Alright boys, the Sox have reclaimed 2nd place in the Central after last night’s win and now are four games back of the divisional lead.  A win tonight would put us back at .500, which would be a nice milestone with Lynn & Eloy coming back soon and hopefully Anderson in a few more weeks.  It would also ensure that we’re at .500 heading into six games against the Rangers & Tigers.  As such, wining one of these next two games will be huge.

Tonight will prove the more challenging games of the two remaining with the Dodgers.  On the mound for LA is Tony Gonsolin, who currently sits 6-0 with a 1.59 ERA, 3.04 FIP, and a 90th percentile xwOBA.  Beyond just being awesome to start this year, the dude has a wide assortment of secondary pitches that should pose problems for us.  Against righties, he primarily uses his slider (.152 wOBA | .255 xwOBA) and against lefties a combination of a split finger fastball (.143 wOBA | .194 xwOBA) and a curve (.000 wOBA | .048 xwOBA).

As such, Tony won’t just be able to stack the lineup with bad LH hitting tonight.  Gonsolin’s biggest weakness has traditionally been his walk rate, so if I’m Tony I’m probably starting every guy who has a semblance of plate discipline and hoping Cueto can keep us alive until we reach their bullpen.  Unfortunately we don’t have many players that fit that billing, so I’d look to prioritize defense where possible (i.e. Pollock in LF & Engel in RF).  Also, I pray that Legend and his two walks will be on the bench, but fully expect Tony to bat him leadoff due to his speed & switch hitting abilities.

This game isn’t going to be easy and will likely come down to Cueto’s pitching performance tonight.  If he can limit the Dodgers to two runs over say six we may be able to squeak out a win.  If not, at least Thursday poses a far more favorable matchup for us.  Either way, we got nothing to lose tonight given the tough matchup and hopefully the offense can find a way to surprise us.

Let’s fucking go!!!!

I know you're using the 6/4 date out of superstition because the Sox won with you making the mistake the 1st time. I mean hey w/e you think works.

I would like to point out the these games end up in the Soxtalk archives under 2022 Season in review and it looks odd when you see a bunch of games in a row dated 6/4.

Can you at least fix the titles before the thread goes into the archives ? I mean I don't run this place but I just looked at the games in the archives for 2022 and somehow the 1st thing I see is a game thread from May 11th then 3 games dated 6/4. Not exactly chronological order . But hey if it doesn't matter to the mods or Jason then forget I even mentioned it.

 

I think we win this.  Big Pollock game coming.  
 

So if we go like 36-5 in our next 41 games that puts us at 62-32, 30 games over.  

I don't know why but I'm feeling like the club can take this one again tonight, perhaps even easily. Dodgers are scuffling a bit and Chicago is playing some crisp baseball, at least if you don't consider RISP. Baby steps.

RHP Gonsolin is good.

I think we will know after the first inning or two if the Sox will be in this one.

40 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

I don't know why but I'm feeling like the club can take this one again tonight, perhaps even easily. Dodgers are scuffling a bit and Chicago is playing some crisp baseball, at least if you don't consider RISP. Baby steps.

The next two pitchers are real tough. Anderson is a lefty though so that helps. 

Okay White Sox, keep the winning streak going!!!

What is the latest as far as the return of Lynn, TA, and Eloy? 

1 hour ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Dodgers are scuffling a bit and Chicago is playing some crisp baseball, at least if you don't consider RISP.

True, although you can't spell crisp without RISP.

2 minutes ago, brijames1957 said:

What is the latest as far as the return of Lynn, TA, and Eloy? 

 

Sounds like 3-4 weeks on all those guys. Maybe Eloy in two weeks but they are taking it very slowly with his hammy, as they should.

10 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Sounds like 3-4 weeks on all those guys. Maybe Eloy in two weeks but they are taking it very slowly with his hammy, as they should.

Huh??

Lynn will be back in the middle of next week. Eloy probably back not much after Lynn. TA rehabbing during the next road trip would be next week so likely returning during the homestand 6/20-6/26.

All 3 should be back within 2 weeks.

Edited June 8, 20223 yr by KrankinSox

Hopefully once this team gets Lynn, Elory and TA back on the field they start hitting on all cylinders. This present 3 game winning streak is definitely a step in the right direction and getting all the players off the IL in the coming weeks will certainly be a huge plus and a solid positive sign of good things to come.

16 minutes ago, KrankinSox said:

Huh??

Lynn will be back in the middle of next week. Eloy probably back not much after Lynn. TA rehabbing during the next road trip would be next week so likely returning during the homestand 6/20-6/26.

All 3 should be back within 2 weeks.

This.  Lance last pitched Friday and is pitching again tonight.  That would put him on schedule to pitch in the Detroit series next week.  I would imagine they wouldn't get too cute with TA in AAA, so I imagine he'd only  get a couple games of rehab, probably be available for the series in Houston, or at the very least, the beginning of the next homestand. 

Eloy a bit more of wildcard IMO.  He's still not playing full games in AAA, but I doubt he'd be much behind TA, if at all.   Like you said, I would guess all will be back in under 2 weeks, barring set backs.  

Edited June 8, 20223 yr by ChiSox59

June the 4th be with you.

Both starting pitchers, for LA (tonight and tomorrow), are due to get rocked.  They’re a combined 13-0.  No way that they finish the season undefeated.

Did Andrew Vaughn die? Why isn’t he in the lineup. 

Why is Tony La Russa the way he is?

Edited June 8, 20223 yr by Look at Ray Ray Run

Eddy Alvarez is DHing a big league game. Things are tough all over. 

2 minutes ago, Joshua Strong said:

Did Andrew Vaughn die? Why isn’t he in the lineup. 

Because TLR can't fathom managing 2 games well on back to back days.  

cant believe Leury is leading off again, im so tired of this

edit: and no vaughn, i want to fing scream

Edited June 8, 20223 yr by reiks12

Leury Garcia has a 464 OPS and the WORST wRC+ in baseball (29!!!) of anyone with over 130 PA's.

Yet here he is, leading off for the White Sox.

This MoFo just can't help but tinker around and fuck up a good thing.

On the plus side, this game might be the one to get Sheets sent packing and force "Anthony Hahn" to actually fix the problem.