Jose Abreu's dash to the plate helps White Sox salvage split with Royals

Well, the White Sox didn't play the most inspiring series against the Kansas City Royals this weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field. They won only two out of the four games, which is good only in the sense that they lost two out of the first three, and come Sunday, a split was the best they could do.

And on Sunday, they were trailing 3-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. They scored two runs and won, 4-3, capped off by Jose Abreu scoring from third on a wild pitch that wasn't all that wild.

If you haven't seen the video of that play yet, be sure to check it out.

First off, I think Kansas City manager Mike Matheny made some bizarre decisions managing his bullpen this weekend. He used his usual closer, Josh Staumont, to finish off a 6-2 win in Game 1 of a doubleheader Friday. (The Sox won the second game, 3-1). Then he used Staumont in a non-save situation again Saturday, when Kansas City won 5-1.

So, presumably Staumont was unavailable Sunday after needlessly pitching back-to-back days in non-save situations. That left erstwhile veteran Wade Davis to try to close Sunday's game for the Royals, and he failed.

Tim Anderson doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Adam Eaton and scored the tying run on a single by Yoan Moncada.

Abreu was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Yermin Mercedes followed with a single to right field, but Moncada blew through a stop sign by third-base coach Joe McEwing and got thrown out at the plate for the second out.

Fortunately, Abreu took third on the throw, and that ended up mattering. Yasmani Grandal was the next Sox hitter, and of course, opposing teams put on a shift for him when he's batting left-handed.

That means the third baseman is nowhere near the third-base line, and any runner on third can get a pretty good lead in the event that there's a ball in the dirt. From my vantage point -- I was sitting down the third-base line, as you can see in the photo I took before the game started -- Abreu was getting a substantial lead.

And when Davis bounced a breaking ball, Abreu wasted no time breaking for home, even though Kansas City catcher Cam Gallagher did a nice job of blocking the pitch and keeping the ball in the area of the plate. 

Was Abreu safe or out on the bang-bang play at the plate, as Gallagher lunged to try to tag Abreu before he touched the plate? Not sure, but I don't think there was a camera angle that showed anything conclusively. In those cases, the call on the field stands, and the call on the field was safe.

Quite a finish. I've seen plenty of games end on wild pitches, but never one quite like that.

White Sox manager Tony La Russa finalizes 2021 coaching staff

Tony La Russa

It took more than a month for a formal announcement, but new (old) White Sox manager Tony La Russa has his coaching staff in place for the 2021 season.

As expected, Miguel Cairo has been named bench coach, replacing Joe McEwing, and Ethan Katz replaces Don Cooper as pitching coach.

McEwing remains on the coaching staff. He will serve as third-base coach, a role he filled for the Sox during the Robin Ventura era from 2012 to 2016.

Shelley Duncan has been named analytics coordinator. As far as I know, that's a new position on the Sox staff. Duncan is the son of Dave Duncan, who was La Russa's longtime pitching coach with the Sox, the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. 

Shelley Duncan, who played for the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, has managerial experience in the minor leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He also served as a "field coordinator" with the Toronto Blue Jays. Not sure exactly what that role entailed, but in any case, I'm sure new-school fans will like the idea of the Sox having a coach whose focus is on analytics.

Frank Menechino returns to the Sox as hitting coach. Also returning are first-base coach Daryl Boston and assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler.

The Sox have hired former Toronto infielder Howie Clark to be the assistant hitting coach. Clark was expected to be the hitting coach at Triple-A Charlotte in 2020, before the pandemic canceled the minor league season.

Clark replaces Scott Coolbaugh, who left the Sox organization to become the hitting coach with the Detroit Tigers.

Miguel Cairo expected to be hired as White Sox bench coach

Miguel Cairo

Slowly, the White Sox are assembling a coaching staff around new manager Tony La Russa. Last week, we learned that Ethan Katz will replace Don Cooper as pitching coach. Now comes news that Miguel Cairo is expected to be named bench coach.

The hiring was first reported in an article by James Fegan of The Athletic.

Cairo was a utility player during his 17-year career in the major leagues. He played for La Russa in St. Louis on two separate occasions -- from 2001 to 2003, and again in 2007. In total, Cairo played for nine different teams.

He finished his career with Cincinnati in 2012, and he stayed with the Reds as a special assistant to the GM from 2013 to 2017. His most recent role was that of minor league infield coordinator for the New York Yankees.

So, when Cairo joins the Sox, this will be his first time in a uniformed role at the big-league level since he retired as a player. Everybody's got to start somewhere, so we'll see what he can do.

More details are expected on the rest of the Sox coaching staff next week, but we've heard that one before -- they said that just last week, in fact.

The latest report from Scott Merkin on MLB.com says that hitting coach Frank Menechino, first-base coach Daryl Boston and assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler are expected to be retained.

It already has been announced that third-base coach Nick Capra will not be returning. The fate of former bench coach Joe McEwing is unknown. Obviously, Cairo is taking his role, but it's possible McEwing will get the third-base coaching job -- a role he served in previously with the Sox during the Robin Ventura era from 2012 to 2016.

McEwing does have ties to La Russa. He played for him as a member of the Cardinals in 1998 and 1999.

New White Sox manager Rick Renteria's coaching staff will feature familiar people

Joe McEwing

If you were hoping for significant changes to the White Sox coaching staff this offseason, prepare to be disappointed.

The only hope I have is that new manager Rick Renteria was allowed to make his own choices with regard to the coaching staff. I have no evidence one way or the other, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't suspect that these selections were made for him.

In any case, third-base coach Joe McEwing has been promoted to bench coach, taking the role vacated by Renteria when he accepted the job as manager. McEwing, 44, served as third-base coach for each of the five seasons Robin Ventura was manager. He also managed in the Sox's minor-league system for three seasons. He has been with the organization for nine years.

The McEwing move, of course, creates a need for a new third-base coach, a role that will be filled by Nick Capra, who had been serving as the team's director of player development. Capra has been in that front office role for five years, but he also has been the minor-league field coordinator, the assistant director of minor-league instruction and the minor-league hitting coordinator. Before that, he managed in the Sox's system for 10 seasons. Capra, 58, has been with the organization for 21 years.

Minor-league pitching coordinator Curt Hasler will replace Bobby Thigpen as the team's bullpen coach. Hasler, 51, has been the minor-league pitching coordinator for six years. He pitched in the Sox organization from 1987 to 1991, and he pretty much never left. He's been a pitching coach or coordinator somewhere in the organization for the past 25 years.

Don Cooper will return for his 30th year with the Sox and 16th as pitching coach. Hitting coach Todd Steverson and assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks also return. Daryl Boston remains as the first-base coach.

The organization men have been shuffled around a little bit, but basically, the gang is still all here -- except for Ventura. Typically, you'd expect bigger changes after four consecutive losing seasons, but as we've learned, that's not the Jerry Reinsdorf way.