Memorial Day 2024

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

 

When 'just play the kids' doesn't work ...

White Sox fans have been screaming into the void on social media, calling for the team to discard veterans and "just play the kids."

It's understandable, because the team is 20 games below .500 on May 22. The Sox are going nowhere fast in 2024, and it's time to look ahead to 2025 and beyond.

Nobody wants to watch dead-end veterans such as Mike Clevinger, Chris Flexen and the recently DFA'd Brad Keller start games for the Sox. Hell, I don't want to watch these guys, either.

Those types of pitchers are short-timers. They won't be in the majors much longer, and they are just here to eat innings and cross days off the calendar.

Those players are here because "the kids" aren't ready. Fans who wanted to see rookie right-hander Nick Nastrini pitch got their wish Wednesday night, and boy, that did not go well.

Nastrini gave up seven runs in the second inning, plus two more in the fourth, in a 9-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

His final line was brutal: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 6 BB, 0 K, 1 HR. 

Six walks and no strikeouts? My goodness, it was like the Blue Jays knew what was coming. This is the type of performance that can kill a young pitcher's confidence. 

It sounds as though Nastrini will get another start next Monday, against Toronto once again. Let's keep in mind, the Blue Jays are in last place in the AL East. It's not *that* difficult of an assignment. If Nastrini gets bombed again, I'm not going to be able to make a case for him to stay in the bigs.

If he has to go back to Triple-A, get ready for more Michael Soroka in the rotation, like it or not. That's what happens when you don't have any "kids" who are ready to pitch in Chicago. 

Eloy Jimenez injured again

In a bit of news that should surprise absolutely no one, White Sox designated hitter Eloy Jimenez injured himself running the bases Tuesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Jimenez doubled in the top of the fifth inning and was the trail runner in a second-and-third, two-out situation. Corey Julks singled to center field, which meant Jimenez had to sprint 180 feet to score a run.

He did indeed score the run, but he started limping as he approached home plate. Diagnosis: left hamstring strain. The Sox provided no further updates after their 5-0 victory over the Blue Jays, but would anyone be shocked if this results in Jimenez landing on the 10-day injured list? Certainly not.

I've heard some people express hope that Jimenez could be traded for something of value this summer, but I just don't see it. Perhaps the Sox could get salary relief in return -- Jerry Reinsdorf's favorite thing -- but put yourself in the shoes of a GM for a contending team.

Are you going to acquire Jimenez with the hope that he can stay healthy and provide a boost to help put your team over the top? 

NO!!!!

That would be delusional.

The Sox did snap their four-game losing streak Tuesday night. They scored all five of their runs with two outs. Nicky Lopez had an RBI single in the second inning. Julks had the aforementioned two-run single in the fifth. Danny Mendick's two-run double in the eighth capped the scoring.

That made a winner of Garrett Crochet, who moved to 5-4 and took the staff lead in victories. He worked six shutout innings, allowing only two hits. He stuck out four and walked one.

The Sox are 15-34.

Maybe home runs are important, huh?

The White Sox are 0-4 through the first four games of their six-game road trip to New York and Toronto. They've been outscored 26-8, but perhaps more notably, they've been out-homered 10-2.

Let's take a look under the hood:

Yankees 4, White Sox 2. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hit solo homers for the Yankees. The Sox did not homer. The Yankees scored two more runs than the Sox with the long ball and won the game by two runs.

Yankees 6, White Sox 1. Juan Soto hit two solo homers for the Yankees. Stanton and Jose Trevino also hit solo homers for the Yankees. The Sox did not homer. The Yankees scored four more runs than the Sox with the long ball and won the game by five runs.

Yankees 7, White Sox 2. The Yankees got a 3-run homer from Jon Berti and a 2-run homer from Judge. The Sox got a solo shot from Corey Julks. The Yankees scored four more runs than the Sox with the long ball and won the game by five runs.

Blue Jays 9, White Sox 3. The Blue Jays got 2-run homers from Daulton Varsho and Danny Jansen. The Sox got a solo home run from Paul DeJong. The Jays scored three more runs than the Sox with the long ball and won the game by six runs.

In every one of these losses, home runs (or lack thereof) played a significant role. We cannot be surprised by the outcome of the New York series. The Yankees (33-16) have the best record in the American League, and perhaps not coincidentally, they entered Monday leading the league in home runs with 68.

The Blue Jays ranked 14th out of the 15 AL teams entering Monday with 37 homers, but that didn't stop them from going deep twice against the Sox. 

Who ranks last in the AL? The Sox, of course. They've hit only 34 homers as a team.

It doesn't help that Luis Robert Jr. has been limited to just seven games (and two homers) by injury. But Eloy Jimenez and Andrew Vaughn are supposed to be power sources for this team. We are 48 games into the season, and Jimenez has only five homers. Vaughn has three.

DeJong is a the surprise team leader with seven homers, followed by Jimenez and Korey Lee(!) with four.

The whole problem is made worse by the Sox going 5 for 31 with runners in scoring position so far on the road trip. If you can't hit homers and you can't "move runners along," then how can you score?

Obviously, the Sox have a lot of work to do in rebuilding their team. Let's hope they remember that home runs are important.

After all, the top two teams in the AL right now in terms of record -- the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles -- happen to be the top two teams in home runs. Just sayin'.

Here's why the Sox shouldn't trade Garrett Crochet

White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet has now pitched 10 games this season, his first as a member of the starting rotation after beginning his career as a reliever.

Results have been mixed. Crochet is 4-4 with a 4.18 ERA. On the surface, that's mediocre, but if you dig a little deeper, you can see that Crochet has been good, then bad, and then good again. He's had the league adjust to him, and he's adjusted back.

Let's look at the numbers:

• First 3 starts: 1-1 W-L, 18 innings, 11 hits, 4 R, 4 ER, 21 Ks, 1 BB, 2.00 ERA
• Starts 4-6: 0-3 W-L, 11.2 innings, 16 hits, 17 R, 17 ER, 19 Ks, 7 BBs, 13.11 ERA
• Starts 7-10: 3-0 W-L, 22 innings, 13 hits, 3 R, 3 ER, 30 Ks, 4 BBs, 1.23 ERA

Add it all up, and Crochet is the American League leader in strikeouts with 70. He's done that across 51.2 innings.

In his most recent start, Crochet threw five scoreless innings to pick up the win in a 2-0 White Sox victory over the Washington Nationals.

With each passing successful outing, I've seen more and more people suggest the Sox flip Crochet for prospects at the July trade deadline. They note that Crochet began his career the same year he was drafted -- in 2020 -- so the team only has him under control through the 2026 season.

The argument goes that the Sox will not contend within that time frame, so it makes the most sense to trade him now for futures.

I understand the argument. I just disagree. The main reason is, I don't think Crochet will fetch the Sox premium value in a trade right now.

It's important to note, Crochet's career high in innings is 54.1. He's going to blow by that in his next start. This is May 17. There are still four months left in the season. 

Who knows whether Crochet can make all his starts the rest of this season? He's never done it before, and even if he does hold up physically, it's anyone's guess what quality of innings he will provide a team in August and September.

If you're a contending team looking to acquire starting pitching, sure, a 24-year-old Crochet in his current form is appealing. But are you going to pay top prospects to acquire him when you have no clue whether he can maintain that form for the rest of the season?

Probably not.

And if you're the Sox, if you cannot acquire top prospects for Crochet, then why trade him? 

Maybe Crochet spends the rest of this season proving that he IS a starting pitcher. If he does, then the Sox should go into 2025 with him as an anchor in their rotation, and if the team is indeed not contending, you might find that he'd have even more value in a trade about this time next season.

White Sox trade Robbie Grossman to Texas for pitching prospect

The White Sox sell-off of veterans players has begun, perhaps a little earlier than anticipated.

Outfielder Robbie Grossman was traded to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, in exchange for Double-A pitching prospect Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa.

Grossman, 34, batted .211/.329/.268 in 25 games with the Sox. He stood out in the free-swinging Sox lineup as one of the few guys who was willing to take a walk. He drew 13 walks in 85 plate appearances, and he saw 4.45 pitches per plate appearance.

That being said, Grossman was without a home run and had only four doubles, a far cry from his 23-homer peak with the Detroit Tigers in 2021.

Hoopii-Tuionetoa, 23, is a right-handed reliever from Hawaii. He was pitching at Double-A Frisco, where he made 10 appearances this season. He was 1-0 with 0.73 ERA. He had 16 strikeouts and four walks across 12.1 innings pitched. Reports say he's a fastball-slider pitcher, with his fastball velocity averaging about 96 mph.

He will report to Double-A Birmingham.

Texas rookie Wyatt Langford just hit the injured list, so that created a need for another outfielder on the Rangers roster. Grossman was with the Rangers last season when they won the World Series, so they know him, and they know he still has one above-average skill -- his ability to work counts and get on base.

This makes sense for the Sox, too, as Grossman's usefulness was likely to run out once Luis Robert Jr. comes off the injured list. Robert will eventually return to his usual spot in center field, with Tommy Pham shifting over to right field. That would leave Grossman without a role, so perhaps it's best to move him now. The Sox now have turned him into a relief prospect that they can try to develop. Nothing wrong with that.

White Sox 4, Rays 1

Chris Flexen pitched six innings of one-run ball, and Paul DeJong hit a 2-run homer as the Sox salvaged the final game of a three-game series Wednesday night, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-1.

The Sox trailed 1-0 after four innings, before DeJong put them ahead to stay with his team-leading fifth home run of the season in the top of the fifth.

Rookie Bryan Ramos and Pham added RBI singles in the top of the sixth inning, as the Sox lengthened their lead to 4-1.

Flexen (2-3) allowed only three hits during his season-best outing. He struck out eight and walked one. Three Sox relievers combined for three scoreless innings, with Michael Kopech getting three outs in the ninth for his third save of the season. 

The Sox are 9-28 after completing a 3-3 road trip to St. Louis and Tampa Bay. They will host Cleveland in a four-game set starting Thursday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Mike Clevinger's 2024 debut a brutal one

Two things are true about Mike Clevinger: 1) He's a pariah among White Sox fans. 2) He was the most reliable Sox starting pitcher in 2023.

While pitching for a team that was 40 games below .500 last season, Clevinger compiled a respectable 9-9 record with a 3.77 ERA. Still, questions about his off-field character continue to dog him, and he found no takers in free agency over the winter.

The Sox, who are severely lacking in credible starting pitchers, signed him to a one-year deal after the season had already started, on April 4.

Clevinger completed a monthlong ramp-up in the minor leagues, and with reliever Dominic Leone going on the injured list with back tightness, Clevinger was activated to start Monday's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.

It did not go well.

Clevinger was expected to throw 80-90 pitches. Instead, he threw only 54. He lasted two-plus innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits. He struck out nobody, getting only one swing-and-miss during the outing, and walked four.

The Sox lost, 8-2.

This was pretty brutal. Clevinger's purpose is to be a starting pitcher who can get the game into the sixth or seventh inning. The Sox's overtaxed bullpen sorely needs that. 

The pitcher we saw Monday night looked like someone who isn't ready to pitch in the majors. Clevinger will need to be much better his next time out.

The Sox are 8-27. There are 127 more games of this crud.