South Side Hit Men

“When you’re trailing by two, you can’t be picked off. I don’t know why you’re running there in the first place.” -Darrin Jackson, befuddled once again by late inning decisions.

Tony is going to save that message from Hahn on his text machine telling him to move Leury down in the order. He already showed it to Leury for motivation. And just like that, the Sox are back in the mix.

Reports said he rejected the Sox offer, since they wouldn’t guarantee he play near everyday in the OF.

The White Sox have far better starter depth than the Rays. Yarbrough (29 starts past three seasons; 14 career high) Glasnow (34 starts past three seasons; 14 career high (this year)) Hill (21 starts past two years; 13 high (this year) Lynn is defiantly one of the top three White Sox pitchers this year, and Lucas has a good shot of finishing as one of the Sox three best pitchers.

Leury could have done that.

Perhaps Tony was waiting for Yermin to come back from a trip to the ATM.

I have no argument, just stating what I believe are Tony’s reasons. Even if it’s Game 163 to determine a playoff slot, and the lineup with everyone healthy is as follows, since it’s counted as a regular season game, mum is the word. SP R. Lopez CF Y. Mercedes 2B B. Goodwin DH B. Hamilton 3B L. Garcia SS D. Mendick RF Y. Grandal LF Z. Collins C T. Anderson 1B J. Lamb ?

I understand and agree many would consider other changes with the late scratch. Based on Tony’s prior comments regarding presenting the players their place and position in the lineup well before the game, and also regarding showing players respect, I could see those two factors overriding any strategic concerns of batting one of your worst hitters third. Just stating Tony’s probable thought process. I pledged on Saturday not to call out Tony’s lineup for the remainder of the season, and I will hold that pledge. I’m glad it’s only a cold / congestion and nothing serious for Yoan.

If Yoan was a late scratch, I can see Tony keeping his planned lineup the same, and just plopping Leury in there as a logical/reasonable position. My first question after asking about Yoan's status is what were the considerations regarding starting Jake Lamb either at DH, RF or 3B.

Literally laughed out loud seeing Leury in the three hole. This is Leury's first major league start, possibly first at any level, batting third.

Tampa released their lineup, still waiting for the White Sox: 1. Brandon Lowe (L) 2B 2. Randy Arozarena (R) LF 3. Ji-Man Choi (L) 1B 4. Austin Meadows (L) DH 5. Joey Wendle (L) 3B 6. Taylor Walls (S) SS 7. Mike Zunino (R) C 8. Kevin Kiermaier (L) CF 9. Brett Phillips (L) RF

Again, your obsession re my posts (^^^ case in point). The two times I addressed the Cubs here was last September, when I stated I wanted the Cubs to beat Cleveland, our actual division rival, to help the Sox win the Division; and then recently when I stated there are more important Sox rivals than the Cubs. I don’t give a rats ass whether you or anyone else bash the Cubs.

What’s with the “sorry” after the Cubs record in your post?

Didn’t forget anything, including your endless cubsession and obsession regarding my posts. There is nothing to rectify with the teams in your weak ass post.

The White Sox own a .539 winning percentage against the Tampa Bay Rays (89-76), second best among AL opponents to Texas (.545). Tampa is the only American League opponent team the White Sox have a winning road record (43-41). One area the Sox will hopefully rectify this season is their postseason record against Tampa (1-3 .250, tied with Baltimore), and possibly Oakland, Toronto and Los Angeles. 1-3 Tampa Bay 2008 1-3 Baltimore 1983 1-2 Oakland 2020 2-4 Los Angeles Dodgers 1959 2-4 Toronto 1993 3-5 Cincinnati 1919 (Lost on purpose)

Yes, go with you're eyeball assessment over years of data for Goodwin, or all the data available for the entire careers of Eloy and Andrew. There is one thing "lame" in this discussion, and it's not what I presented. Doubt at this point whether you truly believe or understand anything you type here.

It'll likely be 2022 or 2023 the latest. Lynn is up 0.6 fWAR (2.0 vs. 1.4) YTD. Not saying it was a bad acquisition, just that people are underestimating Dunning's season at this point. Dunning has a higher fWAR than Lucas (1.1) or Keuchel (0.5), and is within 0.4 of Cease.

Except for the fact Hamilton would never be in LF. Engel, who should also not be playing LF (should be CF or RF when in the game) is the only person on the active roster who could have caught that ball from where Vaughn was positioned. https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/video/rodon-s-no-hit-bid-ends-in-7th?t=t145-default-vtp

Andrew Vaughn is a better fielder than Brian Goodwin or Eloy Jimenez. Fangraphs statistics lay this out. The first month in LF, Tony pulled him late to protect his confidence (hitting and fielding). However, the past month he has stayed in the entire game, and a few times was inserted late. Tony himself said Andrew Vaughn is an above average OF.

There was a solid article by Peter Gammons in The Athletic (started typing The National, showing my age - RIP Frank Deford). https://theathletic.com/2612663/2021/05/27/gammons-the-injury-epidemic-is-robbing-baseball-of-its-stars-and-its-causes-run-deep/ Hitters: Violent explosion in swing and extreme launch angles (Oblique) Pitchers: Forearm issues often stem from overexertion, the effort for velocity. Curveballs, changeups...they don't have the same strain. Mike Reinhold, injury consultant with the White Sox. All ballplayers: Year round baseball only activities athletically regressive and dangerous.

Thanks. Tony nnew Vaughn wouldn't be able to get to a ball a few innings later, allowing him to pull Rodon. 4D Chess.

Nice to see Engel attempting to steal, wouldn't if he wasn't 100%.

Would have been nice, but better for Rodon and team for him to get through seven and rest for the next one. Great day for Rodon, nice to see Collins develop such a bond with two of the Sox best three pitchers this season. Grandal's ST injury was a blessing in that regard,

Someone with the Sox trolling the Stone Pony. Someone also trolling Soxtalk. What happened to Goodwin?

This is why Vegas always wins in the long run.