So, Justin Verlander is better than Touki Toussaint? No kidding ...

Touki Toussaint vs. Justin Verlander.

I've talked before about how some days I check the pitching matchup in the morning, and I'm 100% sure the White Sox are going to lose. Wednesday was one of those days.

During the rebuilding years of 2017 to 2019, you could live with the Sox being at a severe disadvantage in the pitching matchup on some days. But this is 2023. The team is supposed to be contending, but it isn't. And it's especially annoying when you see games like Wednesday's, which ended as a 5-1 victory for the New York Mets.

The Sox had no answers for Verlander, the future Hall of Famer. The 40-year-old right-hander needed only 59 pitches to breeze through the first six innings, during which he allowed no runs on only one hit. 

Luis Robert Jr. finally got the Sox on the board with his 28th homer in the seventh inning, but that was the sum total of the Chicago offense. Verlander (4-5) threw 100 pitches over eight innings, allowing one run on three hits. He struck out seven and walked one.

Toussaint? Well, he is a reclamation project who was picked off the waiver wire on June 20. Now he's starting games because Mike Clevinger is hurt, and the Sox have nobody else.

At least give Toussaint (0-3) credit for eating innings. He allowed five earned runs on four hits over six innings. He struck out three and walked four. He was relieved by 29-year-old rookie Jesse Scholtens, who kept the Mets off the board for two innings. 

Toussaint and Scholtens ... don't you think they would have fit in nicely on the 2017 White Sox rebuilding roster? I'm sure they're nice guys and all, and they are survivors in professional baseball. 

But the fact that they are pitching for the Sox is proof positive that the "contention window" is shut and locked. These guys are no match for Verlander, even in the twilight of his career.

Luis Robert Jr. looks like favorite to represent White Sox in All-Star Game

About an hour before game time Sunday, in Suite 250.

Luis Robert Jr. went 3 for 4 with two home runs and three RBIs on Sunday, lifting the White Sox to a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox in the rubber match of a three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Robert Jr.'s first homer was in the fourth inning, a high fly to right-center field that just cleared the fence. The two-run shot gave the Sox their first lead of the game at 2-1.

Andrew Benintendi's RBI double scored Gavin Sheets, who had walked, in the fifth inning to make it 3-1. Robert Jr. then capped the scoring in the sixth with a screaming liner to left field that cleared the Sox bullpen.

On the pitching side, it was a bullpen game for the Sox. Tanner Banks started and gave up the lone Boston run over 2.2 innings pitched. Jesse Scholtens (1-2) went four scoreless innings to pick up the first win of his career, and Keynan Middleton worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save of the season.

Robert Jr. now has 21 home runs this season, to go along with 20 doubles.

Here is a list of Sox players to clear 20 home runs and 20 doubles before the All-Star break:

• Frank Thomas, 1993
• Frank Thomas, 1994
• Magglio Ordonez, 2000
• Frank Thomas, 2003
• Jermaine Dye, 2008
• Jose Abreu, 2014
• Jose Abreu, 2019
• Luis Robert Jr., 2023

It's exclusive list. Robert Jr.'s slash line is now .269/.326/.559. Even with his high strikeout totals (91 in 315 plate appearances), his extra-base power and premium defense in center field easily make Robert Jr. the most effective player on the Sox this season.

It's hard to see a scenario where he isn't the guy to represent the Sox during the MLB All-Star Game next month in Seattle.

Will Lance Lynn get DFA'd by White Sox?

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani combined to hit 1,345 feet of home runs off White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn on Wednesday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Trout hit a 461-foot cannon shot in the first inning on a pitch that I would hesitate to call a slider -- it did absolutely nothing. Ohtani's home runs -- one in the third inning and another in the fourth -- traveled 425 feet and 459 feet, respectively.

Yes, it was a rough day for Lynn (4-6), as the Los Angeles Angels routed the Sox, 12-5.

The final line for Lynn: He pitched four innings, allowing eight runs (all earned) on eight hits. He struck out four, walked two, hit two batters and surrendered three titanic home runs. He gave the Sox no chance to win.

His ERA ballooned to 6.55 in 12 starts. His WHIP was an ugly 1.453 coming into Wednesday, and that's about to get worse. His velocity is down -- bad news for a fastball pitcher -- and at age 36, it's fair to wonder if Lynn's best days are past.

In the wake of this terrible game, I've seen Sox fans on social media calling for Lynn to be designated for assignment.

It is true that a roster move is due -- Mike Clevinger is ready to come off the injured list and rejoin the starting rotation. That will probably happen this weekend against the Detroit Tigers.

However, I expect Jesse Scholtens to be optioned to Triple-A Charlotte, even though Scholtens did a reasonable job in relief Wednesday. He worked four innings, gave up only two runs and generally went about the business of getting this terrible game over with as quickly as possible.

Here's the problem with getting rid of Lynn: Scholtens, a 29-year-old who just made his big league debut earlier this season, is the only pitcher in the Sox system who looks credible enough to provide depth in the rotation. 

Say you let Lynn go and install Scholtens in the rotation, and then you have another injury (a very likely possibility with this fragile team). Then what? Cover your eyes when you look at the pitching statistics for Triple-A Charlotte. With Davis Martin out for the season after elbow surgery, there isn't anyone else who can help.

There are 104 games left in the season. That means there are somewhere between 900 and 950 innings left to cover. The Sox are 23-35. They are out of race, but they still have to play these games and somebody has to take the mound and wear it. Might as well be Lynn.

Then, when the season ends, you decline Lynn's option for 2024 and regroup.

White Sox limited to three hits in loss at Cleveland

So much for the good vibes from that series sweep of Kansas City, huh?

The White Sox managed only three hits Monday and lost, 3-0, to the Cleveland Guardians in the first game of a three-game series in Cleveland. 

Cleveland starter Hunter Gaddis entered this game with a 6.86 ERA in five previous games. He last faced the Sox on Sept. 15, 2022. In that game, he gave up seven earned runs -- including five homers -- over four innings pitched.

But on Monday, he threw six scoreless innings of two-hit ball to earn his first major league victory. 

Embarrassing for the Sox, although we shouldn't be surprised.

What's frustrating is the Sox got exactly what they needed from Triple-A call-up Jesse Scholtens (0-2), who was added to the roster after Mike Clevinger hit the 15-day injured list with right wrist inflammation.

Scholtens pitched five innings and allowed one run on two hits. The only run scored on a wild pitch, which should have been caught by Yasmani Grandal -- frankly, I thought it was a passed ball.

The Guardians got some breathing room in the seventh inning when Mike Zunino hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer off Gregory Santos to make it 3-0. 

Zunino had been in a 1-for-31 slump, so giving up a big hit to him right now is tough to accept.

As a matter of fact, everything about this game was tough to accept, but there is a reason the Sox are 19-30.

White Sox designate pitcher Jose Ruiz for assignment

The White Sox on Friday designated relief pitcher Jose Ruiz for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Jesse Scholtens from Triple-A Charlotte.

Ruiz, who has made 177 relief appearances with the Sox from 2018 to present, was off to a terrible start this season. He's been in four games, allowing nine runs, eight hits, four walks, two HBPs and three home runs over 3.2 innings pitched.

The season ERA for Ruiz? 22.09, which is higher than the 21.60 ERA posted by utility infielder Hanser Alberto in his two pitching appearances.

That will get you designated for assignment.

Scholtens, who just turned 29 on Thursday, has never pitched in the majors before. He was a ninth-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in 2016. Up until this year, he had been in the Padres organization.

He made one start with Charlotte this week, giving up four earned runs in four innings. He's stretched out as a starter, so that means he can work in long relief for the Sox. That's a role that is needed right now.

Through seven games, the Sox have received only one quality start -- Dylan Cease on opening night. With starters failing to go any deeper than five innings in games, the Sox bullpen has been taxed early. They need a guy who can give them multiple innings in relief.

Scholtens is getting the opportunity. We'll see what he does with it.