Do you guys think there will be any changes to Sale's place in the rotation given his outing last night where he pitched with down velocity again, similar to his starts vs. the Rangers and vs. the Tigers from about a month ago. He was between 88-91mph with his Fastball according to MLB Gameday. No surprise he got hit pretty hard against the Os, in the same manner against the Rangers and Tigers when he was again pitching with down velocity. White Sox postgame mentioned it as well, but no one seemed to be sure if any action would need to be taken to ensure an effective Sale down the stretch. As we already know the Sox are pretty thin on starting pitching as we stand right now.

Edited August 29, 201213 yr by joeynach

If the Sox win the next three games, I'd think long and hard about starting Santiago or Humber on Sunday night, and just skip Sale until September 8.

Edited August 29, 201213 yr by flavum

Here's what the Trib wrote on the postgame reactions today:

"I can't bring the (stuff) I brought tonight," Sale said of his next matchup Sunday night against 2011 AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander. "That's for damn sure. Got to be better than that."

 

This was the shortest of Sale's 23 starts this season, although he didn't appear to experience a decline in velocity that prompted the Sox to give him a nine-day break after a start on July 27.

 

"Just a disgrace, honestly," Sale said.

 

Sale and manager Robin Ventura insisted Sale's arm was healthy, with Ventura agreeing that it would be better to pull Sale and save his strength for Sunday's showdown.

 

"It's almost like I hit a brick wall," Sale said. "The first couple of innings I was (throwing) down and in, throwing a lot of strikes and filling up the (strike) zone, and it just got away.

 

"I felt good. I even had an extra day of rest. I just was bad. Getting it handed to you is not what you work for.

He didn't get beat around. He had trouble locating.

 

He walked two s*** hitters and gave up the double to Markakis, and then gave up a homer to Lou Ford that wasn't all that bad of a pitch.

 

Just had a bad inning because he couldn't locate.

It was a ruse to convince the Tigers he had dead arm

It was a ruse to convince the Tigers he had dead arm

Fatigue.

Meanwhile Verlander gave up 19 in 180 pitches, at least we got him out of their early.

Meanwhile Verlander gave up 19 in 180 pitches, at least we got him out of their early.

 

I didn't quite understand why Leyland left Verlander in so long. He was getting beat down by the Royals, yet he leaves him in to throw 120 pitches when it' obvious he just didn't have it. They were off Monday I believe, so it's not like the bullpen was that worn down. But, I guess a manager that's been around that long knows what he's doing so I won't question him too much.

The dude is worn down understandably. KW needs to bite the bullet and grab us another starter off waivers. I was surprised he didnt claim Bedard.

Keep this kid ready for the post season (and the Verlander duels).

Should have claimed Guthrie.

 

That would have nullified at least one Sox loss against the Royals, lol.

 

 

In all fairness, the Tigers rallied and had a REAL good chance to win that game in the end.

 

Verlander shut them down in the middle innings. Who would have done a better job out of the Tigers' pen? Nobody. If he was still struggling in the 3rd, it would have been quite obvious to pull him, but he righted the ship and almost managed to get a win out of it.

 

Now if Justin gets rocked by the Sox on Sunday night, there will be a lot more second-guessing, but he's always responded well in pressure situations and seemingly has never had a problem with elevated pitch counts year after year after year.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 201213 yr by caulfield12