Dylan Covey's fan murdering overshadows Eloy Jimenez's return to White Sox lineup

Guaranteed Rate Field on Saturday night

Fourteen pitches. That's all it took for White Sox starting pitcher Dylan Covey to give up five runs to the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Covey got knocked out without recording a single out, and the Twins went on to beat the Sox, 11-1. With the loss, the South Siders dropped three out of four in the series. They fell to 2-5 on the current 10-game homestand and are now 4-13 since the All-Star break.

If you were a fan at this game, God bless you, because you deserve a refund. It was bad enough for me watching on TV.

Here's how those first five Minnesota batters fared:

Max Kepler doubled to right field.
Jorge Polanco homered to center field.
Nelson Cruz singled to left field.
Luis Arraez singled to left field.
Miguel Sano homered to right field.

All five players hit the ball hard.

Thankfully, Covey was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte after the game. His season record is 1-7 with a 6.99 ERA, and his removal from the rotation is long overdue. It isn't just his poor performance this season. Covey has had three years to get it right, and he's arguably just as bad as ever:

2017: 0-7, 7.71 ERA, 18 games (12 starts)
2018: 5-14, 5.18 ERA, 27 games (21 starts)
2019: 1-7, 6.99 ERA, 14 games (10 starts)
Career: 6-28, 6.28 ERA, 59 games (43 starts)

That's enough opportunities to conclude Covey is not a starting pitcher, don't you think? This guy is the poster child for the Sox being slow to react to problems. It's time to move on, and hopefully, the embarrassment on Sunday is enough for the team to finally throw in the towel on this idea that Covey is a rotation piece.

Covey's terrible performance overshadowed Eloy Jimenez's return to the lineup. Jimenez, who bruised his elbow July 16 in Kansas City, came back sooner than the predicted two-week absence. He did not go on a minor league rehab assignment, so some rust is expected.

Despite going 0 for 3, I thought Jimenez looked good at the plate. He lined out to Kepler in deep right field in his first plate appearance. Jonathan Schoop made a good play on him on a hard grounder up the middle his second time up. In his third at-bat with the bases loaded and the Sox trailing, 9-1, he saw eight pitches and worked the count full.

Pitch nine was low and inside and should have been called ball four. Alas, Angel Hernandez is one of the worst umpires in the game, and he called Jimenez out. It should have been a bases-loaded walk, an RBI and a 9-2 game. Instead, Sox manager Rick Renteria got ejected for arguing balls and strikes.

Hernandez is not the reason the Sox lost -- Covey is -- but that was still a frustrating turn of events.

With Jimenez's return, the Sox designated utility infielder Jose Rondon for assignment before Sunday's game. Rondon is another guy who hung around longer than he probably should have. This season, he hit .197/.265/.282 with three home runs and nine RBIs in 55 games.

Sooner or later, the Sox needed to pare down the number of utility players they have on the 25-man roster. Rondon has been outplayed by both Leury Garcia and Yolmer Sanchez throughout the season, and he didn't merit more opportunities.

I'm on vacation ...

... and blogging will resume Monday, July 29.

Taking a baseball road trip that doesn't involve the crummy White Sox

The White Sox are 0-7 since the All-Star break after being swept in a four-game series at Kansas City this week.

Yes, the 36-62 Royals won four straight games against the Sox (42-51), who continue to find new lows in this interminable, hard-on-the-eyes rebuilding process.

But there is good news: I'm leaving town for a week, which means I won't have to watch or hear about this crappy baseball team for seven days. I'm taking a baseball trip that doesn't involve the Sox, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

My itinerary:

Sunday, July 20: Drive to Cleveland
Sunday, July 21: Royals vs. Indians at Progressive Field
Monday, July 22: Drive to Cooperstown, N.Y.
Tuesday, July 23: Visit National Baseball Hall of Fame
Wednesday, July 24: Drive to Pittsburgh
Thursday, July 25: Cardinals vs. Pirates at PNC Park
Friday, July 26: Drive home

I'm going to see a part of the country I haven't seen before, and visiting the Hall of Fame is a bucket list item. Can't wait.

Blogging will resume when I return home. Maybe the Sox will have won a game in the second half by then.

Let us never speak of this Oakland series again, OK?

Ivan Nova

The White Sox opened the second half of the season by playing their worst series in quite some time. They were swept in three games in Oakland. They were outscored, 21-5, and were limited to only two extra-base hits the entire series -- both of which came Sunday.

Dating back to 2017, the Sox have lost their past eight games in Oakland. That stadium has been a house of horrors for the South Siders seemingly for the past 25 years.

I was noticing that Kansas City traded starting pitcher Homer Bailey to Oakland over the weekend. And I thought, hey, if the Royals can trade a mediocre, washed-up pitcher such as Bailey, does that mean the Sox can trade Ivan Nova?

Nova was up to his old tricks Friday night, giving up three home runs in a 5-1 loss. The right-hander is now 4-8 with a 5.60 ERA this season, and his failure to pitch like a reasonable stopgap veteran continues to be one of the disappointments on this team.

I'd say trade Nova for a bag of balls, but if he does depart, that may prolong Dylan Covey's stay in the starting rotation. Covey did not make it out of the first inning in Saturday's 13-2 loss. He is 1-5 with a 5.92 ERA this season, and he is 6-26 with 6.07 ERA for his career.

How much longer are the Sox going to insult us with the idea that Covey is a viable solution in the rotation? There's been a lot of talk about the rebuild "turning a corner" this season, as the Sox still qualify as overachieving with their 42-47 record.

However, this team will not truly "turn a corner" until they are putting a credible starting pitcher on the mound more days than not. Right now, charitably speaking, there are 2.5 holes in the rotation. Some may say there are four holes.

Hey, at least Reynaldo Lopez pitched well Sunday. He allowed only one unearned run over six innings, but the Sox still lost, 3-2. Lopez's ERA is finally below six at 5.97.

It's going to be a long second half with the Sox pitching staff continuing to be in a state of disrepair. They've done a decent job of covering up the holes over half a season, but the warts always show over a 162-game schedule.

White Sox option Daniel Palka to Charlotte, claim AJ Reed off waivers

AJ Reed

Catching up on some roster comings and goings before the White Sox return from the All-Star break:

After Sunday's 3-1 victory over the Cubs, the Sox optioned outfielder Daniel Palka to Triple-A Charlotte. Palka, 27, made 10 plate appearances in his latest stint on the South Side and went 0 for 10.

His line for the season is ugly. He's 1 for 45 in 52 plate appearances with 18 strikeouts. His slash line now stands at .022/.154/.022.

It's hard to believe Palka was the feel-good story of the 2018 season, when he led the Sox with 27 home runs. This season, he's not going to get 27 hits at the big-league level, let alone 27 home runs, even if he gets recalled when rosters expand in September.

And at this point, it's fair to ask whether that will happen. We may have seen the last of Palka in a Sox uniform.

At the time of Palka's demotion, the Sox said they would make a corresponding roster move before Friday night's game against the Oakland Athletics. With injured veteran catcher Welington Castillo on a rehab assignment, I was assuming he would be the one added to the 25-man roster.

Turns out, the Sox claimed left-handed hitting first baseman AJ Reed off waivers from the Houston Astros. He is expected to be on the roster Friday night.

Reed, 26, once was ranked among the top 15 prospects in the game, but he's never been able to hit major league pitching. Over parts of three seasons with the Astros, he's hitting .153/.253/.244 with three home runs, three doubles, eight RBIs and 50 strikeouts in 150 career plate appearances.

He had a decent season at the Triple-A level last year, where he made the All-Star game and hit .255/.374/.540 with 28 home runs and 108 RBIs in 123 games.

However, Reed has fallen on hard times this season -- he's hitting only .224 with 12 home runs and 35 RBIs in 56 games at Triple-A Round Rock. Numbers such as those can cause you to fall off a 40-man roster. Now the Sox are taking a flyer on Reed, and this may be his last kick at the can to stick in the major leagues.

This probably means the DH at-bats against right-handed pitching will belong to Reed, not Zack Collins. This guess here is Collins goes back to Triple-A Charlotte, maybe as soon as this weekend, whenever Castillo is activated.

Collins has had limited at-bats since the Sox called him up, but he's done little with those opportunities. He walked in his first plate appearance and hit a 3-run homer in his second, but he is now hitless in his 25 plate appearances since -- although he has drawn five walks.

Still, the .045/.222/.182 slash line is hard to excuse, and it seems reasonable to say Collins could use some more time in Charlotte. He'll likely be headed there soon.

White Sox representatives help American League win All-Star Game

White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito entered Tuesday's All-Star Game in the fourth inning and immediately walked Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman on four pitches.

None of the four pitches were anywhere close to being a strike, and Giolito's 3-0 pitch was so high it almost sailed over catcher Gary Sanchez's head.

I nervously shifted a little bit in my seat as I watched on TV. The American League was clinging to a 1-0 lead at the time, and as a fan, I never want a Sox pitcher to be the reason the AL loses the game.

Fortunately, Giolito made a nice recovery. He struck out Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger, who is the best player in the National League this season, on a 2-2 changeup for the first out. Four pitches later, Giolito was out of the inning.

He induced a grounder to third base off the bat of Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the second out. Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell then grounded out to second, stranding Freeman at second base.

Giolito threw only 13 pitches. He preserved the 1-0 lead, and the AL went on to beat the National League, 4-3, for its seventh straight victory in the midsummer classic. The AL has won 19 of the past 23 games -- a string of dominance reminiscent of what the NL did when I was a kid.

Sox catcher James McCann also contributed to the victory, singling in his only at-bat in the seventh inning. The hit to right-center moved Oakland third baseman Matt Chapman, who had walked, from first to third with nobody out. Chapman eventually scored when Xander Bogaerts grounded into a double play. That was part of a two-run inning that gave the AL a 4-1 edge.

The NL got two in the eighth on a two-out, two-run single by the New York Mets' Pete Alonso, but New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth to wrap up the AL win.

What about Jose Abreu, you ask? Well, he grounded into a double play in his only at-bat in the bottom of the eighth, but at least he hit it hard (103 mph exit velocity) -- right at NL shortstop Paul DeJong.

So, it wasn't a perfect night for Sox representatives, but it was a good night. Giolito and McCann contributed, and the AL won. I'll take it.

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.