field with the game starting at 3:40 p.m. Pacific time, and that made conditions rough for batters.

Nevertheless, we have to say Lynn's stuff was sharp given that he retired the last 17 men he faced, and very little contact was made against him.

The Sox scored their three runs early off Seattle starter Marco Gonzales (10-13). In the second inning, AJ Pollock hit his 11th home run of the season. Elvis Andrus also hit his 11th homer (and third since joining the Sox) -- a two-run shot in the top of the third.

Andrus added a double and went 2 for 4. For whatever reason, he swings the bat really well in Seattle. At T-Mobile Park this season, dating back to his time with Oakland, he's 10 for 24 with five of his 11 home runs.

The Sox bullpen closed it out, although in dramatic fashion. Kendall Graveman worked around a two-out single to post a scoreless eighth. Liam Hendriks gave up a run on a walk and two singles in the ninth. The Mariners had the tying run at third and the winning run at second when Hendriks fanned Adam Frazier on three pitches to record his 30th save of the season.

Hendriks becomes the sixth Sox closer to record 30 or more saves in back-to-back seasons. The others are Bobby Thigpen, Roberto Hernandez, Keith Foulke, Bobby Jenks and David Robertson.

The Sox are 68-67.

Michael Kopech throws six no-hit innings in Sox win

For the first time all season, the White Sox have won three straight home games. That's hard to believe given that it's Aug. 12, isn't it?

The Sox offense wasn't exactly crackling Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field, but they managed a 2-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers behind a great start from Michael Kopech and solid relief pitching from three guys.

Kopech, in fact, had one of the most dominant starts of his career. He worked six innings and did not give up a hit. He struck out 11, walked three and got 22 swinging strikes out of the 85 pitches he threw. Fifty-six of those 85 pitches were strikes.

Alas, he did not get the win, because the Sox did not score while he was in the game. Somehow, left-handed Daniel Norris -- who was released by the Cubs last month and had an ERA near 7 for the season -- threw 4.2 innings of scoreless ball for the Tigers.

Removing Kopech after 85 pitches was a controversial decision, and an unpopular one with fans, who criticized manager Tony La Russa on social media and booed the move at the ballpark.

But, we know Kopech is on an undetermined innings limit for this season, and his services are needed again five days from now when the AL-best Houston Astros are in town. From that perspective, the decision is understandable.

It's just weird how La Russa leaves starters in too long as a habit, and sometimes forces players to gut it out through injury (Leury Garcia in last Tuesday's doubleheader, for example), and other times, he pulls out the "abundance of caution" card.

In any case, Reynaldo Lopez relieved in the seventh inning and worked around a leadoff single by Javier Baez. Lopez (5-2) got the win after the Sox plated two in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out, two-run single by Andrew Vaughn with the bases loaded.

Kendall Graveman and Liam Hendriks each worked a scoreless inning, with Hendriks picking up his 24th save.

There was more bad injury news for the Sox, as Luis Robert left Friday's game with a sprained left wrist. He is day to day.

The Sox are 57-56, and they remain 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians, who won their sixth straight Friday with an 8-0 skunking of the Toronto Blue Jays.

I wasn't overly impressed with the way the Sox swung the bats in this game against a lousy Detroit pitching staff. The Sox had eight hits, with AJ Pollock's double being the only one that went for extra bases.

If guys don't start hitting for power, this team will continue to spin its wheels. 

White Sox finish 'make-or-break' stretch with a 10-9 record

Dylan Cease

The White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians, 6-3, on Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field to salvage a split in a four-game series.

Dylan Cease (10-4) got the win with six innings of shutout ball. Leury Garcia and AJ Pollock homered off Cleveland starter Shane Bieber (4-6) as part of a five-run second inning, and Eloy Jimenez also homered for the Sox.

The game completed what was described as a "crucial, make-or-break" 19-game stretch during which the Sox saw nothing but American League Central Division opponents.

Turns out, the Sox went 10-9 during those 19 games. When this stretch started, the Sox were 4.5 games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins. Today, they are 4.0 games behind the Twins. 

In other words, nothing has changed, really. That's on brand for this 2022 Sox team.

The Sox are neither "made" nor "broken" after this "make-or-break" stretch. They are simply stuck in neutral, spinning their wheels, as they have all season. They have been a .500 team, and they have the 48-48 record to prove it. 

And they've been a .500 team during these divisional games. They are doing enough to stay within striking distance of the division lead, but they haven't made anything resembling a strong push, either.

Cease, however, has been ridiculously good. Over his last 11 starts, he's allowed a grand total of three earned runs. 

Only twice in baseball history has a pitcher allowed only three earned runs in an 11-start span. Hall of Famer Bob Gibson did it in 1968, and now Cease. That's it. Nobody else.

Cease leads the AL in strikeouts with 154. His ERA is 2.03. If it said "New York" or "Boston" across his chest, he'd probably be getting more Cy Young hype. At the very least, he would have received an All-Star Game selection.

Yoan Moncada (finally) contributes to White Sox offense

Yoan Moncada

There's nothing like a series against the sad-sack Detroit Tigers to cure what ails you, right? 

The White Sox completed a three-game sweep in Detroit with a 13-0 victory on Wednesday afternoon. Their 22-hit attack was powered by ... Yoan Moncada?

Yes, Yoan Moncada. It's about time.

Moncada entered Wednesday's game with a .141/.198/.222 slash line. He had only two home runs, two doubles and seven RBIs in 106 plate appearances. Since May 22, he had just two extra-base hits, and one of them was a "bunt double" down the left-field line against a shifted infield.

Well, Moncada had two extra-base hits on Wednesday alone. He went 5 for 6 with a home run, a double, two runs scored and five RBIs. He nearly doubled his season RBI total, going from seven to 12. His batting average improved 40 points to .181. His OPS went from .420 to .527.

And, Moncada had the biggest hit of the game. He came to the plate with two on and two out in the first inning, and roped a fastball from Detroit starter Alex Faedo into the right-field seats for a 3-run homer.

That staked the Sox to an early multi-run lead, and they cruised from there.

Sure, the Tigers used position players to pitch the last three innings, and Moncada piled on with two of his five hits against those guys. But it's worth noting that Leury Garcia also had two at-bats against Detroit position players, and he made three outs.

Amusingly, or not amusingly, depending on your perspective, Garcia struck out against Harold Castro and grounded into a double play against Tucker Barnhart.

Garcia was 0 for 2 off the bench. He gave center fielder Luis Robert a few innings off after the game got out of hand. But enough about Garcia and his inept nonsense. The nine Sox players who started the game all had at least one hit.

Jose Abreu went 4 for 5 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Andrew Vaughn totaled three hits, and AJ Pollock now has seven straight multi-hit games after a 2-for-4 day. Pollock reached base four times and scored twice.

Danny Mendick and Seby Zavala homered for the Sox.

Rookie right-hander Davis Martin picked up his first career victory with 5.1 innings of scoreless relief. Vince Velasquez was activated off the injured list to start Wednesday's game. He worked 2.2 scoreless innings before being removed. Perhaps he was on a pitch count.

Reliever Kyle Crick was placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation to make room for Velasquez on the roster.

The Sox are 30-31, still five games behind the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central.

The next six games are a little tougher. The South Siders play three games at Houston over the weekend, before coming home for three games against Toronto.

Not that anyone needs a reminder, but the Sox were 0-6 in Houston last season -- regular season and playoffs combined -- so we'll see if they can compete a little better in this next series.

Liam Hendriks is latest White Sox player to hit injured list

Relief pitcher Liam Hendriks is the latest White Sox player to hit the injured list. The veteran closer will be out for at least three weeks with a right forearm strain.

Hendriks has appeared in 25 games this season, going 1-2 with a 2.81 ERA. He leads the American League with 16 saves.

I always cringe a little when I hear a pitcher has a forearm strain. Those are often the precursor to a torn elbow ligament, which requires Tommy John surgery.

Hendriks appeared in 69 games for the Sox last season, and once appeared in 75 games for the Oakland Athletics in 2019. At age 33, he does have some mileage on his arm. 

There's no question he is very important to whatever chance the Sox have of getting back in the American League Central race, so here's hoping the three-week timetable for a return is accurate.

The Sox did not require a closer Tuesday night, as they defeated the Detroit Tigers, 5-1.

Dylan Cease (5-3) needed 108 pitches to get through five innings, but ultimately, he had a successful outing. The right-hander improved to 10-0 in 11 lifetime starts against the Tigers. He allowed one unearned run on seven hits. He struck out eight and walked one.

In a baseball oddity, Cease has allowed 10 runs over his past four starts, but none of them have been earned. He is the first pitcher since 1913 to allow at least one run, but no earned runs, in four straight starts. 

Cease's ERA is 2.91.

The top three batters in the Sox lineup collected eight of the team's 12 hits. Andrew Vaughn went 4 for 4 with four singles, a walk, a run scored and an RBI. Luis Robert was 2 for 4 with a run scored and two RBIs.

AJ Pollock now has six consecutive multihit games. On Tuesday, he was 2 for 5 with a double and two runs scored.

The Sox bullpen worked four scoreless innings. I suspect Jimmy Lambert is heading back to Triple-A Charlotte on Wednesday when Vince Velasquez is scheduled to come off the injured list, but Lambert served his purpose with two scoreless innings Tuesday.

Joe Kelly came off the injured list to take Hendriks' spot on the roster, and he worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning with two strikeouts. His stuff looked impressive.

Reynaldo Lopez allowed a two-out single but nothing more in the ninth. He recorded two strikeouts in his scoreless inning.

The Sox are 29-31.

Remember, being available to play is a skill

The White Sox are 23-26 are getting swept by the Toronto Blue Jays this week. Their run differential is minus-55, so they are lucky their record isn't even worse.

I've been guilty of not blogging as frequently this season, and there's a reason for that. The truth is, I don't enjoy watching this team, and I don't have much to say about them. How many different ways can you write, "They stink"? 

It's June 2, so we've passed the threshold of using the weather as an excuse. It's warm enough to hit now, but the Sox still aren't hitting. 

I'm sure injuries will be cited as the excuse now. The team is without its best offensive player, Tim Anderson, who strained his groin Sunday against the Cubs. He's expected to miss three weeks, and make no mistake, that's a big blow.

Injuries have limited Yoan Moncada to 17 games, and he's hitting a measly .138 with a .422 OPS when he has been on the field. As per usual, Eloy Jimenez is injured. He's only appeared in 11 games this season, although he's rehabbing in Triple-A Charlotte now. But how long until he gets hurt again?

Catcher Yasmani Grandal has cited offseason knee surgery and a short spring training as reasons for his slow start. But it's June now, and he's still looking terrible -- a .160 batting average, a .483 OPS and only four extra-base hits (2 home runs, 2 doubles) in 174 plate appearances.

Andrew Vaughn, AJ Pollock and Luis Robert have also missed time at different points this season, although all are healthy now.

But here's something to keep in mind: Being available to play is a skill, and teams that win championships usually have their players in the lineup more often than not.

Robert, Jimenez, Grandal and Anderson all missed significant time last season, too, so waiting for guys to return to the lineup is a familiar Sox lament. At some point, you just have to admit that this core group can't stay healthy, and it's time to change the mix. How long are you going to wait for the band to get back together, especially since they were never really together in the first place?

Obviously, the Sox have won only one championship in my lifetime. Here are the games played for the regulars on the 2005 Sox:

C: A.J. Pierzynski -- 128 games

1B: Paul Konerko -- 146 games

2B: Tadahito Iguchi -- 133 games

SS: Juan Uribe -- 146 games

3B: Joe Crede -- 130 games

LF: Scott Podsednik -- 124 games

CF: Aaron Rowand -- 157 games

RF: Jermaine Dye -- 140 games

Imagine that ... six regulars with 130 or more games played, and a catcher who almost got there while playing the most demanding position on the diamond.

People have said of the current Sox, "Just wait until they get healthy." Well, what reason do you have to believe they are ever going to be healthy?

No way in hell they have six regulars who approach 130 games played; I can promise you that.

White Sox finally stand up to Yankees in doubleheader sweep

The White Sox lost five of six games to the New York Yankees in 2021, and through the first five meetings of 2022, not much had changed. The Yankees won four of the five.

So, it was a real pleasant surprise when the Sox finally stood up to New York and swept a doubleheader Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

The strange part was I didn't feel as though the Sox played any better than usual. When the Sox have won this season, they've done it with pitching. Sunday was no exception, as the South Siders limited the Yankees to one run in 18 innings. They won, 3-1, and 5-0, respectively.

The Sox offense was generally substandard, as they left a combined 16 men on base in the doubleheader and misfired on numerous scoring opportunities. But hey, you don't have to cash in many of them if you can keep the opposition off the board, and that's what Sox pitching did. 

I will bring up a couple of encouraging signs about the offense, but first, credit has to go to Sox starting pitchers Johnny Cueto and Michael Kopech. Neither of them allowed a run to the Yankees across 13 innings pitched.

Cueto went six shutout innings in Game 1. He allowed six hits, struck out five and walked two. When he left the game in the seventh inning, the Sox were leading 1-0. He got a no-decision because the Yankees tied it in the eighth before the Sox won it in the ninth, but the veteran Cueto has been better than expected since being added to the roster. 

He's yet to allow a run across two starts. His first outing was against the lowly Kansas City Royals, so maybe that's not overly impressive. But six scoreless against the Yankees, the second-best offense in the AL, that gets your attention.

Speaking of getting your attention, Kopech (1-1) retired the first 17 batters he faced in Game 2. He ended up going seven innings and allowing only one hit. He struck out six and walked two, with both walks coming in the seventh inning when he was starting to run out of gas.

Kopech threw 92 pitches, 65 strikes, and got 16 swings and misses. It's hard to believe Sunday was his first victory of the season, for as well as he's pitched. He ranks second in the AL with a 1.29 ERA. Opponents are batting just .122 against him, as he has allowed only 17 hits in 42 innings pitched. He has yet to allow a hit on a first pitch to any batter this season.

I think it's fair to say Kopech has made the transition from reliever to starter successfully. The big test is whether he can hold up physically through the whole season. On Sunday, his fastball topped out at 100.2 mph. So far, so good.

Now, back to the offense. Game 1 was tied 1-1 going into the ninth inning. AJ Pollock's home run off New York closer Aroldis Chapman gave the Sox the lead for good.

It was easily Pollock's biggest hit of the season, as no one would say he's played up to his capabilities to this point. For the season, Pollock is batting .245/.277/.383 with only two homers and 10 RBIs.

But ....

In his last 13 games, Pollock is batting .326/.362/.581 with two homers, five doubles and six RBIs. There are signs of life from the 34-year-old veteran outfielder.

And, then there's Tim Anderson. I don't have any hot takes on Anderson's altercation with Josh Donaldson. You can find those all over the internet. The Sox shortstop capped a 3-for-5 night with a three-run homer in the five-run eighth inning in Game 2. 

Anderson is batting .359/.400/.517 with five home runs and 18 RBIs. He leads all major league shortstops in WAR, wRC+, wOBA, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS.

So, whether you like traditional statistics or the more new-age stuff, Anderson's your guy at shortstop. And while he does have nine errors this season, he has not committed an error in 21 of his past 22 games, so perhaps his defensive slump is over.

And even with those errors, he's a 2.0 WAR player a quarter of the way through the season. That's how good his bat is. If this keeps up, it will be hard to deny Anderson a spot on the AL All-Star team this season. Right now, he's the best in the league at the position, no matter what New York fans have to say about him.

Matt Foster unlikely hero for White Sox

The White Sox completed a sweep of the crosstown Cubs on Wednesday with a 4-3 victory at Wrigley Field. And just like we all expected, the hero of the game was ... Matt Foster? 

Yep, that's right, Matt Foster, the 27-year-old reliever who spent most of the 2021 season bouncing back and forth between Chicago and Triple-A Charlotte. And when Foster was in Chicago last season, he posted a 6.00 ERA and a 1.436 WHIP in 37 appearances.

Coming into spring training, he wasn't really in the plans. However, extended rosters and injuries created opportunity, and Foster made the team out of camp. 

And he's pitched really well in his opportunities in 2022. Coming into Wednesday night, he had allowed only one earned run in 11 innings across 10 appearances.

The assignment Foster received Wednesday night was his toughest yet. He was asked to clean up Aaron Bummer's mess in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Cubs had runners at first and third with one out, and the Sox were clinging to a 4-3 lead. Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ, the No. 2 and No. 3 batters in the Cubs' lineup, were due up.

Foster got Suzuki to foul out to first baseman Gavin Sheets on a fastball up and out of the zone. The Cubs' runner on first, Nick Madrigal, was going with the pitch, so perhaps that enticed Suzuki to swing at a pitch that was not a strike. No matter. Either way, it was the second out.

Happ followed, and on a 2-2 pitch, Foster aced him with fastball at the bottom of the zone and struck him out looking. Jam escaped. Lead perserved. Foster's ERA is down to 0.77.

Liam Hendriks worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his seventh save in eight opportunities. That allowed Lucas Giolito (1-1) to pick up his first victory of the season. The right-hander allowed three runs across 5.2 innings, but he struck out 10 Cubs batters.

Jose Abreu (3rd of the season) and Leury Garcia (2nd of the season) homered for the Sox, who overcame an early 3-1 deficit. Sheets had a two-out RBI single in the fourth to tie the game. AJ Pollock had a two-out RBI single in the sixth that put the South Siders ahead for good.

The Sox are now 11-13. The Cubs drop to 9-15.