White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson out six weeks with hand injury

Tim Anderson

Has anyone heard of a sagittal band before? 

Before today, that term was foreign to me. But White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has a sagittal band tear on the middle finger of his left hand. He will undergo surgery Thursday, and the Sox placed him on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday. He will be out for six weeks.

This could be the death blow for whatever hopes the Sox have of winning the American League Central Division, but then again, Anderson has been poor lately.

In the 39 games since he returned from his last injury -- a groin strain suffered Memorial Day weekend against the Cubs -- Anderson has hit .249/.287/.290 with just one home run. That's pretty much replacement-level performance.

By way of comparison, Leury Garcia has the exact same slugging percentage over his past 39 games (coming into Tuesday's doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals). Garcia's slash line over that time period: .237/.273/.290.

Yeah, it's pretty bleak.

The best we can hope for is that, somehow, Sox manager Tony La Russa decides to give rookie Lenyn Sosa a shot to play shortstop on a regular basis during Anderson's absence, and that Sosa makes a quick adjustment to a new level.

To be honest, the bar isn't hard to clear. All he has to do is slug .300, right?

Sosa hit his first career home run Tuesday night, giving the Sox an early lead in an eventual 3-2 victory over the Royals in Game 2 of the doubleheader. Kansas City won Game 1, 4-2, so in true Sox fashion, the South Siders played .500 baseball for the day.

For the season, the Sox are 56-54. Through the first 14 games of this 19-game stretch against losing teams, the Sox are 8-6. That's decent, but not the big run the optimists were hoping for. The Sox are still 2.0 games back of the Minnesota Twins, pending Minnesota's late result against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I was thinking the Sox really needed to go 12-7 or 13-6 during this stretch. That is still mathematically possible, but not likely. The Sox have two games remaining in Kansas City, before a three-game weekend series at home against the Detroit Tigers.

On the current road trip through Texas and Kansas City, the Sox are 3-3. (.500 again!) And in those six games, they've scored only 17 runs. 

Yes, offense is still the problem. The Sox needed GM Rick Hahn to acquire two bats at the trade deadline. Instead, he got none, and with Anderson out, it's fair to say the Sox are playing three bats short.

Even in a weak division, good luck with that.

Remembering Vin Scully with one of his most memorable calls

Vin Scully was the best ever when it came to talking off the top of his head, wasn't he? He talked better than I write, that's for certain.

The Hall of Fame Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster died last Tuesday at age 94, and the baseball world is in mourning. I'm sure plenty of people have offered more articulate tributes than I could, so I'll just post this:

It's one of the greatest baseball moments, and one of Scully's greatest calls. It's fun to listen to the entire at-bat, which takes seven or eight minutes.

Taking a vacation

 I am on vacation this week, Aug. 1-5. Blogging will resume on Monday, Aug. 8. Go Sox!

Looking ahead: White Sox vs. Oakland Athletics this weekend

Here are your pitching matchups for this weekend's three-game series between the White Sox (49-49) and the Oakland Athletics (38-63) at Guaranteed Rate Field:

Friday, 7:10 p.m.: Lance Lynn (1-3, 6.43 ERA) vs. James Kaprielian (1-5, 4.74 ERA)

Saturday, 6:15 p.m.: Johnny Cueto (4-4, 2.89 ERA) vs. Paul Blackburn (6-6, 4.35 ERA)

Sunday, 1:10 p.m.: Dylan Cease (10-4, 2.03 ERA) vs. TBA

Oakland comes into Chicago with the sorriest record in the American League, but don't be fooled into thinking this will be an easy series for the Sox.

The A's have won three in a row and seven of their past 10, and they inexplicably swept the AL West-leading Houston Astros in their last series. So, for whatever reason, Oakland is playing well right now and cannot be taken lightly. The Sox need at least two out of three here.

But the bigger issue for the Sox is they simply must start playing better at home. In 2021, the Sox had the best home record in the AL at 53-28. That advantage has disappeared this season, as the Sox have gone 21-27.

In their 48 home games this season, the Sox are slashing .241/.302/.365. Their .667 OPS at home ranks 27th in baseball. And the pitching staff has compiled a 4.59 ERA at home, which is more than a full run higher than their road ERA (3.48).

This season, the Sox have played like a bottom-five team at home, and that's a big reason why they find themselves stuck at .500 and in third place.

The next six games are at home, against last-place Oakland and last-place Kansas City. If the poor home performance doesn't change now, it probably never will.

White Sox place Reynaldo Lopez on 15-day injured list

The White Sox on Thursday placed relief pitcher Reynaldo Lopez on the 15-day injured list with a lower back strain, retroactive to July 25.

It's getting thin in the bullpen for the Sox, who are already without Aaron Bummer (lat strain) and Garrett Crochet (torn elbow ligament). It's also possible Joe Kelly is going to hit the injured list, as he left Wednesday's game in Colorado with a right biceps injury.

The Sox said they would announce who would take Lopez's place on the roster before Friday's series opener against the Oakland Athletics at Guaranteed Rate Field.

It would come as no surprise if the Sox actually had to add two pitchers -- one to replace Lopez and one to replace Kelly.

The lack of an immediate roster addition makes one wonder whether the Sox are trying to swing a trade. General manager Rick Hahn has already identified the bullpen as his "biggest need" at Tuesday's trade deadline.

While I disagree with Hahn that the bullpen is the biggest need, there is no question that it is among the needs.

Personally, I would prefer to see Hahn shop at the Ryan Tepera level of relievers, not the Craig Kimbrel level.

As you might recall, Hahn made two deadline deals with the crosstown Cubs last season to acquire relief help. He sent A-ball pitcher Bailey Horn to the Cubs in exchange for Tepera, and that was a move that worked out just fine for the Sox. Tepera worked effectively as a middle-inning reliever the last two months plus of the 2021 season.

Hahn also traded off his major league roster, sending Codi Heuer and Nick Madrigal to the North Side for Kimbrel. That move proved to be a disaster for all, as Heuer and Madrigal have been nothing but injured since joining the Cubs, and Kimbrel was worthless to the Sox in 2021 before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to the start of this season.

The lesson here: Don't swing big to get relief help. Smaller moves can help. There are guys out there who can pitch the sixth and seventh innings effectively who can be acquired without giving up high-end prospects and players on the major league roster. 

Even with all the injuries, the Sox have the eighth (Kendall Graveman) and ninth innings (Liam Hendriks) covered. They do need a little help building the bridge from the starting pitchers to their high-leverage relievers.

But what the Sox really need are legitimate solutions at corner outfield and second base. They still need that left-handed power bat that we've been coveting but not getting for years. 

If the Sox are going to trade high-end prospects at this deadline, they should trade them for a position player who solves a need both this season and in years to come. 

With a record of 49-49 on July 28, it's kind of silly to think a couple of relievers is all this team needs to get over the hump. Sure, relief help is needed -- no one who is paying attention would deny that. 

But the Sox are also operating two bats short, and I'd like to see an acquisition that can make an impact on a daily basis -- and that means a position player. After all, even the best relievers only pitch three or four times a week.

White Sox reliever Kendall Graveman struggles when he pitches back-to-back days

The White Sox played horrendous baseball Wednesday in a 6-5 loss to the Colorado Rockies. All the horrors of the 2022 season were on full display: two asinine baserunning blunders, a mental error on defense, an injury to a high-priced player, underperformance by a highly regarded starting pitcher, etc., etc., etc.

Lucas Giolito gave up three runs in the first inning to put the Sox in an early hole. Leury Garcia was picked off third base for the third out of an inning with the bases loaded. Jose Abreu was doubled off second base on an infield line drive. Tim Anderson forgot to tag second base when turning a double play. Joe Kelly walked off the mound in the eighth inning with an apparent biceps injury.

All the things wrong with this team were front and center once more, BUT they somehow managed to take a 5-4 lead into the ninth inning. Perhaps that's because the Rockies stink, and through eight innings, Colorado let the Sox off the hook for their blunders.

Alas, Kendall Graveman had a massive meltdown in the bottom of the ninth inning. He walked the bases loaded on 17 pitches, then gave up a two-run single to Elias Diaz. The Rockies got the two runs they needed to win the game before Graveman could even record an out.

Where was usual closer Liam Hendriks, you ask? Well, Hendriks needed 26 pitches to close out Tuesday's 2-1 victory over the Rockies, and apparently, he has some problem pitching in altitude that requires medication.

Graveman needed only 11 pitches to record a scoreless eighth in Tuesday's game, so he was the fresher and more available reliever for Wednesday.

Unfortunately, Graveman's results were disastrous, and that's the continuation of a trend of struggles he has when pitching on back-to-back days.

Wednesday's game marked the 10th time he's appeared on back-to-back days in 2022, and he's allowed seven earned runs in 9.1 innings pitched in those situations. That's a 6.75 ERA.

In all other situations, Graveman has allowed seven earned runs over 34.1 innings, which pencils out to a 1.83 ERA.

Eight of the 17 walks Graveman has issued this season have been on zero days' rest, along with two of the four home runs he's allowed.

I guess you could say stop pitching Graveman on back-to-back days, but I don't think that's feasible given that Aaron Bummer is on the injured list, Reynaldo Lopez is day-to-day with a back strain and now Kelly is hurt. Who else you going to pitch?

More over, Graveman was given a three-year, $24 million contract in the offseason. He's being paid a lot of money to pitch in high-leverage situations, and pitching on back-to-back days is part of the job description. He needs to better in these spots.

The next 19-game stretch for the White Sox ... it's full of losing teams

We talked yesterday about how the White Sox had a mediocre 10-9 showing during a recently completed 19-game stretch against nothing but American League Central Division opponents.

Can they do better than 10-9 in this next stretch of 19 games? Here is the competition:

• 2 games at Colorado (43-53)
  
• 3 games vs. Oakland (35-63)
  
• 3 games vs. Kansas City (38-57)
  
• 4 games at Texas (43-51)
  
• 4 games at Kansas City (38-57)
  
• 3 games vs. Detroit (39-58)

Records in parentheses are entering Monday's play. As you can see, all the upcoming opponents are losing teams that are well back in the pennant race. The combined winning percentage of these teams is .410. This is the softest part of the Sox's schedule for the entire season.

So, you've probably heard what the optimists in the fan base have been saying: The Sox have one of the weakest remaining schedules in baseball, and that should set them up for a second-half run, so on, and so forth.

Well, this is the time to make up ground, right? I won't be shocked if the Sox just go 10-9 again, and even if that's all they can muster, they probably will still be in the division race. But, if they are serious about going to the playoffs, it might behoove the Sox to come up with 12 or 13 wins during this stretch.

We'll see how it stands on Aug. 14.