8-21 GT: Sox @ Cubs (7:15pm)

[Chicago White Sox]

Alright boys, tonight the Sox begin an epic three game series against the Cubs at Wrigley.  The Sox are currently on a five game win streak, coming off a dominating four game sweep of the Tigers.  Meanwhile, the Cubs are 5-5 over their last ten after an 11-3 start to the season.  Momentum should be in our favor, but we’ll facing the Cubs’ top three starters this weekend, so no doubt we got a real challenge ahead of ourselves.

Kicking off the series for the Cubs will be 36 year old Jon Lester.  A legit former #1 starter, Lester has really started to age out over the last couple years and is now more of a middle-of-the-rotation type type guy.  His average four seam velocity has dropped below 90 MPH, which has caused him to leverage his cutter far more often than in years past.  As you’ll see in the StatCast info below, he’s really struggling to generate whiffs this year and it appears an inability to locate his curveball is a big part of the problem.  Despite a nice looking ERA, we may be catching him at just the right time as his peripherals scream of a guy ready to be lit up by an offense as dangerous as ours.  In terms of how our hitters have faced against Lester, six players have 10+ plate appearances against him and of those Abreu, McCann, Yoan, & Edwin have all been good to great while Timmy and in particular Grandal have really struggled.  With Yasmani still dealing with back issues, giving McCann the start at catcher is a no-brainer.  I really like our chances tonight if Robert is back in CF and we rock the right lineup (no Grandal or Mazara preferably).

For the Sox, we’ll have Dallas Keuchel going.  He sits at 3-2 with a 3.58 FIP on the season.  The big thing that stands out for Dallas this year is his K rate being down substantially, currently sitting at 4.91 / 9 vs. normally operating in the 7 / 9 range.  He still seems to be generating a normal amount of whiffs (thanks to a big increase in his change-up usage), so hopefully this just a SSS bias and not a sign of things to come.  The good news is he continues to generate a lot of ground-balls and weak contact (despite a massive reduction in the use of his sinker) and has averaged nearly six innings a start this year.  While the Cubs have a scary offense, two of their main right-handers are struggling in Bryant & Báez, and Dallas has been very good in his career against lefties.  Hopefully that gives us an edge vs. a lineup that includes  Rizzo, Schwarber, Kipnis, Heyward, & Happ.

With Hendricks & Darvish starting the next two games, winning tonight becomes of the utmost importance.  Hopefully we get the offense we saw against Detroit and not the one vs. St. Louis, as we’ll need our bats to be locked & loaded this weekend.

Let’s fucking go boys!!!!!!

[oldsox]

Is Robert sked to be back in the lineup?

[NWINFan]

This is going to be a tough series. If somehow the White Sox win two of three, it would be time to get really excited. The key is getting into the Cubs bullpen.

[SonofaRoache]

33 minutes ago, NWINFan said:

This is going to be a tough series. If somehow the White Sox win two of three, it would be time to get really excited. The key is getting into the Cubs bullpen.

Yes it for sure will be tough as the Cubs can hit and the pitching matchups are against us. Cease will not be able to hide this time around. He must bring it. 

 

My lineup guess is

1. SS Anderson

2. 3B Moncada

3. 1B Abreu

4. C Grandal

5. LF Jimenez

6. DH Encarnacion 

7. CF Robert

8. RF Engel

9. 2B Mendick

Edited August 21, 2020 by SonofaRoache

[SonofaRoache]

1 hour ago, oldsox said:

Is Robert sked to be back in the lineup?

He should be back today. 

[Leonard Zelig]

I hope the Sox win!

[SonofaRoache]

8 minutes ago, Leonard Zelig said:

I hope the Sox win!

The tank years are over 😂. We always hope they win now. 

[poppysox]

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Alright boys, tonight the Sox begin an epic three game series against the Cubs at Wrigley.  The Sox are currently on a five game win streak, coming off a dominating four game sweep of the Tigers.  Meanwhile, the Cubs are 5-5 over their last ten after an 11-3 start to the season.  Momentum should be in our favor, but we’ll facing the Cubs’ top three starters this weekend, so no doubt we got a real challenge ahead of ourselves.

Kicking off the series for the Cubs will be 36 year old Jon Lester.  A legit former #1 starter, Lester has really started to age out over the last couple years and is now more of a middle-of-the-rotation type type guy.  His average four seam velocity has dropped below 90 MPH, which has caused him to leverage his cutter far more often than in years past.  As you’ll see in the StatCast info below, he’s really struggling to generate whiffs this year and it appears an inability to locate his curveball is a big part of the problem.  Despite a nice looking ERA, we may be catching him at just the right time as his peripherals scream of a guy ready to be lit up by an offense as dangerous as ours.  In terms of how our hitters have faced against Lester, six players have 10+ plate appearances against him and of those Abreu, McCann, Yoan, & Edwin have all been good to great while Timmy and in particular Grandal have really struggled.  With Yasmani still dealing with back issues, giving McCann the start at catcher is a no-brainer.  I really like our chances tonight if Robert is back in CF and we rock the right lineup (no Grandal or Mazara preferably).

For the Sox, we’ll have Dallas Keuchel going.  He sits at 3-2 with a 3.58 FIP on the season.  The big thing that stands out for Dallas this year is his K rate being down substantially, currently sitting at 4.91 / 9 vs. normally operating in the 7 / 9 range.  He still seems to be generating a normal amount of whiffs (thanks to a big increase in his change-up usage), so hopefully this just a SSS bias and not a sign of things to come.  The good news is he continues to generate a lot of ground-balls and weak contact (despite a massive reduction in the use of his sinker) and has averaged nearly six innings a start this year.  While the Cubs have a scary offense, two of their main right-handers are struggling in Bryant & Báez, and Dallas has been very good in his career against lefties.  Hopefully that gives us an edge vs. a lineup that includes  Rizzo, Schwarber, Kipnis, Heyward, & Happ.

With Hendricks & Darvish starting the next two games, winning tonight becomes of the utmost importance.  Hopefully we get the offense we saw against Detroit and not the one vs. St. Louis, as we’ll need our bats to be locked & loaded this weekend.

Let’s fucking go boys!!!!!!

Thanks for your work in doing such thoughtful writeups.

[gusguyman]

beat the fucking cubs

[sin city sox fan]

Lets beat the snot out of these bastards!

[Leonard Zelig]

1 hour ago, SonofaRoache said:

The tank years are over 😂. We always hope they win now. 

I never rooted for the White Sox to lose and I don't see an scenario where I ever will.

[SonofaRoache]

1 minute ago, Leonard Zelig said:

I never rooted for the White Sox to lose and I don't see an scenario where I ever will.

I understand that perspective. We do need to recognize that us losing has led to us having a chance to have an 8 year run of very good baseball, something we've never seen in our lifetime. Hell, how many back to back playoff appearances have we ever accomplished? Losing is not ideal, but in this scenario it was the only way. 

[35thstreetswarm]

Hate the Cubs.  Love the Sox.  Love this series when we win.  Go Sox.

[ScootsMcGoots]

LOVE that the pitchers don't hit. That needs to die...I mean, not that our DH's usually perform much better....

Edited August 21, 2020 by ScooterMcGee

[Leonard Zelig]

17 minutes ago, SonofaRoache said:

I understand that perspective. We do need to recognize that us losing has led to us having a chance to have an 8 year run of very good baseball, something we've never seen in our lifetime. Hell, how many back to back playoff appearances have we ever accomplished? Losing is not ideal, but in this scenario it was the only way. 

I would argue that trades and FA signings are more of the reason the Sox are in the position they are in than tanking for draft picks. 

[SonofaRoache]

7 minutes ago, Leonard Zelig said:

I would argue that trades and FA signings are more of the reason the Sox are in the position they are in than tanking for draft picks. 

Trading Sale, Eaton, and Q led to our losing. Drafting Nick, Vaughn, and our pitchers this year will also boost our future prospects. Vaughn and Nick are projected to be pretty good and valuable assets for out team. The idea of losing to get better sucks, but it may have worked well for us. 

[TomPickle]

40 minutes ago, SonofaRoache said:

Hell, how many back to back playoff appearances have we ever accomplished?

Zero

[The Grinder]

IIRC dont we hold a very slight lead in this series? Like up by 3 games?

[35thstreetswarm]

3 minutes ago, The Grinder said:

IIRC dont we hold a very slight lead in this series? Like up by 3 games?

Yes:  66-62 I believe.  That includes a World Series win by our very own “hitless wonders”.

[mqr]

In the middle of a COVID scare so if you need me I will be planted on the couch in a pile of beers watching every second of this series. 

[flavum]

4 minutes ago, 35thstreetswarm said:

Yes:  66-62 I believe.  That includes a World Series win by our very own “hitless wonders”.

62-60 since interleague

32-29 at home; 30-31 at Wrigley

Edited August 21, 2020 by flavum

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

5 minutes ago, 35thstreetswarm said:

Yes:  66-62 I believe.  That includes a World Series win by our very own “hitless wonders”.

I think maybe he meant since interleague play started not including ancient history.

BUT it is worth noting that even while rebuilding and being bad we played them pretty tough while they were very good.

Edited August 21, 2020 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[Leonard Zelig]

38 minutes ago, SonofaRoache said:

Trading Sale, Eaton, and Q led to our losing. Drafting Nick, Vaughn, and our pitchers this year will also boost our future prospects. Vaughn and Nick are projected to be pretty good and valuable assets for out team. The idea of losing to get better sucks, but it may have worked well for us. 

Do you think I’m not aware of all this?

[35thstreetswarm]

2 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

I think maybe he meant since interleague play started not including ancient history.

BUT it is worth noting that even while rebuilding and being bad we played them pretty tough while they were very good.

Oh, of course—excluding that insignificant little World Series.  Let’s just all agree to write that one out of the history books, God knows we have enough rings. 

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

2 minutes ago, 35thstreetswarm said:

Oh, of course—excluding that insignificant little World Series.  Let’s just all agree to write that one out of the history books, God knows we have enough rings. 

Lol when was that 1906 ?  I'd never write it out of the history books . Easy big fella ! I just was making a suggestion that perhaps that was not exactly what he was looking for.