tray

The silver lining if there is one from this game is that some of the biggest weaknesses have been exposed further, and it isn't at second base.

Yup. One has to go. Can't have two guys in the middle of the line-up struggling like this.

Terminated.

Mercedes should take but he doesn't obey signs.

Yes but then you have a RH pitcher facing top LH hitters on the Rays. Correct?

If they didn't have the the3 batter rule, Tony could have had a right hander face Arozerena.

Get 'em tomorrow.

Fastball was obviously a mistake. Probably ballgame.

The Sox can't have Mercedes and Vaughn struggling like this. Maybe lose Mercedes and let Vaughn DH or leave Vaughn in LF and bring up Burger to DH.

If Mercedes keeps regressing he won't be worth a thing in trade. Given that, I'd sell high on Mercedes and let Vaughn DH after Eloy and Robert come back. I guess people with Yerminator jerseys wouldn't like that though.

I The extrapolation of selected data that a Fangraph contributor or contributors drew from Vaughn's limited innings in the outfield is rather lame. Baseball fans refer to that as a small sample size. Then there is potential bias by those who use data to draw conclusions and promote them. Vaughn lacks the speed and reach of other outfielders. He may be statistically better at catching balls than other players because he simply doesn't get to a lot of them. You can't drop 'em if you can't get to 'em. Goodwin may have gotten to that ball but we will never know, and nether will Carlos Rodon. Nevertheless, as mentioned in another thread, Vaughn is in the outfield primarily because of his bat, just like Eloy was. He needs to hit like Eloy if he wants to stay out there, especially after Eloy and Robert come back. LaRussa is giving Vaughn and Mercedes every chance to show that they can hit and belong on the roster. So far they have been doing pretty well, but there are a lot of games left in the season. Fans quickly can turn on under-performing players..

Eloy is way faster than Vaughn. He probably would have made that catch but then run into the wall. TLR made the right decision to pinch hit because his priority is to win games, not preserve a no-hitter.

Vaughn should have caught that ball and preserved Rodon's no hitter. He is as slow as molasses.

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.