Home runs fuel White Sox offense in win vs. Cleveland

It stands to reason that a team increases its odds of winning by hitting two or more home runs in a game.

The White Sox have done that 14 times in 44 games during the 2023 season. In those 14 games, they are 7-7. That doesn't seem like much until you realize the team is 16-28 overall, which means they are 9-21 when they don't hit at least two homers.

But, they are 2-0 in their last two games against the Cleveland Guardians, and they've hit six homers in these two wins -- including three Wednesday in a 7-2 victory.

Gavin Sheets (No. 6) and Andrew Vaughn (No. 5) hit solo home runs, and Jake Burger (No. 10) had a two-run homer to fuel the offense. 

Burger went 3 for 4 and finished a double short of the cycle. It's fair to say he enjoys hitting at Guaranteed Rate Field, where he has hit nine of his 10 homers. For the season, he has only 89 plate appearances. One home run per every 8.9 plate appearances ... yeah, that's something you like to see from the player who is serving as your designated hitter.

In 52 at-bats at home, Burger has 50 total bases. In 27 road at-bats, he has nine total bases. Those are insane home-road splits.

Mike Clevinger (3-3) picked up the win for the Sox. He went six-plus innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked four, with two of the walks coming in the seventh inning.

Clevinger departed in the seventh inning, leading 7-1, with the bases loaded and no outs. Reynaldo Lopez walked in a run, but was able to get three outs without allowing any further damage.

Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman each worked a scoreless inning to close it out.

The Sox have not swept a series yet this season, and they'll have the opportunity to so Thursday afternoon. Given the hole this team has dug for itself, realistically, they need to sweep some divisional opponents if they hope to get back in the race.

Lance Lynn gets back on track against weak-hitting Cleveland Guardians

Lance Lynn

White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn has had a terrible start to the 2023 season. 

Coming into Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Guardians, Lynn was 1-5 with a 7.51 ERA and a 1.602 WHIP in eight starts. Opponents had a .420 batting average against him while he was pitching out of the stretch. Ouch. 

However, the Guardians have been one of the weakest offenses in the American League so far this season. Among the 15 AL teams, Cleveland ranked 14th in runs scored (142) and dead last in batting average (.228), slugging percentage (.342) and OPS (.645) before Tuesday's game.

Lynn had a chance to get back on track against a slumping opponent, and he did just that. He pitched seven-plus innings to pick up the victory as the Sox beat the Guardians, 8-3, at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Through seven innings, Lynn (2-5) allowed only one earned run before he got dinged for a couple of unearned runs in the eighth. His final line: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 7 Ks, 0 BBs.

The game remained scoreless until the fifth inning, when the Sox scored six two-out runs against Cleveland ace Shane Bieber (3-2). All the runs against Bieber were unearned, after Luis Robert Jr. started the lengthy rally by reaching base on catcher's interference.

On a hit-and-run play, Robert Jr. scored from first base on a single by Yoan Moncada. After a single by Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Sheets hit his fifth home run of the season -- a 3-run shot to make it 4-0.

After Yasmani Grandal singled, Jake Burger's two-run homer made it 6-0. Burger has homered in each of the two games he's played in since returning from the injured list. He ranks second on the Sox with nine homers.

The Sox home run leader? That would be Robert Jr., who capped the scoring with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth -- his 12th home run of the year.

Robert Jr. has homered in four straight games. The last Sox player to do that was Matt Davidson, from June 12-15, 2017.

In a roster move before the game, pitcher Garrett Crochet was activated off the injured list, and pitcher Nicholas Padilla was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. Crochet missed all of the 2022 season after Tommy John surgery. He gives the Sox another left-handed option in the bullpen.

The Sox are 15-28. The Guardians are 19-22.

Some good news for the White Sox: Luis Robert Jr. is playing well

Luis Robert Jr.

White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. was benched on April 29 for failing to run out an infield grounder. He didn't start the next game after that, either. 

But since returning to the lineup on May 2, Robert Jr. has been on a tear. He's batting .422 this month, which is the second-best batting average in the majors. 

Over that same span, Robert Jr. is leading the majors in OBP (.519), slugging percentage (.933), OPS (1.452), hits (19), runs scored (15), extra-base hits (11), total bases (42) and home runs (6). 

In three games over the weekend against the Houston Astros, Robert Jr. homered in each game and drove in five of the seven runs the Sox scored in the series. 

For the season, Robert Jr. is batting .275/.335/.562 with 11 homers, 11 doubles, 27 RBIs and 29 runs scored. His OPS is .897, with a 142 OPS+, meaning he's 42% about league average among players at his position. 

According to Baseball Reference, Robert Jr.'s WAR for the season is 2.2. That figure is helped along by his strong defense in center field. 

By way of comparison, the next highest Sox position player in terms of WAR is Jake Burger at 0.6. 

The Sox are having a terrible season, so they'll probably only have one player selected to the American League All-Star team. If Robert Jr. is healthy, he's a good bet to be the guy.

Jose Abreu struggling with Astros, but White Sox need more from Andrew Vaughn

Jose Abreu

First basemen were in the spotlight this weekend when the Houston Astros visited Guaranteed Rate Field to take on the White Sox.

Jose Abreu was back in Chicago for the first time since he signed a three-year contract with the Astros during the offseason. It was a good series for Houston, as it won two out of three games.

However, it was not a good series for Abreu, who went 2 for 13 with four strikeouts. Both of his hits were singles, and the 36-year-old veteran did not score a run, nor did he drive in a run. His bat looks slow, to say the least.

This marks the continuation of a season-long struggle for Abreu, who has not hit a home run through his first 39 games with the Astros. 

He's batting .214/.262/.253 with only six doubles and 14 RBIs. His OPS is .515. His OPS+ is 43, meaning that he is 57% below league average for players at his position.

Is this vindication for the Sox and their decision to move on from Abreu, who will one day have his No. 79 jersey retired on the South Side? You'd have to answer that question in the affirmative.

Abreu's power dip in 2022 looks like the beginning of a precipitous decline. If you've been on social media, you've probably seen some Sox fans dunking on Abreu as he struggles.

Fair enough, but the Sox's new first baseman also had an ugly series. Andrew Vaughn went 0 for 12 with three strikeouts and a GIDP in the three games against Houston.

This season has been a mixed bag for Vaughn. He leads the Sox with 12 doubles and 29 RBIs. However, he's only got four home runs, and his slash line is unimpressive -- .236/.324/.401.

Vaughn's OPS is .725, and his OPS+ is 99, meaning he is one percentage point below league average at his position.

The Sox did not draft Vaughn to be about league average. They selected him with the No. 3 overall pick in the first round of the 2018 draft. He was brought here to be the next in a proud first base lineage that includes Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko and Abreu.

Vaughn is nowhere near that level at this point. He's still only 25, so there's still time for him to improve. However, it's worth noting that Abreu had an OPS of .820 or better in eight of the nine years he played for the Sox. His OPS+ was never lower than 117 in any season.

Right now, Vaughn's career OPS is .729. His career OPS+ is 101 -- the epitome of mediocrity.

Yes, 2023 Vaughn is better than 2023 Abreu, but that should be little consolation to the Sox and their fans.

The team needs Vaughn to hit like the top 3 draft pick he was. They need him to hit like Abreu did from 2014 to 2022. So far, we're not seeing it.

This 'blooper reel' is more entertaining than White Sox baseball

Does anyone really want to talk about the White Sox losing three out of four to the Kansas City Royals? Anyone up for a debate on Pedro Grifol's bullpen usage?

Nah, me neither. 

The Sox stink, and there's nothing much to say. So, here's a "blooper reel" that's more entertaining than today's game was:

 

 

 

White Sox blown out in Kansas City (again)

The top of the first inning gave me some really bad vibes Wednesday night.

Kansas City starting pitcher Brad Keller is the American League leader in walks issued. He had walked 28 batters in 34.2 innings pitched coming into his start Wednesday against the White Sox.

And he walked Tim Anderson and Andrew Benintendi to start this game. Eight of his first 10 pitches were out of the zone. Good start for the Sox, right? 

Then Andrew Vaughn swung at a bad pitch and grounded into a double play, and Luis Robert Jr. struck out flailing at a breaking ball in the dirt. Keller got off the hook, and I laughed out loud, knowing what was coming next.

The Royals pounded Lance Lynn for four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Keller settled in, and Kansas City went on to an easy 9-1 victory.

It was the second time in three days the 11-27 Royals have blown out the Sox, who dropped to 13-25. 

This game was over in the first inning. Against the Royals. In the middle of an alleged "contention window" for the Sox. Let that rattle around in your head for a bit, and tell me you still think the Sox are going to rally to make the playoffs.

Sorry, I don't see it. 

Lynn gave up seven runs on nine hits over five innings. He's now 1-5 with a 7.51 ERA over eight starts.

By way of comparison, Dallas Keuchel made eight starts for the Sox last season. He went 2-5 with a 7.88 ERA before being designated for assignment.

Yes, Lynn is in Keuchel territory.

But no, I'm not calling for Lynn to be designated for assignment. The fact is the Sox have nobody at Triple-A Charlotte who looks like a viable replacement, so they are just going to have to hope he turns it around. If he doesn't, he'll be wearing it all summer long.

White Sox even series with Kansas City

Quick recap tonight, because it's getting late after a long rain delay. The White Sox and Kansas City Royals waited two hours to start Tuesday, and then the game itself took only two hours and two minutes to play. (Three cheers for the pitch clock!)

Thank goodness the Sox won, 4-2, because it would be embarrassing to lose to Kansas City two days in a row.

Luis Robert Jr. hit his eighth home run of the season -- a solo shot -- in the fourth inning. Andrew Vaughn's fourth homer of the year brought home two runs in the sixth, and Seby Zavala added an RBI single in the seventh to cap the Sox's scoring against Jordan Lyles (0-6), who pitched a complete game for the Royals despite taking the loss.

Lucas Giolito struck out nine over six innings of two-run ball for the Sox. Three relief pitchers combined to retire all nine Kansas City batters they faced. Joe Kelly pitched the seventh. Reynaldo Lopez worked the eighth. Kendall Graveman needed only seven pitches to induce three pop-outs in the ninth for his first save of 2023. 

Giolito is 2-2 with a 3.59 ERA. He's posted five quality starts in his past six outings. He is indeed back to being the Sox's most reliable starting pitcher. It is the final year of his contract, so he's got millions of reasons to continue pitching well.

The Sox are 13-24. The Royals are 10-27.