Eloy Jimenez is back ... but the White Sox continue to slump

Eloy Jimenez

After missing the first 99 games of the season, Eloy Jimenez was back in the White Sox lineup Monday night. 

Jimenez batted fourth and served as the designated hitter. And he went 0 for 4 and swung at some bad pitches as the Sox lost, 4-3, to the Kansas City Royals.

I'm not overly surprised that Jimenez didn't produce immediate results, nor am I particularly worried. You expect a guy who has missed that much time to struggle at the outset.

The rest of the Sox batters have no excuse, however, as they were baffled by Kansas City starter Mike Minor (8-8), who entered Monday's game with a 5.45 ERA.

Alas, Minor allowed only one hit -- a double by Adam Engel -- through the first five innings of the game. The Sox were trailing 3-0 at that point, before they finally broke through in the sixth on a two-run single by Andrew Vaughn.

The Sox have scored only eight runs during the first four games of this seven-game road trip, but it's not Vaughn's fault. He's 7 for 16 with three doubles, a home run and three RBIs in the past four games.

Monday's loss, however, was well-earned by Sox starter Dallas Keuchel. Just after the Sox got him back in the game with those two runs, he gave up a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to Andrew Benintendi.

Keuchel also gave up two solo home runs to Jorge Soler, who entered Monday's game with a .193 batting average. Keuchel (7-4), who is known for his sinker, needs to start doing a better job of keeping the ball in the park. He is allowing 1.41 home runs per nine innings. That's the worst rate since his rookie season. His ERA is 4.32, and he looks the part of No. 5 starter at this point.

The Royals (43-55) are in fourth place in the division, but they are good at closing out games -- 36-1 when leading after eight innings this season. And they led 4-2 after eight innings in this game.

Scott Barlow worked the final two innings for his sixth save, but the Sox almost got to him in the ninth. After Jimenez popped out, Yoan Moncada doubled and scored on a single by Engel that made it 4-3.

Pinch-hitter Brian Goodwin had an atrocious call go against him -- a pitch that was both low and outside was called a strike -- but he managed to work the count full. With Engel running on the 3-2 pitch, Goodwin lined out to second base, and Engel was hung out to dry -- easily doubled off first to end the game.

The Sox (59-41) are 1-3 on the road trip and have lost four out of five overall. I guess this is why you get a big lead in the division, right? The division lead in the AL Central is 8.5 games. That's still comfortable. You'd just like to see the Sox swing the bats better against less-than-spectacular pitching.

Fix this: White Sox are 1-5 when Lucas Giolito starts

Lucas Giolito

It's probably too early to look at the AL Central standings, but let's look at them anyway. After all, the next 13 games for the White Sox are against two division rivals -- the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins.

Here's how the division stacks up entering Friday's action:

1. Cleveland 17-13
2. White Sox 16-13
3. Kansas City 16-14
4. Minnesota 11-19
5. Detroit 9-23

There are two surprises here. First, the Royals are playing better than .500 baseball. Sure, they just got swept four straight at home by Cleveland, so they might be coming back to reality. But it's been a good start for Kansas City. The Sox will be on the road this weekend against the Royals, and they can't expect to win this series easily. This isn't the same Royals team the Sox went 9-1 against in 2020.

Second, the defending AL Central champion Twins are playing bad. Real bad. In the past, the cure for whatever ails Minnesota has been games against the Sox. Can the Sox keep the Twins on the skids when they play them in Chicago next week? We shall see, but first things first.

Here are the pitching matchups for this weekend in Kansas City:

• Friday: Carlos Rodon (4-0, 0.72 ERA) vs. Brad Keller (2-3, 8.06 ERA)
• Saturday: Lance Lynn (2-1, 1.82 ERA) vs. Daniel Lynch (0-0, 5.79 ERA)
• Sunday: Lucas Giolito (1-3, 4.99 ERA) vs. Mike Minor (2-1, 5.23 ERA)

What am I watching for in this series? I'm wondering whether the Sox can win a game with Lucas Giolito on the mound. The ace of the staff has made six starts this season, and in those games, the Sox are 1-5.

Some of Giolito's woes are self-inflicted. He had a real clunker against the Boston Red Sox on April 19. However, he could also sue his teammates for non-support. The Sox have scored only 19 runs in those six games, and 10 of them were in one game. So, in Giolito's other five starts, the Sox have provided only nine runs of support.

In two of Giolito's starts -- both against Cleveland -- the Sox gave him no runs whatsoever. In one of those games, he managed to keep the Indians off the board and got a no-decision in an eventual loss. In the other, he gave up one earned run and lost. Basically, he forgot to throw a shutout, or give up negative runs.

That's one thing that has to change if the Sox are going to stay in the division race and potentially win it this year: They need to win consistently on Giolito's day to pitch. Let's see if this trend reverses on Sunday.

Slow start to the baseball offseason, huh?

Marcus Stroman

So, it's Nov. 30. Thanksgiving has passed, and well, there haven't been any major trades or free agent signings around Major League Baseball.

Here's what has happened so far:

• RHP Marcus Stroman accepted the $18.9 million qualifying offer to remain with the New York Mets.
• RHP Kevin Gausman accepted the $18.9 million qualifying offer to remain with the San Francisco Giants.
• RHP Charlie Morton signed a one-year, $15 million contract with the Atlanta Braves.
• LHP Drew Smyly signed a one-year, $11 million contract with the Atlanta Braves.
• LHP Robbie Ray signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.
• RHP Kendall Graveman signed a one-year, $1.25 million contract with the Seattle Mariners.
• RHP Josh Tomlin signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Atlanta Braves.
• Utility player Josh Harrison signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Washington Nationals.

The Kansas City Royals reportedly have a two-year agreement in place with LHP Mike Minor, and a one-year deal in place with outfielder Michael Taylor. Those moves have not yet been finalized.

Not exactly, earth-shaking stuff, huh? I figured maybe if I complain about the lack of news, we'll get some news and something to argue about.

Injury-riddled Braves sign pitcher Ervin Santana

It's been a bad week for the Atlanta Braves and their starting pitchers.

Kris Medlen, Atlanta's best pitcher and projected Opening Day starter, left a spring training start on Sunday while holding his right elbow. Preliminary tests showed ligament damage, and it's possible Medlen will be looking at his second Tommy John surgery in less than four years.

Then on Monday, Brandon Beachy could not finish his spring training outing because of continuing problems with his surgically repaired right elbow. Beachy has started just 18 games over the last two seasons and his suffered multiple setbacks in his recovery after surgery in 2012.

I haven't even mentioned Mike Minor yet. The left-hander won 13 games for Atlanta last season, but he's yet to pitch this spring because of a shoulder problem.

The Braves are staring down the possibility that 60 percent of their starting rotation will be on the disabled list when the season opens. Julio Teheran, a 14-game winner last year, and fifth starter Alex Wood are the last two men standing. Former White Sox pitcher Freddy Garcia is in camp as a nonroster invitee. Another former Sox, Gavin Floyd, is on Atlanta's roster, but he is not expected to pitch until May as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.

The situation is obviously getting a little worrisome in Atlanta, so the Braves acted Wednesday, signing Ervin Santana to a one-year contract worth $14.1 million. The right-hander, who went 9-10 with a 3.24 ERA in 32 starts with Kansas City last year, was the last major free-agent pitcher available.

It's no secret I'm not a fan of Santana. As recently as two years ago, his ERA was over 5. His 2013 performance with the Royals was a career year, and I wouldn't expect him to repeat that. It seems a lot of GMs felt the same way, and that's why the 31-year-old right-hander went unsigned halfway into March.

Also, the Braves have to give Kansas City a first-round draft pick -- in this case the No. 26 selection -- as compensations for signing Santana. Atlanta is paying a hefty price here, not just the $14.1 million but the draft pick as well.

You might go so far as to say the Braves are panicking in the wake of their recent injuries. I can understand their thinking, though. They won their division last year, and they obviously feel they are a contender again this season. But the house may crumble if they enter April with the corpse of Freddy Garcia as their No. 3 starter. That would be a scary proposition indeed.

Atlanta is counting on Santana to ride to its rescue. That's not a comfortable position to be in, but it's probably better than relying on Garcia or throwing some untested rookies into the fire.