I'm a glutton for punishment. After Sunday's disastrous game, I gave White Sox spring training baseball another chance on my commute home from work Monday afternoon.
I picked up the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Sox trailing the Los Angeles Angels, 6-5.
Moments later, the Sox tied the game on an infield single by minor-league catcher Nate Nolan that included a throwing error by Angels minor-league third baseman Jordan Zimmerman (not the Detroit Tigers pitcher).
I listened to the rest of the game, which ended in a 6-6 tie, before I made it home.
Hey, at least they didn't lose!
And they rallied from an early 6-2 deficit. I've read that Reynaldo Lopez struggled, allowing four earned runs on four hits over 3.1 innings. However, he said he was happy with the outing, and that he's not worried about his spring numbers. True enough, spring numbers don't matter for guys who know they are going to be on the team.
That said, it's nice when guys who are going to be on the team perform well. Take presumed closer-to-be Alex Colome, who retired the side in order in the bottom of the fifth inning. Or reliever Nate Jones, who allowed a hit but worked a scoreless sixth.
Backup catcher James McCann went 2 for 3 and is hitting .333 for the spring, so there's that.
The Sox are now 3-6-2 in Cactus League games. It will be nice when a game or two makes its way to TV, so there can be more to observe than just a few nuggets gleaned from a box score.
In the meantime, the next game on the radio is Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers. Presuming I have a decent day at work, maybe I'll be in the mood to tune in and listen to Ed Farmer and Darrin Jackson during my drive time.
Jason, about half of these games have been available on MLB.TV (no sub required - I should know since I cancelled mine a couple weeks ago).
ReplyDeleteTo bring over a point from the last article, Don Cooper may be good at getting some pitchers to give up weaker contact but he hasn't shown any ability to get walk-prone pitchers to reduce their walk rates. That's why my expectations for Fulmer and Giolito are so low, especially Fulmer since his walk rate in college wasn't all that good.
Even when White Sox pitchers do get ahead in the count, they seem to think they are going to get big-league hitters to chase junk outside the zone. How many times do you see a Sox pitcher ahead 0-2, 1-2 and end up walking a guy, or give up a hit on 3-2 because he let a batter back in the count? Too many, IMO.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that Fulmer and Giolito are good examples for that. Those guys are just wild in and out of the zone, and that's that.