South Side Hit Men

Credit also needs to be given to Ethan Katz, who many wanted fired after the terrible April start by the Sox staff. He has helped the bullpen navigate the loss of Liam, incorporated two new pitchers who are doing very well after mixed results on prior teams, helped Lance Lynn settle down the past few starts and have kept the four core starters healthy (Clevinger was always an injury concern since 2018 - terrible pickup by Hahn). March April Scoring 118-183 (Record 8-21) 6.31 runs allowed per game May Scoring 133-123 (Record 15-14) 4.24 runs allowed per game June 1-25 Scoring 70-75 (Record 11-10) 3.57 runs allowed per game

Both teams on the road next week, Minnesota traveling to Atlanta (.649) and Baltimore (.618) for six games in which they may only win 1 or 2. Meanwhile the Sox look to have a solid chance of winning 4 or 5, and an outside chance at winning 6. Realistic best case scenario: Sox 5-2 Twins 1-5 = Minnesota 41-44 & Chicago 39-47 2 1/2 GB Crazy best case scenario: Sox 6-1 Twins 0-6 = Minnesota 40-45 & Chicago 40-46 1/2 GB Anaheim RHP Dylan Cease (3-3 4.22) vs. LHP Reid Detmers (1-5 4.02): Chatham native Reid's first start against the White Sox, hoping the Sox can pounce the LHS. RHP Michael Kopech (3-6 4.06) vs. RHP Shohei Ohtani (6-3 3.13): Shohei's chance to impress White Sox brass for his upcoming Free Agency. All kidding aside, Sox need to be patient and extend pitch counts to hopefully get at their bullpen. Touki will likely be the pairing after 4-5 innings. RHP Lucas Giolito (5-5 3.41) vs. RHP Jamie Barria (2-2 2.14). This is a winnable game with Lucas on the mound. Barria pitched the Sox tough in May, but again working counts and getting to the bullpen a key to this one. RHP Lance Lynn (4-8 6.40) vs. LHP Patrick Sandoval (4-6 4.16). Lynn pitched awful in his May start, but looks to have turning things around this month. The Sox are 2-0 vs. Patrick, hoping success against LH starters continue to close out the series. Oakland Friday LHP Tanner Banks (0-2 4.50) & RHP Jesse Scholtens (1-2 2.31); Saturday RHP Dylan Cease & Sunday Michael Kopech: 3-0 needs to be the target, 2-1 worst case scenario, for the Sox to return home within a few games of first place in the American League Central. Oakland has gone 1-9 in their last 10 games, and hopefully are spent after their mini June rally around the boycott game. Let's Do This!

Big Thanks to @2Deepfor starting the Win Streak, and @reiks12 for keeping the line moving!

Let Robert Junior hit home runs and hope for the best.

Third series win against an over .500 (May 2-4 vs. Minnesota, June 6-8 at New York Yankees & June 23-25 vs. Boston) and first home series win against a non-division opponent.

Luis Robert Junior goes Deep Twice!! Bummer getting it done. Middleton now 5 out of 5 shutout innings in the 9th, picks up his second save of the series and season. People love to dunk on Pedro, but after having a couple months to learn his roster, has made good decisions, especially late game substitutions, to keep the Sox winning in June (11-10) playing a much tougher schedule.

Thank you Pedro!

Great job by Bummer today. He has pitched well this month, .525 OPS in last 28 days. Sox will need him strong with Liam out for likely another month, perhaps longer. Hope Pedro goes Middleton over Lopez and Kelly for the 9th.

Benintendi pumped for this series. 7 hits brings his OPS up to .729. .882 Robert Junior .811 Burger .761 Vaughn .756 Jimenez .729 Benintendi .716 Grandal .715 Sheets

Nice game by Banks and Scholtens, nice job Bummer as well. Middleton, Kelly and Lopez available, hope they go Kelly and Middleton, save Touki in case they go extras.

He can do that too.

This is the second straight game I woke up and turned on the game in the Bottom of the 6th, and Robert hit a home run each time first batter I heard. Perhaps I need to do this from now on. Sox still over .500 in game I listened to this season.

The same guy who acquired Jose Abreu. https://soxmachine.com/2021/01/marco-paddy-indirectly-previews-impending-white-sox-international-class/

Robert on Fire!

Thank you Vinnie for the pre/post game updates!

Not sure of Hahn's thoughts, but with Tony gone, Jerry didn't have the incentive to invest further. These two signings didn't move the needle in terms of win expectations or season ticket sales. They also cancelled SoxFest before November, knowing they weren't adding payroll or significant players. Even Hawk was not optimistic looking at this roster, saying they weren't going to win the Division, would be lucky to be a wild card in AJ's preseason podcast.

They may have believed in 2021 or 2022, but their offseason proved they were transitioning to sell mode for 2023. They flipped Abreu’s money for Clevinger and Benintendi, and backloaded both deals knowing they were shedding money in the future.

He was a great pickup, worked his ass off preparing personally and preparing pitchers more the Cooper. Wouldn’t have matched the Mets contract, would continue to go for $2M-$5M acquisitions. McGwire and Collins would have been fine. Agree with Caulfield internal development is the best route. They gave up on Narvaez too soon. What the hell did they need to flip for yet another closer while tanking? And then Hahn signs Herrera for $17M a few weeks after this trade. Also pissed away $14M on juicer Wellington Castillo while tanking, and then $73M on another juicer catcher. Truly WTF territory.

I hope Yoan gets a second opinion, because surgery may be his best option for long term health. Can't trust the White Sox staff to give accurate assessments and or doing what is best for their players after recent history of injury mismanagement. @ptatc - Would like to hear your perspective in terms of what you know about treatment options for protruding disks, surgery vs. rest.

Graveman gets out of it. Gatorade is for closers

Zach and Kelly, a winning combo.

Home Runs Lance Lynn

Tim should been placed on the IL on Monday, this latest scheme to play him at 2B is ludicrous. He can barely field SS at this stage after playing there his entire career. It's not like they need his bat. Play Remillard, he is better at every aspect of baseball than this injured version of Tim.

Sox will improve once Grandal is gone, he turns a walk into a triple, is no longer even a below average catcher at this point. Zavala has a .189 OBP in half the PAs and is still there with Grandal in fWAR (0.2 vs. 0.1). Perez is sadly not a catcher either. They need to get a veteran that can manage a pitching staff and is a major league quality catcher.