Remember when Mike Trout got called up late in the season?

Mike Trout

Here is some food for thought for the "7 > 6" segment of the White Sox fan base -- those folks who apparently believe manipulating service time and not calling up Luis Robert in September is a stroke of genius.

Remember when the Los Angeles Angels called up Mike Trout late in the season? I'll bet you don't, because he did make much of an impression.

Trout played in 40 games and had 123 at-bats at the tail end of the 2011 season. He batted .220/.281/.390 with only five home runs and 16 RBIs. He struck out 30 times and generally took his lumps.

But you know what happened the next year? Trout learned from the ass-kicking he received in 2011 and came back strong in 2012. He won the American League Rookie of the Year, batting .326/.399/.564 with 30 home runs, 83 RBIs, a league-best 49 stolen bases and a league-best 129 runs scored.

Trout made the All-Star team that year, something he's now done for eight consecutive years. Do you suppose Trout learned anything from those 123 struggling at-bats in 2011? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess he did.

This does not mean Robert will become Trout, but I think this example is just one that defeats the whole notion of "Robert won't learn anything if you call him up for 30 games in September."

Really? Who says?

If Robert were to be called up (he won't), I wouldn't even care if he struggled, because it would teach him what he needed to do in order to hit the ground running for the 2020 season.

Unfortunately, the Sox are going to sit on their hands and make Robert go through struggles next season, much the same way they sat on their hands last year and made Eloy Jimenez go through struggles this season.

This will kick the rebuild can down the road another year, and we'll have to listen to another year of general manager Rick Hahn's crap about "patience." After seven consecutive losing seasons and 11 years with no playoffs, I've waited long enough, thank you very much.

We all know the main reason the Sox will stash Robert in the minors is so they keep the extra year of service time, which means they don't have to pay him until after the 2026 season.

As a fan, I don't know why I should care about 83-year-old Jerry Reinsdorf's 2026 payroll. In fact, I don't care about Reinsdorf at all. He has more money than I'll ever see in my life.

What I do care about is the Sox putting good players on the field, and winning more baseball games than they lose for a change. Sadly, I don't see it happening anytime soon.

The front office's defenders tell me I'll be "happy" about all this in 2026 when Robert is still on the team.

But, here's the thing: If Robert is called up now, why does that mean he won't be on the team in 2026?

You know who Mike Trout plays for? He's still with the Angels. You want to know why? It's because the Angels' ownership group paid Trout fair market value -- before he ever reached free agency. Trout is the best player in the sport, and he's paid as the best player in the sport. There was never any thought that Trout would leave the Angels, because the team showed him the respect he has earned.

See how that works. That's how it is supposed to work, no?

If Robert does what all Sox fans hope he will do, eventually the team will have to pay him. And they should pay him. What do I care if that day comes in 2026 or 2027?

Most of the rebuild proponents seem thoroughly convinced that the Sox will be contending for the World Series by 2021. (Wishful thinking, if the organization is going to continue to bury talented players in the minors, draft poorly and not spend on the best free agents.)

But if the Sox truly do have a championship window from 2021-25, there should be more than enough revenues to keep the players who brought the city and the fan base those hypothetical championships.

It's time to stop defending these lame strategies by the Sox front office. Remember, Yoan Moncada and Lucas Giolito only have four years left of team control after this.

The clock is already ticking, whether we like it or not.

Series sweep by Twins shows the White Sox aren't close to contention

Is anyone else glad they missed Thursday afternoon's game because they were at work? Because I sure am.

The Minnesota Twins have outscored the White Sox, 110-51, in the 16 meetings between the two teams this season. In that context, it's a miracle the Sox have won five of 16.

However, none of those five wins came this week at Guaranteed Rate Field, as the Twins left town with an emphatic three-game sweep.

Poor defense by Tim Anderson, the inability of Ross Detwiler to pitch over that poor defense and garbage relief pitching by Jace Fry led to an 8-2 loss Wednesday night.

Thursday was arguably worse, as Dylan Cease (3-7) wasted no time in erasing the optimism his previous start against the Texas Rangers generated.

Cease allowed hits to the first five batters he faced, and six of the first seven, putting the Sox in a 4-0 hole before they had a chance to bat. The rookie right-hander gave up two more runs in the second inning and allowed two solo home runs to start the third inning before mercifully being removed from the game, which ended in a 10-5 Twins victory.

Final line on Cease: 2 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 3 Ks, 1 BB.

His season ERA now stands at 6.92. Ugh. This is reminiscent of the first halves we saw from Reynaldo Lopez and Ivan Nova.

In this series, Lucas Giolito was the only Sox pitcher who seemed capable of retiring Minnesota batters. And even he lost, because he gave up two runs on a night when the Sox could only muster one.

The Twins are the leaders in the AL Central with a 82-51 record, and they have proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that they are significantly better than the Sox.

The gap is so wide, in fact, that it's hard to see the Sox making up the difference in just one offseason. I would go as far as to say general manager Rick Hahn needs not one but two big offseasons to get this team into contention by 2021. This Chicago roster has holes in it like Swiss cheese.

Frankly, I think the Sox have overachieved at 60-73. They have benefited from having two even more dismal teams in their division -- the Kansas City Royals (47-88) and the Detroit Tigers (39-92). Not that Minnesota doesn't benefit from playing those teams, too. They clearly do, but the 22-game edge they own on the Sox, and the run differential in head-to-head meetings, doesn't lie.

And let's not forget the Sox are 48-0 when leading after eight innings this year. That's great, but it's probably not going to be duplicated next season. You have to assume there will be more blown leads in 2020, just because of the law of averages in baseball. The Sox bullpen is protecting leads with ridiculously good efficiency, and as nice as that is, it can fool us into believing the team is closer than it really is.

Looking at the 25-man roster, you've got eight to 10 players who belong with the Sox. The rest of the group needs to be overhauled, and not all of that is going to come from within.

Hahn is going to need to pull a rabbit out of his hat to make the optimists in the fan base correct in their belief that the contention window opens next year.

White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito records 200th strikeout of the season

It's remarkable that right-hander Lucas Giolito has 14 wins in 26 starts this season, pitching for yet another terrible White Sox team.

Giolito's record dropped to 14-7 with a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night, but very little of the blame for this defeat falls on him.

Sure, Giolito failed to duplicate the three-hit shutout he tossed against the Twins on Aug. 21 in Minneapolis, but his line in this latest start was still quite good. He went six innings, allowing two earned runs on only four hits. He struck out nine and walked three.

Giolito did give up two home runs in the second inning, one on a high fastball to Marwin Gonzalez and the other on a hanging slider to Jonathan Schoop. However, two runs allowed over six innings is good enough to win a lot of nights -- just not this night.

The Sox offense managed six hits -- five of them singles -- against Minnesota starter Michael Pineda (10-5) and four Twins relievers. A solo home run by Tim Anderson, his 14th of the season, provided the only run the Sox could muster.

So, Giolito suffered the loss despite pitching well, but on the bright side, he added his name to a short list of Sox pitchers who have recorded 200 or more strikeouts in a season. His strikeout total for 2019 now stands at 203 after Tuesday night.

Here are the other Sox hurlers to achieve this milestone:

Ed Walsh (1907-08, 1910-12)
Gary Peters (1964, 1967)
Wilbur Wood (1971)
Tom Bradley (1972)
Alex Fernandez (1996)
Esteban Loaiza (2003)
Javier Vazquez (2007-08)
Chris Sale (2013-16)

Giolito's accomplishment is remarkable when you consider he had only 125 strikeouts last season in 173.1 innings. This season, he's at 203 strikeouts in 157.2 innings.

This is just the latest benchmark that shows Giolito is perhaps the most improved player in all of baseball in 2019. Can you think of another player in the game who has taken this big of a step forward? I can't.

Some photos from my recent trip to PNC Park in Pittsburgh

Hadn't had the chance to write about it until now, but we stopped in Pittsburgh on our way back from Cooperstown in July, and we took in a Pirates game at PNC Park on July 25.

The Cardinals beat the Pirates, 6-3, and we came away impressed with the ballpark experience there. They did it right when they built that place, and it was a good value too.

I got pretty good seats for $20 a ticket, and each ticket came with $10 "loaded" onto it for concessions. When I bought my lunch, the price was $13.50. I presented my ticket, and they took $10 off and charged me $3.50.

Good deal, huh?

We went to a game on a Thursday afternoon, but we got there the Wednesday night before. There was a night game going on, and it's awesome that you can see into the ballpark from the other side of the river.

Just for proof that I was actually there, here I am.

They have a really large statue of Willie Stargell outside one of the gates.

And, of course, the great Roberto Clemente also is honored with a statue.

Here's the view from behind home plate, with the skyline of Pittsburgh out beyond the right-field wall.

As I said, pretty good seats for $20.

One more shot that I took from my seat at the game. Nice view of the city, great sightlines, friendly people, reasonable prices ... if you have a chance to take in a game in Pittsburgh, I would recommend it.

White Sox take three out of four from Texas Rangers

Yoan Moncada

The White Sox need two victories this week to clinch a winning month, as they improved to 14-11 in August by taking three games out of four from the Texas Rangers over the weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The series featured Yoan Moncada's return to the Sox lineup -- and effective starting pitching from Sox hurlers not named Lucas Giolito, whose turn in the rotation did not come up.

The Sox (60-70) will have an off day Monday before continuing the homestand Tuesday, when they open a three-game series against the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins. But here's a look back at the Texas series:

Thursday, Aug. 22
White Sox 6, Rangers 1: Moncada rejoined the Sox and went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer and a double. The home run highlighted a four-run third inning, which also featured a solo shot by James McCann and a RBI single by Tim Anderson.

Left-hander Ross Detwiler (2-3) had his best outing as a member of the Sox, if not the best outing of his career. He struck out a career-high eight over six innings, allowing only one run on three hits. He did not walk a batter. Sox relievers Jimmy Cordero and Kelvin Herrera combined for three innings of hitless, scoreless relief.

It was a weird night for Texas starter Ariel Jurado (6-10), who tossed a complete game but also got knocked around for six runs on 10 hits.

Friday, Aug. 23
White Sox 8, Rangers 3: Will we look back on this as the night when Dylan Cease turned the corner? We can only hope. Cease (3-6) got off to a terrible start, giving up a 3-run homer to Willie Calhoun in the first inning. But the Sox rookie gave up nothing after that. He pitched six innings, striking out nine and walking only one.

The Sox got to Lance Lynn (14-9), who has been one of the better pitchers in the league -- just not on this night. Lynn surrendered seven runs on 11 hits over 5.2 innings. He did strike out 10, but he took the loss.

Moncada once again was 2 for 4 with a two-run homer and a double. Anderson, Leury Garcia and Jon Jay also had multi-hit games. Eight of the nine players in the Sox lineup had at least one hit.

The Sox bullpen, again, was spotless over three innings. Evan Marshall, Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome combined for four strikeouts and no hits or walks allowed.

Saturday, Aug. 24
Rangers 4, White Sox 0: This is the Sox, so there has got to be one clunker in every bunch, right?

Sox starter Ivan Nova (9-10) cruised through five innings, but Anderson booted a grounder off the bat of Elvis Andrus with one out in the sixth, and moments later, Calhoun homered into the right-field stands to put the Rangers up 2-0. Danny Santana added a two-run homer off Cordero in the seventh, and that was that.

The Sox managed eight hits off Kolby Allard (2-0) and two Texas relievers, but seven of them were singles. Ryan Goins doubled with two outs in the ninth for the Sox's lone extra-base hit of the game.

Sox batters finished 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Sunday, Aug. 25
White Sox 2, Rangers 0: It's too bad Reynaldo Lopez (8-11) had to leave this game after five innings with dehydration and flu-like symptoms. He allowed no hits and struck out six while tossing 80 pitches during his outing.

Fortunately, the Sox bullpen covered four innings and finished off a one-hitter. Bummer, Marshall, Jace Fry and Colome each worked a scoreless inning, with Colome earning his 25th save in 26 chances.

Jose Abreu reached 100 RBIs for the fifth time in his six seasons with the Sox. He knocked in both Chicago runs, one with an RBI single in the third, and the other on a fielder's choice in the seventh.

Sox batters couldn't do much with Texas rookie left-hander Brock Burke (0-1), who allowed only one run over six innings. But much like Nova on Saturday night, Burke forgot to throw a shutout and ended up getting beat.

White Sox reinstate Yoan Moncada from injured list

White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada was reinstated from the injured list Thursday before the South Siders opened a four-game weekend series with the Texas Rangers at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Moncada, who has been on the injured list since Aug. 1 with a strained right hamstring, played five rehab games with Triple-A Charlotte. He went 9 for 22 with two home runs, a double, six runs scored and six RBIs.

Based on those numbers, there's no reason to think he isn't ready. Hopefully, the Sox lineup won't look so anemic now, because Moncada has been the best position player on the team this season.

He's hitting .301/.358/.535 with 20 home runs, 59 RBIs, 21 doubles, three triples, 58 runs scored and seven stolen bases in 97 games. What are the odds he finishes the season with a .300-plus batting average? Not sure, but the fact that he has a chance to do that is amazing given the struggles we saw from him in 2018.

To make room on the roster for Moncada, the Sox optioned outfielder Ryan Cordell to Triple-A Charlotte.

Cordell is hitting .227/.284/.356 this season with six home runs, seven doubles and 20 RBIs in 81 games. I feel as though I've seen enough of Cordell to confidently say he is not a major-league player moving forward, but somehow, I sense that we'll see him back on the South Side when rosters expand in September.

It would be nice if Moncada had brought Luis Robert along with him from Charlotte, but that's not how the Sox roll. We're likely to see more of guys such as Cordell, Daniel Palka and Dylan Covey down the stretch.

It was a bad day for the 'Lucas Giolito can't beat good teams' crowd

The Minnesota Twins had scored 84 runs in their first 12 games against the Sox this season -- that's an average of almost 7.5 per game -- so shutting them out is quite a feat.

Lucas Giolito was the man to do it Wednesday, as he turned in one of his best performances of the season. He improved to 14-6 with a complete-game, three-hit shutout as the Sox beat the Twins, 4-0, to secure a series win.

Giolito struck out 12 and walked nobody, and his performance came the afternoon after the Sox got crunched, 14-4, by Minnesota on Tuesday night.

It was Giolito's third complete game and second shutout of the season, and both shutouts have come against division-leading teams (Houston and Minnesota). It's odd that I still see comments on social media claiming that Giolito "can't beat good teams."

I'm pretty sure that stems from two of Giolito's six losses being against the Cubs, but if you look at his numbers carefully, you'll see that both of his starts against the North Siders just happened to occur during his roughest stretch of the season -- a period during which he was bad against almost everybody.

Let's take a look at Giolito's numbers:

Before June 15: 10-1, 2.22 ERA in 13 starts
From June 15 to July 25: 1-4, 6.38 ERA in 7 starts (including two vs. the Cubs)
Since July 25: 3-1, 2.12 ERA in 5 starts

Yes, Giolito had a cold streak, but now he's hot again. He's struck out 11 or more men in each of his past three starts, totaling 36 strikeouts against only four walks over 21 innings.

Who have those starts come against? Oakland, the L.A. Angels and Minnesota. The A's and Twins would be playoff teams if the season ended today. The Angels were three games below .500 entering Wednesday's play, so they are neither great nor terrible, but they do have the best player on the planet in Mike Trout.

So, I would say Giolito is good against everybody right now. He's not just bum-slaying. He's got two wins over the Yankees, two wins over the Twins and a win over the Astros this season.

He's good, and I'm optimistic that this breakout is for real. The Sox are 16-9 when Giolito pitches, and this is a team that is 57-69 overall. What does that tell you?