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'.

Is Mike Clevinger going to pitch for the 2024 White Sox?

Mike Clevinger

This question would have been unthinkable at the start of the season, given Mike Clevinger's off-the-field problems, but is it possible the White Sox will pick up his contract option for the 2024 season? 

Clevinger pitched six innings of one-run ball Wednesday night and earned the victory as the Sox defeated the New York Yankees, 9-2.

For the season, Clevinger has the lowest ERA of any Sox starting pitcher -- 3.55. He's made 15 starts, going 5-5. That doesn't seem spectacular, but when you're pitching for a team that is 47-69, a .500 record isn't that bad.

According to baseballreference.com, Clevinger is worth 2.0 WAR this season, which puts him third on the team behind Luis Robert Jr. and Lucas Giolito. Well, actually, maybe Clevinger is second on the team, now that Giolito has been traded to the Los Angeles Angels.

At this point, you'd have to say Clevinger is one of the few players on the Sox who has met or exceeded expectations in 2023.

The big question with Clevinger remains his health. He's had two stints on the injured list this season, notably being out from June 14 until July 29 with a biceps strain. Can he pitch without hurting himself? It's a legitimate concern.

Also a concern, the Sox have only two starting pitchers under team control for 2024: Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech.

That leaves three spots open, and at this point, you can't count Clevinger out for next season. There's a mutual team option worth $12 million. Would the Sox pick that up? Or would they gamble on finding somebody better on the free agent market?

If the Sox do pick up the option, would Clevinger opt in to stay in Chicago? Or would he bet on himself and elect free agency? Given his "character issues" and injury history, it's unclear to me whether Clevinger would get another $12 million on the open market. 

His best bet might be to stay, if the Sox want him.

Keynan Middleton bashes White Sox culture; Lance Lynn subtly backs him

Former White Sox reliever Keynan Middleton, who was traded at the deadline to the New York Yankees, is back in Chicago this week as a member of his new team.

And when asked about the problems with his old team, he came out swinging. Middleton bashed the team culture, saying there were "no rules" with no accountability for players who showed up late for meetings and fell asleep during games and whatnot.

You can read the article from Jesse Rogers of ESPN here. For Sox fans, it's well worth your time.

The immediate thought is, "How credible is Middleton?" Well, he's very credible in my view. What reason would he have to make all this up? This Sox gave him a chance to revitalize his career this season, and to his credit, he pitched well -- well enough that a contending team wanted him at the deadline. I don't see any reason why he would have a personal ax to grind with anyone in Chicago.

Not to mention, former Sox starting pitcher Lance Lynn, who was traded at the deadline to the Los Angeles Dodgers, subtly backed Middleton during an appearance on the Foul Territory podcast.

Former Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski asked Lynn directly about Middleton's remarks. Here's a transcript of how it went:

A.J.: Lance, did you see what Keynan Middleton said when he got traded?

Lynn: I did see what popped up yesterday, yes.

A.J.: Do you have any thoughts on that ... possibly?

Lynn: I can say this. ... Let me tell you what Key was wrong about ... <crickets>

A.J.: OK ...

<crickets>

Off-camera voice: We're ready.

<even more crickets>

A.J.: I get it.

So, Lynn told us what Middleton was wrong about, and that was ... absolutely nothing!

Thank you, Keynan Middleton, for calling attention to the dysfunction that has existed in the Sox organization for years and years.

As a fan, it's difficult when the team you've loved since you were a child absolutely stinks. It's difficult when that team is a national laughingstock. 

But in some ways, this was the best day of the season for me, because a light is finally shining on the ineptitude and suffocating failure that exists in the White Sox organization. That failure has been murdering the fan base for several seasons now. We're long past the point of needing change.

The White Sox winning percentage for 2023 is below .400, and that's even after winning two out of three in Cleveland over the weekend. That's pathetic in a supposed "contention window." 

We can only hope the embarrassment the Sox are enduring now sparks some turnover among the people in charge of this languishing operation.

White Sox split doubleheader with Yankees

Good news: I was wrong. The wildfire smoke in New York did clear in time for the White Sox and Yankees to play two games on Thursday.

Like most doubleheaders, this was a split. The Sox took the opener, 6-5. The Yankees came back to take the second game, 3-0. 

If you would have told me Thursday morning that the Sox would win one game in the doubleheader and leave New York having taken two of three games in the series, I would have taken it. A series win here exceeds expectations.

Here's a look at what happened:

Game 1. The Sox scored all six of their runs on homers. Jake Burger, Luis Robert Jr., Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez all homered. Jimenez delivered a two-run shot in the top of the seventh that turned a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead. The bullpen made it stick.

The offense was welcome, because starting pitcher Lance Lynn had another shaky outing. He lasted five innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits. He struck out four and walked three. His season ERA is 6.72.

Fortunately, the Sox bullpen threw four scoreless innings. Gregory Santos (2-0) picked up the win after a clean sixth inning. Kendall Graveman allowed the first two runners to reach in the bottom of the ninth, but an infield pop fly and a double play got him out of trouble. He is 6 for 6 in save opportunities.

For the first time ever, Robert Jr., Moncada and Jimenez homered in the same game. Given that this is their fourth year as teammates, that's sort of unbelievable. But then again, at least one of them is usually hurt; they haven't been in the same lineup enough to make that happen -- until now.

Game 2. The Sox were limited to two hits, and Jimenez is day to day after pulling up lame after hitting a grounder to shortstop in the ninth inning. It's always something with these guys, isn't it?

This loss snapped the Sox's season-best five-game winning streak. They had no answer for Yankees rookie Randy Vasquez (1-1) and two New York relievers. A single by Jimenez and a single by Gavin Sheets ... and that was it for the Sox offense.

Mike Clevinger (3-4) had a serviceable start, but took the loss. He allowed three runs over 5.2 innings.

The Sox are 28-36 and will come home to face the Miami Marlins in a three-game weekend set at Guaranteed Rate Field.

White Sox-Yankees game postponed because of ... wildfire smoke

One phrase I've retired from my vocabulary is, "Now I've seen everything." Because just when I think I've seen everything, something else happens.

Wednesday's game between the White Sox and the New York Yankees was postponed because smoke from Canadian wildfires has caused hazardous air quality in New York City. That's a new one for me.

The teams plan to play a straight doubleheader, starting at 3 p.m. Central time Thursday.

Frankly, I'm a little bit surprised by those plans. With no rain in the forecast, do they expect this hazardous smoke to clear out by Thursday afternoon?

Nine innings of baseball is hazardous on Wednesday night, but 18 innings of baseball on Thursday afternoon and evening should be fine? Hmmm. I won't pretend to be an expert -- and after the past three years, who believes experts anymore anyway? -- but I'm skeptical this is going to work out. I hope it does, because I always prefer that baseball be played.

My thought was maybe it would be prudent to move the remaining two games of this series to a city that is not dealing with these issues. I can tell you the air quality is just fine in Chicago right now.

Lucas Giolito throws six no-hit innings; White Sox beat Yankees

Lucas Giolito

Aaron Judge did not play for the New York Yankees on Tuesday night ... and the White Sox actually took advantage!

Lucas Giolito pitched six no-hit innings, and catcher Seby Zavala homered twice to lift the Sox to a 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium.

This was the second time this season that Giolito (5-4) went six innings without allowing a hit. Both times, he had to be removed because of a high pitch count. In this outing, he struck out seven, walked three and threw 58 of his 100 pitches for strikes. 

In particular, Giolito's slider was effective to right-handed hitters, and no doubt the absence of Judge (day-to-day with a foot injury) -- the reigning American League MVP -- made his job a little bit easier.

Of all people, Zavala was the one to come through offensively. In the bottom of the third inning, he hit a 320-foot wall-scraper that just cleared the 314 mark by the right-field foul pole. It might have been a home run in only one of 30 MLB parks, but that one park happens to be Yankee Stadium.

Zavala added a two-run shot in the fifth off New York starter Clarke Schmidt (2-6). This was one not cheap. It was a 435-foot blast to the pull field on what looked like a hanging slider. That gave the Sox a 3-0 lead, which is where the score remained until the seventh.

Joe Kelly relieved for the Sox and issued a two-out walk. Poor defense cost the Sox the no-hitter when Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi miscommunicated on a fly ball to left-center by Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Nobody called for the ball, and it fell at Robert Jr.'s feet for an RBI "double."

Kelly escaped the inning without further damage, and Kendall Graveman worked a 1-2-3 eighth for the Sox.

That set the stage for Liam Hendriks' first save opportunity of the season. It was an interesting move by Sox manager Pedro Grifol, because Hendriks entered Tuesday's action with a career 7.83 ERA against the Yankees.

That ERA went up when Josh Donaldson hit Hendriks' first pitch of the ninth for a solo homer to make it 3-2. However, Hendriks rallied and got three consecutive groundouts to shortstop to earn his first save since returning from cancer treatment.

The Sox are 27-35.

Last Comiskey, Part 2

 

 

33 years later, I still can't believe the White Sox won 4-0 despite being no-hit by New York right-hander Andy Hawkins. The 1990 season was once of the rare points in my lifetime when the Yankees were a laughingstock. 

Also, a lot of good stuff on Carlton Fisk in this episode. In particular, I enjoyed Donn Pall's story about the first time he ever shook Fisk off.

Carlos Rodon joining Yankees on 6-year contract

Carlos Rodon

Former White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon on Thursday agreed to a six-year, $162 million contract with the New York Yankees.

My first thought was, "Didn't Rodon always pitch well against the Yankees?"

The answer to that is, yes, he did, especially at Yankee Stadium. As pointed out by Chris Kamka on Twitter, Rodon has made four career starts in the Bronx. He's 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA.

But perhaps his most memorable outing was his no-decision, which came on May 21, 2021. Rodon went six shutout innings, allowing only two hits. He struck out 13(!) and walked none. Of course, the Sox found a way to lose that game, 2-1, because neither Michael Kopech nor Evan Marshall pitched well in relief.

That particular game served notice that Rodon was healthy and operating at his peak power, and he's been mostly good ever since. His one season in San Francisco turned out well -- 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA in a career-high 31 starts. He finished sixth in the 2022 NL Cy Young voting.

Of course, health will always be the question with Rodon. When he pitches, he's good. However, he's probably a bad bet to make it through a six-year contract without landing on the injured list a few times.

That said, if Rodon makes it to October 2023 in one piece, the Yankees finally have a legitimate No. 2 starter to pair with Gerrit Cole. That increases their odds of finally getting past the Houston Astros in the American League playoffs.

I would call this move "high-risk, high-reward" for the Yankees, but given their position, it's the right gamble to take.

Yankees beat Guardians in Game 5, advance to ALCS

Giancarlo Stanton

So, did Monday night's postponement of Game 5 of the American League Division Series help the New York Yankees? Perhaps.

The Yankees scored four runs in the first two innings Tuesday afternoon and went on to beat the Cleveland Guardians, 5-1, in the deciding game of the best-of-five series.

One thing is for certain: The rain opened the door for each manager to change his pitching plans, and the Yankees took advantage.

Had the game been played Monday night, we would have seen a matchup of No. 4 starters -- Jameson Taillon for the Yankees and Aaron Civale for the Guardians.

But given the extra day of rest, New York manager Aaron Boone brought back his No. 2 starter, Nestor Cortes, on three days' rest to pitch Game 5. Cleveland manager Terry Francona could have used his ace, Shane Bieber, but he opted to stick with Civale.

That decision by Francona backfired immediately. Civale recorded only one out before being knocked out of the game. He walked Gleyber Torres, hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch and surrendered a 3-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton.

Four batters into the bottom of the first inning, the Yankees had a 3-0 lead, and the game was effectively over.

Cortes held up his end of the bargain, tossing five innings of one-run ball. Three New York relievers combined for four shutout innings to close it out, leaving Cleveland to wonder what might have been had it used Bieber in this game.

The Yankees, who won 99 games in the regular season, will take on the 106-win Houston Astros in the AL Championship Series, starting Wednesday. 

No surprise to see those two teams meet at this stage of the playoffs. All summer long, it's been the Astros, Yankees and everyone else in the AL. They've been on a collision course, and now they'll collide.

National League favorites out of playoffs early

The National League Championship Series will feature the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres.

Just as we all predicted, right? 

OK, nobody predicted that the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds would advance to the NLCS. The NL produced three 100-win teams this season -- the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets. Shockingly, those favored teams have all been eliminated.

The 87-win Phillies, third-place finishers in the NL East, swept a best-of-three series from the 93-win St. Louis Cardinals in the wild card round. They went on to beat the 101-win Braves, 3 games to 1, in a best-of-five NL Division Series.

The 89-win Padres are even bigger giant killers. They won a winner-take-all Game 3 over the 101-win Mets in the wild card round. Then they shocked the universe by knocking out the 111-win Dodgers, 3 games to 1, in the NLDS.

During the regular season, the Dodgers defeated the Padres in 14 out of 19 meetings. Second-place San Diego finished 22 games behind NL West champion Los Angeles. Didn't amount to a hill of beans in the playoffs. 

Over in the American League, the 99-win New York Yankees staved off elimination with a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland on Sunday night. With the win, the Yankees tied that best-of-five series at 2. That sets up a winner-take-all Game 5 on Monday night in New York.

The 106-win Houston Astros are the only prohibitive favorite not to be challenged in the divisional round. Well, maybe that's a little bit of an overstatement. The Astros won two one-run games in a three-game sweep of the 90-win Seattle Mariners, including a 1-0, 18-inning marathon in Game 3 on Saturday night. Houston was challenged, but passed the test.

The Astros will play Monday night's winner in the American League Championship Series.

All these upsets have created questions about Major League Baseball's new playoff format this year. Two teams that received byes through the wild card round -- the Dodgers and Braves -- lost, and a third team -- the Yankees -- is being pushed to the limit. 

Did the bye create rust for those powerhouse teams? Is it actually a disadvantage to have five days off between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs?

Those are interesting questions, but I'm reluctant to draw any conclusions based on a one-year sample size. 

Keep in mind that the four teams who received byes went 3-1 in the first game of their respective division series. The Dodgers won Game 1, before losing three straight. The Yankees also won Game 1 in their series. The Astros, of course, won Game 1 on their way to a sweep. Only the Braves lost their first game after the extended layoff.

If rust is a key factor in the outcome of these series, wouldn't you think it would show up right away in a Game 1 scenario?

White Sox finally stand up to Yankees in doubleheader sweep

The White Sox lost five of six games to the New York Yankees in 2021, and through the first five meetings of 2022, not much had changed. The Yankees won four of the five.

So, it was a real pleasant surprise when the Sox finally stood up to New York and swept a doubleheader Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

The strange part was I didn't feel as though the Sox played any better than usual. When the Sox have won this season, they've done it with pitching. Sunday was no exception, as the South Siders limited the Yankees to one run in 18 innings. They won, 3-1, and 5-0, respectively.

The Sox offense was generally substandard, as they left a combined 16 men on base in the doubleheader and misfired on numerous scoring opportunities. But hey, you don't have to cash in many of them if you can keep the opposition off the board, and that's what Sox pitching did. 

I will bring up a couple of encouraging signs about the offense, but first, credit has to go to Sox starting pitchers Johnny Cueto and Michael Kopech. Neither of them allowed a run to the Yankees across 13 innings pitched.

Cueto went six shutout innings in Game 1. He allowed six hits, struck out five and walked two. When he left the game in the seventh inning, the Sox were leading 1-0. He got a no-decision because the Yankees tied it in the eighth before the Sox won it in the ninth, but the veteran Cueto has been better than expected since being added to the roster. 

He's yet to allow a run across two starts. His first outing was against the lowly Kansas City Royals, so maybe that's not overly impressive. But six scoreless against the Yankees, the second-best offense in the AL, that gets your attention.

Speaking of getting your attention, Kopech (1-1) retired the first 17 batters he faced in Game 2. He ended up going seven innings and allowing only one hit. He struck out six and walked two, with both walks coming in the seventh inning when he was starting to run out of gas.

Kopech threw 92 pitches, 65 strikes, and got 16 swings and misses. It's hard to believe Sunday was his first victory of the season, for as well as he's pitched. He ranks second in the AL with a 1.29 ERA. Opponents are batting just .122 against him, as he has allowed only 17 hits in 42 innings pitched. He has yet to allow a hit on a first pitch to any batter this season.

I think it's fair to say Kopech has made the transition from reliever to starter successfully. The big test is whether he can hold up physically through the whole season. On Sunday, his fastball topped out at 100.2 mph. So far, so good.

Now, back to the offense. Game 1 was tied 1-1 going into the ninth inning. AJ Pollock's home run off New York closer Aroldis Chapman gave the Sox the lead for good.

It was easily Pollock's biggest hit of the season, as no one would say he's played up to his capabilities to this point. For the season, Pollock is batting .245/.277/.383 with only two homers and 10 RBIs.

But ....

In his last 13 games, Pollock is batting .326/.362/.581 with two homers, five doubles and six RBIs. There are signs of life from the 34-year-old veteran outfielder.

And, then there's Tim Anderson. I don't have any hot takes on Anderson's altercation with Josh Donaldson. You can find those all over the internet. The Sox shortstop capped a 3-for-5 night with a three-run homer in the five-run eighth inning in Game 2. 

Anderson is batting .359/.400/.517 with five home runs and 18 RBIs. He leads all major league shortstops in WAR, wRC+, wOBA, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS.

So, whether you like traditional statistics or the more new-age stuff, Anderson's your guy at shortstop. And while he does have nine errors this season, he has not committed an error in 21 of his past 22 games, so perhaps his defensive slump is over.

And even with those errors, he's a 2.0 WAR player a quarter of the way through the season. That's how good his bat is. If this keeps up, it will be hard to deny Anderson a spot on the AL All-Star team this season. Right now, he's the best in the league at the position, no matter what New York fans have to say about him.

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson swings hot bat in Kansas City

Tim Anderson

The White Sox won three games out of a five-game series against the Kansas City Royals over the past four days. It wasn't the most rousing series ever -- the Sox scored only 18 runs in those five games -- but at least they left Kansas City with a better record than when they arrived.

Thursday afternoon, the Sox won, 7-4, to improve to 19-19. Since the team won today, I don't want to be too dour, so I'll point out that Tim Anderson had a really good series against the Royals.

He appeared in four of the games. He went 7 for 17 with two walks and an HBP, so he reached base in 10 of his 20 plate appearances. That's what you want from a leadoff guy. Too bad he only scored two runs in the series, but that's not his fault.

Anderson had a good game Thursday, going 2 for 3 with two walks, two stolen bases, two RBIs and a run scored.

The Royals stink. They are 14-23, so it would have been really disappointing to not win the majority of the games in this series.

Up next for the Sox, three games in New York against the Yankees, starting Friday night.

That series will conclude the eight-games-in-seven-days road trip. I came into this week hoping the Sox would go 4-4. They need to win one game against the Yankees to achieve that modest goal.

The Yankees are 28-10. They are legitimate World Series contenders. They are a better team than the Sox. But, they have lost 10 games this year, so the Sox need to man up, find a way to get a win sometime this weekend, and then regroup on the off day Monday.

Despite all the issues, the Sox are only three games behind the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central entering Friday's play.

Big-picture observation from the White Sox-Yankees series

Guaranteed Rate Field on Sunday

The New York Yankees took three games out of four from the White Sox this weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The Yankees outscored the Sox, 32-15. In short, they clobbered the Sox (16-17) in each of their three victories. The two games I attended, Friday and Sunday, were basically over after the second inning.

The one game the Sox won was a 3-2 squeaker Saturday, behind five shutout innings from Dallas Keuchel, of all people.

I don't feel like rehashing this whole series, because it was bad. The atmosphere at the stadium, at least for Friday and Sunday, was dead. I came away feeling fortunate that the Sox managed one win, because it was like watching a varsity team vs. a junior varsity team. 

So my big-picture observation is this: It’s Year 6 of general Rick Hahn’s master plan. By now, shouldn’t we feel like the Sox match up with these top teams such as the Yankees? Instead, we’re hoping and praying to win one game out of four at home.

Is that really the standard? The Sox intentionally punted three seasons from 2017-19. They did so while promising fans that an extended contention window was coming. That contention window is supposed to be right now. 

However, the Sox still haven't proven they belong on the same field with the American League's elite. That's irritating.

White Sox game postponed because of COVID; Yankees up next

The White Sox game against the Cleveland Guardians was postponed Wednesday because of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Cleveland organization.

Seriously? This is still happening in 2022? OK, whatever. I don't care about viruses, so let's get back to baseball.

The Sox will welcome the New York Yankees for a four-game series from Thursday through Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field. I don't believe in "measuring sticks" in May, but it's worth noting that the Yankees are a league-best 22-8 entering Thursday's action. It will be interesting to see whether the Sox can hold their own and win a couple of games.

Here are the pitching matchups:

Thursday: Dylan Cease (3-1, 2.38 ERA) vs. Luis Gil (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Friday: Vince Velasquez (2-2, 3.97 ERA) vs. Gerrit Cole (2-0, 2.67 ERA)

Saturday: Dallas Keuchel (2-3, 6.86 ERA) vs. Jordan Montgomery (0-1, 2.90 ERA)

Sunday: Michael Kopech (0-0, 0.93 ERA) vs. Nestor Cortes (1-1, 1.41 ERA)

Some Sox fans have expressed bewilderment that Keuchel is being allowed to pitch in this series. The unexpected off day Wednesday theoretically would allow the Sox to skip Keuchel. Kopech could pitch on regular rest Saturday, and then Lucas Giolito would be lined up to pitch Sunday.

But here's what I think is going on: The Sox have Johnny Cueto getting ready in the minors. They have add him to the active roster by Sunday, or he can opt out of his contract. 

Cueto's fate is intertwined with Keuchel's. Velasquez has outpitched Keuchel and deserves to keep his spot. So the question becomes, "Cueto or Keuchel?"

In his last start, Keuchel had a good outing and picked up a win against the Boston Red Sox. He's getting one more chance to prove he can string together a couple of good performances, and to prove he can still keep the Sox competitive against a quality opponent.

If Keuchel gets cuffed around and the Sox get destroyed Saturday, then I think we see Cueto added to the roster. He'd take the last spot in the rotation, at least until Lance Lynn returns from knee surgery, presumably in early June.

White Sox travel to New York for weekend series with the Yankees

When the season first started, I saw a lot of people forecasting an American League Championship Series matchup between the White Sox and the New York Yankees.

Welp, it's May 21, and that's still plausible. Neither team has done anything to make you believe they can't make the postseason. The Sox are 26-16 and in first place in the AL Central. The Yankees are 25-19 and in third place in a tightly packed AL East.

I hesitate to say this is "a potential playoff preview," because there's a long way to go, and both teams have some key injuries anyway.

At any rate, here are the pitching matchups for a series that will probably get some national attention:

Friday: Carlos Rodon (5-1, 1.47 ERA) vs. Jordan Montgomery (2-1, 4.75 ERA)

Saturday: Dylan Cease (2-0, 2.41 ERA) vs. Gerrit Cole (5-2, 2.03 ERA)

Sunday: Dallas Keuchel (3-1, 4.44 ERA) vs. Jameson Taillon (1-3. 5.73 ERA)

Field of Dreams game rescheduled for Aug. 12, 2021

Here I am at the Field of Dreams in July 2020.

If you looked at the 2021 White Sox schedule carefully, you probably noticed the odd day off on Friday, Aug. 13. 

The Sox are scheduled to host the New York Yankees on Thursday, Aug. 12, then again on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 14-15.

Why the day off? Well, the two teams will be traveling to Chicago from Dyersville, Iowa, where they will play in the Field of Dreams game on Aug. 12. 

Major League Baseball on Monday announced plans for this showcase game, which will be televised nationally on FOX.

The Sox and Yankees originally were scheduled to play at the Field of Dreams in August of this year, but then the COVID-19 pandemic intervened. At first, the St. Louis Cardinals replaced the Yankees as the Sox's opponent, but then the game ultimately was canceled.

With any luck, public health will allow this game to be contested -- with fans in attendance -- in 2021.

Remembering 1981: If you think 2020 will be an illegitimate season ...

Dodgers third baseman Ron Cey in 1981

The 1981 Cincinnati Reds had the best record in the National League. They had a .611 winning percentage. They did not make the playoffs.

As a matter of fact, the two best teams in the NL did not make the playoffs in 1981. That's how stupid that season was.

I can barely remember that summer. I was only 5 years old. Some people reading this post may not have been born yet, so let me explain.

There was a strike in the middle of the season that lasted two months. Teams stopped playing after the games of June 11, and play did not resume until Aug. 10.

You would think they would have just picked up where they left off, with the standings as they were on June 11, right?

Well, you would be wrong. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn decided that the teams in first place on June 11 would be declared champions of the first half. Each of those four division leaders -- the New York Yankees, the Oakland Athletics, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers were awarded playoff berths.

Teams reset at 0-0 for the "second half" of the season on Aug. 10, and the teams that won the second half also were awarded playoff berths. Those clubs turned out to be the Milwaukee Brewers, the Kansas City Royals, the Montreal Expos and the Houston Astros.

Here's the problem with that. If you added up the standings for the ENTIRE season, here's how the standings would have looked in the NL East and NL West, respectively:

NL East
1. St. Louis 59-43
2. Montreal 60-48
3. Philadelphia 59-48

NL West
1. Cincinnati 66-42
2. Los Angeles 63-47
3. Houston 61-49

In a strange quirk, both St. Louis and Cincinnati finished second in BOTH the first half and the second half. So, even though those two clubs were the top teams in their divisions for the entire year, neither made the playoffs.

The two Division Series in the National League both featured, in effect, a second-place team against a third-place team. The Dodgers beat the Astros. The Expos beat the Phillies. In the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers beat the Expos, and they went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series.

So, a team that normally wouldn't have made the playoffs under the standard format at the time won the World Series. Hmm.

Over in the American League, the Yankees won the East Division in the first half with a 34-22 record. But in the second half, New York finished SIXTH out of seven teams with a 25-26 record.

Here's how the AL East would have stacked up if you had combined records for the entire season:

1. Milwaukee 62-47
2. Baltimore 59-46
3. Detroit 60-49
4. New York 59-48

But the Yankees got hot in the playoffs. They beat the Brewers in five in the ALDS and swept Oakland in the ALCS to get to the World Series.

So, in effect, you had the fourth-place team in the AL East playing the second-place team in the NL West in the World Series.

The Dodgers won it. Now, ask yourself this: Do you ever hear anyone say there should be an asterisk next to that championship?

No? Me neither.

You see, the machinations of the 1981 season have been forgotten through time. All that matters is that there was a World Series, and somebody won it.

Something to keep in mind as we embark on this strangest of seasons here in 2020, with only 60 games to determine the 10 playoff teams.

Assuming the coronavirus doesn't shut down the season, someone will win a championship under these rules. And decades from now, how it was won will be mostly forgotten, but flags fly forever.

Andy Masur joins White Sox radio booth; latest on Field of Dreams game

A couple of White Sox notes from Tuesday:

First, Andy Masur will be the radio play-by-play voice of the Sox on WGN 720-AM this season. Masur will replace the late Ed Farmer and work with longtime analyst Darrin Jackson.

Farmer, who battled kidney disease throughout his life, died of an undisclosed illness April 1 at age 70.

Masur has filled in for Farmer on numerous occasions, including during some spring training games in March. Masur grew up in the Chicago area and has spent the past two seasons as a pregame host on Sox games.

The veteran broadcaster also worked in the Cubs' radio booth as an occasional fill-in for Pat Hughes when the North Siders were on WGN radio. He also spent eight years in San Diego as part of the Padres' radio broadcast team.

Reports indicate Masur has been given no guarantees past 2020, and replacing Farmer will be no easy task.

“Ed was a legend in his own right, and it was a well-deserved legendary status,” Masur told MLB.com on Tuesday. “The guy bled White Sox baseball. He pitched for them. He got a chance to grow up watching them and got a chance to be around them when they won a World Series. He had been around them as they’ve been rebuilding to what they hope to be here in the next couple of years.

“From my perspective, I go in and just kind of do what I do and hope that I make Ed proud and hope I make D.J. proud. I hope I give White Sox fans what they are looking for, as far as a game broadcast with information and making sure you know where the ball is and what the inning is and what the score is.”

Sox might play NL Central opponent in Iowa

Remember when the Sox were supposed to play the New York Yankees in the Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13?

Well, the Sox definitely won't be playing the Yankees. With this shortened season and a geographically based schedule, there will be no games against New York -- just games against clubs from the AL Central and NL Central.

The latest reporting says that Field of Dreams game could go on, but the opponent will be a National League team -- either the Cardinals, the Cubs or the Brewers.

Let me cast my vote: Bring on the Cardinals!

I'm pretty sure the eyes of Chicago will be on the six games between the Sox and the Cubs, no matter where they are played. Those games do not need an unusual venue to get extra attention.

So why not play St. Louis instead? Let's add a little juice -- and a national TV audience -- to a matchup between the Sox and Cardinals.

Will home runs continue at absurd rates when baseball returns?

Pete Alonso led MLB with 53 homers in 2019.

Editor's note: I apologize for the radio silence on this blog as of late. I don't want to get caught up in the speculation of whether there will be a 2020 baseball season. I don't know. You don't know. Nobody knows, so why spend any time on it? I will try to do a better job in May of posting things that I find interesting about the great American game.

One of the things I'll be watching when baseball returns is whether home run totals continue to spike in video game-like fashion, as they did in 2019.

Most of us already are familiar with the absurd numbers. The 2018 New York Yankees set a single-season home run record, hitting 267 as a team. That record lasted one year, as four teams surpassed that total in 2019.

The Minnesota Twins hit an almost-unbelievable 307 homers as a team, followed by the Yankees (306), Houston Astros (288) and Los Angeles Dodgers (279).

Individual home run totals reached ridiculous heights as well, with 58 players totaling 30 home runs or more. How much of an outlier is that? Consider this chart:

Players with 30-plus home runs
2019: 58
2018: 27
2017: 41
2016: 38
2015: 20

A whopping 31 more players hit 30-plus homers in 2019 when compared to 2018. That total of 58 is even more than 2000, perhaps the height of the steroids era, when 47 players topped the 30-homer plateau.

Then there's this:

Players with 40-plus home runs
2019: 10
2018: 3
2017: 5
2016: 8
2015: 9

Ten players hitting 40-plus homers in 2019 pales in comparison to 2000, when 16 guys reached that milestone. But it's still a significant jump to go from three 40-home run hitters to 10 in one year's time.

Here's something else crazy to chew on while you're waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic: Before 2019, only 47 teams in the history of Major League Baseball hit 226 home runs in a season. In 2019, the league *average* was 226 homers -- that's equivalent to 25 home runs per spot in the batting order.

We already know we won't have a full 2020 season to use as a point of comparison, but if baseball resumes and we have, say, a 100-game season, if you see teams getting up to 140 or 150 home runs as a lineup, that's about the threshold where we'll be able to say the long-ball trend has continued.

American League news: Yankees dealing with early injuries

Luis Severino

The New York Yankees are among the favorites in the American League this season, but they have had some bad news on the injury front during the first couple weeks of spring training.

The Yankees on Tuesday announced that starting pitcher Luis Severino has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The two-time All-Star needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2020 season.

New York already is without left-hander James Paxton, who will be out through at least April after having something called microscopic lumbar surgery. Right-hander Domingo German will not be eligible to return to the roster until June 5, as he must serve 63 more games of an 81-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy.

Don't cry for the Yankees too much, as they have the game's best pitcher, Gerrit Cole, at the front of their rotation. They also have veterans Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ to help hold things down until Paxton and German return.

But in the meantime, New York has two gaps in its rotation. Candidates to fill those roles include left-hander Jordan Montgomery and right-handers Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa.

In news that broke Wednesday, Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton's ability to start the season is in question because of a Grade 1 strain in his right calf. Manager Aaron Boone says Stanton will miss "a couple of weeks," which could make it difficult for him to be ready by March 26. Injuries limited Stanton to only 18 games in 2019.

Even with these injuries, New York is still the favorite in the AL East. That said, the Yankees could be vulnerable early in the season, and it would behoove the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox to get off to quick starts.