Balta1701

And that pitcher has expected ERA and FIP values around 4.3-4.6, so he looks better because he's been somewhat lucky, which is common for relievers. Now step back and look at it this way. If the goal for the White Sox was to get as much rest for people as they could, and then see how the result of the game goes - and maybe try to win it in the 8th or 9th if they happened to be in a position to do so? Great, that's fine, I get that. It's even consistent with your last line - you are putting the bench out there, you are going to pitch your back of the team relievers, and see what happens. Except, the White Sox didn't do that. They could very well have pushed Lopez farther to try to get through the 4th inning, he had only thrown 51 pitches at that point and only 1 month ago he was starting in Charlotte. Even if they hadn't done that, they could have said "ok, we're going Ruiz and then Foster for 3 innings together" starting in the 6th - neither of those guys had pitched the day before. They could have put Tepera out there in the 8th inning, yes he pitched the day before but he's also a middle reliever in this bullpen. In any of those cases, if the reliever loses the game - there's no real complaint, because everyone who is actually important got rest and you're fully correct. Instead of doing any of those things, they gave up the game in the 6th inning, then still warmed up Kopech without bringing him in - why? And then, when down 1 run, they brought in Kimbrel to make sure it stayed a 1 run game? So HFA should take a back seat to keeping the team healthy and ready to play, but Kopech and Kimbrel aren't that important so we should burn those guys now? At least pick a lane. If you're going to play all your backups, then Kopech shouldn't be warming and Kimbrel shouldn't be coming in unless you've got a real chance to steal something at the end. If you're going to bring Kimbrel in to keep it a 1 run game, then use Kopech earlier to try to keep it tied, and then use some pinch hitters in the 9th and make an effort to win the game?

They finished 24-24. The only playoff team in 2018 with a below .500 record in 1-run games was Cleveland, who were 22-24. In fact, you have to go back to 2017 to find a team that even made the playoffs with a record 7 games below .500 in those games.

Everything should be updated in post 1. Notes: The White Sox were swept by the Yankees earlier this year. They have a 3 game series this weekend. If the Yankees win 1 game, they win the head to head record for the season and win any tiebreakers. If the White Sox sweep the Yankees, the season series would be tied, and the tiebreaker would become division records, where the White Sox are dramatically better than the Yankees. However, those tiebreakers don't matter if the Yankees are a wild card team, only if they win the division. They would need to make up 6 games on Tampa Bay and pass Boston in the process, and then have the White Sox also pass Tampa Bay to keep up with them, such that both win the division with the same record, for that tiebreaker to matter. Therefore, there's a tiebreaker available this weekend, but it is very unlikely to matter. Other note: Oakland really is hanging around with Houston out west. Won 6 in a row. That's a true race going on right now.

There certainly aren't any other Greg Maddux-es. But that's because I can't think of any other pitchers like him in my lifetime.

No, "oh so you think you could manage this team better" is a pathetic argument that doesn't deserve better. I couldn't manage better than that, but I am a bloody geologist. So stop wasting my time with that garbage, Tony LaRussa couldn't do my job either. An experienced baseball person with some familiarity with modern bullpen usage? The record speaks for itself.

I think an 11-18 record in 1 run games answers that question pretty effectively.

If the starters are in this bad of shape then they should have acquired a couple relievers at the trade deadline and stretched out Kopech to give everyone more rest. He needed innings and won’t get them anyway.

So why was it ok to warm Kopech up without bringing him in, and then to burn a Kimbrel outing in a game we don’t want to win?

I bet he’d be upset.

If Hendriks is this tired right now then he should be on the IL.

I stopped counting in June because it hit double figures. if they won 1/3 of these games that should have been tossups, they have the number 1 seed right now. I checked in the game thread yesterday and the White Sox have the 4th worst record in baseball in 1 run games, Baltimore, Arizona, and Miami are worse. The White Sox have a bullpen substantially better than those teams, there is zero reason for them to be that bad in right games. This is telling us again something about how badly they are being used. If they were a .500 team in 1 run games, again they have a 1.5 game lead for the #1 seed.

And yes, the hitters always play a role. But two things - get into the 10th inning and it becomes Manfredball, with a free RISP. And second, there were some quality pinch hitters available late even if guys were resting most of the game.

How many off days does Hendriks need between outings? He will have last pitched 6 days ago during tonight’s game. He’s pitched twice in August. If he lost tonight game, you could legitimately say it was because he was rusty.

And how many games have we lost this year while the middle or even mop up relief pitchers come into tight games, while the good guys are saved for situations that never happen?

It will be interesting to see where he slots when Grandal is back. If the “normal” lineup is out there, and Hernandez was put in the 2 slot, someone else would have to drop? Abreu and Eloy seem acceptable at 3-4, presumably some version of Grandal and Vaughn will fit into the 5-6 spots, that leaves Moncada and Robert dropping into the 7-8 slots? Or if the manager needs to move Goodwin up higher to supply the fire and passion, do those guys hit 9th? I dunno. Maybe they play backups so often that it won’t matter.

I can’t fathom how anyone would think that making sure Ruiz gets high pressure work is more important than home field advantage.

Again, if you give me a roster rested for a deep playoff run that loses games 1 and 2 of the ALDS on the road, all the rest does no good.

Well so far the result has been “Now LaRussa can save Hendriks to pitch once a fortnight.” So if LaRussa is still stuck in the “these guys can only pitch in a save situation” and would rather lose games with Ruiz on the mound, even when Hendriks really needs work, maybe I was wrong. These guys don’t help you if the first time they pitch in the playoffs is in the 8th inning of an elimination game when the team is already down.

Whether it was real or not it was definitely out in the ether. https://www.reddit.com/r/whitesox/comments/l0vjb6/corbin_burnes_to_white_sox_heard_it_here_first/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb

I think that saying “home field advantage would be great” is a gross simplification of its importance. This team is 1 game over .500 on the road and they were below .500 on the road before the Cubs series. If things were set up this way, the White Sox would go to Houston as a 3 seed, with Likely Greinke and McCullers on the mound - two righties, another of their weaknesses. Last time they went to Houston, it did not go well. While yes it is important to get some guys (Rodon) rested, if the end result of that is coming back to Chicago down 2-0 needing Giolito and Keuchel to win elimination games, then good chance you rested up for a playoff run that isn’t much long than the 3 game run of last season. That situation is an obvious possible outcome that we have already seen happen, avioiding it should get a lot more thought than “this wouldn’t be great”. Heres one example. Yesterday was August 11. Liam Hendriks has pitched 2 innings…in August. He is on 6 days of rest right now. He literally needed work, still does. But it was absolutely necessary to use Ruiz out of the pen in a tie game?

The white Sox have the largest home/road splits of any likely playoff team. While nothing is guaranteed, if there’s ever a team you want having home field advantage in the playoffs it’s this one.

Ironically, turning him into an every day/every other day, 1 inning reliever is a change from his role pre-injury and a role he's never faced in his career.

Ok, I will admit, this stat surprised me in how accurate it makes your rant. The White Sox are 11-18 in one-run games in 2021, I assume that's before today as ESPN won't have updated yet. The only other contender even close to that bad is Torotno at 8-13. The White Sox are the 4th worst team in MLB in one-run games. The only teams worse are Miami, Arizona, and Baltimore. WTF?

At the same time as other people in the bullpen were struggling and Kopech became a reliable arm. Sure the injury played a role here, but I guarantee you I wrote in the spring that he would become a 1 inning guy because Tony would realize he could use him in that role, and that's where he'd get stuck. This was totally predictable.

Ok, so they didn't play everyone, got it...but still, scoring what, 0 runs against the Minnesota bullpen in 2 games? WTF? Have they gone 2 days in a row without giving up a run all season? I'm not sure if that's a joke or not.