tray

Eloy will be in the outfield when he returns. He is not going to be a DH, at least not for a few years. One would hope that he won't reach over the wall again as he did when sustained that fluke injury or jumping into the net. Tony has to continue to put Vaughn out there 4-5 times a week. There is no going back to the Minors for him now. DH might end up being a choice between Mercedes or Burger. Pitchers have Mercedes number early in the count when he lifts his leg and shifts his weight to his back foot. Pitchers then throw a high hard fastball or something low and away that Yermin has difficulty covering with his weight back on one leg. That has limited his power and increased his strikeouts. I see he has stopped stepping in the bucket as frequently, even with less than two strikes.

That play on Schoops ground shot sealed an important victory that kept this team on a roll. LaRussa, Hahn and KW won't forget that. Sox fans will never forget Juan Uribe running down a foul ball hit in the first few row of the stands and then charging a grounder and throwing a laser to Konerko to seal the World Series championship. You need key plays by winning players to win championships. Mendick hasn't done that yet but we can see that he is a grinder and a gamer. Today he dodged a ball hit at him while he was taking a lead from second, then picked himself up and still scored. Yesterday he had a great slide at home for a key run. Eventually, those plays add up and mean something that is beyond sabermetrics.

Tony is resting regular starting players on certain days and he is calling on bench players to do the job on those days. They have been responding and we are winning. Meanwhile AJ Hinch's Tigers look unmotivated, defeated and are playing sloppy defense at their own stadium. They made three blunders on defense in the first inning and the starter was left out there until the Sox pummeled him into the ground. The Tigers looked clueless and defeated and it's only mid-June. Let's sweep them tomorrow.

Maybe Burger can be brought up to DH if Mercedes continues to regress.

Mendick will hit a few more HR than Madrigal, but really, we need more HRs from the guy in the DH spot than we do from a second basemen. I'm OK with Mendick at second base for now. The guy is a grinder and a gamer. He showed that yesterday on a coupe of plays.

That was a memorable ball game with Mendick basically laying claim to the second base job a day after Madrigal went down. What a clutch catch and throw under pressure. No need to make any drastic trades for a second basemen, at least not at this point. w Mercedes needs to start hitting. I am not giving up on Yermin yet, but his slump has lasted longer than I anticipated. Personally, I 'd like to see more HR from the DH spot in the line-up, especially if he is not hitting for average any more.

Can Yoelqui Céspedes ? He looks like more of an infielder than an outfielder.

Madrigal was a perfect fit in our line-up..a high on-base, contact hitter. His spot in the line-up will now be another black hole. If Vaughn and Mercedes don't pick it up substantially Sox will not score enough runs to remain competitive. If the White Sox win the Division with the current line-up, LaRussa will be Manager of the year and he will deserve it.

Pitcher is still dealing .

Interesting thought. It is much more difficult to touch home plate on a slide that is is for a raised base. Perhaps consider a new rule - if any portion of a runner's body crosses the vertical plane above the plate, he scores. No need to touch it. Kind of like the football crossing the plane of the goal line in football.

I was thinking of similarities between 2005 club and the 2021 team. The one thing that stuck out in my mind was the potential of having 5 solid starters. That was key in 2005 and it has been so far for this year's team.

You choose to bold the quote to alter the intended meaning. Let me clear that up: Baseball is the same game it always was (in the sense that) you play to win by one run, any way you can get it. --- Nice try champ.

It appears that there are a few wannabe baseball savants here. ...know-it-all wiseguys who amuse themselves in any number of ways.

You conflate bunts and small ball which arguably is part of the same strategy and is debatable. but then you return to your apoplectic criticism of Tony LaRussa and the supposedly unprofessional White Sox organization. When is enough enough? Give that a rest maybe? Like Ozzie Guillen, I am glad that Jerry Reinsdorf did not hire AJ HInch who was almost banned for life from baseball for cheating, and IMO should have been. Hinch is on probation for the rest of his career according to the Commissioner. " The investigation revealed that Hinch did not approve of the players using a replay monitor to decode signs, and even went as far as to wreck the monitor on at least two occasions. However, he admitted that he did not stop the practice or explicitly let it be known that he disapproved of it. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred harshly criticized Hinch for not doing more to stop the scheme. According to Manfred, the manager is responsible for "ensuring that the players both understand the rules and adhere to them," and therefore there was "no justification for Hinch's failure to act." If Hinch commits further "material violations" of baseball rules, he will be permanently banned from baseball. " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Hinch#cite_note-12

Unless you have not watched Sox games this season, that statement comes off as being quite incredulous.

I disagree with those who decry bunting and small ball at every turn. They are the same folks that have a hard time accepting Madrigal's game. Baseball is the same game it always was. You play to win by one run, any way you can get it.

Fascinating.

Andrew Vaughn is my pick to click.

It is easy for an anonymous poster to question LaRussa's character, but it makes me wonder about theirs.

I'd like to see AV go downtown and tie this baby up.

Too many high change-ups, IMO.

This might end up being a bullpen day....and that could be a disaster. Maybe save Yermin to pitch the 9th.

A LOT of RFers don't make that play.

Tony looks cool. Go ahead, make it an avatar.

Perhaps the designers considered "Chi-town" which we are all familiar with and decided that "Chi" was more useful for their purposes. Personally, I am not fond of these uniforms but I hope a lot of Sox fans enjoy them.