White Sox make flurry of roster moves

Craig Kimbrel

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn finally met the media Friday for his season-ending press conference, and I'll have some reactions and takeaways from that before the weekend is over.

But first, let's go over the roster moves that were announced:

Pitchers Evan Marshall, Jimmy Cordero and Jace Fry were outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte. All three become free agents.

Marshall hasn't pitched since June 29 and will need Tommy John surgery in the offseason. There's some chance the Sox will bring him back on a one-year deal with a club option, if they think he can help them in 2023. The veteran right-hander faces an uncertain future.

Cordero missed all of 2021 after having Tommy John surgery. The hard-throwing reliever was famously overused by former manager Rick Renteria during the 2020 season, and no one was surprised when he ended up injured. It wouldn't be a shock to see the Sox sign him to a minor league deal and take a look at him in spring training.

Fry has never been able to throw enough strikes to stick in the major leagues. I would not expect him back with the Sox in 2022 under any circumstance.

Left-hander Anderson Severino, 27, was added to the 40-man roster before he became a minor league free agent. Severino split his 2021 season between Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte. He struck out 53 batters over 45.2 innings combined at the two levels. In effect, he replaces Fry as the left-handed reliever who could get called up from Charlotte in the event of a bullpen injury.

Outfielder Brian Goodwin was outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte. He is a free agent. He batted .221/.319/.374 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs in 72 games for the 2021 Sox. Goodwin's production dried up the second half of the season, and a back injury kept him off the playoff roster. He likely does not figure in the 2022 plans.

In an expected move, the Sox declined the $6 million contract option on second baseman Cesar Hernandez. After being acquired in a midseason trade with the Cleveland Indians, Hernandez struggled both with the bat and with the glove. In 53 games with the Sox, he batted .232/.309/.299 with three home runs and 15 RBIs.

Hernandez fell out of favor with manager Tony La Russa to the point that he did not start either of the first two games of the playoffs. That was a clear indicator that he would not be asked back for 2022.

Finally, the first part of the Craig Kimbrel debate is over. His $16 million contract option has been exercised for 2022. The veteran reliever, who was acquired midseason in a deal with the crosstown Cubs, was a huge disappointment with the Sox.

He had a 5.09 ERA in 24 regular-season games on the South Side, and a 9.00 ERA in his three playoff appearances. The poor performance came after Kimbrel posted a dominant first half of the season on the North Side, where he had a 0.49 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 39 games and 36.2 innings.

Does that mean Kimbrel is part of the 2022 Sox bullpen? Don't count on it. He's likely to be shopped in the offseason, with the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Angels among the teams who could be interested.

This series of moves leaves the Sox's 40-man roster at 33 players.

White Sox make 4 roster moves ahead of series against Baltimore Orioles

The White Sox made four roster moves Thursday afternoon in advance of a four-game weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles:

• Pitcher Michael Kopech was placed on the bereavement list. He must remain on that list for a minimum of three days, but not more than seven days.
• Reliever Ryan Burr's contract was purchased from Triple-A Charlotte.
• Outfielder Luis Robert (strained hip flexor) was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
• Reliever Jace Fry (back surgery) was sent on a rehabilitation assignment to Triple-A Charlotte.

Kopech left Wednesday's game with left hamstring soreness, so from that perspective, at least he wasn't placed on the injured list. Given that the Sox have a doubleheader scheduled Monday against Cleveland, Kopech was unlikely to pitch before then -- he typically makes a spot start when the Sox have a doubleheader. We'll see whether he's healthy enough to make that start. 

Burr takes Robert's place on the 40-man roster. He pitched for the Sox in 2018 and 2019. The right-hander had Tommy John surgery in 2019 and missed all of 2020. In 24 career games with the Sox, he's 1-1 with a 5.52 ERA.

If and when Fry is ready to rejoin the Sox, it will be interesting to see who gets sent to the minors. Jose Ruiz has struggled as of late -- he's given up runs in six consecutive outings -- but he's out of options. Matt Foster has also struggled this season, and could be pitching for his roster spot.

It's also possible Garrett Crochet will be sent to Triple-A to get more innings. The rookie left-hander has only appeared in 13 games this season, throwing 12.2 innings. I'm concerned the lack of activity is stunting the 21-year-old's development. If he's not going to pitch more in the majors, send him to Charlotte and let him improve his craft. He will be needed later in the season.

White Sox, Evan Marshall agree on one-year contract, avoiding arbitration

Evan Marshall

Holiday weekend roster news: Right-handed relief pitcher Evan Marshall and the White Sox agreed on a one-year, $2 million contract, avoiding arbitration.

Marshall has worked out of the Sox's bullpen the past two seasons, and they've pretty much been the two best years of his career. Combining his 2019 and 2020 numbers, Marshall has gone 6-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 78 appearances.

The 30-year-old struck out a career-best 11.9 batters per nine innings in 2020 and limited opponents to a .198 batting average. Thanks to Marshall's outstanding changeup, left-handed batters managed only five hits in 42 at-bats against him last season.

The Sox have now signed three of their five arbitration-eligible players: Marshall, Adam Engel and Jace Fry. The remaining two are starting pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez.

The bullpen is one area of the Sox's roster that figures to be stable going into the 2021 season. Here's the projected relief corps right now:

Right-handers: Marshall, Codi Heuer, Jimmy Cordero, Matt Foster

Left-handers: Fry, Aaron Bummer, Garrett Crochet

That's seven guys out of a projected eight-man bullpen. Alex Colome remains a free agent. You figure the Sox will add one more veteran relief arm this offseason, whether it's bringing back Colome or signing someone else.

White Sox non-tender Carlos Rodon, Nomar Mazara

Carlos Rodon

Teams had to decide which arbitration-eligible players to offer contracts to by 7 p.m. Wednesday. Right fielder Nomar Mazara and pitcher Carlos Rodon will not be receiving offers from the White Sox, according to a post on the team's Twitter account.

The Sox also announced that left-handed relief pitcher Jace Fry avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $862,500 contract. All other unsigned players on the 40-man roster were tendered contracts.

This means that pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Evan Marshall, and outfielder Adam Engel, have received contract offers from the Sox. 

Mazara and Rodon become free agents, meaning the Sox's 40-man roster now stands at 38 players.

The subtractions of both Mazara and Rodon were expected. Mazara was projected to receive about $6 million in arbitration, an unacceptably high salary for a supposed power hitter who slugged .294 during the 2020 season and managed only one home run in 149 plate appearances. 

Mazara's 2020 OPS of .589 was, umm, slightly below his previous career low of .745. The Sox apparently thought they could unlock Mazara's talent when they acquired him from Texas last offseason. Instead, they found out why the Rangers were willing to give up on him. Mazara turned out to be not even as good as he was in Texas, where he was profoundly mediocre.

Rodon, the team's first-round pick in 2014, simply cannot stay healthy. 

Here are Rodon's innings totals over the past four seasons: 69.1, 120.2, 34.2 and 7.2.

Here are Rodon's ERAs over the past four seasons: 4.15, 4.18, 5.19, 8.22.

Rodon's projected arbitration number is $4.5 million. Given the lack of innings, the injuries and the declining performance, there are better ways to spend $4.5 million -- especially during these financially challenging times associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sox general manager Rick Hahn said the team will stay "in contact" with both Mazara and Rodon, leaving open the possibility that they could be brought back for lesser money.

Frankly, I'd move on from Mazara no matter what. Rodon, I'd be willing to give him a minor-league deal, look at him in spring training and see if he can be turned into a reliever, but I wouldn't consider him for a job in the starting rotation. If Rodon still wants to be a starting pitcher, I'd shake his hand and wish him luck elsewhere. It's time for the Sox to move on.

Among the players tendered contracts by the Sox, Lopez was the only question mark. Giolito, Marshall and Engel all did their jobs in 2020 and earned their offers.

Lopez struggled with injuries and underperformance. He made only eight starts and went 1-3 with a 6.49 ERA. However, his projected arbitration number is only $2 million, and his upside is still greater than a lot of the mediocre retreads you'll find on the free agent market this offseason.

Given the price and the overall landscape, it's not a bad play to see if new pitching coach Ethan Katz has an answer to get Lopez on track. If it doesn't work out in 2021, then it will be time to move on from Lopez, as well, but I'm willing to give him one more kick at the can. Apparently, so are the Sox.

Cleveland's offense is considered bad, but the White Sox couldn't stop them

Jose Ramirez

There's been a lot of discussion this season about how bad the Cleveland Indians' batting order is. And it's true that they've been held to three runs or less in 25 of their 54 games.

However, the White Sox couldn't slow them down Monday in a 7-4 loss. My take on Cleveland's lineup? They've got three guys who are dangerous, and those three guys combined to hurt the Sox in this game.

Jose Ramirez is one of those three guys, and he hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning on a 3-1 fastball from Dane Dunning to give the Indians a 3-0 lead. Earlier in the inning, Francisco Lindor (another one of the three guys you worry about) and Cesar Hernandez had singled.

Hernandez added an RBI single in the second to make it 4-0.

The Sox fought back to tie it at 4 with four two-out runs in the top of the fifth. Jose Abreu's two-run single made it 4-2. Abreu now has 55 RBIs in 54 games. Eloy Jimenez followed with a two-run homer to even the score.

Jace Fry relieved Dunning in the bottom of the inning, but he could not provide the shutdown inning the Sox were looking for. He walked Ramirez with one out, then gave up a two-run homer to Carlos Santana -- the third dangerous guy in the Cleveland order.

Santana is only batting .194 this year, but he's hit some big home runs against the Sox in the past, and I've learned to never sleep on him. On Monday, he gave the Indians a 6-4 lead, and that advantage stuck for the rest of the game. The Indians tacked on a run in the seventh to go up three.

The Sox got two runners on in the top of the ninth, so they got the tying run to the plate. And they didn't have bad hitters up there with a chance to tie. However, both James McCann and Abreu struck out looking to end the game against Cleveland closer Brad Hand.

The good vibes from last Thursday when the Sox clinched a postseason bid have faded a bit, as the club has lost three out of four and looked bad doing it. Their three-game lead in the division has been reduced to 1.5 games over the Minnesota Twins, who were idle Monday. Third-place Cleveland trails by four games.

Destiny remains in the Sox's hands. There are six games left, and a 4-2 record would win the division. It's very doable, but you gotta win one before you can win four.

When a 9-2 loss is actually a win ...

Michael Kopech

It was disappointing that the White Sox were rained out Wednesday. The Sox were supposed to play the Colorado Rockies in Cactus League action, and Lucas Giolito, Gio Gonzalez and Jace Fry were all scheduled to pitch.

Each of those three pitchers is coming back from an injury that sidelined them during the early part of camp, and I was eager to see how close they would look to being ready to start the season.

Alas, Mother Nature had other plans.

But, speaking of returns from injury, how about Michael Kopech on Tuesday? Sure, the Sox lost, 9-2, to the Texas Rangers, but it was actually an encouraging day for the South Siders and their fans.

That's because Kopech looked like he did before his elbow injury. He needed only 11 pitches to work a 1-2-3 first inning. His fastball consistently hit 98 mph-plus on the radar gun, and his heater topped out at 101 mph -- his final pitch striking out Greg Bird looking.

After missing the zone on each of his first two pitches, Kopech fired seven of his final nine over the plate and ended the inning quickly.

Kopech admitted that "adrenaline was a factor" with the high velocity, but hey, at least we know it's still there after surgery. It will be an exciting time when Kopech returns to the mound at Guaranteed Rate Field for the first time since 2018.

White Sox sign relief pitcher Steve Cishek to one-year deal

Steve Cishek

The White Sox on Tuesday moved to increase their bullpen depth by signing veteran relief pitcher Steve Cishek to a one-year, $6 million contract.

Cishek, 33, will earn $5.25 million in 2020. The deal includes an option for 2021 worth $6.75 million, with a $750,000 buyout -- thus the $6 million guaranteed.

The right-hander spent the past two seasons with the Cubs. He appeared in 70 games in 2019, going 4-6 with a 2.95 ERA and seven saves. He struck out 57 and walked 29 with a 1.203 WHIP over 64 innings pitched.

Let's discuss the pluses and minuses of this signing in 3-up, 3-down format.

3 up

1. An ERA below 3.00 for four consecutive seasons. That 2.95 ERA in 2019 represents the *worst* season Cishek has had in recent memory. Over the past four years, his ERAs have been 2.81, 2.01, 2.18 and 2.95, respectively. Even if he regresses, he has a higher floor that some of the other candidates for the Sox bullpen, such as Carson Fulmer and Jose Ruiz.

2. Experience. Cishek is a veteran of 10 MLB seasons, and he's appeared in 572 games. His career ERA is 2.69, and while he likely won't be asked to close for the Sox, he has 132 saves lifetime. This is somebody who has been in his share of high-leverage situations. There's no reason he can't be placed in a seventh- or eighth-inning role.

3. Rubber arm. Cishek appeared in 150 games over the past two seasons, including a ridiculous 80 appearances in 2018. He's pitched in 60 or more games six times during his career. That reliability has to be respected.

3 down

1. A declining strikeout rate. Cishek struck out 10.0 batters per nine innings with the Cubs in 2018, but that declined to 8.0 batters per nine innings last season. His career mark is 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings, so he performed below his norms in 2019. There may be a little less swing-and-miss in his game going forward.

2. Overuse. I don't care who you are, 150 appearances is a ton over two years. In a way, it's a testament to Cishek that his former manager, Joe Maddon, trusted him that often. But sooner or later, that kind of usage has to take its toll. Perhaps that concern is among the reasons Cishek is only getting one year guaranteed on the open market.

3. An increasing home run rate. Cishek gave up 1.0 home runs per nine innings in 2019, which was the second-highest rate of his career. His career mark is 0.6 home runs per nine innings, which is the exact figure he was at during the 2018 season. Of course, to be fair, the ball was juiced last summer, so a lot of pitchers around the league saw an increase in their home run rate.

With the addition of Cishek, I think we can take a good guess at seven of the eight spots in the Sox bullpen. Here's how it most likely looks today:

Left-handers: Aaron Bummer, Jace Fry
Right-handers: Alex Colome, Kelvin Herrera, Cishek, Evan Marshall, Jimmy Cordero, ??????

Here are some candidates to fill in those question marks: Fulmer, Ruiz, Dylan Covey, Zack Burdi, Matt Foster and Ian Hamilton.

When you have five relievers, you have no relievers

In a different sport, commentators sometimes say, "When you have two quarterbacks, you really have no quarterbacks." The thinking is, if either of your quarterbacks were actually good, he would be playing, and the lesser guy would be sitting on the bench. There wouldn't be a need to toggle back and forth between players.

Likewise, if the White Sox had a reliever available they could trust Sunday, maybe they wouldn't have needed to use five of them in the eighth inning of a ghastly 11-10 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

You see, the Sox's reliable relievers -- Alex Colome, Aaron Bummer and, to a lesser extent, Evan Marshall -- were not available Sunday.

That left the rest of the bullpen to protect a 10-5 lead in the eighth inning. It should have been doable. Hector Santiago had done much of the heavy lifting. He replaced a struggling Ivan Nova in the fourth inning, and he tossed up zeroes in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

But Santiago tired in the eighth, allowing a two singles and a walk to start the inning. But the veteran lefty left the mound with the Sox still in decent shape, leading 10-6.

Unfortunately, Kelvin Herrera gave up a three-run homer to Kyle Lewis. 10-9. Then Jace Fry came in and walked the only batter he faced. (Surprise, surprise.) Then Jimmy Cordero faced one batter and struck him out.

Maybe Cordero should have been left in ... nah, why do that when we can go with some more stupid lefty-righty matchups?

Josh Osich entered and finished the eighth inning, but not before walking another batter and surrendering a game-tying single to Mallex Smith. The lefty-on-lefty stuff didn't work there, did it? 10-10 after eight.

The Sox had a pathetic offensive inning in the top of the ninth. Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu all swung for the fences. All of them struck out on pitches out of the zone against Austin Adams (2-2). Great discipline, guys.

Jose Ruiz (1-3) became the sixth reliever used in less than two innings in the ninth. Long story short, Anderson and Ryan Cordell made defensive mistakes behind him, an intentional walk was issued to load the bases, and then Ruiz walked in the winning run.

Good job, good effort.

The Sox dropped two out of three in the weekend series to the mighty Mariners (62-88). That means the South Siders have now lost three consecutive series, all to losing teams -- the Angels, Royals and Mariners.

And we're told we should be excited about 2020. Well, you know, you have to have more than four people who can get opposing batters out on your pitching staff in order to contend.

The Sox are now 65-84 on the season. There's a ton of work to be done over the winter to get anywhere near contention, and team brass has no track record as far as signing the right free agents.

They will have to sign the right free agents, because there are no internal solutions here. Colome and Bummer have had good seasons, but two pitchers does not make a bullpen.

Series sweep by Twins shows the White Sox aren't close to contention

Is anyone else glad they missed Thursday afternoon's game because they were at work? Because I sure am.

The Minnesota Twins have outscored the White Sox, 110-51, in the 16 meetings between the two teams this season. In that context, it's a miracle the Sox have won five of 16.

However, none of those five wins came this week at Guaranteed Rate Field, as the Twins left town with an emphatic three-game sweep.

Poor defense by Tim Anderson, the inability of Ross Detwiler to pitch over that poor defense and garbage relief pitching by Jace Fry led to an 8-2 loss Wednesday night.

Thursday was arguably worse, as Dylan Cease (3-7) wasted no time in erasing the optimism his previous start against the Texas Rangers generated.

Cease allowed hits to the first five batters he faced, and six of the first seven, putting the Sox in a 4-0 hole before they had a chance to bat. The rookie right-hander gave up two more runs in the second inning and allowed two solo home runs to start the third inning before mercifully being removed from the game, which ended in a 10-5 Twins victory.

Final line on Cease: 2 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 Ks, 1 BB.

His season ERA now stands at 6.92. Ugh. This is reminiscent of the first halves we saw from Reynaldo Lopez and Ivan Nova.

In this series, Lucas Giolito was the only Sox pitcher who seemed capable of retiring Minnesota batters. And even he lost, because he gave up two runs on a night when the Sox could only muster one.

The Twins are the leaders in the AL Central with a 82-51 record, and they have proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that they are significantly better than the Sox.

The gap is so wide, in fact, that it's hard to see the Sox making up the difference in just one offseason. I would go as far as to say general manager Rick Hahn needs not one but two big offseasons to get this team into contention by 2021. This Chicago roster has holes in it like Swiss cheese.

Frankly, I think the Sox have overachieved at 60-73. They have benefited from having two even more dismal teams in their division -- the Kansas City Royals (47-88) and the Detroit Tigers (39-92). Not that Minnesota doesn't benefit from playing those teams, too. They clearly do, but the 22-game edge they own on the Sox, and the run differential in head-to-head meetings, doesn't lie.

And let's not forget the Sox are 48-0 when leading after eight innings this year. That's great, but it's probably not going to be duplicated next season. You have to assume there will be more blown leads in 2020, just because of the law of averages in baseball. The Sox bullpen is protecting leads with ridiculously good efficiency, and as nice as that is, it can fool us into believing the team is closer than it really is.

Looking at the 25-man roster, you've got eight to 10 players who belong with the Sox. The rest of the group needs to be overhauled, and not all of that is going to come from within.

Hahn is going to need to pull a rabbit out of his hat to make the optimists in the fan base correct in their belief that the contention window opens next year.

White Sox take three out of four from Texas Rangers

Yoan Moncada

The White Sox need two victories this week to clinch a winning month, as they improved to 14-11 in August by taking three games out of four from the Texas Rangers over the weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The series featured Yoan Moncada's return to the Sox lineup -- and effective starting pitching from Sox hurlers not named Lucas Giolito, whose turn in the rotation did not come up.

The Sox (60-70) will have an off day Monday before continuing the homestand Tuesday, when they open a three-game series against the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins. But here's a look back at the Texas series:

Thursday, Aug. 22
White Sox 6, Rangers 1: Moncada rejoined the Sox and went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer and a double. The home run highlighted a four-run third inning, which also featured a solo shot by James McCann and a RBI single by Tim Anderson.

Left-hander Ross Detwiler (2-3) had his best outing as a member of the Sox, if not the best outing of his career. He struck out a career-high eight over six innings, allowing only one run on three hits. He did not walk a batter. Sox relievers Jimmy Cordero and Kelvin Herrera combined for three innings of hitless, scoreless relief.

It was a weird night for Texas starter Ariel Jurado (6-10), who tossed a complete game but also got knocked around for six runs on 10 hits.

Friday, Aug. 23
White Sox 8, Rangers 3: Will we look back on this as the night when Dylan Cease turned the corner? We can only hope. Cease (3-6) got off to a terrible start, giving up a 3-run homer to Willie Calhoun in the first inning. But the Sox rookie gave up nothing after that. He pitched six innings, striking out nine and walking only one.

The Sox got to Lance Lynn (14-9), who has been one of the better pitchers in the league -- just not on this night. Lynn surrendered seven runs on 11 hits over 5.2 innings. He did strike out 10, but he took the loss.

Moncada once again was 2 for 4 with a two-run homer and a double. Anderson, Leury Garcia and Jon Jay also had multi-hit games. Eight of the nine players in the Sox lineup had at least one hit.

The Sox bullpen, again, was spotless over three innings. Evan Marshall, Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome combined for four strikeouts and no hits or walks allowed.

Saturday, Aug. 24
Rangers 4, White Sox 0: This is the Sox, so there has got to be one clunker in every bunch, right?

Sox starter Ivan Nova (9-10) cruised through five innings, but Anderson booted a grounder off the bat of Elvis Andrus with one out in the sixth, and moments later, Calhoun homered into the right-field stands to put the Rangers up 2-0. Danny Santana added a two-run homer off Cordero in the seventh, and that was that.

The Sox managed eight hits off Kolby Allard (2-0) and two Texas relievers, but seven of them were singles. Ryan Goins doubled with two outs in the ninth for the Sox's lone extra-base hit of the game.

Sox batters finished 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Sunday, Aug. 25
White Sox 2, Rangers 0: It's too bad Reynaldo Lopez (8-11) had to leave this game after five innings with dehydration and flu-like symptoms. He allowed no hits and struck out six while tossing 80 pitches during his outing.

Fortunately, the Sox bullpen covered four innings and finished off a one-hitter. Bummer, Marshall, Jace Fry and Colome each worked a scoreless inning, with Colome earning his 25th save in 26 chances.

Jose Abreu reached 100 RBIs for the fifth time in his six seasons with the Sox. He knocked in both Chicago runs, one with an RBI single in the third, and the other on a fielder's choice in the seventh.

Sox batters couldn't do much with Texas rookie left-hander Brock Burke (0-1), who allowed only one run over six innings. But much like Nova on Saturday night, Burke forgot to throw a shutout and ended up getting beat.

Crosstown series ends in 2-2 season split

Since the start of interleague play, the White Sox have played the Cubs 122 times. The South Siders enjoy a 62-60 all-time series edge after Sunday's 3-1 victory at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The series is historically equal. The team with the worse record often holds its own, so it isn't a surprise that the Sox (42-44) earned a 2-2 season series split with the Cubs (47-43), whose mediocre record probably should be described as underachieving.

What is somewhat surprising is how the Sox got those two victories. The South Siders' best pitcher, Lucas Giolito, is 11-3 this season. However, two of his losses have come to the Cubs. He was knocked out in the fifth inning Saturday night in a 6-3 victory by the North Siders.

Giolito's final line Saturday: 4+ innings, six runs, all earned, four hits, five strikeouts and five walks, including three consecutive to start the fateful fifth inning in which the Cubs scored five of their six runs.

Giolito vs. the Cubs: 0-2 with a 12.96 ERA
Giolito vs. everyone else: 11-1 with a 2.26 ERA

Sometimes, a particular club has your number. Go figure.

Speaking of which, Sox right-hander Ivan Nova has the Cubs' number. Nova (4-7) has been a disappointment this season, but he didn't allow a run Sunday to pick up the victory. He went 5.2 innings, allowing five hits while striking out four and walking only one.

Nova left the mound with a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning. The Sox's bullpen needed to record 10 outs before the Cubs scored three runs. Jace Fry, Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome combined to do just that.

This marked the second good performance for Nova against the Cubs this season. He did not earn the win June 18, but he was the starting pitcher in the other South Side victory in the crosstown series this year.

Nova vs. the Cubs: 1-0 with a 0.84 ERA
Nova vs. everyone else: 3-7 with a 6.15 ERA.

Go figure.

If I were devious, I would suggest the Sox trade Nova to a NL Central contender just so he would have the opportunity to torment the Cubs more often.

White Sox place Jace Fry on the injured list, release Nicky Delmonico

White Sox relief pitcher Jace Fry has been placed on the injured list with a swollen ERA, errr ... left shoulder soreness.

The move is retroactive to Saturday, and I can only hope that Fry has been struggling because he is hurt. He's been one of the most disappointing players on the Sox this season, compiling a 1-2 record and a 5.97 ERA in 28 appearances.

Fry has given up 21 hits and walked 17 batters in 23.1 innings pitched. That's a lot of base runners, and Aaron Bummer clearly has passed him as the most reliable left-handed relief option on the team.

The move makes room on the 25-man roster for Odrisamer Despaigne, who had his contract purchased from Triple-A Charlotte. Despaigne is taking the starting rotation spot of Dylan Covey, who also is on the injured list with the dreaded shoulder soreness.

In the tradition of Mike Pelfrey and Chris Volstad, Despaigne stands to take a beating every fifth day, because the Sox are too timid to call up a legitimate prospect such as Dylan Cease. (Yes, I'm aware that Cease had a bad outing Sunday at Charlotte, but you will never convince me that Despaigne is a better option than Cease.)

Despaigne, 32, is a veteran of 106 major league games, including 47 starts. He has previously pitched for the Padres, Orioles, Marlins and Angels, going 13-24 with a 4.94 ERA. He's not good, and I will assume the Sox will lose every time he takes the mound.

Of course, Despaigne also had to be added to the 40-man roster. To make room, Nicky Delmonico was granted his release. The outfielder is out for the season after having surgery on his left shoulder for a torn labrum.

Delmonico, 26, is a career .227 hitter and may not see the major leagues again. 

A 'good weekend' for the White Sox rebuild in series win vs. Royals

Yoan Moncada

The Kansas City Royals have won only two series all season. They swept a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians from April 12-14, but they haven't won one since.

So, it would have been disappointing for the White Sox to not take at least two out of three over the weekend in Kansas City. The Sox did, in fact, take two out of three games, rallying to win the series after losing Friday night.

You might say it was a "good weekend" for the rebuild, as Yoan Moncada recorded seven hits in the series, Eloy Jimenez homered twice, and Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez both captured wins on the mound. The victories were accomplished with key contributions from players who project to be a part of the long-term picture.

Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, June 7
Royals 6, White Sox 4: This loss was characterized by sloppy play and questionable managing by Rick Renteria. The Sox scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the score at 4, capped by a two-out RBI double by Moncada, and you would have thought momentum was with the South Siders.

Nah. Renteria brought in the struggling Jace Fry (1-2) to pitch in the high-leverage bottom of the seventh, and Fry walked Billy Hamilton on four pitches. This is the same Hamilton with a .282 slugging percentage -- he is not a particularly dangerous hitter in the No. 9 spot in the Kansas City batting order.

Of course, that walk started the wheels in motion for a two-run inning for the Royals. Fry threw 13 pitches, only five for strikes, was charged with two runs and took the loss. At one point in time this season, Fry and Kelvin Herrera were the top choices for high-leverage relief in the seventh and eighth innings. But now, Sox fans would prefer to see those guys only in mop-up duty.

Moncada went 2 for 5 in the loss. James McCann had two hits, including a two-run double.

Saturday, June 8
White Sox 2, Royals 0: Giolito (9-1) served as the stopper, ending the Sox's three-game losing streak with 7.2 innings of three-hit, shutout ball. He set a career high with 11 strikeouts and walked only two batters.

In his previous start against the Royals on May 29, Giolito prominently featured his changeup. Kansas City batters might have been looking for it this time, so Giolito didn't throw a single change the first time through the batting order. He was strictly fastball/slider early, and the Royals couldn't touch him.

In his past seven starts, Giolito is 7-0 with a 0.88 ERA. I don't have to think to hard to wonder which Sox player is the top candidate to be chosen for the All-Star Game this season.

The two runs? Jimenez hit his seventh home run of the season after Jose Rondon had singled in the second. That was about the only mistake Kansas City starter Brad Keller (3-8) made, but against Giolito, it cost him the game.

Alex Colome converted his 13th save in as many tries with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Sunday, June 9
White Sox 5, Royals 2: Jimenez added his eighth home run of the season in the finale, again in the second inning, and this time a solo shot off Glenn Sparkman (1-2). This blast will be on all the highlight reels, as the Sox's left fielder hit a hanging breaking ball 471 feet to dead center field. Jimenez later doubled and scored to complete a productive day.

Finally, Reynaldo Lopez (4-6) looked like a big-league pitcher. He threw all three of his pitches for strikes, and he worked six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts and only one walk. He allowed four hits, including a home run by Jorge Soler, but we can live with one solo homer during a six-inning outing. It was a step forward for Lopez, albeit against one of the worst clubs in the league.

Moncada went 4 for 5 with a two-out RBI single, and Tim Anderson had a two-out RBI double that scored Jimenez as part of his two-hit day. Again, a good weekend for the younger members of the Sox roster.

The Sox (31-33) are about to hit a much rougher patch of schedule. They come home for a six-game homestand -- two against the Washington Nationals and four against the New York Yankees. After that, they embark on a eight-game road trip -- two against the Cubs, three against the Texas Rangers and three against the Boston Red Sox. When they come off that road trip, the last weekend of the month will feature a home series against the first-place Minnesota Twins.

Indeed, tougher tests than the Royals await during the second half of June.

White Sox win two out of three at Yankee Stadium

Tim Anderson

The New York Yankees have almost a full team of guys on the injured list: Luis Severino, Didi Gregorius, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar, Dellin Betances, Aaron Hicks, Troy Tulowitzki and Jacoby Ellsbury.

There are a few others, too, but those are names that most people know.

Not that anyone is going to feel sorry for the Yankees. Coming into the weekend, I was thinking it was a good time for the White Sox to play New York, just because of all those injuries.

On the other side, however, I'm sure Yankees fans were thinking this was a good time to play the Sox, who entered this series on a five-game losing streak.

Turns out, it was a good time for the Sox to play the Yankees. They won two out of three games and improved to 5-9 on the season. Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, April 12
White Sox 9, Yankees 6 (7 innings): This rain-shortened game will be remembered because Eloy Jimenez hit his first two home runs in the major leagues. Jimenez's first home run, a two-run blast in the top of the fifth inning, capped a four-run rally and put the Sox ahead to stay at 7-5.

If Jimenez has the career that Sox fans hope he does, Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder becomes the answer to a trivia question -- he gave up the first home run in Jimenez's career.

Yonder Alonso also homered as part of that fifth inning, and Jimenez and James McCann hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning off Chad Green to cap the scoring. The rain came before the Yankees had a chance to bat in the bottom of the inning, and when the game was called, most Sox fans probably breathed a sigh of relief knowing the bullpen wouldn't be asked to protect a three-run lead.

Lucas Giolito (2-1) gave up four runs in the first two innings to put the Sox in an early hole, but he hung around long enough for the offense to rally and give him a win. Giolito gave up six runs, four earned, on six hits. He struck out six and walked four.

Saturday, April 13
Yankees 4, White Sox 0: CC Sabathia is retiring after this season, and not a moment too soon for Sox fans. He's 19-7 in his career against the South Siders, and although he did not get the win on this day, Sox batters had no answer for him.

Sabathia worked five innings and allowed only one hit -- a single by Jose Rondon -- and combined on a one-hitter with three Yankees relievers.

Ivan Nova (0-2) got stuck with a loss because second baseman Yolmer Sanchez didn't catch a routine grounder. Nova held the Yankees off the board through six innings, before giving up a leadoff single to Gleybor Torres in the bottom of the seventh.

Jace Fry relieved Nova and got the ground ball the Sox needed off the bat of Greg Bird. It should have been a double play, but Sanchez kicked it, and the Sox got no outs. Instead of two out, nobody on, the Yankees had first and second with nobody out.

I always say, when the opposition hits you a double-play ball and you make an error and get no outs, that's going to lead to a crooked number against. Sure enough, the Yankees went on to score three runs in that seventh inning. Ballgame.

Sunday, April 14
White Sox 5, Yankees 2: I heard most of this game on the radio, because I had to take my better half to Midway Airport in the middle of a freak April snowstorm. Thank goodness the Sox were on the road this weekend, right? And they secured a series win behind a grand slam from Tim Anderson and a quality start from Carlos Rodon.

Rodon scuffled early, giving up single runs in both the first and third innings. Both runners that came around to score reached on walks, but the left-hander recovered to give up nothing through the middle innings. In fact, the Yankees had only one hit after the third inning in this game.

The final line for Rodon (2-2): 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 Ks, 2 BBs.

The Sox got to Masahiro Tanaka (1-1) the second time through the batting order. Jose Abreu doubled with one out in the fourth inning. Alonso and Jimenez walked, and that set the table for Anderson, who lined an 0-1 pitch over the wall in right-center field for a grand slam and 4-2 Sox lead.

Abreu's sacrifice fly in the fifth inning added a run, and the pitching did the rest. Fry, Nate Jones, Kelvin Herrera and Alex Colome combined for three innings of scoreless relief. Colome worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save in as many chances.

The Sox now come back to snowy Chicago for a brief three-game homestand. A series against the Kansas City Royals is set to begin Monday night.

Maybe Ricky's boys don't quit, but they sure can't pitch

Ervin Santana

You have to give the White Sox front office credit. They took a 100-loss team and somehow managed to make it even less enjoyable to watch.

I'm glad Tuesday's 10-5 Sox loss to the Tampa Bay Rays was an afternoon game, as being at work spared me from the majority of the agony. Although, Jace Fry's 46-pitch slog of a relief appearance in the top of the ninth inning spanned most of my 45-minute drive home from the office.

That's a little too much bad radio with Ed Farmer for me. The game ended at 5:06 p.m. local time, which means the nine-inning game took four minutes short of four hours.

Sox starting pitcher Ervin Santana didn't survive the fourth inning. He worked only 3.2 innings, allowing seven earned runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out one. He threw only 45 of his 88 pitches for strikes and gave up three home runs.

Tampa Bay batters drew eight walks, and I don't even want to count how many three-ball counts there must have been in that game.

The Sox are 1-4 on the homestand and 3-7 for the season. They have received poor starting pitching in every single one of the these five home games. Here's a look at the last pass through the rotation:

Reynaldo Lopez: 5 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 5 Ks, 4 BBs, 3 HRs allowed
Lucas Giolito: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 Ks, 4 BBs, 1 HR allowed
Ivan Nova: 2.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 Ks, 1 BB, 0 HR allowed
Carlos Rodon: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 9 Ks, 5 BBs, 0 HR allowed
Santana: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 K, 3 BBs, 3 HRs allowed

So, Sox starters have a 13.50 ERA on this homestand. That's not going to get it done. In fact, it's completely unwatchable, watching this team get buried in the early innings day after day.

Personally, I've grown tired of the alleged "positive trajectory" the Sox claim to be on. They think they are positioning themselves to compete for "multiple championships."

Frankly, I think they are positioning themselves to alienate the few fans they have left. Yes, Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada are swinging the bats well. However, with so little pitching in place and not much beyond Dylan Cease in the pipeline, this looks more like a express elevator straight to hell than a "positive trajectory."