What are reasonable expectations for Dallas Keuchel this season?

Dallas Keuchel

As White Sox pitchers and catchers report to camp Wednesday, the pitcher who I'm most curious about on the Sox staff is ... strangely, Dallas Keuchel.

I'm not sure what the Sox are going to get from 32-year-old veteran left-hander, who signed a three-year deal worth $55.5 million with the South Siders this offseason.

First, let's take a look at what Keuchel has provided the past five seasons, the first four with the Houston Astros, then last season with the Atlanta Braves:

2015: 20-8, 2.48 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 1.017 WHIP, 216 Ks, 51 BBs, 232 IP
2016: 9-12, 4.55 ERA, 3.87 FIP, 1.286 WHIP, 144 Ks, 48 BBs, 168 IP
2017: 14-5, 2.90 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 1.119 WHIP, 125 Ks, 47 BBs, 145.2 IP
2018: 12-11, 3.74 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 1.314 WHIP, 153 Ks, 58 BBs, 204.2 IP
2019: 8-8, 3.75, 4.72 FIP, 1.367 WHIP, 91 Ks, 39 BBs, 112.2 IP

Keuchel was at the height of his powers in 2015, when he won the American League Cy Young Award. He had a down year in 2016, before bouncing back in 2017. The past couple of seasons have been characterized by a decline that is to be expected with his age, but it's not a precipitous decline.

So what do we expect from Keuchel as Sox fans in 2020? I know we're not getting an ace -- he's just not that guy anymore. But, that stat line from 2018, I think I could live with that. If Keuchel provides 200-plus innings and an ERA below 4.00 in a hitters' park such as Guaranteed Rate Field, that's a solid year at this stage of his career.

What does Keuchel need to do to get to that level? Well, I think he's going to have to do a better job the third time through the batting order than he did last season with the Braves. Check out the splits opposing batters had against Keuchel by pitch count, and note how rough it gets once he gets past 75 pitches:

Pitches 1-25: .278/.345/.398
Pitches 26-50: .206/.292/.299
Pitches 51-75: .265/.320/.434
Pitches 76-100: .320/.294/.608

Yikes on that fourth line there, huh? I certainly can't complain about anything I'm seeing for Pitches 1-50. Heck, 51-75 isn't too bad, but that slugging percentage takes a big leap once Keuchel gets past the 75-pitch mark.

We know Sox pitching coach Don Cooper is old-school, believing that going seven innings is "part of the job description" for starting pitchers.

There's no doubt Keuchel will be allowed to pitch deep into games, and there's every reason to believe his floor is higher than the ceilings for past Sox rotation members such as Ivan Nova, Dylan Covey and Ross Detwiler. That alone makes Keuchel a worthwhile signing.

But the key question here is whether he can be more than a five- or six-inning pitcher at this stage of his career. The Sox definitely need him to be.

AL Central update: Josh Donaldson, Ivan Nova and ... Andrew Romine

Josh Donaldson

The Minnesota Twins struck out in their attempts to fortify their starting rotation with a big-name pitcher this offseason, so they did the next best thing: They made an already good lineup stronger by signing third baseman Josh Donaldson to a four-year, $92 million contract.

After two injury-plagued seasons in 2017-18, Donaldson signed a one-year, prove-it deal with the Atlanta Braves last offseason. Then he went out and proved it, playing 155 games and posting a .259/.379/.521 slash line with 37 home runs, 33 doubles and 94 RBIs. The Braves won 97 games and won the National League East.

Back on the open market this winter, Donaldson has cashed in with a big contract entering his age-34 season. He'll add to a lineup that mashed 307 home runs last season, and his glove at third base is still above average -- so that will help Minnesota's suspect pitching staff. Miguel Sano will move from third base to first base, where he will be less of a defensive liability.

And, bad news for the White Sox, because Donaldson owns them. He's a lifetime .333/.435/.686 hitter with 15 home runs in 44 games against the South Siders. The Sox will have to deal with him 18 games a year now, instead of the six or seven games a year when Donaldson was with the Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics.

Donaldson did strike out a career-high 155 times in 2019, so maybe that's a sign that his bat has slowed a little bit. The Sox will have to hope the aging curve begins to take its toll on Donaldson -- and Minnesota's seemingly ageless designated hitter Nelson Cruz.

Nova signs with Detroit

Former Sox right-hander Ivan Nova has a new address in the AL Central. He signed a one-year deal worth $1.5 million with the Detroit Tigers. He can earn an additional $500,000 in incentives.

Nova, 33, made 34 starts for the Sox in 2019, going 11-12 with a 4.72 ERA. Hopefully, he's no longer good enough to make the inside knowledge he has of the Sox work for him.

Sox add utilityman Romine

Andrew Romine hasn't played in the majors since 2018, and hopefully, he won't play in the majors for the Sox either.

But the veteran utility infielder is in the Sox organization after signing a minor-league contract. He will earn $900,000 if he makes it to the big leagues this season.

Romine, 34, is a switch-hitter who has played in 581 career games for the Los Angeles Angels, Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners. His career slash line is .235/.291/.301 with 10 home runs in 1,323 plate appearances.

Hey, somebody has to play second base in Triple-A Charlotte once Nick Madrigal gets called to the majors, right?

Hyun-Jin Ryu agrees to four-year deal with Toronto Blue Jays

Hyun-Jin Ryu

Left-handed pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu has agreed to a four-year, $80 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, according to reports.

Ryu, 32, finished second in the National League Cy Young Award voting in 2019, when he went 14-5 with a league-leading 2.32 ERA in 29 starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Blue Jays are looking to reconfigure their starting rotation this offseason -- they've also added right-handers Tanner Roark and Chase Anderson.

I think this is an overpay, but hey, Toronto is coming off a 95-loss season, and it was going to have to significantly outbid the competition in order to sign a pitcher of Ryu's caliber.

There's no doubt Ryu has quality stuff, but if you look at his injury history, and you wonder if he's going to be productive all four years of the deal. Here are the number of starts he's made in each season of his career:

2013: 30
2014: 26
2015: 0
2016: 1
2017: 25
2018: 15
2019: 29

Last season was the first time Ryu had thrown more than 180 innings in a season since his rookie year in 2013. I'm not sure if he'll hold up, but as a White Sox fan, I am glad he signed somewhere outside of the American League Central Division. I was concerned Ryu would sign with the Minnesota Twins, who still need help for their rotation.

At this point, all the high-end starting pitchers are off the free agent market. The top two remaining guys are Homer Bailey and Ivan Nova, so we'll see if Minnesota moves to address its pitching weaknesses via trade.

White Sox drop four players from 40-man roster

The offseason purge started for the White Sox on Monday. The team announced that pitcher Manny Banuelos, outfielder Ryan Cordell and infielders Ryan Goins and Matt Skole have been outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte.

The four players will become minor-league free agents after the World Series is over. The moves drop the Sox's 40-man roster to 35 players.

All four of these moves were no-brainers, as October "outrightings" tend to be. For me, the end of the Banuelos Era couldn't come soon enough. At SoxFest 2019, in response to my question about starting rotation depth, general manager Rick Hahn famously told fans that scouts had "pounded the table," urging him to trade for Banuelos. The argument was that the left-hander had reclaimed the health and form that once had him ranked among the top prospects in the game.

The reality said otherwise. Banuelos has been a combination of injured and bad his whole career, and he was injured and bad for the Sox. He went 3-4 with a 6.93 ERA in 16 games (8 starts), and he was plagued with shoulder trouble throughout much of the season.

Cordell batted .221/.290/.355 with seven home runs in 24 RBIs in 97 games. His defense was decent, but not spectacular, and there's nothing about his offensive profile that says, "Keep me."

Goins, a 31-year-old journeyman, batted .250/.333/.347 with two homers and 10 RBIs in 52 games. His playing time dried up in September, because there is a younger, cheaper option as a utility infielder on the roster -- Danny Mendick. And once Mendick joined the Sox late in the season, there were few at-bats for Goins.

Skole, a 30-year-old journeyman, batted .208/.275/.236 with no homers and six RBIs in 27 games. He only received an opportunity because numerous other left-handed bats failed the Sox. When all was said and done, Skole added his name to a list of failed left-handed hitters that included Yonder Alonso, Jon Jay, A.J. Reed and Daniel Palka.

The Sox soon will have to add pitchers Michael Kopech, Carlos Rodon and Ryan Burr back to the 40-man roster when they come off the 60-day disabled list. But Jose Abreu, Ross Detwiler, Ivan Nova and Hector Santiago are impending free agents, and Welington Castillo's contract option is almost certainly going to be declined.

There's a possibility Abreu will re-sign with the Sox quickly, but even if he does, that puts the Sox at 34 men on the roster.

That's comfortable for now, and it will allow them to add pitchers Dane Dunning, Jimmy Lambert and Zack Burdi, along with outfielder Blake Rutherford, to the 40-man roster. All those men must be added to protect them from Rule 5 draft status, and one would think the Sox will do that.

White Sox 'part ways' with hitting coaches Todd Steverson and Greg Sparks

Todd Steverson

The White Sox often are criticized for not firing underperforming front office executives, managers and coaches. And even when they do fire someone, they don't really fire them. They instead choose to "part ways."

Hitting coach Todd Steverson and assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks will not be back with the team in 2020, and the words used to make the announcement amused me.

The club said it will not extend the contract of Sparks, which means, of course, that his contract was up. No such thing was said about Steverson. No, the Sox are "parting ways" with him. In other words, he had a contract for next season, but the team decided to move on.

Where I come from, that's called a firing. But I guess we don't say that in a Jerry Reinsdorf-run organization.

The press release the Sox sent about these moves touted the improvements made by AL batting champion Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada, who is now the best player on the team. Steverson was given some props for that, but two talented hitters playing up to their potential under his watch wasn't enough to save his job.

And it's hard to argue with the move, considering the general underwhelming performance of the offense at large. The Sox were third from the bottom in the AL in runs scored. They ranked last in the league in walk rate and second-to-last in strikeout rates and isolated power. The team on-base percentage of .315 isn't nearly good enough.

So, yeah, see you later, Steverson and Sparks.

However, here's my question: If the hitting coaches are being relieved of their duties, why isn't Don Cooper's head on the chopping block? His pitching staff arguably sucked more than the offense. The Sox had only two starting pitchers with an ERA below 5, and one of them was Ivan Nova (4.72).

Over the past three seasons, the Sox have issued more walks than any team in the AL. You can say Cooper hasn't had much talent to work with, and you'd be correct. But Steverson and Sparks haven't had much talent to work with either -- once you get past the success stories of Anderson and Moncada.

Why are some Sox coaches being held accountable while others seem to have jobs in perpetuity? Asking for a friend.

The last day at Guaranteed Rate Field

My White Sox family (from left): Brian , Doug , Jen , Tom and me.

Kudos to the White Sox for having a respectable last homestand of 2019. It was rain abbreviated -- the Sox only played 161 games this season because of bad weather Friday -- but they closed it out with a 4-2 week at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Sox took two of the three from the Cleveland Indians, basically knocking their AL Central rivals out of the playoffs with an 8-3 win Wednesday night and a 8-0 win Thursday night.

The Sox then won two of three games from the hapless Detroit Tigers over the weekend, which allowed them to finish 72-89 -- a 10-game improvement over 2018.

Despite that improvement, it was still a non-contending year for the Sox, and a difficult season for me to watch at times. As we sat at the ballpark Sunday, watching the South Siders beat Detroit, 5-3, I had mixed emotions.

The Sox are concluding the season with only two healthy starting pitchers, Reynaldo Lopez and Ivan Nova. Yes, I know the injuries to Lucas Giolito (strained lat) and Dylan Cease (strained hamstring) are not considered serious, but the bottom line is they aren't pitching.

The team has had no choice but to make seemingly every other game a "bullpen day." If there was a game Monday, who would be the starting pitcher for the Sox? I have no idea, because Lopez and Nova both pitched in Saturday's doubleheader against the Tigers.

From that perspective, for everyone's health and sanity, it is good the season is ending now. The Sox are almost out of starting pitching, and they don't need anyone else getting hurt while being pushed beyond their limits.

That said, while I know the season needed to end, that doesn't make me happy that it has. I always miss baseball during the winter, and this year will be no different.

You see, the beauty of the game is that it is played every day. Win or lose, there's always another game tomorrow. Until you get to the last day, and then you have to wait 179 days before the next meaningful ballgame is played. That stinks.

But at least we got to enjoy one last day with our friends at the ballpark. Believe it or not, they still had food at ChiSox Bar & Grill. (This is an improvement over previous season finales, if you can believe it.) The weather wasn't great, but the company was, and the Sox won.

My final attendance record for 2019: 10-10. That's not too bad when cheering for a 72-89 team. Let's hope that by next September, the Sox will be playing games that mean something in the standings for the first time since 2012.

Reynaldo Lopez's struggles prevent White Sox from sweeping Detroit Tigers

Reynaldo Lopez

When people speak about the projected 2020 White Sox pitching staff, it is assumed that the starting rotation will include Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease, Reynaldo Lopez and a veteran free agent to be signed later.

Perhaps those people are correct, but that's not the way it should work.

Giolito is the only Sox pitcher who has performed well enough in 2019 to where it can be assumed that he's a member of the rotation to open next season. In fact, barring an unforeseen big-name free agent acquisition, I would expect to see Giolito on the mound when next season opens March 26 against the Kansas City Royals.

All others should have to compete for a spot, and that includes Lopez, who pitched poorly Sunday in a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers. The loss prevented the Sox (68-87) from sweeping the hapless Tigers (46-109).

The Sox offense totaled 36 hits through the first two games of the series. They won 10-1 on Friday and 5-3 on Saturday, and neither Cease (4-7) nor Ivan Nova (11-12) found it all that difficult on their way to wins against the weak Detroit offense.

But on Sunday, Lopez got torched for three home runs and five earned runs over four innings, and he also received two lectures from manager Rick Renteria -- one a stern discussion on the mound during the second inning, and then another lengthy dialogue during the top of the fourth inning in the dugout.

The loss drops Lopez to 9-15 on the season, with an ugly 5.57 ERA. The right-hander had one of the best starts of his career Sept. 5, a complete-game one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians. However, in three starts since then -- against the Royals, Minnesota Twins and Tigers -- Lopez has given up five or more earned runs in every outing.

He's 0-3 with a 10.29 ERA in that span, having allowed 16 earned runs on 27 hits -- including six home runs -- over 14 innings.

Does that sound like somebody we should be "penciling in" to the 2020 rotation? Not in my world.

I realize two full seasons have been invested in Lopez's development now, so it's hard to give up on him. And the Sox shouldn't give up on him. He has some of the best fastball velocity in the league -- he's consistently throwing 95-plus. However, that's not good enough. The fastball has to be located, and the secondary pitches have to be better. Lopez surrendered three homers on sliders Sunday.

So where do the Sox go from here? To me, this is simple. The Sox need to sign two veteran free agent pitchers this offseason, not just one. And, if they must bring back Nova, tell him he's going to be serving as a long reliever and spot starter -- and he should only be retained *in addition* to two other acquisitions from outside the organization.

Create a situation where you have Lopez, Cease, Kopech and three veterans vying for the four spots in the rotation behind Giolito. The four best of the six are starters, and the other two can go sit in the bullpen.

If Lopez cannot command his fastball, if he cannot maintain his focus from start to start, if he cannot execute his breaking pitches -- even against a Triple-A lineup such as Detroit's -- then he needs to be removed from the rotation.

You see, this season the Sox are so short on pitching that Lopez, Cease and Nova are guaranteed to retain their spots in the rotation, no matter how bad they pitch. Hell, even Dylan Covey has been allowed to make starts when he's healthy, because there is no depth to speak of whatsoever.

This should not be. Everybody should have a little bit of fear that they could lose their job if they don't perform. As it stands right now, no matter how many lectures Renteria delivers, Lopez is in the rotation regardless of results.

This is a situation that must change this offseason. Invest in the pitching staff, White Sox. Create internal competition. Don't accept mediocrity or worse. No more scholarships for anybody.

White Sox pitcher Ivan Nova's hot streak is over

Ivan Nova

The White Sox had a bullpen meltdown Sunday, which is a lucky thing for Ivan Nova. Many of us overlooked his bad outing against the Seattle Mariners, a game in which the Sox blew a 10-5 lead and lost, 11-10.

Nova lasted only 3.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits. The rough outing was the continuation of what is now a four-game cold streak for the veteran right-hander. This was an inevitable regression, after Nova was one of the hottest pitchers in the league from late July until the last week of August.

From July 22 to Aug. 24, Nova made seven starts. He went 5-1 with a 0.94 ERA. He allowed seven runs, only five earned, on 36 hits over 48 innings pitched. He struck out 25 against only seven walks. He also saved the Sox bullpen by tossing two complete games in that stretch.

Alas, since Aug. 30, Nova is 1-2 with a 9.35 ERA in four starts. He's allowed a whopping 19 runs (18 earned) on 35 hits over 17.1 innings. He's struck out nine and walked five, and only once during that stretch has he made it through the fifth inning.

When Nova was rolling, we heard whispers that the Sox should consider bringing him back next season -- he's a free agent at season's end. Here at The Baseball Kid, we cautioned against that, and we remain against the idea of a new contract for Nova.

In total, this pitcher is 10-12 with a 4.86 ERA over 31 starts. That's below league average in his age-32 season. Why would we believe Nova would be any better than this at age 33 and beyond?

The Sox will tell you that Nova is a "great mentor" for Reynaldo Lopez and other young pitchers, but the fact of the matter is the team needs better production from Nova's spot in the rotation.

We're starting to hear talk from the Sox about being "ready to win" in 2020. If that's the case, it's time to move on from mediocre-at-best rotation pieces such as Nova.

When you have five relievers, you have no relievers

In a different sport, commentators sometimes say, "When you have two quarterbacks, you really have no quarterbacks." The thinking is, if either of your quarterbacks were actually good, he would be playing, and the lesser guy would be sitting on the bench. There wouldn't be a need to toggle back and forth between players.

Likewise, if the White Sox had a reliever available they could trust Sunday, maybe they wouldn't have needed to use five of them in the eighth inning of a ghastly 11-10 loss to the Seattle Mariners.

You see, the Sox's reliable relievers -- Alex Colome, Aaron Bummer and, to a lesser extent, Evan Marshall -- were not available Sunday.

That left the rest of the bullpen to protect a 10-5 lead in the eighth inning. It should have been doable. Hector Santiago had done much of the heavy lifting. He replaced a struggling Ivan Nova in the fourth inning, and he tossed up zeroes in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

But Santiago tired in the eighth, allowing a two singles and a walk to start the inning. But the veteran lefty left the mound with the Sox still in decent shape, leading 10-6.

Unfortunately, Kelvin Herrera gave up a three-run homer to Kyle Lewis. 10-9. Then Jace Fry came in and walked the only batter he faced. (Surprise, surprise.) Then Jimmy Cordero faced one batter and struck him out.

Maybe Cordero should have been left in ... nah, why do that when we can go with some more stupid lefty-righty matchups?

Josh Osich entered and finished the eighth inning, but not before walking another batter and surrendering a game-tying single to Mallex Smith. The lefty-on-lefty stuff didn't work there, did it? 10-10 after eight.

The Sox had a pathetic offensive inning in the top of the ninth. Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu all swung for the fences. All of them struck out on pitches out of the zone against Austin Adams (2-2). Great discipline, guys.

Jose Ruiz (1-3) became the sixth reliever used in less than two innings in the ninth. Long story short, Anderson and Ryan Cordell made defensive mistakes behind him, an intentional walk was issued to load the bases, and then Ruiz walked in the winning run.

Good job, good effort.

The Sox dropped two out of three in the weekend series to the mighty Mariners (62-88). That means the South Siders have now lost three consecutive series, all to losing teams -- the Angels, Royals and Mariners.

And we're told we should be excited about 2020. Well, you know, you have to have more than four people who can get opposing batters out on your pitching staff in order to contend.

The Sox are now 65-84 on the season. There's a ton of work to be done over the winter to get anywhere near contention, and team brass has no track record as far as signing the right free agents.

They will have to sign the right free agents, because there are no internal solutions here. Colome and Bummer have had good seasons, but two pitchers does not make a bullpen.

Arrow pointing down: White Sox lose season series to Kansas City Royals

Remember the good ole days, back in mid-July when the White Sox were 42-44 at the All-Star break and the optimists had a leg to stand on?

The Sox were flirting with .500, and even with inevitable second-half regression, we couldn't rule out a 75-win season -- which would have been somewhat tolerable given where this team has been the past couple of years.

Well, there's regression, and then there's falling off a cliff. The Sox (64-82) are 22-38 in the second half, and they'd have to go 11-5 in their last 16 games in order to reach 75 wins.

Fat chance.

During the first half of the season, the Sox played the Kansas City Royals (55-92) 12 times and won eight of those meetings. But since the All-Star break, the Sox have gone a ghastly 1-6 against the lousy Royals.

Kansas City took two out of three this week at Guaranteed Rate Field -- even though they sent Glenn Sparkman and Jorge Lopez to the mound -- and that means the Royals win the season series from the Sox, 10 games to 9.

What an embarrassment. Once again, the Sox rebuild is going in reverse, and there's no rational reason to think this team can contend in 2020. The Sox sent their three most reliable starters to the mound against Kansas City, and they still managed only one win.

Here's a brief look back at the crapfest:

Tuesday, Sept. 10
White Sox 7, Royals 3: The series started off well enough as Eloy Jimenez hit his first career grand slam in the first inning. Adam Engel hit a solo home run in the second, and Yoan Moncada added a two-run, 452-foot homer in the seventh.

That made a winner of Ivan Nova (10-12), who gave up three solo home runs in the first two innings but settled down to get through 5.2 innings with no further damage. Four Sox relievers combined to allow only two hits the rest of the way and close it out.

Jimenez and Moncada homered in the same game for the first time in their careers. For Jimenez, it was his 25th homer, for Moncada his 23rd.

Wednesday, Sept. 11
Royals 8, White Sox 6: Sparkman (4-11) threw a complete-game shutout against the Sox the first week after the All-Star break, and then proceeded to go 0-6 with an 8.32 ERA over his next nine starts. The Royals did not win a single one of those nine games.

But they won this one, with Sparkman allowing three runs over five innings to pick up the victory. Jimenez hit his 26th homer in the first inning, a three-run shot, but the Sox couldn't get anything else done against the Kansas City starter.

Meanwhile, Reynaldo Lopez (9-13) got roughed up, giving up six runs, four homers and nine hits over 4.2 innings. This was not the same Lopez who threw a complete-game one-hitter in his previous start against Cleveland. He slider was hanging, his fastball was not well located, and he didn't seem interested in using his changeup.

At least Jose Abreu hit a two-run homer and increased his league-leading RBI total to 114 in the loss.

Thursday, Sept. 12
Royals 6, White Sox 3: Even with Lucas Giolito on the mound, the Sox can't win. Giolito (14-9) struck out a team-record eight batters in a row at one point, and finished with 12Ks, but he also gave up a crushing 3-run homer to Hunter Dozier in the sixth inning that turned a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 Kansas City lead.

The Sox, of course, scored only two runs off Lopez (4-7) and his 6.09 ERA.

Scraping for something nice to say, Abreu is up to 115 RBIs now after he had a sacrifice fly. And Tim Anderson had his second consecutive two-hit game to keep his league-leading average at .333.

But other than that, the Sox are a disaster right now. Not a single starting pitcher got through the first inning without giving up a run in this series, and the Royals scored 17 runs over three games -- 15 of them on home runs.

This was a pathetic showing in a season full of pathetic showings. All of us here at The Baseball Kid would like to congratulate Rick Hahn on clinching his seventh consecutive losing season as Sox GM.

Rick, if we had our way, you would have been fired long ago. Your rebuild sucks.

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 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.

Ivan Nova is pitching well, but let's not get hasty here

Ivan Nova

Let's start by giving credit where credit is due. While I'm not an Ivan Nova fan, the man is pitching extremely well for the White Sox.

Over Nova's past six starts, he's 5-0 with a 0.85 ERA. He allowed only four earned runs over 42.1 innings, and he's doing more than just bum-slaying, too.

Sure, he has beaten the lowly Miami Marlins and Detroit Tigers during this stretch. But he's also beaten the AL West-leading Houston Astros and the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins -- twice.

Nova bent but did not crumble Monday night. He allowed two runs on 10 hits over 5.1 innings vs. Minnesota, but he did enough to earn the win as the Sox defeated the Twins, 6-4.

The South Siders broke a seven-game losing streak at Target Field, winning there for the first time since Aug. 20, 2018.

There's no question Nova deserves praise for a strong second half, but I'm starting to hear rumblings from some fans and media that the Sox should consider bringing him back for 2020.

Let's not get hasty here.

Nova is 9-9 with a 4.47 ERA over his 26 starts this season. Those numbers are an accurate reflection of who he is: He's a league-average starter at best; he's a back-end guy at best on a contending team. His career ERA is 4.28.

We all need to understand Nova is better than the guy who had a 6.01 ERA on June 18, yes, but he's also not as good as the guy who we've seen over the past six starts. There's a long-term track record established that tells the tale.

Is he really the "veteran presence" to fill out the 2020 rotation? Keep in mind that Nova will be entering his age-33 season. Shouldn't the Sox be aiming higher?

While Gerrit Cole is likely a pipe dream, the Sox should make a run at him. If Cole is out of reach, the market still has several pitchers better than Nova. Why not sign Zack Wheeler?

General manager Rick Hahn told Sox fans that we can "have nice things." Let's try for something "nice" before we settle for another year of mediocre Nova in the starting rotation.

James McCann's grand slam gives White Sox series win over Houston Astros

James McCann

James McCann hit a two-out, two-strike grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field, lifting the White Sox to a 13-9 win in a wild slugfest against the Houston Astros.

With the victory, the Sox took two out of three in the series and won the season series from the American League West-leading Astros, 4 games to 3.

So much for my concern about the Sox pitching staff needing to cover 27 innings in about 24 hours against a powerful Houston offense.

The Sox caught a break in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader, when Houston pitcher and Cy Young candidate Gerrit Cole could not make his start after straining his hamstring warming up in the bullpen.

To the Sox's credit, they took advantage and won that game, with their own starting pitcher (Ivan Nova) tossing a complete game. It is always a boost for a team when a pitcher steps up and throws all nine innings of a game on a day where you're playing a doubleheader. Bullpen saved.

Here's a look back at the Sox's surprising and satisfying series win:

Tuesday, Aug. 13
Astros 6, White Sox 2 (Game 1): It was a mixed bag for Sox starter Dylan Cease, who threw a quality start. He worked six innings, allowing four runs (only two earned) against a good team, and when he left the mound after facing one hitter in the seventh inning, the Sox were only down 3-2. He absolutely gave his team a chance to win.

And the third and fourth (unearned) runs on his tab were both the fault of catcher Welington Castillo, who had three passed balls, two of which allowed runs to score.

On the down side, Cease (2-5) walked five and struck out two, and you can only pitch around walks for so long until the opposition scores runs. I don't think Cease had the fairest strike zone from the home plate umpire, and he got no help from his catcher, but he can pitch better.

The Sox managed only two runs off Houston's Zack Greinke (12-4), who pitched six innings to earn the win.

Tuesday, Aug. 13
White Sox 4, Astros 1 (Game 2): Nova was the story. He needed only 104 pitches to complete the game. He allowed four hits, all singles, and did not walk a batter. He retired 17 of the last 18 men he faced in a game that took two hours, 21 minutes to play.

Over his past four starts, Nova (8-9) is 4-0 with a 0.49 ERA. Obviously, regression is coming, but in the meantime, I'll enjoy this Nova hot streak while it lasts and pray management doesn't reward him with a multiyear contract extension. This was his best start in a Sox uniform, bar none.

As mentioned, Cole was unable to make his start, and the Sox victimized emergency Houston starter Chris Devenski (1-2) for three runs in the bottom of the second inning. All the runs came with two outs, one on a single by Adam Engel and two more on a single by Ryan Goins.

The Sox added a fourth run in the fourth on a two-out RBI double by Ryan Cordell. Nova took it from there, and it was nice to see the Sox come through with some two-out hitting.

Wednesday, Aug. 14
White Sox 13, Astros 9: Speaking of two-out hitting, McCann was down 0-2 in the count when he drove a slider from Ryan Pressly into the right-field bullpen for a grand slam that broke a 9-9 tie in the eighth inning.

Pressly (2-3) is one of the Astros' better relievers. He entered the day with a 1.94 ERA, but he gave up singles to Yolmer Sanchez and Tim Anderson, and walked Jose Abreu, ahead of the big hit by McCann.

It is good to see the Sox catcher using right field again, something he wasn't doing throughout a monthlong slump in July.

This was a wild, back-and-forth game. Houston was up 2-0. The Sox went ahead 4-2. Houston tied it at 4. The Sox went ahead 7-4, and then 8-5. The Astros made it 8-7. Then Eloy Jimenez homered for the Sox to make it 9-7. Jose Altuve answered with a two-run blast to tie it for the Astros.

But the last big hit of the day went to McCann. For a change, the Sox hitters picked up the relief pitchers, who struggled in this game. Jimmy Cordero, Aaron Bummer and Evan Marshall combined to give up five runs over 2.2 innings.

But Alex Colome (4-2) got five outs for the win. He extricated the Sox from a bases-loaded situation in the eighth, and then worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts to close it out.

Three games against the Houston Astros in about 24 hours ... hmmm ...

It's a rainy Monday night in Chicago. The game between the White Sox and the Houston Astros has been postponed, and it is the correct decision.

The rain is falling outside my window in Wheeling as I type, and the forecast for the rest of the evening is abysmal -- especially south of here, where Guaranteed Rate Field is located.

The game will be made up at 3:40 p.m. Tuesday as part of a straight doubleheader. Game 2 will start 30 to 40 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1, but not before 7:10 p.m.

Monday's pitching matchup -- Dylan Cease vs. Zack Greinke -- carries over to the opener of the doubleheader. Game 2 will feature Ivan Nova vs. Gerrit Cole.

There's nothing that can be done about this poor weather, but it's a bad break for the Sox (52-64), who will have to play three games against the league-best Astros (77-41) in about a 24-hour span. Remember, the conclusion of this three-game series is a 1:10 p.m. start Wednesday.

The Sox pitching staff would be challenged no matter the configuration of this series, but having to cover 27 innings in a condensed time period against a powerful Houston offense is a lot to ask.

This series could be a painful one for the Sox and their fans. I realize that I might have said that, too, before the Sox played at Houston in June. Despite my negativity, the Sox managed to split that four-game set. But remember, George Springer and Jose Altuve were on the injured list at that time, and the Astros had not yet called up Yordan Alvarez, who has quickly moved to the front of the line in the race for American League Rookie of the Year.

This is an explosive Houston team. The Sox will be facing the odds-on favorite to win the 2019 World Series in these three games, in my humble opinion.

White Sox win three-game series against Philadelphia Phillies

Jose Abreu

The White Sox have won only two series since the All-Star break. Somewhat amusingly, both of them were on the road against playoff contenders.

The South Siders took two out of three from the Tampa Bay Rays (65-48) from July 19-21, and now, they took two out of three from the Philadelphia Phillies (58-53) in an interleague series over the weekend.

Going into the series, I thought the Sox (48-61) had a puncher's chance in two of the three games -- based upon pitching matchups -- and it turns out they won both those games in which I thought they had a chance.

Here's a look back at the weekend that was:

Friday, Aug. 2
White Sox 4, Phillies 3, 15 innings: This was one of the most wild games you'll see. The Sox essentially outlasted Philadelphia, because the Phillies had an outfielder on the mound and a pitcher playing left field when the game ended.

That said, Philadelphia pitcher Vince Velasquez made three spectacular plays in left field. He threw out Jose Abreu at the plate to keep the Sox off the board in the top of the 14th. He made perhaps a better throw in the top of the 15th, but the speedy Leury Garcia was just barely safe at home on an single to left by Abreu.

Velasquez also made a diving catch on a liner off the bat of Eloy Jimenez. Two were on with two out at the time, so if that one falls in, the Sox score at least two more runs in that 15th inning. Alas, the 4-3 lead had to be enough, and it was.

Josh Osich (1-0) worked two innings of scoreless relief to earn the win for the Sox. Outfielder Roman Quinn (0-1) got through the 14th inning unscathed while pitching, but he took the loss after giving up the aforementioned run in the 15th.

The starting pitchers in this game were Ivan Nova and Jason Vargas -- mediocre at-best veterans. I figured this was anybody's game, and the Sox won it.

Saturday, Aug. 3
Phillies 3, White Sox 2: This was the game that I thought the Sox would lose, with Philadelphia ace Aaron Nola pitching against Ross Detwiler. And, in fact, Nola (10-2) won and Detwiler (1-2) lost, although we can give the Sox's left-hander credit for not making a fool out of himself.

The day after a 15-inning game, Detwiler chewed up 5.2 innings and gave up only two runs -- back-to-back home runs by Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins.

Down 2-1 in the seventh, the Sox had runners at second and third with only one out, but a ill-fated safety squeeze killed that rally. Yolmer Sanchez made a decent bunt, but Hoskins, the Philadelphia first baseman, obviously knew it was coming. He easily threw out Jimenez at the plate, from about 50 feet away.

Memo to Sox manager Rick Renteria: Please stop with the safety squeeze bunt. The opposition knows it is coming, and it is foolish to play for the tie on the road anyway. I know the Sox strike out way too much, but the excessive reliance on bunting isn't winning games for this team, either.

Sunday, Aug. 4
White Sox 10, Phillies 5: Coming into this game, the Sox had scored only 44 runs in their previous 22 games, so it was refreshing to see them put some runs up against Drew Smyly and the Philadelphia bullpen.

Garcia's grand slam highlighted a five-run second inning. Jimenez connected for a three-run homer, his 18th of the season and first since July 14, and Tim Anderson added a solo home run in the ninth.

I figured Reynaldo Lopez and Smyly was a fair fight in terms of the pitching matchup, and Lopez (6-9) survived some rough moments the third time through the batting order to pick up the victory.

He went 5.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits. That's where it helps to have the run support. Philadelphia cut the lead to 5-3 in the sixth and had two men on base, but Aaron Bummer entered and got an inning-ending double play to settle things down and end the Phillies best chance to tie or take the lead.