White Sox DFA Ervin Santana, reinstate Eloy Jimenez from bereavement list

Ervin Santana

When a veteran pitcher is signed to be an "innings-eater" at the back of the rotation, you expect him to -- well, you know -- eat innings.

However, when said pitcher struggles to make it through five innings in every start, that deal becomes a difficult proposition.

Ervin Santana, we hardly knew ye.

The White Sox on Friday designated the right-handed pitcher for assignment. Rookie left fielder Eloy Jimenez was reinstated from the bereavement list to take Santana's place on the 25-man roster.

Santana made three starts and went 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA. He allowed 14 earned runs and six home runs in 13.1 innings, and he walked more people (6) than he struck out (5).

In Santana's best start, he lasted only five innings against the sad-sack Kansas City Royals, and in his most recent outing, he was knocked out in the fifth inning of a loss to the sad-sack Baltimore Orioles.

This is the right move. Santana has shown nothing, even against poor opposition. That said, I'm a little surprised the Sox let Santana go so quickly. They have a cherished history of sticking with struggling players way too long.

Not this time.

I'm guessing this means Lucas Giolito will be healthy and ready to take his next turn in the rotation, likely next Tuesday. Giolito is on the injured list with a hamstring strain right now. This also means Manny Banuelos is likely to get a chance at sticking in the rotation. He tossed four shutout innings in his first start of the season Monday against Baltimore, a game that Sox won handily.

As for Jimenez, he returns after missing the Baltimore series because of the death of his grandmother in the Dominican Republic. The rookie had been struggling of late both at the plate and in the field.

A modest suggestion for Sox manager Rick Renteria: Detroit is pitching two left-handers against the Sox this weekend -- Daniel Norris on Friday and Matthew Boyd on Sunday. Let's allow Jimenez to DH a couple games to take some of the pressure off. He can focus on his hitting and forget about defense.

Sit Yonder Alonso against the lefties -- he's only hitting .179 and hasn't done enough to deserve an everyday role. Then put the best defensive outfield available out there -- Leury Garcia in left field, Adam Engel in center and Ryan Cordell in right.

I think that alignment gives the Sox the best chance to win against left-handed pitching, at least for now.

As a season ticket holder, I'm putting the White Sox on the clock

The White Sox lost the last two games of their three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles, the same Baltimore team than went 47-115 last season.

When this season started, many pointed to the stretch of 16 games the Sox are in the middle of now as reason for optimism. Three with Kansas City, four with Detroit, three with Baltimore, three more with Detroit and three more with Baltimore.

Hey, that's a long stretch of games against rebuilding teams -- and teams that happen to be a year behind the Sox in terms of starting the rebuilding process. Some believed this would be an opportunity to have a winning month of April, even if the long-term prognosis for the 2019 season wasn't the most promising.

Turns out the Sox can't do much more than tread water against these three teams, which combined to lose 317 games between them in 2018.

We are 10 games into that 16-game stretch, and the Sox are 4-5 with one rainout. What can you really say? This is a terrible baseball team for the third straight season, and it will be a losing baseball team for the seventh straight season.

As a "valued season ticket holder," I've had just about enough of not being entertained by something that is supposed to be entertaining. I'll give the Sox the rest of this season and next to get this right.

You figure, next year Michael Kopech will be back from injury. Dylan Cease will be on the team, maybe Zack Collins, too. There will be another year of experience for Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Tim Anderson, Carlos Rodon, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez.

This year is going to be awful. I've accepted it. But three years of tanking for draft position in a major market is enough, don't you think?

Dear White Sox: Improve by the end of 2020, or I won't be a season ticket holder in 2021. I've been with you as one of your best customers since 2004, but everyone has their limits.

I've reached mine.

Jose Abreu (finally) has a big game for White Sox

Jose Abreu

I don't know that Jose Abreu is necessarily a slow starter. His career March/April slash line is .258/.326/.486, and he has 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in 141 career games during the first month of the season.

That's respectable.

He is, however, a notorious warm-weather hitter. Look at his August career slash line (.331/.391/.575) and his July career slash line (.300/.366/.510). Abreu's pattern is characterized by a mediocre or less-than-mediocre first half, followed by a torrid second half.

This April has been slower than most for Abreu. He came into Monday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles with a .192/.273/.372 slash, which is uncharacteristically cold for such an accomplished hitter. The usual caveats apply about small sample sizes, and you had to believe Abreu was about due for a breakout.

Porous Baltimore pitching seemed to be the cure for what ails Abreu, and the Sox in general. The first baseman went 3 for 6 with a home run and five RBIs in Monday's 12-2 Sox win over the Orioles.

The Sox posted three four-run innings -- four in the fifth, four in the seventh and four in the eighth. Abreu contributed an RBI single in the fourth, a two-run homer in the seventh and a two-run single in the eighth.

He now has four home runs and 17 RBIs through the first 21 games, and with one good performance, he's basically back on the run production pace you'd like to see from him.

Obviously, most of the focus for the Sox is on the younger guys. Who will be part of the future and who will play their way out of the plans? Abreu is one of the veterans who may or may not be here next year and beyond, but for now, the team needs him to be the same stabilizing force he has been in the past.

That's especially true because he bats third, right behind Yoan Moncada. If Abreu is hitting well, and pitchers are worried about him, that means more fastballs to hit for Moncada.

Anything that makes Moncada better is good for the Sox's future.

The Sox are now 9-12 for the season and 2-2 on the current six-game road trip, after dropping two out of three over the weekend in Detroit. There are two games left in Baltimore before the South Siders come home to start a 10-game homestand.

Palka to Charlotte; Giolito to IL; Cordell excels; Fulmer flops

The White Sox on Wednesday optioned outfielder Daniel Palka to Triple-A Charlotte, just hours after he broke an 0-for-32 slump with a broken-bat single in a 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

Of course, Palka also grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and one out in a tie game in the bottom of the eighth inning, and he also made the final out of the game in the bottom of the 10th -- making weak contact in both at-bats.

It was time to send him down. Past time, in fact.

Amid all the Tim Anderson controversy, it was almost forgotten that pitcher Lucas Giolito had to leave Wednesday's game in the third inning with left hamstring tightness. It was unfortunate, because Giolito had his good stuff working. He had not allowed a hit and struck out five through 2.2 innings.

These two roster moves allowed Ryan Cordell and Carson Fulmer to return from Charlotte for Thursday's game in Detroit, a 9-7 White Sox loss. 

Cordell started in right field batting ninth, and went 3 for 4 with his second home run of the season, which briefly gave the Sox a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning. On this blog, we previously endorsed Cordell's recall from Charlotte, although I had suggested he replace Adam Engel, not Palka.

In any case, Cordell seems to be the best of the bad options in the Sox outfield right now. He's swinging the bat better than Palka, Engel or Nicky Delmonico, who is at Charlotte.

As we've stated before, Cordell should not be seen as a long-term solution to anything, and as a Sox fan, I long for the day when we aren't talking about shuffling through a bunch of never-will-be outfielders. But, this is the situation right now, and the Sox need to give the playing time to the man who is doing the best job.

At the moment, that's Cordell. Give it a week, and it might be someone else's turn.

As for Fulmer, he found himself on the mound in the eighth inning of a 7-7 game Thursday, and he gave up two runs and lost it on a single, two hit batters and two sacrifice flies. Fulmer continued his longstanding habit of giving things away by loading the bases with the two hit batsmen.

I didn't really like Fulmer being on the mound in that situation on his first day back in the bigs, but in fairness to Sox manager Rick Renteria, he lacks good options in the bullpen.

For me, Fulmer is a symbol of why the Sox rebuild has stagnated. The rebuild proponents want to the team to tank again for draft position this season, but the thing is, the Sox haven't done a good job with their first-round draft picks, of which Fulmer is one.

He's out of options, and this might be his last kick at the can with the Sox organization. Can a rebuild really work for an organization that a) doesn't draft well and b) doesn't want to spend in free agency?

It doesn't look good. The Sox (7-12) lost 100 games last season; they are on pace for 99 losses this season. As a friend texted me this afternoon, "This just keeps getting worse." 

The Kansas City Royals are intent on teaching Tim Anderson the unwritten rules

Touchdown celebrations are allowed in football.

Goals in hockey? Raise your stick, pump your fist, let out a yell and hug your teammates.

A slam dunk or a 3-point play in basketball gets everyone fired up, right?

However, in baseball, if a batter hits a home run, he is to drop his bat quietly, lower his head and solemnly round the bases -- quickly. Otherwise, he might hurt the tender sensitivities of the pitcher who just gave up the hit.

That's the message the Kansas City Royals sent White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson on Wednesday. Anderson hit a mammoth two-run homer off Kansas City starter Brad Keller in the fourth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. After making contact, Anderson tossed his bat javelin-style back toward his own dugout and appeared to exhort his teammates, as if to say, "Let's go!"

Now, now, now, Timmy, that show of emotion is not acceptable in this stodgy, ole game of baseball.

Keller -- who is probably the best pitcher on the butthurt, last-place Royals, which isn't saying much -- drilled Anderson in ass in the sixth inning as punishment. Not satisfied, Royals players and coaches came on the field and started chirping at Anderson for his transgression as he slowly made his way down the first-base line. Of course, benches and bullpens emptied. Anderson and Keller both were ejected.

I don't know what Kansas City pitching Cal Eldred is thinking about. His team has one of the highest bullpen ERAs in the league. Perhaps he should be more concerned about that than teaching Anderson a lesson, but yelling at a player on the opposing team for hitting a home run off one of his pitchers seemed to be a high priority today.

Look, I'm not a real fan of the celebration of mundane things. And celebrating a home run in the fourth inning of an April game between two bad teams is not real high on my to-do list.

But, I'm also not going to go into "old man yells at cloud" mode either. A new generation is coming into the game, one that doesn't mind celebrating hits in the fourth inning, and one that doesn't mind charging onto the field as if they've won the World Series after a ninth-inning victory. Times have changed, and I'm OK with that.

More over, all 30 teams in baseball "pimp" home runs now, so in my mind, any team that gets pissed off about another team celebrating a home run is living in a glass house.

Get over yourselves, Royals. If you don't want Anderson to celebrate, get him out next time.

Does anyone else wonder whether these bizarre "unwritten rules" are among the reasons some young people today find baseball boring?

You know, baseball is a game. It's OK if the people playing it have some fun.

If Keller strikes Anderson out in that situation, I wouldn't have minded it if he had pumped his fist for pitching out of a jam. So, why should anyone mind if Anderson flipped his bat when he had success?

It's time to lighten up.

For the record, the Royals won, 4-3, in 10 innings, but the Sox took two of three in the series. So, the Sox (7-10) are in fourth place and the Royals (6-12) are in last. That's probably where these two teams will stay all season.

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.

Deep thoughts: Should Ryan Cordell take Adam Engel's roster spot?

Adam Engel

Outfielder Ryan Cordell hit for the cycle Wednesday night in the Charlotte Knights' 10-9 victory over the Norfolk Tides.

Cordell, who started the season with the White Sox and appeared in five games before being optioned to Triple-A, went 5 for 5 with four runs scored and three RBIs in the victory. He's 6 for 9 since being sent down.

Hmmmmm ... Cordell only had six at-bats in the major leagues in those five games, and he struck out in three of the six. But, he also produced a two-run, pinch-hit home run that gave the Sox a lead. His other hit was an RBI double.

I don't necessarily think Cordell has much lasting power in professional baseball, but he seems to be playing well right now, and that makes me wonder whether he'd be a better use of a roster spot than Adam Engel -- who is being squeezed out of playing time by Leury Garcia, of all people.

On Tuesday, the Sox lost, 10-5, to the Tampa Bay Rays. But, they had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. The Sox had pulled within 8-5, and they had the bases loaded with two outs. Yolmer Sanchez was due to hit, but with a left-handed pitcher on the mound, manager Rick Renteria decided to use a pinch hitter.

And he summoned ... Engel?!

Engel, the lifetime .205 hitter, who is 2 for 15 so far this season. Naturally, Engel struck out to end the threat, and that was it for the Sox on that day.

You can't help but wonder if Cordell would have been more of a threat with the bat in that scenario -- at least in the short run while he's hot. (Note: Cordell is NOT a long-term answer for anything.)

If Renteria isn't going to start Engel in center field every day to take advantage of Engel's run prevention skills, then why is Engel on the roster?

Just wondering.