South Side Hit Men

The Sox punt away one or two roster spots everyday, the latest Benintendi taking up a spot today post surgery. Not sure how anyone can argue Carlos Perez taking up a spot to literally just sit there game in and game out. He was up a week in May and ten days this latest stint to bat a total of six times, catch 3 2/3 innings total.

Saint Louis Bullpen Game through 5 Innings: 1 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 R, 8 K.

"This is a guy they pulled out of the bullpen." - DJ "He has been very sharp. He has tied his season high with 7 strikeouts." - Len

Connie Mack is not a compliment. His win record is primarily based on sitting on his ass for over a half century as team owner and manager. He has a .486 winning percentage, something Hahn will never come close to touching, but still a losing record.

Contreras first hit for the Cardinals today. Cardinals 2 White Sox 1

I hope Jerry is occupied elsewhere versus sabotaging another draft.

Having legitimate CF coverage for 35 + opponent at bats > the difference between possibly scratching out an additional hit across 2 1/2 games (10 plate appearances bottom of order). Not to mention late game / extra inning stolen bases so you can score in the 10th inning which the Sox weren't able to do against Toronto Thursday and several other games earlier this year. Since they are not trying to win ballgames, Haseley is cromulent as well since he can play better CF than anyone else on the roster beyond Roberts the past two seasons (since Billy was here in 2021).

"I have no idea why Elvis choose that route. He probably had a double play going the traditional route." - DJ, WMVP AM 1000

Billy Hamilton has passed the torch.

I agree this is terrible, but it's Hahn's fault there are only two legitimate outfielders on the roster with Benintendi recovering from his wrist procedure. Sheets and Eloy are DHs, and Hahn is carrying 3 theoretical catchers over a legitimate fourth OFer. If they are not carrying an actual 4th OF, then Eloy has to cover the OF in games like this. I'd prefer Hamilton or Haseley up if only to cover CF for Robert rest and periodic days off.

They are really doing a disservice to Robert by not giving him any rest this season. He has played in all but three games this season and started all but one game since Memorial Day. During his one day of rest he was forced to come in in the 7th during his lone day off after Frazier was exposed with multiple plays trying to cover CF (June 20). Played a 20 inning doubleheader Thursday, hasn't been pulled even late to rest a few innings since before Memorial Day. This evening, he has to jump on a plane after the game, fly commercial to Seattle into the early Monday hours, do the HR bullshit on Monday, play the exhibition game Tuesday, fly commercial from Seattle to Atlanta Wednesday to have a one day ASB Thursday before beginning the second half grind. He's approaching 10 games more of the second most games played across all levels (2019 122 across three levels before Hahn threatened him with no callup unless he signed Hahn's screw you deal), Got screwed out of 63% of his first year pay with Jerry's 102 game 2020 lockout. He is liable to breakdown playing this number of games from here on out. It's truly disgraceful. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=roberlu01&t=b&year=2023 Games Off: 4/9 at Pittsburgh, 5/24 at Cleveland, 5/27 at Detroit! Innings Off since Memorial Day: Six1st-6th June 20, before being inserted because no other CFers on the roster. Extra Innings Played since Memorial Day: Nine across six games.

PS - I didn't think I'd ever see something more old school than Tony La Russa in 2023 until I saw Miles Mikolas socks yesterday. Farmeo would have gotten a kick out of it.

My point is Hahn is not the person who should school anybody. The Sox need to hire managers who do not require schooling, as they have nobody qualified to provide said schooling. Ricky developed the players, built a cohesive team that played hard. Wasn't the greatest manager, but the team definitely imploded the past three years under La Russa and Grifol.

I appreciate your article. Thanks for linking. I hope “college hitter” means complete ballplayers at positions they are projected, continuing down the path of selecting players like Colson Montgomery who can field important defensive positions (all beyond 1B/LF).

They paid millions to La Russa, definitely can afford guys like Hinch or Boche. Hahn (and Jerry) prefers guys with no experience because Hahn would rather manage people he can control. Not interested in hearing challenging viewpoints or having pushback. Had the audacity to claim he was trying to school Ricky Renteria. Rick also has not significantly improved his baseball acumen from the time he mailed his letter to Dallas Green, or since his dad asked Jerry to give his son a job.

I’d say the crowd was around 1/3 Saint Louis fans, perhaps 50 or so group buses by where we parked. Bottom sections were mostly full, decent fill in the upper though just between the infield. Thought they would have 32-33 thousand, actually lost 1,009 from Friday, which was really surprising. Thing that made me laugh was the pricing of most concession menu items ending in 99 cents like a grocery store sale, eBay listing, etc.. “People might be taken aback at $12 beers, so let’s charge $11.99 to prevent sticker shock.” - Brooks Boyer, Chief Revenue Guy Didn’t spend a penny there, was happy to bring sandwiches and other items from Caputos for pre/post tailgate for the four of us. Tickets and parking pass were from a charity raffle won by a friend.

It didn't look as though Anderson is comfortable gripping the bat or taking swings out there. He really should be out until healthy, not helping the team or his future with these performances. Picked a good day to be at my first Sox game since March 2020, first home game here since the final Double Header on September 28, 2019. People I went with were disappointed the Sox were shut out and only had a few hits, but after following the team all year I was not surprised or disappointed. This went as expected, even though the bullpen game worked out as well as can be expected. Happy I have two Luis Robert Jr. Bobbleheads I can gift to the two young nephews in Vegas. Surprised attendance was only 26,560, was a perfect day to tailgate and attend except for the outcome.

The radio team has been better since the end of the dual radio/tv Harry and Jimmy broadcasts. Always muted Hawk and Jason and kept the radio team on back when Sox games were televised over the air. Len was a great addition, hope he remains in the radio after Benetti leaves over the next year or two.

To be expected when your closer goes down first with cancer followed by standard White Sox injury management/ malpractice. Hahn’s acquisitions since were Colome, Shaw and Touki since the cancer announcement. This is what GMs in a multi-championship contention window do when their closer goes down for more than half a season.

Really hoping for 100 + losses at this point so even the casual fan and possibly even Jerry knows how fucked up this has gotten.

Poor Remillard has to play RF with basically zero lifetime experience because Hahn is a fucking ass clown at his job.

The Cardinals suck but beyond their catcher who was just promoted, their worst OPS is .714, with two .745 and the remaining six from .783-.852.

So with this latest jackass version of the 26 man roster facing LH starters, you are stuck with Sheets and Colas sitting paired with two backup catchers as your bench, and Remillard playing OF because your actual and faux RFers are LH. Remillard Positions Played (College and Professional) 1B: 109 2B :105 SS: 202 3B: 489 RF: 18 <= You are here vs. LH Starters CF: 10 LF: 40 DH: 3