Evan Marshall stabilizes White Sox bullpen by escaping sixth-inning jam

Evan Marshall

The White Sox scored a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3, on Monday night. The run was scored on a throwing error, and the Sox will take it, but the most importance sequence of the game came in the top of the sixth inning.

The Sox were leading, 3-2, when starter Dallas Keuchel fell apart. He walked the No. 9 hitter to start the inning, then gave up a single and a walk to load the bases with nobody out.

Worse, Cleveland's best player, Jose Ramirez, was the next batter up. If you're playing the Indians, you want to avoid putting yourself in a situation where Ramirez can hurt you. This was the opposite of that. Keuchel boxed the Sox into a corner where they had no choice but to pitch to Ramirez.

Manager Tony La Russa summoned Evan Marshall from the bullpen. Marshall had struggled in his previous outings this season, but he did a masterful job in this case against the 3-4-5 hitters in the Cleveland batting order.

After falling behind 2-0 on Ramirez, he rallied to strike him out on a fastball up and out of the zone. Franmil Reyes managed a sacrifice fly to tie the game, and then Eddie Rosario -- who had homered earlier off Keuchel -- flied out weakly to left field for the third out.

You could not have asked for better from Marshall in that sequence. Sure, the lead was lost, but given the hitters that were due up, only one inherited runner scoring out of bases-loaded, no-outs situation is excellent work.

Marshall, Aaron Bummer and Codi Heuer kept the Indians off the board the last three innings. Heuer worked 2.1 innings, retiring seven of the eight batters he faced with four strikeouts. He earned the win.

The Sox offense failed to score after loading the bases with no outs in the sixth, after Yermin Mercedes struck out and Yasmani Grandal hit into a 3-6-1 double play.

But, those two players redeemed themselves in the ninth. Mercedes reached on an infield single with one out. Grandal walked, advancing pinch runner Nick Madrigal to second base.

Nick Williams followed with a chopper to Cleveland first baseman Yu Chang, who tried to get Grandal at second for the force. But, his errant throw hit Grandal in the helmet and bounded away. Madrigal raced around third to score the winning run on the play.

The Sox broke a six-game losing streak against the Indians dating back to last season, and evened their season record at 5-5. The Indians are now 5-4.

Should be an interesting game Tuesday night, with Sox ace Lucas Giolito going up against the reigning Cy Young award winner in the American League, Cleveland's Shane Bieber.

Remember when we thought the White Sox bullpen was a strength?

Liam Hendriks

So, the White Sox are 4-5 after nine games. Not good, not terrible, just kind of middling.

And if I'm being honest, mediocrity was my expectation for the season. I had this team going 86-76 -- before the Eloy Jimenez injury -- so now I'm thinking 83-79.

But the shape of this 4-5 start has been interesting. The Sox haven't lost in a normal way yet. It's been a bunch of bullpen meltdowns, and that's the surprising part. You would have thought the bullpen would be a strength, with the investment in Liam Hendriks, the return of a healthy Aaron Bummer, plus Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet.

First off, let's absolve Kopech of any blame. He's been awesome. In Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals, he retired all seven batters he faced. So far this season, Kopech has worked 6.1 innings in three appearances. He hasn't given up a run. In fact, he's only given up one hit. Just terrific.

Too bad everyone else sucks, including Hendriks, who gave up a game-tying home run to Carlos Santana in the ninth Sunday. The Royals scored the winning run in the 10th on a throwing error by Crochet. Not terrific.

All five of those losses have been credited to relievers. We've seen one blown lead in the ninth (Hendriks), two blown leads in the eighth (Bummer, Evan Marshall), a seven-run meltdown in a sixth inning that turned a 4-1 lead into an 8-4 loss (Matt Foster), and a game that was tied in the ninth turn into a three-run loss (Foster).

In each of the Sox's four victories, they took at least a six-run lead into the ninth inning. You can't expect to blow teams out every day. Sooner or later, you have to lock up one- and two-run leads and win these close games.

Those games are the difference between 90 wins and 80 wins, or, say, 86 wins and 76 wins, as the case may be with this group.

The *26* players on the White Sox Opening Day roster look set

I had an old-man moment Monday. On this blog, I said the Sox would carry 13 pitchers and 12 position players. I obviously forgot that 26-man rosters are in effect now, which means it will actually be 13 pitchers and 13 positions players.

So, Jake Lamb and Billy Hamilton are in luck. Both of them are on the team. Here's the roster breakdown:

Catchers (3): Yasmani Grandal, Zack Collins, Yermin Mercedes

Infielders (5): Jose Abreu, Nick Madrigal, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Lamb

Outfielders (4): Luis Robert, Adam Eaton, Andrew Vaughn, Hamilton

Utility (1): Leury Garcia

Starting pitchers (5): Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Lance Lynn, Dylan Cease, Carlos Rodon

Relief pitchers (8): Liam Hendriks, Aaron Bummer, Codi Heuer, Michael Kopech, Garrett Crochet, Evan Marshall, Matt Foster, Jose Ruiz

The eighth spot in the bullpen was a question mark, with Jimmy Cordero out for the season after Tommy John surgery. The job goes to Ruiz.

I think fans are kind of sick of Ruiz, because he's been on the mound for some painful moments during the past couple of seasons. But now that a proven manager is in charge, maybe Ruiz will be used as the 13th man on a 13-man pitching staff, which is precisely what he is.

In the past, we've seen Ruiz on the mound in the bottom of the 10th inning, facing MVP candidates with the AL Central Division title on the line. Predictably, Ruiz failed miserably in that situation, but it's not really his fault that the lame-brained former dugout regime asked him to do a job he couldn't do.

Let's hope that the fringe guys on the roster are less exposed under the new manager.

White Sox roster news: Zack Collins and Yermin Mercedes are in; Jonathan Lucroy is out

Jonathan Lucroy

Veteran catcher Jonathan Lucroy will not make the 2021 White Sox roster. The 34-year-old asked for and was granted his release from a minor league contract, according to reports.

It sure seems like catcher Zack Collins is on the roster. First off, Collins has had a good spring, slashing .295/.380/.523 with three home runs and six RBIs. Most importantly, he's cut his strikeout rate. He's only struck out six times while also walking six times in 50 plate appearances.

Secondly, fortune smiled on Collins with left fielder Eloy Jimenez suffering a torn pectoral tendon that will sideline him for five months. Now, Andrew Vaughn, the presumed DH to start the season, is being tried in left field. That opens the door for DH at-bats for Collins, when he's not catching. 

It also sounds like Yermin Mercedes is on the club as a third catcher and DH, according to reports. Mercedes has slashed .283/.340/.348 this spring, and could be the right-handed half of a platoon with the left-handed Collins.

The Sox also are reportedly picking up infielder Jake Lamb, if he clears waivers and pending a physical. Lamb was in spring camp with the Atlanta Braves, but did not make the club. He's a left-handed hitter who can play first or third base.

All right, that's a lot to digest. But first let's talk about Collins. It's now or never for him. He's 26 years old, and he's been in the Sox organization since he was picked 10th overall in the first round of the 2016 draft. He's getting close to that line where he's too old to be considered a prospect anymore.

The Sox have invested a lot in him, and at some point they have to find out whether he can help them. I'm not a big believer in Collins, but at this time, there's no clear data about him one way or the other. What can you tell from 120 sporadic plate appearances at the major league level? There are no clearly superior options in camp for a second catcher -- Lucroy didn't meet that standard -- so it's time to find out once and for all whether Collins can play.

We know the Sox will carry 13 pitchers and 12 position players. The Opening Day roster hasn't been announced yet, but let's hazard a guess:

Starting lineup:

1. Tim Anderson, SS
2. Adam Eaton, RF
   
3. Jose Abreu, 1B
4. Yoan Moncada, 3B
5. Yasmani Grandal, C
   
6. Luis Robert, CF
   
7. Collins, DH
   
8. Vaughn, LF
   
9. Nick Madrigal, 2B

Bench players: Leury Garcia IF/OF, Mercedes, C/DH and ??????.

Will it be Lamb? Infielder Danny Mendick? Maybe outfielder Billy Hamilton? I'll guess Lamb. I don't think they picked him up to send him to the alternate site. And he's likely the left-handed fallback option if Collins fails.

Blogging will resume March 29

Just wanted to drop in and point out that I'm not dead. I'm fine, I'm vaccinated, and I'm traveling to Florida next week for a vacation. 

I know the blog has been on hiatus as I tend to other priorities, but I'll resume Monday, March 29, as we get ready for the new season.

Until then, Go Sox!

White Sox will have some fans in stands when season begins

The authoritarians in charge of Illinois have come down from on high and told us it's OK for Chicago's baseball teams to host fans at 20% capacity when the season starts in April.

Effectively, that means a little more than 8,000 people will be allowed into Guaranteed Rate Field when the home portion of the White Sox schedule begins April 8 against the Kansas City Royals.

Will I be among them? I don't know so, but I hope so. I immediately emailed my ticket rep to request information, but she didn't have much for me -- which I guess is understandable because 24 hours ago, I was figuring I would need to go on the road to see the Sox in person this summer.

In any case, I later received an email from Sox marketing guru Brooks Boyer, and priority is rightfully being given to Sox season-ticket holders, with type of plan and years of seniority determining the pecking order. That's the only fair way to do it. I've had a partial season-ticket plan for the past 16 years, so I'm guessing I'll be pretty close to the front of the line after the full season-ticket holders have been accommodated.

Frankly, I have no idea how many full season-ticket holders the Sox have, and given that they have first priority, it's very possible that they will snap up all 8,000-some seats available for the first game. If that's the case, yeah, I'll be disappointed to not go, but I get it. Or maybe enough of those folks will be scared of the virus that an opportunity will fall in my hands.

I'd like to believe that I'll be able to attend at least one home game on that first homestand with the seniority I have built up. We shall see, and something is better than nothing.

Jose Abreu on cover of my March Baseball America

This came in the mail the other day, my March edition of Baseball America.

Jose Abreu is on the wraparound cover. Bet you never thought you'd see Abreu pictured next to the phrase "The Wilson Legion of Leather is here to save the day!"

Pretty awesome. At least the White Sox aren't an afterthought nationally anymore.