Romy Gonzalez(!) has homered in 3 consecutive games for White Sox

The hottest hitter on the White Sox is ... Romy Gonzalez? 

Yes, Gonzalez has homered in three consecutive games. He went 2 for 4 on Tuesday night, helping the Sox to a 7-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Gonzalez delivered an RBI double as part of a five-run fourth inning. He then stole third and scored easily when the throw by Angels catcher Chad Wallach squirted down the left-field line. Gonzalez added a solo home run in the sixth inning that capped the scoring in this game.

Over his past 10 games, Gonzalez is 10 for 28, with seven of the hits going for extra bases. He has three homers, three doubles and a triple -- plus 10 of his 12 RBIs for the season.

Before this hot streak, his slash line was .132/.128/.184. Now, after Wednesday's game, he stands at .224/.232/.463. That's still not good, but it makes Gonzalez more likely to retain his roster spot.

That matters right now with regular second baseman Elvis Andrus (hip strain) on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. When Andrus returns, likely at the end of this week, the Sox will need to clear a roster spot.

Among Gonzalez, Hanser Alberto and Clint Frazier, Gonzalez is the only player with options remaining. But given his recent production, Gonzalez should continue to get starts at second base until he cools off -- even when Andrus rejoins the roster.

That means the veteran Alberto could be designated for assignment. However, Alberto is a favorite of manager Pedro Grifol, so we might see Alberto go on the injured list with some sort of minor ailment -- my money is on a "shoulder strain."  

The Sox are 23-34 with Tuesday's win.

Liam Hendriks returns to White Sox after winning cancer battle

White Sox relief pitcher Liam Hendriks was activated before the start of Monday's game against the Los Angeles Angels, and he pitched for the first time during the 2023 season -- a little more than six months after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Hendriks' return to the mound is the best story and the best news we have in a miserable season of Sox baseball. He came out of the bullpen to pitch the top of the eighth inning Monday, with the usual light show, and received a thunderous ovation from Sox fans, who chanted his name as he took the mound.

The Angels were leading 4-3 at the time, and to be honest, I didn't think it was an appropriate time to bring Hendriks into the game. It would be best to allow him to ease his way back, starting out in lower-leverage situations and working toward higher leverage -- if his stuff and results allow for it.

It's important that to remember that Hendriks has been through a helluva lot the past six months. He holds himself to a high standard, and I appreciate that, but I'm not expecting him to pitch like the All-Star he has been in the past. It's not realistic in my mind. There's no real blueprint for this.

Unfortunately, Hendriks labored in his return, allowing two runs. The Angels increased their lead to 6-3 and went on to beat the Sox, 6-4.

Hendriks through 27 pitches, 16 of them strikes. He allowed three hits and walked one. He did not record a strikeout.

Of the 27 pitches, 17 were fastballs. Hendriks' maximum velocity was 96.6 mph, with an average of 95.6 mph. By way of comparison, his fastball averaged 97.6 mph last season. He did generate four whiffs on 11 swings on the fastball -- not bad at all -- but only seven of those 17 fastballs were in the strike zone. The command isn't there yet.

Among the 10 sliders Hendriks threw, only two of them were in the zone. Those pitches produced three swings -- and two whiffs. My thinking as I watched the inning was that Angels batters could sit fastball, because Hendriks did not show that he could land a slider for a strike with any consistency.

None of this is surprising. It's going to take Hendriks a little more time, and that's why I wasn't thrilled with him being thrown into an important spot.

Then again, the Sox are 22-34. The season is already lost. Maybe the results don't matter at all. We should just be happy that Hendriks has regained his health.

Memorial Day 2023

 As a former White Sox announcer would say, make it a safe and reflective one.

Enough with the "Are they back?" stuff with the White Sox

The White Sox played one of their worst games of the season Thursday night, and that's saying something.

Sox pitchers walked 11 Detroit batters. Sox batters struck out 13 times and did not draw a single walk. The Tigers won, 7-2, and that score flatters the Sox. It's a good thing Detroit isn't very good. A contending team probably would have scored 15 or more runs given how badly the Sox played.

But that's not what this blog is about. I was going to say this tonight even if the Sox had won: Can we stop asking the question "Are they back?" every time this team has a stretch where they look semi-decent? 

I feel as though I've heard someone say "Are they back?" approximately 563 times with regard to the Sox over the past 12 months.

Back to what? 

The last time the Sox looked like a legitimate team was the first half of the 2021 season, when they went 54-35. We know that season resulted in a AL Central championship and a quick playoff exit, and that first half was pretty much the high point of this era of Sox baseball.

Here's what the Sox have done since the All-Star break of 2021:

• Second half of 2021: 39-34
• First half of 2022: 46-46
• Second half of 2022: 35-35
• So far in 2023: 21-31
• Total: 141-146

That's a 287-game sample size, folks. The Sox are five games below .500 during that time, the picture of mediocrity.

Yes, even with tonight's loss, the Sox have won eight of their past 12 games. They have displayed more competency as of late, but that is not a sign that they are a legitimate contender. They simply aren't as bad as their 13-27 start suggested, and they were due for some positive regression to the mean.

The mean is mediocrity. Before this season is over, I wouldn't count out the possibility of the Sox getting "back" to around .500, because that is who they are. 

The Sox team you're watching now is the same team you've been watching for nearly two years. They aren't "back" to anything, other than spinning their wheels as an organization.

Michael Kopech dominates for second straight outing

At one point in time, Michael Kopech was the White Sox prospect I was most excited about. I even said as much on a hype video that was played during the opening ceremonies at SoxFest 2018.

However, between injuries and inconsistency, Kopech has never lived up to the high hopes I had for him. Recently, I've been telling friends, "I think he's good enough to be a starting pitcher in the majors, but he's not special."

Two games isn't enough to change that assessment, but that said, Kopech has been special in his past two outings.

On Wednesday afternoon in Cleveland, Kopech struck out nine and allowed only two hits over seven shutout innings, leading the Sox to a 6-0 victory over the Guardians.

This comes on the heels of Kopech's win over the Kansas City Royals last Friday, when he flirted with a perfect game and allowed only hit over eight shutout innings.

Here's the combined line for Kopech over his past two starts:

15 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 19 Ks, 1 BB

Kopech (3-4) has lowered his ERA from 5.74 to 4.24. What's different? Well, he's sticking with his best pitch -- the fastball -- and commanding it exceptionally well. Kopech walked 28 batters over his first eight starts. Now, he's stopped issuing free passes.

Of the 92 pitches Kopech threw Wednesday, 62 were strikes. Coincidentally, he also threw 62 fastballs, which generated 12 of Cleveland's 16 swing-and-misses on the day. 

Some might say both Kansas City and Cleveland are weak-hitting teams, and that's not wrong. But I would counter by saying we've seen the Royals and Guardians crush Sox pitching before, so I'm not going to demean the accomplishment.

It's also worth noting that this was only the 43rd start of Kopech's career. That's somewhat hard to believe, since he made his major league debut almost five years ago. Perhaps there's still some growth to be made, given his relative inexperience -- in terms of starts and innings, not years of service.

It sure would help the Sox if Kopech becomes a top-of-the-rotation pitcher.

The Sox are 21-30.

White Sox bats arrive in late innings at Cleveland

Dylan Cease

Remember when the White Sox were 15-0 against left-handed starters in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season? 

Unfortunately, you can't count on that as an offensive strength for the Sox anymore. Entering Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Guardians, the South Siders were 2-7 this season when facing a left-handed pitcher.

Make it 3-7.

It didn't look good early, but the Sox bats arrived in the late innings to beat Cleveland and lefty Logan Allen, 4-2.

Through four innings, the Sox managed only one hit and trailed, 1-0. But catcher Yasmani Grandal hit his fourth home run of the season -- on an 0-2 pitch, no less -- to tie the game at 1.

Cleveland retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Josh Naylor, but the 2-1 advantage would be short-lived.

The first five Sox batters reached base against Allen in the top of the seventh. Andrew Vaughn reached on an infield single and advanced to third on a double by Andrew Benintendi.

Vaughn scored when Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez booted a grounder off Grandal's bat. Clint Frazier walked to loaded the bases, with still no outs, and Romy Gonzalez delivered a two-run double to put the Sox ahead, 4-2.

The line stopped moving there, however. Enyel De Los Santos relieved for Cleveland, and he struck out Tim Anderson, Jake Burger and Luis Robert Jr. in succession to strand runners on second and third.

That was a missed opportunity to blow the game wide open, but it turned out that was all the runs the Sox needed.

Dylan Cease (3-3) picked up his first win since April 10 with six innings of two-run ball. The Sox ace was once again lacking his swing-and-miss stuff, as he struck out only three. But he walked only two and limited the Guardians to five hits.

Keynan Middleton, Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman each worked a scoreless inning of relief. Graveman -- who earned his fourth save of 2023 -- allowed a walk and a hit, but a well-timed double play kept the Guardians off the board. 

The Sox are 20-30. The Guardians are 21-27.

White Sox limited to three hits in loss at Cleveland

So much for the good vibes from that series sweep of Kansas City, huh?

The White Sox managed only three hits Monday and lost, 3-0, to the Cleveland Guardians in the first game of a three-game series in Cleveland. 

Cleveland starter Hunter Gaddis entered this game with a 6.86 ERA in five previous games. He last faced the Sox on Sept. 15, 2022. In that game, he gave up seven earned runs -- including five homers -- over four innings pitched.

But on Monday, he threw six scoreless innings of two-hit ball to earn his first major league victory. 

Embarrassing for the Sox, although we shouldn't be surprised.

What's frustrating is the Sox got exactly what they needed from Triple-A call-up Jesse Scholtens (0-2), who was added to the roster after Mike Clevinger hit the 15-day injured list with right wrist inflammation.

Scholtens pitched five innings and allowed one run on two hits. The only run scored on a wild pitch, which should have been caught by Yasmani Grandal -- frankly, I thought it was a passed ball.

The Guardians got some breathing room in the seventh inning when Mike Zunino hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer off Gregory Santos to make it 3-0. 

Zunino had been in a 1-for-31 slump, so giving up a big hit to him right now is tough to accept.

As a matter of fact, everything about this game was tough to accept, but there is a reason the Sox are 19-30.