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The pen always takes the heat, but not every game you lose late is fully on them. Cubs have been held to 2 or fewer runs at home only 4 times all season, Wrigley just has not been the place for even the best and freshest arms to try ekeing out a 3-2 win. They needed to get more than 3 runs out of 10 hits + a few walks. But the Sox have certainly been burned by an especially taxing run of incidents with the Martin rainout, Schultz 1 inning start, Martin ejection/blister, some extra innings games, and the loss of Thurday's off day (which I imagine impacted strategy for this series) all happening in quick succession on top of the expected workload concerns.

This team has more limitations than our record shows and we are still playing well and competing with the tops team in the league every time we face them. We have overachieved by a lot, nobody on this board or who is a fan of this team thought in a million years we would be 5 games above .500 and in 1st place on August 19th. Venable has questionable decisions just like every manager even ones with All star rosters.

If we continue on that pace, we make the playoffs.

As much as the Cubs and their ownership get crap for being cheap and never truly “going for it”, their front office identified their extreme need for starting pitching due to injuries and lack of performance better than Getz did and they acquired four starters prior to the deadline. Peterson Civale (being used in bullpen but was starting for A’s) Gausman Holmes Getz needed two starters at a minimum and only acquired one. They didn’t really need a CF that swings a wet newspaper.

They have? Anyways, can’t really ask for a worse scenario tomorrow than Holmes and his sinker ball against Urquidy, a fly ball pitcher.

Exactly. Getz is a farm league guru of sorts but has no business dealing in trades with real mlb general managers even though he “may” get one right every once in a while.

Four factoids today: August 19, 1930 - The White Sox sent 20,000 thousand dollars along with outfielder Doug Taitt to the Cubs in return for minor league shortstop Luke Appling. The deal was engineered by the front office’s Milt Stock who was future Sox manager Eddie Stanky’s father-in-law. Appling would go on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Sox winning batting titles in 1936 and 1943. That season of 1936 would also find him driving in 128 RBI’s. His 20-year career would see him collect 2,749 hits. August 19, 1953 – Sox star left hander Billy Pierce’s run of almost 40 consecutive shutout innings ended at home against the Browns when former Sox outfielder and Pierce teammate, Don Lenhardt got an RBI double in the sixth inning of a game eventually the Sox lost 4-3 in 10 innings. Pierce’s streak started with a complete game shutout in Washington on August 3. He’d have three complete game shutouts in the streak along with two relief appearances covering almost eight innings. He’d have four wins and a save in the run allowing only 18 hits with 30 strikeouts. That year Billy went 18-12 with a 2.72 ERA. August 19, 1970 - The White Sox set the franchise record for most runs ever scored in the ninth inning of a game when they got 11 runs in Boston. Earlier in the year the Sox scored 22 runs at Fenway Park and on this day the 11 runs turned a loss into a 13-5 win for pitcher Wilbur Wood. The 11 runs were scored without the benefit of a single home run as 16 men batted in the inning. There were 10 Sox hits, an intentional walk and two Boston errors in it. August 19, 1983 – In a double header in Arlington against the Rangers the Sox had already won the first game 3-2 in 10 innings. They were leading in the nightcap 3-1 in the seventh inning when an unusual occurrence happened. Left fielder Jerry Hairston came up with the bases loaded and hit a deep drive to center field that was caught by George Wright. Vance Law scored easily but Julio Cruz kept right on going from second base and also scored. That was a pair of RBI’s credited to Hairston on the play! In the postgame comments Cruz said he “Dreamed of doing that all my life” which indicated that it wasn’t so much an outfield misplay or stumble but Cruz simply outrunning relay throws. The Sox would sweep the twin-bill taking the second game 6-1.

Fair point, they are saved for wont of a better word by being in a crap division. But at some point the pitching staff has got to break down and that's been happening as I posted especially in the late innings, four times in the last 12 games they've blown and lost the lead. They've been resorting to bullpen games in three of the last six games, soon to be four of seven Wednesday because they literally have only three starting pitchers right now they can count on (maybe). That's not good. Even a guy like Hudson who had a great first half has been brutal since the All-Star Break. And like Fathom posted the minor leagues don't look like they are going to produce any 'saviors'. I understand Shane Smith had another bad game for example. This division hasn't been won yet...not even close. The schedule eases up (on paper) but these guys may be so beat up and worn out it may not matter. We'll see.

Type of stuff that needed to be considered a few weeks ago. You already have Martin saying he’s tiring, and it’s been widely speculated Schultz was close to his innings total.

Yup it's basically impossible to do that right now when we only have 3 starters. 4 if you count Fedde.

Well said

Example of pitching depth concern….Burke is already at a career high in innings. Ideally you get him an extra day of rest whenever possible. Gonna be hard to do with the available options.

Screw this - yeah this is a bump, but this team battles. Keep grinding, create momentum and shock us in October. Let’s go!!!

(Satire)

They’d be better if those deals never happened

So far the organizations deadline deals don't look so hot do they? Castillo is mediocre at best, Brazoban has been a disaster, Doyle is meh doesn't move the needle and Bart got hurt. Great job right? 😉

Historically, the White Sox have often gone into a tail spin after getting beat-up by the cubs.

I think it's the fact that this team wasn't meant to win or compete for anything this year. They've had a lot of guys overperforming to get where they are now and whenever things start going wrong, people default to thinking that this is the start of the end. Because they weren't supposed to be doing this. Truth is, these guys have shown that they are mentally tough and have the memory of a goldfish. However, the concerns about the pitching running out of steam are legit. The bullpen is taxed. The rotation is having trouble giving them 5 innings a game. It's hard to consistently win under those circumstances.

Exactly.

I don’t know if people are predicting a collapse but it’s obvious they don’t have enough pitching. That doesn’t mean they still can’t limp into the postseason somehow.

Our last 4 managers are Robin Ventura, Rickey Renteria, Tony La Russa, and Pedro fucking Grifol. Will Venable in year 2 has this team in late August in position to win the AL Central. Some of his decisions have been bad! Let's SHUT THE f*** UP about him needing to be replaced.

Pitching running out of gas and nothing in the pipeline that can be of help. I don’t think it would be a massive collapse, but the Sox are a .500 team since the ASB.

For the people who think a collapse is imminent, what evidence have you seen to show you this? This team is resilient as hell and has not had a long losing streak. We really just have to split our remaining games with our division foes and we are fine.

Can I create a poll? Is Will Venable moreso the AL Manager of the Year or the worst manager in the AL?

Anyway, the Sox lead the division by 4 games, which is more than they led it by the last time the season ended because they lost a series. Next two games are the last time they play a team that currently has a better record than them. Just keep winning division series and stay afloat otherwise, rosters expand soon for more arms to refresh the pen.