White Sox rebuilding fail: A look back at the 2018 draft

Tanking has become a popular strategy across professional sports over the past decade. It probably doesn't work as well in baseball as it does in football, basketball or hockey, but that hasn't stopped teams from trying it.

In 2017 and 2018, the White Sox were rebuilding, but it's fair to say they were tanking -- setting their roster up to lose, in order to get a high pick in the next year's draft.

The Sox went 67-95 in 2017, the fourth-worst record in Major League Baseball. That meant they had the No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 draft, and drafted near the top of all the subsequent rounds.

For tanking to work, a team must make good draft picks and develop that talent. Here's a list of the 40 players the Sox took in that 2018 draft. Players currently on the 40-man roster are in all caps and bolded:

• Round 1: Nick Madrigal, 2B
• Round 2: Steele Walker, OF
• Round 3: Konnor Pilkington, LHP
• Round 4: Lency Delgado, SS
• Round 5: Jonathan Stiever, RHP
• Round 6: Codi Heuer, RHP
  
• Round 7: Cabrera Weaver, OF
• Round 8: Andrew Perez, LHP
• Round 9: Gunnar Troutwine, C
• Round 10: Bennett Sousa, LHP
• Round 11: Kelvin Maldonado, SS
• Round 12: Isaiah Carranza, RHP
• Round 13: Jason Bilous, RHP
• Round 14: DAVIS MARTIN, RHP
• Round 15: Luke Shilling, RHP
• Round 16: Ty Greene, C
• Round 17: Travis Moniot, SS
• Round 18: ROMY GONZALEZ, 3B
• Round 19: Gabriel Ortiz, C
• Round 20: Jimmy Galusky, SS
• Round 21: Nick Johnson, RHP
• Round 22: Ryan Fitzpatrick, 1B
• Round 23: LANE RAMSEY, RHP
• Round 24: Rigo Fernandez, LHP
• Round 25: Jack Maynard, RHP
• Round 26: Devon Perez, RHP
• Round 27: Ian Dawkins, OF
• Round 28: Logan Sowers, OF
• Round 29: Taylor Varnell, LHP
• Round 30: Micah Coffey, SS
• Round 31: Austin Conway, RHP
• Round 32: Aaron Soto, LHP
• Round 33: Bryce Bush, 3B
• Round 34: Alec Valenzuela, C
• Round 35: Jason Morgan, RHP
• Round 36: Adrian Del Castillo, C,
• Round 37: Cannon King, 2B
• Round 38: Matthew Klug, OF
• Round 39: Mason Montgomery, LHP
• Round 40: Kyle Salley, LHP

We always say you can't judge a draft until you get a few years down the road. Well, we're five years down the road from this draft, and I would say it was poor. The Sox didn't get a single impact talent for their tanking efforts during the 2017 season.

Fourteenth-rounder Martin made 14 appearances and started nine games for the 2022 Sox, but he missed the entire 2023 season with Tommy John surgery. That's the closest thing we've had to a success story here.

Gonzalez, the 18th-rounder, has appeared in 86 games across parts of the past three seasons and slashed .222/.239/.361. He missed most of the 2023 season with a shoulder injury. He profiles as a career utility player, if he's lucky.

Ramsey, the 23rd-rounder, made it to the majors last year after the Sox sold off half their pitching staff at the trade deadline. His ERA was 5.85 over 21 games, but honestly, anything you get out of a guy drafted that late is a bonus.

The real issue here is the top of this draft. Madrigal made it to the big leagues in 2020 and started for the Sox in 2021 before tearing his hamstring in June. He and sixth-round pick Heuer, who also made it to the bigs in 2020, were shipped to the Cubs at the trade deadline for reliever Craig Kimbrel. 

Kimbrel was a disaster for the Sox and departed in free agency after the 2021 season. Madrigal is an injury-prone utility guy for the Cubs, and Heuer has not pitched in the majors in either of the past two seasons because of injury.

Second-round pick Walker was traded to the Texas Rangers in December 2019 for outfielder Nomar Mazara. The deal did not work out for either side. Mazara slumped throughout the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with the Sox, and Walker appeared in just five games with the Rangers in 2022 -- going 1 for 16. He is no longer with the Texas organization. In fact, he spent most of 2023 at High-A West Michigan, an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.

Third-rounder Pilkington was traded to Cleveland at the deadline in 2021 for second baseman Cesar Hernandez. Pilkington appeared in 16 games (11 starts) with the Guardians, but eventually was designated for assignment. Hernandez did not play well down the stretch for the 2021 Sox and left in free agency after that season.

Fifth-rounder Stiever made two starts for the 2020 Sox, and one relief appearance in 2021. His career ERA is 14.21. Injuries ruined any shot he might have had, and he was outrighted off the roster.

The sad truth for the Sox is this draft was part of their rebuilding failure. None of these players helped the team, either on the field or in trades to acquire talent. It's pretty much a disaster, as a matter of fact.

The biggest free agent linked to the White Sox is ... Liam Hendriks?

Liam Hendriks

The White Sox are 92-1 when leading after eight innings over the past two seasons. That is good evidence that the bullpen is NOT the greatest area of need on the South Side of Chicago.

Yet, the biggest free agent who has been linked to the Sox is a closer, Liam Hendriks.

Granted, the Sox's incumbent closer, Alex Colome, also is a free agent. As of this writing, it remains unclear who will be tasked with closing games for the Sox in 2021.

We'll also acknowledge that Hendriks is a more dominant relief pitcher than Colome. Based on recent track records, it would be foolish to argue that Hendriks would not help the Sox. Let's take a look at the numbers from these two pitchers over the past two years:

Colome in 2019: 4-5, 2.80 ERA, 30 saves, 61 IP, 55 Ks, 23 BBs, 1.066 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9

Hendriks in 2019: 4-4, 1.80 ERA, 25 saves, 85 IP, 124 Ks, 21 BBs, 0.965 WHIP, 13.1 K/9, 2.2 BB/9

Colome in 2020: 2-0, 0.81 ERA, 12 saves, 22.1 IP, 16 Ks, 8 BBs, 0.940 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, 3.2 BB/9

Hendriks in 2020: 3-1, 1.78 ERA, 14 saves, 25.1 IP, 37 Ks, 3 BBs, 0.671 WHIP, 13.1 K/9, 1.1 BB/9

There's no getting around it. Hendriks was the best reliever in the American League in 2020. And he's better than Colome. He strikes out more batters. He walks fewer batters. In general, fewer batters reach base against him. That's exactly what you want in a closer.

Here's the problem: To sign Hendriks, it's probably going to take a four-year deal, worth somewhere between $50 million and $60 million. That sort of outlay would probably be the biggest the Sox would make in this most unusual of offseasons.

The question isn't whether Hendriks is good. The question is whether he's the best use of (apparently) scarce resources.

Closer has not been a problem for the Sox. If need be, they could probably retain Colome on a two-year commitment for a lot less -- maybe two years, $20 million. And even if Colome leaves, you still have two left-handers (Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet) and three right-handers (Codi Heuer, Evan Marshall and Matt Foster) who can be used in high-leverage situations.

Meanwhile, the Sox had a right fielder last season (Nomar Mazara) who posted an OPS+ of 64. League-average is 100, so that means Mazara was 36% below league average.

They also had a DH (Edwin Encarnacion) who posted an OPS+ of 70, or 30% below league average.

These are glaring, massive holes that are begging to be solved through free agency. Colome is not as good as Hendriks, but he's also not below league average. The closer spot simply is not a liability, while right field and DH are.

The Sox have already strangely plugged right field with Adam Eaton, who had a 76 OPS+ last season -- he should fit right in, LOL.

To the Sox's credit, they plugged a hole in the starting rotation by trading for Lance Lynn, who is both good and reasonably priced. Lynn will earn $8 million in 2021.

That means there still should be room with the payroll to make a significant addition on a multi-year deal. Should that money be spent on an upgrade at closer? Not in my world. A better use of money would be adding an impact bat who can help you each and every day. 

You don't need a $15 million closer to win a World Series.

Non-tender list adds outfield options for White Sox in free agency

Eddie Rosario

Teams around Major League Baseball non-tendered 59 players Wednesday, and some of them are outfielders who bat left-handed. 

The White Sox need a right fielder, preferably one with some left-handed pop, so the speculation only increases as more options become available.

We all know George Springer, a right-handed hitter, is the top free agent outfielder on the market. If the Sox are to sign him, it would require the biggest contract in team history, and the competition is expected to be fierce. Therefore, I'm not expecting it to happen.

In a previous blog, I advocated for signing *both* Michael Brantley and Jackie Bradley Jr. Another free agent whom I haven't mentioned is Joc Pederson, a left-handed corner outfielder who just won a World Series ring with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, three other players can be mentioned in this mix after they were non-tendered by their respective teams: Eddie Rosario, Kyle Schwarber and David Dahl. Let's look at how these players could fit in with the Sox:

Rosario: If we weren't in the middle of a pandemic, the Minnesota Twins probably would have tendered Rosario, who batted .281/.317/.493 over the past four seasons. He's a free swinger, as that low on-base percentage suggests, but he produces runs. 

Over those same four seasons, he's hit 96 home runs and driven in 306 runs. For his career, his 162-game averages are 28 home runs and 90 RBIs. And he doesn't turn 30 until next September, so he's a good bet to continue that production for another couple of seasons. The Twins apparently decided, however, that he is not worth his projected $12 million arbitration number.

I don't think Rosario's worth that, either, because he's not a great defensive outfielder. No way would I put him in right field. The Twins have always put him in left field. This player would be a decent acquisition for the Sox, because he can play left field in a serviceable way -- better than Eloy Jimenez can -- serve as a designated hitter most of the time and give you some pop from the left side.

In short, he's a fallback option if the Sox fail to sign Brantley, who is the best player on the market for such a role. It's worth noting that neither Brantley nor Rosario are good enough with the glove to be the left-handed half of a platoon in right field.

Schwarber: The crosstown Cubs are cutting payroll, and Schwarber getting non-tendered is the first domino to fall on the North Side. As Sox fans, we give Cubs fans a hard time all the time for overrating their own players, and Schwarber is a prime example of that, so let's not fool ourselves into believing that this player is a great fit on the South Side. He is not.

Schwarber is a terrible defensive outfielder. Absolutely terrible. Sure, he stands in left field with a glove on his hand, much like Jimenez does, but he's a significant liability out there. Schwarber has to hit in order to be effective, but in 2020, he did not hit. He batted .188/.308/.393 with a 50.8% percent ground-ball rate and a 30% strikeout rate. 

He hit 11 home runs. That's nice. It's way better than Nomar Mazara, but "better than Mazara" is damning with faint praise. That's still subpar production for a designated hitter, and that's all Schwarber is.

If the Sox sign Schwarber, he'd be nothing more than the left-handed half of a DH platoon with ... who exactly? While Schwarber will hit some home runs and take his walks, this doesn't feel like the best fit among the available players.

Dahl: The Colorado Rockies non-tendered Dahl because he had a terrible 2020 season. He batted .183/.222/.247 with not a single home run and nine RBIs. Remarkably, that's below the Mazara line!

An oblique strain and a right shoulder injury limited Dahl to 24 games this year, and injuries have been a recurring theme for him. In his career, he's suffered from a lacerated spleen and a fractured foot, among other problems.

He's only played 264 games for the Rockies over the past four years, but in general, it's been a productive run. For his career, he's batted .286/.334/.494 with 53 doubles and 38 home runs. 

All that said, the injury problems mean he cannot be a Plan A for any team that looks at 2021 as a win-now season, and the Sox are certainly in that camp. I would expect Dahl to sign with a rebuilding team, maybe the Detroit Tigers, on a one-year deal to try to rebuild his value.

From a Sox perspective, he would be the very last option on this list. 

White Sox non-tender Carlos Rodon, Nomar Mazara

Carlos Rodon

Teams had to decide which arbitration-eligible players to offer contracts to by 7 p.m. Wednesday. Right fielder Nomar Mazara and pitcher Carlos Rodon will not be receiving offers from the White Sox, according to a post on the team's Twitter account.

The Sox also announced that left-handed relief pitcher Jace Fry avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $862,500 contract. All other unsigned players on the 40-man roster were tendered contracts.

This means that pitchers Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Evan Marshall, and outfielder Adam Engel, have received contract offers from the Sox. 

Mazara and Rodon become free agents, meaning the Sox's 40-man roster now stands at 38 players.

The subtractions of both Mazara and Rodon were expected. Mazara was projected to receive about $6 million in arbitration, an unacceptably high salary for a supposed power hitter who slugged .294 during the 2020 season and managed only one home run in 149 plate appearances. 

Mazara's 2020 OPS of .589 was, umm, slightly below his previous career low of .745. The Sox apparently thought they could unlock Mazara's talent when they acquired him from Texas last offseason. Instead, they found out why the Rangers were willing to give up on him. Mazara turned out to be not even as good as he was in Texas, where he was profoundly mediocre.

Rodon, the team's first-round pick in 2014, simply cannot stay healthy. 

Here are Rodon's innings totals over the past four seasons: 69.1, 120.2, 34.2 and 7.2.

Here are Rodon's ERAs over the past four seasons: 4.15, 4.18, 5.19, 8.22.

Rodon's projected arbitration number is $4.5 million. Given the lack of innings, the injuries and the declining performance, there are better ways to spend $4.5 million -- especially during these financially challenging times associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sox general manager Rick Hahn said the team will stay "in contact" with both Mazara and Rodon, leaving open the possibility that they could be brought back for lesser money.

Frankly, I'd move on from Mazara no matter what. Rodon, I'd be willing to give him a minor-league deal, look at him in spring training and see if he can be turned into a reliever, but I wouldn't consider him for a job in the starting rotation. If Rodon still wants to be a starting pitcher, I'd shake his hand and wish him luck elsewhere. It's time for the Sox to move on.

Among the players tendered contracts by the Sox, Lopez was the only question mark. Giolito, Marshall and Engel all did their jobs in 2020 and earned their offers.

Lopez struggled with injuries and underperformance. He made only eight starts and went 1-3 with a 6.49 ERA. However, his projected arbitration number is only $2 million, and his upside is still greater than a lot of the mediocre retreads you'll find on the free agent market this offseason.

Given the price and the overall landscape, it's not a bad play to see if new pitching coach Ethan Katz has an answer to get Lopez on track. If it doesn't work out in 2021, then it will be time to move on from Lopez, as well, but I'm willing to give him one more kick at the can. Apparently, so are the Sox.

A solution for the White Sox OF/DH problem that doesn't involve George Springer

Michael Brantley

Do we really believe White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is going to open his wallet this offseason and sign George Springer, the best free agent position player on the market?

Sure, the Sox have a gaping hole in right field, and Springer would look good there. But I'll file that possibility under, "I'll believe it when I see it." Even amid a pandemic, signing Springer is going to take a nine-figure outlay, which is something the Sox have yet to do in team history.

So, if not Springer, then what?

Here's my proposal: Sign *both* Michael Brantley and Jackie Bradley Jr.

Make the 33-year-old Brantley the primary designated hitter, but he's still young enough and decent enough defensively to spend some time in left field. Eloy Jimenez remains your primary left fielder, but he can DH sometimes.

Luis Robert is the everyday center fielder. Duh.

And Bradley Jr. becomes the left-handed half of a right-field platoon with Adam Engel. Whichever player doesn't start in right field becomes the late-inning defensive replacement for Jimenez when the Sox are trying to protect a lead.

These proposed signings would give the Sox three outfielders capable of playing center field -- Robert, Engel and Bradley Jr. -- and can you imagine all three of them being in the outfield at the same time in the ninth inning? A one-run lead feels a little safer with that defensive alignment, no?

Brantley has a career .297/.354/.440 slash line. He's hit .300 or higher for three consecutive years. His OPS has been .800 or better for four consecutive years. And he swings left-handed, to help balance out the Sox's right-handed-heavy lineup. Not to mention, Brantley doesn't strike out much -- he had only 28 strikeouts in 187 plate appearances for the Houston Astros in 2020.

A left-handed contact hitter with gap power sounds like exactly what the Sox lineup needs.

Bradley Jr. is 30 years old and coming off one of his better seasons with the Boston Red Sox. He slashed .283/.364/.450 with seven homers. He's also a left-handed hitter. He can run; he takes some walks; and he's an high-end defensive outfielder. Those are all skills the Sox could use.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not going to be angry if the Sox somehow come up with the cash to sign Springer. But the objective here is to replace *both* Edwin Encarnacion and Nomar Mazara, who weighed down the Sox lineup at DH and RF, respectively, in 2020.

If you can't get the All-Star, it's not necessarily a bad thing to take two quality players who set a higher floor for your team and add to your depth and platoon flexibility.

It's time for everyone's favorite game show: White Sox player comparisons

Here are two season stats lines for two White Sox position players, one from 2020 and one from the past. Can you name them?

Player A: .256/.333/.314, .646 OPS, 139 plate appearances, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 8 RBIs, 10 stolen bases

Player B: .228/.295/.294, .589 OPS, 149 plate appearances, 6 doubles, 0 triples, 1 home run, 15 RBIs, 0 stolen bases

While you ponder that, we'll play some baseball videos from YouTube. Scroll down when you think you have your answer ...

Got your answer? Player A is Willie Harris, a backup infielder, the 25th man on the 2005 world champions.

Player B is Nomar Mazara, the starting right fielder for the 2020 Sox.

That's right, 2005 Willie Harris had a higher OPS than 2020 Nomar Mazara, and he had the same number of home runs in 10 fewer plate appearances.

I think that adequately answers the question of whether Mazara is a non-tender candidate this offseason. No way in hell he deserves a raise on top of the $5.56 million he was scheduled to earn in 2020.

Let him walk.

Oakland A's hold off White Sox rally, force Game 3

Liam Hendriks

Well, White Sox fans, here's the question: Should we be optimistic about the team's chances in a winner-take-all Game 3 after what we saw in the last two innings Wednesday, or should we be skeptical after what we saw through the first seven innings?

The Oakland Athletics evened the best-of-three series with a 5-3 victory over the White Sox in Game 2, but I think it was a little closer than the A's would have liked.

Oakland had a 5-0 lead through seven innings, as right-hander Chris Bassitt basically took the Sox's bats and shoved them straight where the sun doesn't shine.

However, the Sox rallied against Liam Hendriks, the Oakland closer who has been one of the best relievers in the American League this season.

Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer off Hendriks in the eighth to make it 5-2. And after two were out in the ninth, back-to-back singles by Nick Madrigal and Tim Anderson and a walk to Yoan Moncada loaded the bases.

Hendriks had recorded five outs, all on strikeouts, but he needed 49 pitches (!) to do it. He was clearly out of gas, so the A's summoned left-hander Jake Diekman, who walked Grandal to force in a run. 

5-3.

The stage was set for MVP candidate Jose Abreu, who hit a 96.4 mph two-hopper on the first pitch, right at Oakland second baseman Nate Orf. Game over. A's survive.

Abreu's ball had an xBA of .460, but it hard to curse the Sox's bad luck when they played poorly over the first seven innings.

They generated no offense against Bassitt, and Dallas Keuchel was just plain bad, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits in 3.1 innings pitched. Keuchel allowed homers to Marcus Semien and Khris Davis, and his average exit velocity allowed was 97.4 mph. He got hit hard, plain and simple.

It's disappointing because games such as this are the ones Keuchel was signed to win. Alas, he couldn't close out this series, and the Sox face a do-or-die game at 2 o'clock Thursday. Who will pitch? As of 10 o'clock Wednesday night, we do not know.

We know the middle of the rotation is the Sox's weakness. After Lucas Giolito and Keuchel, they basically have three No. 5 starters. Do you trust Dane Dunning with the season on the line? Or do you just have a bullpen game?

Garrett Crochet, Matt Foster, Codi Heuer, Aaron Bummer, Evan Marshall and Alex Colome should all be available to pitch in Game 3. Heuer is the only man from that group to appear in Game 2, and he needed only eight pitches to work a tidy 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.

I think trying to get through nine innings with those six relievers is the best way forward.

Meanwhile, Oakland also has not announced its starter, and it is insisting that Hendriks is available for Game 3. I'm not so sure. If he does appear, will he be effective? That could change the strategy for Oakland in this game.

In terms of the Sox lineup, Edwin Encarnacion played Wednesday. Eloy Jimenez did not. I'm not sure why Jimenez is on the roster if his sprained foot is preventing him from so much as DH'ing. 

Encarnacion was 0 for 2 before being lifted for a pinch hitter, none other than Nomar Mazara, who was 1 for 2 with a single and a strikeout in the late innings. Worth noting, Mazara was called out on a terrible pitch that should have been ball four. The quality of his ABs far exceeded those of Encarnacion, who grounded out to third and struck out swinging.

Even if Jimenez cannot play Thursday, I'd say it's time to give up on Encarnacion. If Oakland starts a right-handed pitcher, hell, just DH Mazara. Or put James McCann behind the plate and DH Grandal, as the Sox did in Game 1.

The margin for error is gone now, so there's no time left to mess around with struggling players, regardless of previous track record.

White Sox lose two of three to Cincinnati Reds; AL Central lead at 2 with 7 to play

Dylan Cease

White Sox pitchers Dylan Cease and Ross Detwiler combined to pitch one of the worst innings I've seen at the big-league level in a long, long time Sunday.

The Cincinnati Reds scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning -- on six walks, a hit batsmen and a ground ball that found its way through a shifted infield. Talk about gift-wrapping a game. The Reds went on to win 7-3 and took two out of three in the weekend series.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins took two out of three from the Cubs at Wrigley Field. That means the Sox's lead in the American League Central Division stands at two games with seven to play. Their magic number to clinch the division is four.

Probably the best thing to do would be to just go 4-3 in the remaining seven and not worry about the Twins, right? But the Sox will need to play better than they did this weekend. Let's take a look back at this series with the Reds:

Friday, Sept. 18

Reds 7, White Sox 1: Jonathan Stiever survived his first major-league start against the Detroit Tigers in decent shape, but he got lit up in his outing Friday against the Reds. He lasted only 2.2 innings and gave up six earned runs on five hits. He allowed four home runs, including three in a five-run third inning. 

Stiever had never pitched above High-A before this year, so struggles are to be expected. However, I'm a little concerned about his health. Reports last season had his fastball touching 95 or 96 mph. But after a forearm strain limited him in spring training during March, he doesn't seem to be back to that peak velocity. I'm seeing a lot of 91 and 92 mph fastballs.

The Sox managed only four hits Friday night, so it was a lackluster, day-after-clinching-the-playoffs sort of effort. One bright spot: 2020 first-round draft pick Garrett Crochet worked a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts in his big-league debut. His fastball touched 101 mph and showed good life. 

Saturday, Sept. 19

White Sox 5, Reds 0: Stiever was optioned back to the alternate training site after his rough outing Friday, so that Dallas Keuchel could be activated from the 10-day injured list and make the start. 

It was a weird outing for Keuchel. He went four scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, which is good, but he didn't get a single groundball out. Not what you normally see from the game's most extreme sinkerballer. Keuchel uncharacteristically walked three, too, but that could be chalked up to rust. At least he got up to 75 pitches. At least he got through the outing without a recurrence of his back problem, and he'll get one more start Thursday to tune up for the postseason.

The Sox hit five solo homers to win this one. Nomar Mazara hit his first dinger of the season in the fifth off Trevor Bauer. Tim Anderson also homered in the fifth. In the eighth, Anderson, Yasmani Grandal and Jose Abreu hit back-to-back-to-back homers off Robert Stephenson to put the game out of reach.

Four relievers cleaned up the last five innings after Keuchel left. Matt Foster (5-0) retired all six men he faced with two strikeouts to earn the victory.

Sunday, Sept. 20

Reds 7, White Sox 3: Cease, Detwiler and Steve Cishek combined to walk 11 batters and hit three others in this game -- and that was just the first five innings. Meanwhile, Sox batters struck out 14 times. It was so terrible to watch that I don't really want to talk about it.

It was 7-3, but it felt like 13-3. Let's just flush it down the toilet and move on.

Up next for the Sox: a four-game series in Cleveland starting Monday night. The Indians are five games out in the AL Central, so they are still in the hunt and looking to move up the standings. It should be a playoff-level series, and the hope is the Sox got all their bad play out of their system Sunday in Cincinnati.

Can any left-handed batter on the White Sox get a hit this week?

Yasmani Grandal

The White Sox missed an opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central Division race on Wednesday.

Chicago's ace, Lucas Giolito, had a mediocre outing, allowing three earned runs over six innings, and the Sox managed only two hits in a 5-1 loss to Minnesota.

The Sox (32-17) could have increased their division lead to four games, but instead, the Twins (31-20) are within two games of the lead with 11 games to play. The fourth and final game of this series is at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Giolito gave up a solo home run to Eddie Rosario in the second inning, and a two-run homer to Byron Buxton in the fourth. Miguel Sano tacked on a two-run homer for the Twins in the eighth off Matt Foster.

Jose Abreu's home run in the fourth accounted for the only Sox run. Aside from that, the South Siders managed only a leadoff single from Tim Anderson in the first inning.

But here's what bothers me about the Sox offense right now: They have gotten nothing from the guys who swing from the left side of the plate -- Nomar Mazara and switch hitters Yasmani Grandal and Yoan Moncada.

We all know the Sox are undefeated against left-handed starters this year, so the Twins are wisely stacking up right-handed starters in this four-game series. We can't say that strategy has worked, because the Sox have won two of the first three. However, they've done it solely with contributions from right-handed hitters.

Here's how the lefty and switch hitters have fared through the first three games:

Grandal: 0 for 11, 4 Ks, 1 BB, 1 run scored

Moncada: 0 for 9, 4 Ks, 3 BBs, 2 runs scored

Mazara: 0 for 6, 2 Ks

Thank goodness for those walks, huh? That's 0 for 26 with 10 strikeouts.

The Twins will throw their best right-handed starter at the Sox on Thursday, Kenta Maeda (5-1, 2.43 ERA). The Sox will counter with Reynaldo Lopez (1-2, 5.52 ERA). 

Maeda has been tough on right-handed batters throughout his career, holding them to a .194/.244/.333 slash line. He's been even more effective this season. Right-handers are slashing .127/.138/.241 against him.

Lefties have fared better: .179/.238/.308 this season, and .250/.322/.424 career.

In other words, it would really help the Sox to get something out of Grandal, Moncada or Mazara on Thursday.

Adam Engel foils Minnesota's defense; Sox beat Twins in series opener

Adam Engel

The White Sox have scored an American League-best 81 runs in the seventh inning or later, and that's a great habit to get into. Most of the offense has come in the form of bashing the ball off the wall or over it.

However, Adam Engel's RBI single that gave the Sox the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning of an eventual 3-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday was somehow more satisfying. Maybe this particular hit felt cathartic because Engel outsmarted the Twins, and for years, it seems as though the Twins have been outsmarting the Sox.

Not on Monday. 

With the score tied 1-1 in the eighth inning, Minnesota reliever Taylor Rogers walked Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Rogers is left-handed, so Sox manager Rick Renteria wisely sent Engel to the plate to pinch-hit for Nomar Mazara. 

Engel has laid down 16 sacrifice bunts in his career, so he's certainly no stranger to being asked to bunt in a situation such as this. In fact, he attempted to bunt the first pitch from Rogers and fouled it off.

However, Engel noticed that the Twins were expecting the bunt, and they put the wheel play on. For those unfamiliar, the wheel play involves having the third baseman charge hard, while the shortstop sprints from his position to cover third base, leaving the middle of the field vacant.

In a first-and-second situation, batters are taught to make the third baseman field a bunt. You don't want to bunt down the first-base line in that spot, because it's too easy for the first baseman to field the ball and sling it over to third to cut down the lead runner. 

The wheel play provides the defense with a better opportunity to cut down the lead runner at third on a bunt up the third-base line. The idea is to have the third baseman field the ball and throw it to the shortstop covering third for the force. 

As an offensive player, how do you counter the wheel play? Well, you show bunt, get the shortstop moving, and then slap a grounder through the middle of the infield for an RBI single. That's precisely the play Engel executed, and it ultimately won the Sox a critical September game.

Engel hit the ball roughly where Minnesota shortstop Jorge Polanco normally would be standing. However, Polanco had vacated his position to cover third base as part of the wheel play. With all his momentum heading toward third, he had no chance in hell to reverse course and field Engel's grounder. 

Moncada scored easily from second to make it 2-1 Sox, and moments later, Tim Anderson doubled off the fence to score Robert. 3-1 Sox, and Alex Colome made the lead stand up in the ninth inning.

It was an unbelievable win for the Sox, because the Twins probably should have scored 10 runs given all the opportunities they had. Consider these facts:

• Sox pitchers combined to walk 10 Minnesota hitters over nine innings.
• The Twins stranded 15 runners.
• The Twins left the bases loaded three times.
• The Twins went 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position.
• Sox pitchers walked Minnesota's No. 9 hitter, Ehire Adrianza, three consecutive times. Adrianza is batting .183 this season.
• Minnesota's MVP candidate, Nelson Cruz, stranded nine runners himself. He twice came to the plate with the bases loaded and failed to deliver both times. He also grounded into a double play with runners on first and third.
• Sox pitchers stupidly walked three consecutive batters in a tie game in the top of eighth inning to give Cruz a bases-loaded chance. They got away with it.

The Sox missed their share of opportunities, as well. They went 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners. Two of the three hits came in the aforementioned bottom of the eighth inning.

Really, this might have been the most poorly pitched 3-1 game in the history of baseball. It very easily could have been 11-9, but the Sox will take it.

Going into Tuesday's play, the Sox (31-16) hold a two-game lead over the Twins (30-19) in the American League Central Division.

Lucas Giolito's no-hitter highlights White Sox's thrashing of Pirates

Lucas Giolito

"To right field, Adam Engel ... is there! A no-hitter! The 19th in White Sox history!"

That was TV broadcaster Jason Benetti's call of the final out of Lucas Giolito's no-hitter Tuesday night, as the White Sox defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0. The South Siders also won Wednesday, homering four times to beat Pittsburgh, 10-3, and complete a two-game sweep.

But the story of the series was Giolito, who struck out 13 for his second outing in a row. He allowed only one Pittsburgh batter to reach base Tuesday, a leadoff walk to Erik Gonzalez in the top of the fourth inning. Giolito threw 101 pitches, 74 of them for strikes.

Here are some other notes from the no-hitter:

• The no-hitter is only the fourth in the 29-year history of New Comiskey Park/U.S. Cellular Field/Guaranteed Rate Field. Giolito's is the first thrown by a right-handed pitcher. Mark Buehrle threw no-hitters in 2007 and 2009, the second of which was a perfect game. Francisco Liriano no-hit the Sox in 2011 as a member of the Minnesota Twins.
• Giolito's no-hitter is the first for the Sox since 2012, when Philip Humber pitched a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners.
• Giolito's 13 strikeouts are the most for any Sox pitcher in a no-hitter. The previous high was set by Humber, who had nine.
• Among the 101 pitches, Pittsburgh batters swing and missed 30 times. Giolito recorded the most swinging strikes by a Sox pitcher during the pitch tracking era, which began in 1988. Chris Sale had the previous high with 29.
• Giolito nearly tied a record for most swinging strikes in a no-hitter. The record is 31, and Nolan Ryan set that mark in 1990.
• Gonzalez lined out to Engel on a 0-2 fastball to end the game. The final out had a hit probability of 85%, the highest of any ball put in play by Pittsburgh the whole game. It's fortunate the Sox had Engel, an excellent defender, in right field instead of Nomar Mazara.

With the win, the Sox now are 19-12, tied with the Cleveland Indians for second place in the AL Central, a half-game back of the Minnesota Twins (20-12).

It's quite a three-team race with 29 games to go. The Sox have an off day Thursday, before facing the Kansas City Royals in a three-game weekend set at Guaranteed Rate Field.

White Sox continue to waste everyone's time with lousy performances

Dylan Cease

Change the game? More like change the channel.

The White Sox continue to make their fans wish this 2020 season had never gotten off the ground. The South Siders fell to 1-4 Tuesday with two lousy performances in a doubleheader at Cleveland.

The Indians took the opener, 4-3, and won the nightcap, 5-3.

Both games were characterized by horrendous starting pitching by the Sox. The Indians scored two in the first inning in Game 1, and three in the first inning in Game 2. For those wondering, the Sox have now been outscored 13-1 in the first inning through five games.

That is not a recipe for success.

Game 1 starter Dylan Cease didn't make it through the third inning. He gave up as many hits (seven) as he got outs. He allowed four runs, including homers to Francisco Lindor and Bradley Zimmer.

And, oh yeah, the Sox offense stinks too. They left 11 runners on base in the one-run loss and twice failed to score when they had bases loaded with one out. Cleveland starter Aaron Civale totaled a career-high nine strikeouts, and Indians pitching racked up 14 strikeouts overall.

This reminds me of 2018, not the competitive Sox team we were told to expect in 2020.

You know what else reminds me of 2018? Nicky Delmonico hitting in the cleanup spot in Game 2. Yep, that happened. You start to wonder whether manager Rick Renteria is trolling fans with these lineups.

It doesn't help that two starting outfielders, Eloy Jimenez (concussion protocol) and Nomar Mazara (COVID-19, I presume) are currrently unavailable. But Delmonico hitting fourth is not good lineup optimization.

Of course, the starting pitching was again horrendous in Game 2. Carlos Rodon put the team in a 3-0 hole in the first inning. He lasted 3.2 innings and allowed five runs on four hits.

The first time through the rotation, Dallas Keuchel was the only Sox starter to last five innings. That's also the only time the Sox have won a game.

My preseason prediction of 27-33 is looking pretty optimistic right now. Of course, the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers -- two teams that lost more than 100 games last season -- appear on the Sox's schedule 10 times each. You'd like to believe the Sox could go 12-8 or 13-7 against those two clubs.

If that happens, they'd only need to go 14-26 against all other teams to reach my lofty prediction. So far, they are 1-4.

It's still doable, right? What a mess.

Nomar Mazara is out. Now what for the White Sox in right field?

Nomar Mazara

White Sox right fielder Nomar Mazara did not play in either of this week's exhibition games against the Cubs. Manager Rick Renteria described Mazara as being "under the weather."

Today, Mazara was placed on the 10-day injured list. No explanation has been given. We can speculate on what's going on, but what we know is that Mazara will not be in the lineup for Friday's season opener against the Minnesota Twins.

In fact, he won't be eligible to return until Aug. 1, so what do the Sox do in right field in the meantime? In a 60-game season, a good start is even more important than usual. And it's especially crucial for the Sox, given that they start the season with the Twins and the Cleveland Indians -- the two clubs that are expected to be the front-runners in the AL Central.

Well, I guess it depends on who the second baseman is. Will it be prized prospect Nick Madrigal or veteran utility player Leury Garcia?

If it's Madrigal, then Garcia can fill the gap in right, perhaps as part of a time share with Adam Engel. Perhaps Garcia, a switch-hitter, starts against right-handed pitchers, while Engel, a right-handed hitter, starts against lefties.

Here's a look at the platoon splits for each player in 2019:

Garcia vs. RHP: .264/.294/.348
Garcia vs. LHP: .311/.344/.443

Engel vs RHP: .201/.272/.326
Engel vs LHP: .313/.360/.482

The numbers tell us Garcia is stronger from the right side of the plate. But Engel's numbers against righties are pathetic, while Garcia's are acceptable. For me, it then makes sense to play Garcia against righties.

And while Garcia performed just fine against lefties, Engel hits them harder, so I would give him the start on the rare occasions when the Sox face a lefty starter -- there aren't a lot of them in the AL Central, and Minnesota's Rich Hill is probably the only one the Sox will see during the season's first week.

But, what if the Sox decide to hold Madrigal back for service time or some other reason that I'm not thinking of? Then Garcia is the second baseman, and Engel is the best choice in right field.

I'm cringing a little bit as I look at the lineup for Wednesday night's exhibition against the Milwaukee Brewers. Garcia is at second base. OK, perhaps the Sox are tipping their hand at what they are going to do at that position.

But then in right field, it's not Engel. It's ... Nicky Delmonico? The career .227 hitter who doesn't have a position he can play competently? Ugh.

I'm not a huge Engel fan, but at least he's a good outfielder. Engel is certainly not the best hitter, but he brings one major league-caliber skill to the team -- his glove.

What exactly does Delmonico do well?

I'll be disappointed if someone other than Garcia or Engel is getting time in right field during Mazara's absence.

Yermin Mercedes again ... and Andrew Vaughn's first home run

For the first time this spring, White Sox baseball was on the radio Friday. It was nice to hear a ballgame on the ride home from work, even if it was just the last three innings of a meaningless exhibition game against the Cleveland Indians.

Looking at the box score, Nomar Mazara may have been the only player in the starting lineup who will actually be with the Sox when the season starts -- unless Nick Madrigal makes the club out of camp.

The Sox won the game, 8-3, and the story once again was ... Yermin Mercedes. I joined the broadcast in the top of the seventh inning, and I apparently just missed Mercedes hitting a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth that turned a 3-0 Sox deficit into a 4-3 lead.

Mercedes is now 4 for 9 with two homers this spring in his quest to earn the job as the 26th man on the Sox's roster.

In other news from the game, Andrew Vaughn, the Sox's top pick in the 2019 draft, made two plate appearances. He walked his first time up, then added a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Vaughn is probably going to start the season at Double-A Birmingham, and he'll be one of the guys in the system to keep a close eye on throughout the year. Most likely, he'll be in the minors for all of 2020, but it wouldn't be a surprise if he were knocking on the door of coming to Chicago by the time September gets here.

Edwin Encarnacion, the incumbent DH, is on a one-year contract with an option year. The guess here is Encarnacion will be a member of the Sox until Vaughn is ready to take his spot. Will that be in 2021 or 2022? We'll find out.

White Sox avoid arbitration with five players

Alex Colome

The White Sox on Friday announced that they reached agreements with each of their remaining five arbitration-eligible players. Here's how the contracts break down for the 2020 season:

RHP Alex Colome: $10,532,500
RF Nomar Mazara: $5.56M
LHP Carlos Rodon: $4.45M
UTIL Leury Garcia: $3.25M
RHP Evan Marshall: $1.1M

It's always good to avoid going to court with arbitration-eligible players. Those hearings are never fun, because they require the club to highlight why a player isn't worth the money he's asking for. That creates animosity and bad feelings that can last throughout a season.

So, it's just best to come to an agreeable number and move forward. That's what the Sox have done with these five players.

Encarnacion deal becomes official

The Sox also officially announced the signing of veteran designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion to a one-year, $12 million contract.

One other note on Encarnacion: According to the latest addition of Baseball Digest, he hit the second-most home runs of any Major League player during the decade spanning 2010-19 with 335. Only Nelson Cruz (346 home runs), currently with the Minnesota Twins, hit more.

Encarnacion also ranked third over the past decade with 956 RBIs. Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels led all hitters with 963 RBIs, while Cruz ranked second with 961.

Hopefully, the 37-year-old Encarnacion still has some homers and RBIs left in him.

Medeiros outrighted

To make room on the roster for Encarnacion, the Sox designated left-handed pitcher Kodi Medeiros for assignment. Medeiros was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in the middle of the 2018 season in exchange for reliever Joakim Soria.

Medeiros cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Charlotte.

The Sox's 40-man roster is at maximum capacity, and someone else will have to be dropped when the signing of relief pitcher Steve Cishek becomes official.

Will Edwin Encarnacion solve the home run problem for the White Sox?

Edwin Encarnacion

The White Sox finished 13th out of 15 teams in the American League with 182 home runs in 2019. The only two teams behind them were the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers, who combined to lose 217 games.

By way of comparison, the AL Central-winning Minnesota Twins smashed a league-leading 307 home runs, and the league average was 232 homers. Indeed, the Sox were well behind the curve in hitting the ball out of the ballpark last season.

Perhaps that's why the Sox agreed to terms on Christmas Day with veteran slugger Edwin Encarnacion. It's a one-year deal worth $12 million, and it includes a club option for 2021 that also is worth $12 million.

In 3-up, 3-down format, let's take a look at why this deal may work for the Sox, and why it may not.

3 up

1. Encarnacion has been of the game's most prolific sluggers since 2012. The soon-to-be-37-year-old has hit between 32 and 42 home runs in each of the past eight seasons. That's a model of consistency. Even in 2019, his age-36 season, Encarnacion clubbed 34 home runs and drove in 86 runs in only 109 games.

2. Encarnacion has proven to be successful in the DH role. In the past, we've seen the Sox try to force career National League players (Adam Dunn, Adam LaRoche) into the DH spot with little or no success. They also tried Yonder Alonso, which was a disaster, in part because Alonso had always been a regular first baseman and couldn't adjust to the particulars of the role. Encarnacion has played 723 career games as a DH and posted a .268/.365/.518 batting line with 175 homers and 530 RBIs. That's what you're looking for at the position. He will accept the job and won't moan about the mental challenges it presents.

3. The 2019 Sox got poor production out of their DHs. Sox DHs posted a .205/.285/.356 batting line with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs in 2019. That is pathetic from a bat-only position. A .641 OPS is entirely unacceptable at a lot of positions, most of all DH. Encarnacion's line last season was .244/.344/.531. That's an .875 OPS, a massive upgrade, and even if Encarnacion's production drops some, it's still an improvement for the Sox.

3 down

1. Encarnacion is going to be 37 years old next month. He did only play in 109 games last season, and he dealt with wrist, oblique and ankle injuries at different points during 2019. There's always the chance that once a guy starts getting hurt, he keeps getting hurt. That's a risk for the Sox here, and that's likely among the reasons Encarnacion only commanded one year guaranteed on the open market.

2. This signing limits lineup flexibility. One of the negatives to signing Encarnacion is he's somewhat redundant on the roster with Jose Abreu, who also is a right-handed slugger who needs to play first base or DH. Encarnacion can probably provide a few games at first to get Abreu off his feet here and there, but there's nothing else he can do other than DH. My preference had been to get a right-handed bat that could both DH and play the outfield. Obviously, Encarnacion is not that. There's no way he can be used in platoon situation with, say, Nomar Mazara.

3. Encarnacion struggled with high-velocity pitchers in the playoffs. Encarnacion started the 2019 season with the Seattle Mariners, before being traded June 12 to the eventual AL East champion New York Yankees. His playoff at-bats were, umm, not so great. He went 5 for 31 with three doubles, no home runs and 13 strikeouts in eight games. In particular, he struggled in the AL Championship Series against the Houston Astros, going 1 for 18 with 11 strikeouts. From my layman's perspective, the Astros just went after him with fastballs, and they threw pitches right by him. Something to watch for once the season starts.