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Rainout comes at poor time for White Sox By Jerry Bonkowski, The Sports Xchange | The SportsXchange – 1 hour 58 minutes ago Email Recommend3Tweet CHICAGO -- Did White Sox manager Robin Ventura accidentally break a mirror at the end of spring training and not tell anyone about it? There isn't much other explanation why everything seems to be going against the Chicagoans these days. The most recent incident of bad luck for the White Sox was the postponement of Tuesday's scheduled night game against the Cleveland Indians at U.S. Cellular Field due to a driving rainstorm that began in the morning and would not let up. No makeup date has been announced, making it the second home game the White Sox have postponed in the last five (last Friday's contest vs. the Minnesota Twins also was not played due to cold weather, with no makeup date yet). But weather is probably the least of Ventura's concern right now. Rather, he's trying to figure out some way to light a fire under his struggling team. With Monday's 3-2 loss to the Indians, the White Sox have dropped to 7-12, including having lost their last four games and 10 of their last 13, their worst season start since 2001. Ugh! "You work on all of it and do it, it's just you have to execute it," Ventura said. "Until we clean it up and get consistent with it, it's hard to win a lot when you keep giving opportunities away." The White Sox held a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the eighth inning thanks to a strong seven-inning outing from starting pitcher Dylan Axelrod, who allowed just one run on three hits in six innings. But then the roof caved in. Reliever Matt Thornton allowed two runs -- one unearned due to a throwing error by Thornton trying to pick off a runner at second, with the ball bouncing into center field -- capped off with a two-run single by Asdrubal Cabrera. "As far as us playing defense, you don't see this coming," Ventura said. "Every night, you're making that one mistake, and at this level, it's going to hurt every time you do it. And it can go on for a period of time, so until you clean it up, it's pretty simple." Thornton earned the loss (0-1), while Axelrod did not figure in the decision, which is a shame because of the effective outing he had. "We're in a tough time right now, but we've been in games and it's going to turn around," Axelrod said. Added Thornton, "If we've been winning games, it doesn't hurt as much and stuff. But when you have a string of losses going together and you make a mistake like that (his throwing error), it costs you the game. So, it's frustrating and disappointing, but we move on and get ready for tomorrow." As bad as the White Sox pitching and defense has been, even worse is White Sox bats are seemingly in hibernation. The White Sox are last in the American League with a .170 average for runners in scoring position (17 of 104), including 0 for 10 in their last four games. It gets worse: The White Sox are 11th in the A.L. in slugging percentage (.380), 13th in batting average (.229), 14th in OPS (.651), tied for last in runs scored (63), and last in on-base percentage (.271) and walks (35). In the current four-game losing streak, the Sox are hitting .161 (20 of 124) with just seven runs scored in that time. Power hitter Adam Dunn has little power of late: he's 2 of 45 (.044) in his last 11 games, with just a double and home run, a solo effort that came in Monday's game and snapped a 0-for-31 hitless stretch. The news was a bit better for second baseman Jeff Keppinger, who came into Monday's game batting 0-for-24 before finally reaching base on a single in the first inning. "We're a little upset, but we have to put it behind and come every day positive and ready to work, prepare for every game," said White Sox catcher Hector Gimenez. "I feel we're going to start winning some games." NOTES: Wednesday's final game of the series is an afternoon contest, with Tuesday's scheduled starters being pushed back one day. It'll be Cleveland's Zach McAllister (1-2, 3.12) facing Chicago's Jose Quintana (1-0, 2.55. ... Corey Kluber, who was originally scheduled to start Wednesday, will instead work in a long reliever role over the next few years, said Indians manager Terry Francona said, who turned 54 on Monday. As for Chicago, Wednesday's originally scheduled starter, Chris Sale, will pitch in the series opener Thursday vs. Tampa. ... Here's an irony: Wednesday's game is the White Sox's annual "Weather Day." ... The Indians are now 3-1 against the White Sox thus far this season, having won two of three games during last week's series in Cleveland. ... Even though they've started the season 8-10, the Indians still have the AL Central's best road record at 6-4.

Snodgress had another good outing. Trayce Thompson and Walker though....ouch. Hitting 191 and 182, respectively.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 23, 2013 -> 07:52 PM) Just for giggles, why not lead off Gillaspie? Maybe go: Gillaspie, Keppinger, Rios, Konerko, Dunn, Ramirez, Danks, Flowers, De Aza Just mix it up a little. I would guess they won't do that simply because Gillaspie's a relatively inexperienced rookie just getting his feet wet...and putting him in the leadoff spot would put more pressure on him. It's not for everyone, as we learned with Nick Swisher. He's not exactly a fast runner, and I think they would prefer to keep him 6-7 in the line-up so he doesn't have to feel so much pressure to create offense. As soon as he starts to press, he's going to get out of his offensive game, whatever's working well for him now. Better to leave him alone. If they want to change things up, then lead off with Danks or Wise or Tekotte or whatever.

Seriously, maybe having a start skipped for Axelrod MIGHT actually wake Floyd up... Couldn't hurt. If he goes into a "mental shell" because of it, then he doesn't deserve to get the start in the first place...we always are worried about how fragile and vulnerable he is mentally, at some point he needs to man up and pitch more consistently like he's capable of doing.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 23, 2013 -> 07:00 PM) Not sure where to put this. Via Sickels: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2013/4/23/4...ameday-april-23 It's going to take a lot more performances like this to put him on the Top 100 list. Seems there is so much skepticism out there now about any Sox prospect being legit. It will take 2-3 more years of rebuilding the system to overcome that. Even the praise we receive is begrudging.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 23, 2013 -> 06:57 PM) Chris Bassitt was Fangraph's sleeper White Sox prospect. Sounds like he's throws pretty hard, so he's definitely one to keep an eye on. Maybe we can flip him for the next Conor Gillaspie to come along.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Apr 23, 2013 -> 01:53 PM) Couldn't agree much more. I've felt this way for some time but then I'm old, so what you expect? Computer graphics look incredibly fake and 3D effects though sometimes visually stunning (Avatar) bore me. Life of Pi was the closest to Avatar in terms of visuals (I think that was intentional, and recall someone working on both projects?)...and, that said, it still was missing SOMETHING that's hard to put a finger on. From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland on, it's been disappointment after disappointment. I would still argue that How To Train Your Dragon is the 2nd best 3-D movie since Avatar.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Apr 23, 2013 -> 11:46 AM) Has anyone seen Oblivion? Thoughts? Visually, it's impressive. Beautiful cinematography, definitely an IMAX experience. However, the plot has so many holes, it's almost impossible for me to explain even if I wanted to intentionally spoil the movie. Cruise still has it at age 50+, and Olga Kurylenko is easy on the eyes (she wasn't at her best in Quantum of Solace, and she's also in the new Terence Malick film "To the Wonder" with Ben Affleck)...but there's just that "soul" or rooting interest that's missing from the film. It's interesting to watch, but impossible to really get invested in the characters.

The way they're playing right now has to be given at least SOME thought. I doubt the #1 consideration is avoiding a crowd below 10,000 and the resulting articles that will come with it. Isn't it the team's decision 100% to call the game....and from the time of the game on, it's at the head umpire's discretion? At least that's the way it used to work in the minor leagues.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 23, 2013 -> 05:21 PM) I'm rooting for Zaleski to get a call this year. That would be a nice story. Well, we had Santiago and Axelrod and Quintana (especially) last year. Why not? Although I'd guess 90% of fans would rather see Johnson or Snodgress get some September starts.

Courtney Hawkins not in the starting line-up two consecutive days. Have they sent him to Kanny or extended spring? On a side note, kind of sad to see Freddy Garcia pitching in AAA...wonder why he's still hanging on. Guess an athlete at that age hasn't figured what else to do with his life and future, so you keep playing until you don't have that option anymore.

All these predictions are fine....but it doesn't matter a lick if Dunn and Konerko aren't close to the same hitters they have been historically. Everyone knows that. Heck, teams are already pitching around Rios, and over time, that's probably going to take him out of his offensive game and cause him to start pressing...right around the time that DeAza and/or Keppinger get hot. Then when you take out AJ's production from the 6 hole, there's either Viciedo or Ramirez there, which also hasn't been/isn't enough protection for Konerko even if he is white hot again (crosses fingers).

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 23, 2013 -> 08:52 AM) -7 run differential. Starting pitching doing very well, bullpen is mostly fine, though the lefty specialist crowd scares me, particularly Thornton. Only a few games back, and it is late April. Detroit isn't looking that great. The Royals are an artifact of offense, their pitching is going to suck. Let's all calm the hell down. There are a few specific problems to focus on here - and it isn't Flowers (who is doing OK), Ventura (who we don't see enough decisions from yet to form any useful opinion this year), the Front Office (who did quite well with the constraints they were working within this offseason), or a lack of Santiago starting (since Axelrod has done damn well so far). 1. Lineup is well below .200 w/ RISP - and worst in baseball. 2. Dunn and Keppinger are, so far, terrible at the plate 3. Team is playing bad defense, which is surprising given they were among the best last year Those are the three reasons that are responsible for like 80-90% of the suckage. Blame? #1 and #2 might fall on Manto et al, #3 maybe on RV... but really, 1 and 3 are probably a bad luck factor as much as anything else. There is a good chance these things reverse themselves, even if nothing is changed. Also, Beckham (who was hitting!) comes back, and Danks comes back. Basically, let's see what happens in May. See where we stand on Memorial Day. If the team is still seriously bad like this, then it is time to trade off parts for prospects. And by the way, yes, I know it is frustrating as hell. We all feel it. We were shredded by the Nationals, and didn't belong on the same field with them in terms of talent. We're 3-6 against the AL Central and haven't played the Tigers yet. Once again, we're not defending our home field. There is no home field advantage. And we've only played decently against the Mariners, Royals and Blue Jays. The Mariners just plain suck...and the Blue Jays were missing Reyes and Bautista, among others. Chris Sale has pitched decently, but hasn't come out of the gate as strong as he did last year. To win this division, Sale needs to be a 20 game winner, because you can't expect Peavy to be any better than last season (and he lost almost all of his "big" games and all the match-ups individually against DET).

The funny thing is that attendance always gets used as the excuse for lowered expectations... The team was in first place last year, so the fans suck because they didn't come out and support the team. Meanwhile, the ticket prices averaged 4th in the majors, and 5th overall if you include parking/concessions/souvenir prices across the board. So you're going to charge fans an arm and a leg for a flawed product, and then turn around and criticize them for not blindly supporting that product. The payroll's in the top 10, but attendance is 20 something. We're LUCKY they are spending $110 million, etc. The ticket prices are lower this year...so it's the fault of the fans for not supporting the team. Well, the team is playing as bad and has as few interesting players as any of the 2007/2009/2011 squads. In fact, much less talent, with the exception of the pitching staff. And how many White Sox fans come out to game to watch the pitching staff win 1-0 or 2-1 games? Sure, baseball purists and Ed Farmer and Steve Stone, but KW always built Sox teams based on 3 run homers and a cloud of dust offense. So what does the front office expect when we have the least offensively talented team in decades on the field right now. Not to mention the fact that Ventura's made about as many really good managerial decisions in the entire season as he's made mistakes in recent games.

Fine, attendance is irrelevant. We should only judge the team on revenues produced/profits made. Done. And every season, no worries as we're usually 29th in the majors in attendance heading into May. In fact, we're way ahead of the Indians. And the Orioles ONLY drew 11,000+ fans last night, so we weren't dead last in attendance for May 22nd games either.

The "Dunn Line" isn't too far behind... ATTACK THE BLOCK!

Indians-White Sox Preview The Cleveland Indians are looking to match their longest winning streak from last season, and facing the slumping Chicago White Sox may be enough. Haha...headline at yahoo sports. As pointed out many times before, they were quite fortunate to end up with McDowell, Thomas, Ventura and Alex Fernandez. At least two or three of those situations could have gone the wrong direction (ending up with Jeffrey Jackson, for example) and we wouldn't have had our early 90's success. On top of that, the Baines trade gave them Wilson Alvarez and Sosa. And then they also developed Jason Bere with a lower draft pick. Is it possible to do again? Sure. Is Hahn the right guy? Maybe. Maybe not. Ramirez/Quentin/Floyd/Danks/Rios/Viciedo/Peavy all being injected into the organization within a two year period more or less (Danks took one season to develop, 2007) shows that it can be done, that rebuilding on the fly thing. The problem is that 1) signing international free agents just got harder, and 2) it's probably going to be harder to find teams that are looking to dump salary like the Blue Jays and Padres essentially did with Rios/Peavy, and, finally, teams are going to be very careful not to trade young/cost-controlled pitching (think Homer Bailey for Jermaine Dye) for higher priced veterans (Freddy Garcia). You can almost argue that 2008 set this franchise back, in a sense...because it delayed the dissembling of the core, which will finally end up with Konerko leaving (Dye first, Thome next, Jenks, Buehrle, and AJ this past off-season).

At the rate we're going, at the end of the homestand, we'll be in 29th place out of 30 teams in MLB attendance. If we're lucky, we will still be ahead of SEA....that's after 15 homes games, or 18.5% of the season. To stay out of 29th place, we'll need to average 16,045 in the next 6 games, for a total of 96,273 fans. BOTTOM 10 21. Minnesota 26,481 22. Tampa Bay 21,904 23. Houston 21,596 24. Kansas City 20,984 25. Pittsburgh 20,615 26. SOX 20,188 27. Miami 19,586 28. Oakland 19,309 29. Seattle 18,531 30. Cleveland 15,194

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 10:59 PM) When did Blown Saves start to get awarded to relievers who give up the lead prior to the 9th inning? I noticed Ryan Matthues was given a BLOWN SAVE a couple days ago when he allowed a run in the 7th inning. Wouldn't that be more like a Blown Hold or something? Is it really assuming he would have pitched the final 3 innings of the game? But in the case of David Robertson, he was given a BS when he came in to a game with 7 1/3 outs already completed, so he wouldn't have pitched the final 3 innings, because there were only 2 2/3 IP left in a 9-inning game. And Uehara of KC got a blown save for allowing a run in the 8th. Is this normal??? Starts in any "save situation" from the 7th inning on...that's why Matt Thornton had lots of them in the past couple of years, even if they were in the 7th and usually 8th inning.

QUOTE (KPBears @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 09:44 PM) The problem is that there is no elite talent on the big league team (PK may have been once, but the years and mileage have taken their toll, and Sale, while likely to be a very good starter, is, in my opinion, a solid number one starter, but not a true ace...and yes board, feel free to flame me if you'd like), and there isn't any on the farm apparently, as Hawkins is struggling, although it's way too early to write him off. There is some decent talent on the big league club, but to contend, you really would need career seasons from a lot of those players (e.g. DeAza, Viciedo, Beckham). The years of safe but low ceiling drafting along with few very high draft picks (which is a nice problem to have) have left the cupboard bare, and I just don't see how the Sox are going to be competitive for a while. I'm optimistic that Hahn will right the ship sooner rather than later, and while a lot of people point out (and are partially correct) that loading up on top prospects isn't a recipe for success, it doesn't hurt your chances, particularly when said top prospects can be great trade chips. Sorry to give up on the season so soon, but I'm hoping for a fire sale, and to bring in as many young players as possible and let Ventura do what he's supposed to be good at - working with young talent. Yeah, the attendance will be miserable, as will the on-field product, but those things will happen anyway with the current team. I'd like to see the Sox be proactive sooner rather than later, and will support and follow the team with a keen eye towards the future. Hahn was apparently one of the most coveted young execs in baseball, so let's see what he can do. Rios and Sale are the only thing close to elite talents on the team right now.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 09:43 PM) I can't believe that many people paid to watch this boring team. I'm sure the walk-up was under 100. Almost all of those ticket sales were paid in advance.

The other mistake was assuming "stay the course" with almost the entire roster and coaching staff was actually the right choice. It was the opposite of the typical KW off-season, where too much tinkering and turnover affected chemistry adversely at times. Ventura benefited 100% by NOT being Ozzie last year, and everything in the past could be blamed on the Guillen family. That excuse no longer is playable in 2013.

14,950... But it can get worse...the next six home games. I know Rongey's excuse will be the Bulls' game, because the weather doesn't work for this one.

Well, we found out tonight why Tekotte was on the active roster. There's a pattern emerging here. 2007 2009 2011 2013

I've never seen one baseball season carry over into the next one like this one has...