Wish Granted

 

I want to make it clear that, as there's still 19 games left, it's still not definite that the White Sox are going to win the AL Central. The Guardians are still actively chasing them, and are a very good team, and could sweep in late and grab the division. Considering the competition in the AL Wild Card race, if they don't win the division, it's curtains. So the White Sox, who are facing a lot of okay but still spoilery teams in the next week or so [Pirates, Cardinals, Tigers] in addition to the Guards themselves, need to keep on a roll in order for this to happen.

But. If it does happen...wouldn't that be awesome? 

I kind of want this for the White Sox. They put together a team in the late 2010s/early 2020s that was a competitor, and it did absolutely nothing so they gutted everything, were the butt of the league for two years, and now they're in position to win the division and make the playoffs as a three seed, meaning they could get further than the Renteria/LaRussa teams did. I really want that to happen. Let LaRussa sit in shame as the team he messed up ascends to glory. 

And obviously, the White Sox haven't made it easy for themselves. They have Luis Castillo every 5 games, and he's really not the guy he once was with Cincinnati and Seattle. They lost Davis Martin and hopefully have a better version of him back. They were without Munetaka Murakami's home runs for a while [thankfully he just hit his 30th]. They still don't have a viable answer at catcher despite Edgar Quero doing everything he can to move the needle. And most of their savvy pickups, like Huascar Brazoban, Brenton Doyle and Luisangel Acuna, really haven't done much. Yet here they are, still competing and still looking great.

Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery, Tristan Peters, Chase Meidroth and Murakami have made this a surprisingly incredible offensive bunch, with 3 guys with over 70 RBIs and 3 guys with 30 homers. Vargas quieted skeptics [mostly me] by becoming a really impressive everyday option at the plate. Montgomery is still a home run machine with great versatility. Andrew Benintendi can still hit for power even if the range is gone. Tristan Peters is doing better as a former Savannah Banana in the MLB than most former XFL players have done in the NFL. The hitting is pretty incredible, and could be a difference maker given some playoff schematics.

But the team's just run more efficiently than most White Sox teams that have gotten close. I'm really impressed by this bullpen, lined with working, young options that have kept moving. Grant Taylor, at 24, is the primary closing option, and he's got a 2.16 ERA with 97 Ks and 8 steals. Sean Newcomb has been terrific as the overall relief specialist, with a 2.42 ERA in 82 innings. Bryan Hudson's had a terrific comeback year after spinning out in Milwaukee. Trevor Richards has turned into a halfway decent swingman. And now Hagen Smith has been added to the equation as a high-leverage reliever, and he's only given up 1 earned run in 16 innings. I have no idea if the idea is stretching Smith out to start next year, but he's very good in this role, and if it keeps him on a postseason roster, so be it. Additionally, Martin-Burke-Kay is a pretty strong postseason rotation, even if it's not THE strongest in the AL. Worst comes to worse, Castillo does long relief. 

I'm really liking how this White Sox team is shaping up, and I really think they could make something happen this year, after so many miserable years. This is what the rebuild was for, an efficient version of the White Sox, and I hope it leads to something great.

Coming Tonight: A huge rookie for the Brewers. You know, to harken the eventual appearance of like 4 more huge Brewers rookies. 

...Just to Keep From Being Thrown to the Wolves

 

The White Sox have about five weeks left to cement the unthinkable. In a year where the Tigers, Royals and Guardians were all expected to compete, they are still hanging onto first place for dear life, on the strength of a bunch of 20-year-olds, a Japanese rookie who hits dingers, and a ton of really close games and walk-offs. For a team this streaky and basic, it's not gonna be over til they wave the flag, and they need to keep from coming apart. This is year one of the competitive White Sox experiment, and they want to take this as far as they can.

Already you're beginning to see a few of the strings come undone. After being one of the best pitchers of the first half, Davis Martin has slowed down and will be missing time with an injury. Sean Burke has stepped up in his stead, and Anthony Kay, Erick Fedde and Luis Castillo are doing what they can to support him, but...you see the issue, right? The hook of this rotation was that it was centered around the youth movement. Now Noah Schultz, David Sandlin and Shane Smith are all sitting in the minors rather than supplanting the older, shakier rotation options. The fear is that those guys aren't much better, and recently Schultz and Sandlin have gotten roughed up, but it's worth a shot, right? We saw Shane Smith's highs. He hasn't been TERRIFIC in Charlotte but he's still a confident enough young arm. Hagen Smith is also around, but the team is very hesitant to let him start, and I'm still not sure why, considering he was doing pretty well at that in the minors until someone got the bright idea to start using him in relief. You don't see the Mariners doing that with Kade Anderson, right? No, they started him, and it worked. This is what the Pirates did with Bubba Chandler last year, and I don't think that worked for them either.

I think the idea is just to outhit everybody and hope that still works, and judging from all the walk-offs that's been doing the trick. Jake Rogers had the big one the other night, the blast so incredible that one lady in the crowd nearly showered the contents of her purse all over the field level seats. Yesterday was Tristan Peters's turn, he had a walk-off homer. Two guys are closing in on 30 homers, and a 3rd ain't too far off. The depressing part is the lack of catching stability but Rogers and Romo are doing what they can.

An underrated piece of this team this year is Andrew Benintendi, who's been around since before the rebuild. Benny was supposed to be a huge piece of those competitive Red Sox teams going forward, and has wound up as the least accomplished of the Killer B's, with his speed basically gone, his contact ability waning and his defense nonexistent. All that remains is a halfway decent power hitter, and with 13 homers and 64 RBIs he's been that. It's not pretty, and he's not on target as much as his contemporaries, but he's got a role to fill, and he's filling it pretty well. 

The Sox have to play fellow AL competitors the Rangers and Twins coming up, and hopefully they can stave off the Guardians for that playoff spot. Nothing's over in this division til the Guardians say it's over, and the Tigers aren't completely out of it either, so hopefully this Sox team can be in it for the long haul.

Coming Tonight: Once he figured out how to stay healthy, and once the team found room for him on the MLB roster, the big game stuff was bound to show up.

While You Were Out..

 

Anthony Kay was a gem of the Mets' minor league system, was traded for Marcus Semien in 2019, debuted with fanfare only to fail to live up to expectations, bounced around the minors for 3 years, and eventually gave up and went to Japan. After regaining control and finding his confidence again, Kay re-signed with an up-and-coming White Sox team in an effort to start small [which was coincidentally also Munetaka Murakami's idea], and wound up on a competitor with a decent chance of making the postseason. Like a lot of returning former MLB guys, like Foster Griffin and Peter Lambert, Kay isn't really an over the top centerpiece guy, but he's putting in the work to be a part of this team.

So far, in 23 appearances, Kay has an 8-5 record, a 4 ERA and 90 Ks. These are far and away his best MLB numbers, because the Jays never really got Kay's best stuff in his 3 years there. Kay works because unlike a lot of this rotation, he's got a few more years under his belt, has a veteran presence, and can pitch in big games without wilting. Davis Martin, who's only 2 years younger than Kay, is beginning to struggle as we get closer to October, and Sean Burke, as good as he's been, isn't enough. The idea was that Luis Castillo would be the veteran presence, but one start in and that doesn't seem to be working. So Kay and his strong enough work will have to do. 

All the Chicago rotation really needs to do is provide a strong enough backbone, as the lineup's already got the rest covered. The only real stumbling point has been catching, but everything else is super powerful. Murakami, Meidroth, Vargas, Peters, Antonacci and the Montgomerys make up a truly incredible backbone, and have accomplished so much just by being active, young and ready for anything. Montgomery already has 25 homers, and Murakami and Vargas will get there very soon. Even Andrew Benintendi, though clearly not reaching his ceiling the Red Sox once knew was a thing, is a pretty nice power DH, with 12 homers and 57 RBIs. Basically doing what he's called for. 

Though they were just swept by the Red Sox, who...I dunno what their deal is, they might not stop winning and take it all at this point just to confuse the owners further, they have the Guardians [who just got embarrassed by the Mets] and the Reds [who just lost Hunter Greene again] this week, and look to capitalize and keep possession of first. I think they can ultimately, even if the Guardians did more at the deadline. The fundamentals really are here, and the White Sox somehow have what it takes to shock everyone and make the playoffs two years after their embarrassment of a season. 

Coming Tomorrow- Skinny, striking, stoic, throws smoke. One of many working pieces for the strongest team in the NL.

Infrequent Shopper

 

The Chicago White Sox have won 3 of their last 5 games by scoring 9 or more runs, just got Munetaka Murakami back after the Home Run Derby, saw one of their guys hit the only home run at the All-Star Game, and now they might be BUYING at the deadline? They're still in first, they're over .500...they're a major player in the AL. They might be scouting for trades. YES, THESE GUYS. Just last year they were sellers and now they can actually afford to make some deals. How insane is that?

The really impressive part is that there's not a hell of a lot on this team that truly needs to be upgraded. The catching position's a little slow, but Kyle Teel was hurt for half the season so it's understandable. Maybe one more OF bat would help? Braden Montgomery's heating up, Tristan Peters is THE guy and Sam Antonacci's having a strong season, but is there a power guy that's a little more varied than Andrew Benintendi out there? Or was that just Murakami? It may need to be rotation depth honestly. Anthony Kay, Noah Schultz and Erick Fedde have done fine, but the drop-off is real. There needs to be somebody else that can supplant Martin and Burke. Maybe this is where one of the Royals guys goes? Maybe Michael King goes here? Who knows. 

At the moment, the White Sox are coming off some very impressive offensive work, and though they got shut out by the Jays today, they scored 12 runs off of them yesterday, including production by both Montgomerys, Sam Antonacci, Tristan Peters, Kyle Teel...and Chase Meidroth, who's quietly having another nice season. Meidroth last year was a forerunner for a lot of the youth movement, he came in before Quero, Teel or Colson Montgomery got here and was strong when nearly no one else is. A better full-squad showing this year has allowed Meidroth to fade into the background a little more, but he's still hitting .271 with 7 homers and 32 RBIs. He's a nice, steady mid-lineup bat with defensive perks. The White Sox are piling up lots of guys like that and have finally given way to actual tentpoles [Murakami, Vargas, Colson Montgomery]. Which is why the team works now, an actual order and dichotomy has emerged, and it's not just 'young guy hits single x9'. Vargas has become the guy, Murakami has cornered the market on power, Antonacci and Meidroth have a niche as contact guys, and Colson Montgomery's the oddball clutch homer guy. It works a lot better.

The idea here is to keep ahead of Cleveland and ensure that the predictable outcome [of Cleveland or Detroit winning anyway] doesn't snap on. The White Sox do have the power numbers, and the pitching stability, to do it but the inexperience of this team still worries me, and still could keep them from going all the way. It's really good come down to how the White Sox manage the deadline, and if enough of this momentum holds. 

Coming Tomorrow- An outfielder who always seems to get injured right before the door opens for him to start. Which has made this season, a solid and healthy one for him, a relief. 

Worst to First in Two Years

 

Believe it. The Chicago White Sox are 1st place in the AL Central, over .500, and have the third-best record in the AL. They have a better record than any team in the AL West. 6 of their starting 9 have a WAR of 1.7 or higher, and the team's top 10 WAR leaders all have WARs of 1.5 or more. Only two members of the lineup are over 30, and they both have either 9 or 10 homers. And it took getting rid of Luis Robert, Garrett Crochet, Lenyn Sosa, Andrew Vaughn, Curtis Mead, Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease and Lucas Giolito to get them there.

The team is being led by rookies and second years, and they're winning games. They have Sam Antonacci playing a very crucial contact role and playing left, and he's delivering! 23 years old, no MLB experience, and he's hitting .291 with an .803 OPS and 65 hits in as many games. Like Peters and Meidroth, Antonacci isn't really a power guy, but he's consistently on target and he's able to keep the hits coming. That's an underrated skill that this team is already going all-in on, the contact specialists. It's nice having a Murakami or a Colson Montgomery who can hit homers, but there's serious depth here. Kyle Teel's back, and he has 5 hits and 6 RBIs in 6 games. Tristan Peters is a doubles machine. This team does have 3 guys with over 19 homers, but they're not banking fully on that, which may be why they're a first place team. It's easy for the Guardians to do the sustainable cheap contact thing, but there's way more depth with this Chicago team.

You're also seeing the White Sox combine a 2024-era approach [get two recently-returned KBO/Japanese league exports and plug them in before they become too expensive] with modern thinking [just draft great pitchers]. Anthony Kay and Erick Fedde are here to eat innings mostly, but Fedde's been very good recently when opened for, and Kay still has some tricks left despite all those HBPs. Davis Martin and Sean Burke are the real thing though, and hopefully whatever was troubling Shane Smith clears up soon. It's looking more like a rotation now and less like an array of people who needed a job. Same with the bullpen: Sean Newcomb and Seranthony Dominguez have been plucked into unlikely roles but they're having some nice moments. Newcomb has a 2.54 ERA and is once again proving how smart it was to make him a bullpen guy. Dominguez has kept the closing position and has 12 saves, despite Bryan Hudson arguably giving him a run for his money.

Are the White Sox in the clear, despite this nice run? No, absolutely not. The Guardians just got Chase de Lauter back and are still a very good team. You can also never truly count out the Tigers with their level of talent, or even the Royals. I think there's a chance the White Sox keep this pace up and go for a playoff spot, but I also wonder what this team could do differently from the more tested late-2010s teams, all of which struck out given the chance at playoff supremacy. They have to prove, if they are for real, that they're better than their predecessors. Which will be difficult, but with this many contact hitters it's possible.

Coming Tomorrow: This guy's ceiling has been said to resemble Ronald Acuna's but with more power. He's three years in and all that's missing is the name brand recognition. 

Attack of the Tristans!

 

When did the name 'Tristan' come back into prominence? There's a long gap between the Tristans of, like...medieval times, and like...the other best friend from the 4Kids Yu-Gi-Oh dub for some reason [and what did he accomplish, anyway? Did he ever play any of the card game? Did he do anything ever other than wacky shenanigans while his friends risked life and limb taking part in duels?]. And now we have Tristans again. Maybe 'Preston' died off and that's what replaced it. Either way, people are being named 'Tristan' again, and in a see of Kaydengh's and Bradlee's and Jurrangelo's, I guess it's fine? 

There's two guys named Tristan in the bigs right now who have almost the exact same career trajectory. Both of them kicked around multiple different MLB rosters without making an impact, both wound up in Tampa last year, both were not of use to the Rays and were set forth on other rosters and both are having surprising breakout seasons that cost their club far less than the people they were truly banking on this year. Both Tristans. Tristan Gray of the Twins, and Tristan Peters of the White Sox. 

Therefore, I am coining a new baseball term, right now, based on this current phenomena. This happens from time to time on the blogs. Thorzul coined the term 'pissant' for a player that only seems to do well against your team. Beardy or somebody coined the term 'bip' to refer to an excessive amount of one card or player in a package on purpose for a gag. Nick from Dime Boxes talked about 'short term stops', 'zero-year cards' and 'sunset cards', all terms I still use. But here, I wanna clarify what makes a Tristan, or a pocket Tristan if you will, what they are. 

A Tristan, as I'm making clear right now, is a nomadic major leaguer who comes to prominence with a team that is not his first organization, nor is it his second. This player has got to be in his late 20s or older by the time he makes his impact, and it has to be for a team that has enough money to bring on large contracts, or be let down by them. This player must become absolutely indispensable, out of nowhere, to the point where he runs the risk of becoming a 'magic hat' player [that one I coined a long time ago, a player who fuels a team's rise in the standings, and who, when taken away, results in the team reverting to their prior self]. Whether or not the success is sustainable does not matter. Some Tristans just keep being good for the rest of their career, some peter off almost immediately. 

Now, there is a difference between a Tristan and a Jabroni, and that difference is quality. Tristans hit .300, Jabronis hit .230 but smack homers like you wouldn't believe. So someone like T.J. Rumfield, whether he's a Tristan or a Jabroni is still on the fence because we're still not sure how much quality is built into his material. It's also important to note that a Tristan cannot be a known prospect who resurfaces and comes to prominence that way. Dominic Smith and Mickey Moniak cannot be Tristans because I knew who they were first. Nathan Lukes on the other hand? Without question. The Jays are his third team, his breakout was at 30, he's a .300 hitter that did better than Anthony Santander, and he's a really big part of the team now.

A lot of Tristans have shown up this year. Curtis Mead is almost certainly a Tristan. Carlos Cortes is definitely one, and that .300 average in May cemented it. Luis Torrens actually got an extension to keep being the Mets' backup catcher, making him one of the highest paid Tristans in the land; and no, a contract does not make a Tristan any less of a Tristan. Max Schuemann is at the point where if he keeps at it, he could be a Tristan. It's just too early to tell.

We should probably talk a bit about Tristan Peters, since that who this post is about. The Rays cut him last year, which a lot of Tristans actually have in common, and the White Sox took a flyer. In a year where Austin Hays, Derek Hill and Jarred Kelenic were supposed to have concrete outfield spots, Peters somehow made all of them obsolete. As the everyday centerfielder, Peters is hitting .294 with 21 RBIs and an .804 OPS. He makes up a heart of the lineup that's grown scarier over time, with Miguel Vargas, Munetaka Murakami, and now both Colson AND Braden Montgomery raining down on opposing pitching. This Sox team is in first place in the AL Central, and looks to stay there if the Guardians' injuries keep piling up. And it's guys like Peters who've gotten them there. I'm really happy for this team.

The White Sox being a first place team is very good for baseball. And if you wanna get to where they're at right now, I'd suggest finding a Tristan of your own. You can get 'em pretty cheap these days..

Coming Tonight: So many starters are getting lit up on the North Side right now that this guy's the closest thing they've got to stability. 

Chicago Cope

 

The Blackhawks and Bulls didn't make the playoffs, the Bears don't play for a bit. For now, Chicago sports fans get to decide who gets to disappoint them in the interim. One of these Chicago teams has a high payroll, an expertly-plucked manager, a key new addition this year and some of the most impressive winning streaks of the season. The other is the Chicago White Sox. They both essentially have the same record right now. 

And I think the White Sox might honestly have the edge right now? Because the Cubs will do this thing where they win 10 games in a row and are really excited and then they lose 10 games in a row and...like, what was the point of any of that. The White Sox are as inconsistent and up-and-down as any middle of the road team, and they're not really pretending they're anything they're not. They've had a lucky stretch as of late, they're in 2nd in the AL Central, ahead of the Tigers and Royals who've both had terrible months. 

This season, the White Sox actually have some palpable star performances, rather than 'people who are doing slightly better than average'. Munetaka Murakami has 20 home runs, 41 RBIs, and...79 strikeouts but that's less important. Davis Martin is a genuine pitching gem right now, he's 8-1 with a 2 ERA. It takes a lot to have 8 wins through 2 months on a middle of the road team like the White Sox, but Martin's got enough in the tank to make it work. Even Miguel Vargas, who I've written off like three different times now, has an .831 OPS, 12 homers and 31 RBIs. It's a very nice run for the corner infielder who seems to have finally hit his stride in Chicago. And then Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, Tristan Peters, Sam Antonacci and Randal Grichuk are all filing in behind them with terrific seasons and great offensive skill. I knew a lot of these answers would click eventually but this is a very sure, very accurate version of this team. 

And on top of all that they keep bringing up surefire hits. They just threw Rikuu Nishida, a Japanese-born, U.S. based outfielder, into the mix and he's already a defensive favorite. And they just brought up David Sandlin, dealt by Boston for a bag of chips so that's ANOTHER White Sox star you can thank the Red Sox for, he went 6 innings and all he gave up was a solo homer for his debut. They're figuring more stuff out, and getting more and more confident.

Whereas the Cubs...have basically all the pieces for a competitive, division-clinching team...yet can't stay lucky with them.

I dunno if PCA cursing out the Sox fan was the turning point but it can't have helped. It's not that Pete Crow Armstrong's having a bad season per se, as he's an asset in the outfield and on the base paths, but that .677 OPS for a star player just illuminates how people are turning on the guy. This villain arc has allowed people to go 'maybe he's just not that good'. Cause at least when Alex Bregman gets in an argument with a fan on twitter, he remembers to hit .300 and knock 30 long balls or something. But PCA, as valuable as he is in terms of WAR, is a .224 hitter who leads the team in strikeouts, and it's wild that because of his multi-tool prowess that's not a dealbreaker anymore. He's not Taylor Walls bad, but he's verging on it.

The rotation's caved in a bit without Cade Horton, Edward Cabrera and Matt Boyd, plus Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon have had some rough stretches of late. And then you call on Jordan Wicks for the first time in a year, he gets lit up. This looked like a great rotation in March, and it's not coming together. For all that this team is hitting, and they very much are, the injury troubles with the pitching staff have deadened the attack, and have neutralized them at a moment where the Brewers, and to a lesser extent the Cardinals, aren't as put off. 

In the Cubs' defense, they have been finishing off the Pirates quite a bit lately, and seem to be working their way back up. They're giving Ben Brown more of a workload, including some starts, and they're coasting on an incredible run from Ian Happ. They'll likely be fine in the long run. But this month, especially the crosstown series, pointed out how much trouble they could be in this year. They've been getting caught sleeping late the past few years, and this year they need to ensure a different outcome. 

Coming Tonight: The Mets got tired of waiting. The A's jumped at the ideal timing. Be like the A's.

Dignity Returns to the South Side

 

Part of me doesn't understand, and part of me...sort of does? The White Sox have been cannon fodder for the past few years. So many pieces that don't work, so many under thought ideas, so many guys that just needed a place to play. And now, the White Sox are a game over .500, in second place in the AL Central, and have the fifth best record in the AL. AND they have a ton of pieces that fit perfectly, suddenly. I knew it was possible, but this soon??

Like, the lineup's just really come around, and within an instant. Sam Antonacci's hitting .274 and is playing left field pretty much everyday. Tristan Peters has settled in as a strong centerfield option. Drew Romo is filling in nicely as backup catcher and suddenly knows how to hit home runs. Miguel Vargas, who I feared was a placeholder guy, has 10 homers and 24 RBIs. Randal Grichuk is hitting like hell, which I think he could have done at any time in New York. And Munetaka Murakami...like...oh my god. Dude can't stop. He's got 17 home runs right now, which is exactly the kind of stuff everyone figured he'd be bringing to the States, but the White Sox were the only team that wanted him. Last night he, and the rest of the Sox, truly put on a show against their crosstown rivals, and made even the Cubs, an actual good team, look pedestrian. Colson Montgomery's heating up too, that's always a good thing.

EVEN ANDREW BENINTENDI HIT A HOMER. Do you have any idea how hard it is for this man to look good in these colors? The man fell off as soon as he hit town. Last two years it's like they were holding him hostage! 

The main reason this team has found success is a working rotation model. Y'see, the thing that happens when you form a rotation of a bunch of young, inexperienced guys is that they find experience and they get good. Davis Martin, despite the fact that he's 29 and has far too few MLB seasons under his belt to be 29, is giving an ace performance, going 6-1 with 59 Ks and a 1.61 ERA. Not a lot of AL pitchers have numbers that terrific right now, and he's making it look simple. Sea Burke, Erick Fedde and Noah Schultz are having strong performances behind him as well, and Anthony Kay's slowly getting the hang of things again. I do think Shane Smith's struggles have been the result of a full 2025 season coming back to haunt him, but he'll find his way back into the mix eventually. And look at Seranthony Dominguez remembering how to close. How he didn't do that in Philly is beyond me.

Obviously the other shoe has bound to drop eventually, and the Tigers will probably come back around the second they have a healthy rotation, but I'm just enjoying this moment where the White Sox actually look commanding and promising again. I feared it'd take decades. But for the moment, here we are.

Coming Tonight: The face of an organization that's once again having the same problems while he steals all of the bases.

Borderline Good [for the AL Central]

 

You've probably heard by now how messy the AL Central is in general this year. There are decent teams, but they're so flawed that they can't really ascend to actual good records. The Tigers and Guardians are good but held back by not being great yet. The Royals have decent bones but just aren't playing well at all right now. The Twins got off to a better start than expected but still have little to no depth.

So that means this is the kind of division where the White Sox, while still very much in rebuild mode, can be a third place team. Yes, the very same White Sox.

I dunno, it's weird. Cause technically this is still a bad White Sox team. We're honestly a step back from 2025 because Shane Smith stopped pitching well, Kyle Teel got hurt, the Anthony Kay gaijin plan didn't work as well as year three of the Erick Fedde gaijin plan, and the bulk of the saves has been handled by Seranthony Dominguez, who...like, the Ryan Murphy 911 show wouldn't put him in position to save anybody. And that show has killer bees every few weeks I think.

But like...I can point to several formative, crucial performers on this team that can also be discussed in baseball in general. Davis Martin's off to a sneakily good start, he's 4-1 with a 1.95 ERA and 33 Ks through his first six starts. Sean Burke and Erick Fedde also have ERAs under 3.50, and Noah Schultz has looked very good in his initial starts in the bigs. That they're essentially using an opener to fill that fifth spot due to the fear of letting Anthony Kay getting lit up from the jump is another factor entirely, but that's a decent rotation. Colson Montgomery already has 8 homers and 21 RBIs, and his power perks were not exaggerated by his 2025 come-up. Miguel Vargas also has 6 homers and 15 RBIs. I'm really not sure what to make of Vargas still, whether he's a formative piece or just a placeholder, but he seems to be helping. And then, now that you mention it, there's also that Murakami guy who's already hit 12 home runs and would be doing so even if he was forced to play in the decaying Oakland Coliseum. 

The odd thing about this team is how many of these crucial pieces, or even fun replacement level pieces, originated in other farm systems. Meidroth and Teel obviously came from the Crochet deal, Vargas from the Edman/Fedde deal [funny how that worked out for the ChiSox], but Edgar Quero was traded for Lucas Giolito, Luisangel Acuna was traded for Luis Robert, Shane Smith was a Rule 5 pick, and Bryan Hudson, Derek Hill, Jarred Kelenic, Drew Romo and Jordan Hicks all came over in cheap deals for next to nothing. So while on one hand it does feel like an island of misfit toys for people desperate for playing time...some of these guys have become helpful MLB options again. Hudson went from being absolutely cooked last year to becoming, once again, a viable relief option. Romo hit his first two MLB homers the other day. Even Sean Newcomb has been helpful in long relief. Somehow it's just getting done.

I don't know if this means the White Sox have legs this season, as there's still far too many people not hitting, but they may have a more dignified season than they've had in a while, and I'm all for that. 

Coming Tonight: Oh, just the best pitcher in baseball, no big deal.

Some Bounce, Some Don't

 

When you're dealing with two notoriously all-time-bad teams, your immediate inclination is to judge which one is worse solely on which one returns to something resembling 'good' faster. I think about how bad the early 2010s Astros were, and it took them til 2014 or 2015 to craft something palpable. The Rays, meanwhile, went from a 4th place team in '07 to a 1st place juggernaut in 2008. It really depends on organizational stuff, what's baking in the minors, what the team can retain, who's ready when. Lot of factors go into it.

So watching the Rockies and White Sox this season is definitely interesting, because you're waiting to see how long it's gonna take both teams to reform and contend again. With the amount of time passed since the White Sox bottomed out vs. the Rockies, you'd think Chicago would be progressing further, but not even Pope Leo shining on them could make the team look any better right now. 

The depth that was forming last year with this White Sox team seems to be evaporating. Brooks Baldwin, Mike Vasil and Kyle Teel, three signs of growth from last year, are all hurt right now. And the roster is simply wearing thin. The starting pitching seems even more pedestrian than before, and now that Shane Smith has been demoted and Jonathan Cannon is out for a bit, the team is down to Sean Burke, Davis Martin and Anthony Kay as viable starting options. Martin currently looks the best, he's 2-0 with 12 Ks through 3 starts, but that's a 5 man line for most other teams. Kay has a 2.45 ERA through 3 starts, and though Erick Fedde exists as a stark reminder that the post-international-leagues bump can wear off fast, he's still being relied upon. But beyond that...lots of openers and replacement level guys. It's not a great look, and it looks even worse when you line up the Sox' hitters, where really only Munetaka Murakami has done anything. Meidroth and Vargas have made some headway but the team's hitting .204 cumulatively. It's not pretty.

You can hope they improve over time, or as they get better pieces back, but it even looks like a setback from last year, which still wasn't terrific.

The Rockies, meanwhile, have shown immediate improvement over their dismal 2025 numbers. Some incredible things you're hearing. The bullpen kept runs down during a homestead. There's multiple starters, including Tomoyuki Sugano, who are really impressive. The young kids hanging around for starts last year are actually earning them now. So far the team's best hitter has been T.J. Rumfield, a career minor leaguer snagged in a deal that sent Angel Chivilli to the Yankees['s minor league system]. Rumfield jumped right in at 1st and is hitting .326 with 14 hits, 8 RBIs and 2 homers in 13 games. 

It's wild to see a core begin to come together for this team when nothing was happening last year. Troy Johnston has joined the power core and is looking like a definite everyday option [while Jordan Beck is looking less and less like one]. Mickey Moniak is hitting all sorts of homers off the bench. Tovar and Goodman still like decent organizational cornerstones right now. Kyle Freeland is still a very nice starting option, and has a 2.30 ERA in 3 starts. And somehow the team figured out that Antonio Senzatela doesn't completely shit the bed if you bring him out as a bullpen option. I knew the Rockies' pen had some nice options, but seeing all of Jimmy Herget, Jaden Hill, Victor Vodnik, Juan Mejia and Brennan Bernardino all looking genuinely great out there is a surprising, and excellent, sign. 

It is odd that I see the Rockies doing more this season than the White Sox, especially considering how the pitching could turn at any minute in that stadium, but the Rockies just seem better put together right now, and have more actual strengths. It could evaporate at any second, I'm aware, but the way things are going now, I see the Rockies looking 'good' sooner than the White Sox. 

Coming Tonight: A guy who absolutely refuses to be an easy out. Naturally he's playing my team this weekend. 

World in Motion

 

Whatever picture has been crafted of the 30 MLB teams during the first couple weeks of spring training is now drastically altered due to the mass exodus of players warming up for the World Baseball Classic. I think they used to time this so that it'd happen earlier and the WBC guys would eventually rejoin the team squads in time for longer games and full-squad scrimmages. And now it's happening later and, as the MLB clubs ramp up spring action, they'll be doing so with incomplete squads. 

I think the good news about the White Sox heading into the next couple weeks is that they are not solely Munetaka Murakami and Kyle Teel. Maybe last year, or the year before, if those two players were taken out of the lengthened scrimmages and they had to develop a gameplan without those two guys, it'd be a little trickier. But the White Sox, somehow, have more of a team this year. Perhaps not enough to compete, but enough to not be a complete laughingstock.

First of all, this spring has confirmed that Murakami is the kind of contact DH that this team kinda needs. He's not all about the long ball, but he's got enough pop to get people home, and in droves. Murakami could have signed lots of places, and it's clear that it took his stock plummeting for him to land in Chicago, but everything about Murakami's demeanor tells me this is where he wants to be. He's not Shohei Ohtani, he's not 'I have to be the best'. Murakami didn't need LA money, he just wanted to be somewhere he could succeed, and he's crafty enough to see that in Chicago. So far, he's looking like an impressive piece for this team.

But even without him, the White Sox just have more depth this year. They're going in with Teel, Edgar Quero, Chase Meidroth and Colson Montgomery at the MLB level, and that's a really cool young core with a high ceiling and immediate perks. This season also means figuring out whether Brooks Baldwin and Miguel Vargas are transitional pieces or if they can actually factor into this team. I still think Vargas is just a placeholder guy that isn't meant to be a building block. Not everyone can wind up with an Anthony Rizzo or a Cedric Mullins immediately. And then they now have Austin Hays, who seems to thrive better in cities that aren't major or metropolitan for...some reason, so him in Chicago will be interesting. The rotation has been supplanted by Erick Fedde, as well as Anthony Kay post-overseas reinvention, so basically Erick Fedde 2 years ago. I'm hoping Fedde just thrived with these pitching coaches, cause he really couldn't figure it out last year. 

If all goes according to plan, this team will build enough of a base this March that, once Murakami comes back, he'll supplant the preexisting energy, and they'll be off to a decent start. Cause there's a lot more going on here, not even counting the potential call-ups of Braden Montgomery and Wikelman Gonzalez. Maybe Murakami knew something was coming and he wanted to be on the ground floor before it got big. And hopefully it goes better for him than it's gone for Masataka Yoshida.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: White Sox

 

For the second year in a row, the Chicago White Sox, in lieu of a proven option, gave the Opening Day start to someone I had either never heard of or who only had a handful of major league starts to his name. Which genuinely feels like a sign of defeat from the jump.

Last year, of course, that no-name, 'why is he the only person here who can start Opening Day' choice turned out to be Garrett Crochet, now one of the best pitchers in the AL and the reason the White Sox's rebuild is accelerating at its current rate. This year, it was Sean Burke, who'd started a few games in 2024, and rather well at that. What bowled people over was the fact that the Opening Day rotation, consisting of Burke, Davis Martin, Martin Perez, Jonathan Cannon and surprise March call-up Shane Smith, managed to silence opposing teams, only allowing 2 runs in total in the first go through the rotation. Those two runs were both courtesy of Smith. Granted, this rotation wouldn't hold for the whole year, as Perez would get hurt and Cannon would need to go down, and they'd give Aaron Civale a try, but to have a pretty consistent rotation over the course of the season, with no particularly awful options, meant that the White Sox were definitely improving from being a gutter punchline in 2024. 

They still lost 102 games this year, but I now know who they are. As do they, I think. And now, at the very least, they've signed an actual crucial free agent, Munetaka Murakami, and while it is likely because 28 other teams passed, that's still an average of 18 more home runs than most current White Sox are capable of hitting nowadays.

Anyway, after a really nice Opening Day start, Sean Burke evened out and wound up with a very okay full season, with 28 games, 22 of them starts, 133 Ks, a 4.22 ERA and a 4-11 record, meaning Burke wound up with the most losses of any White Sock. To be fair, I think Chris Flexen ended 2024 with like 90 losses, so it just feels like an improvement.

2026 Prediction: Gets another shot in the Opening Day rotation, does better but misses time due to an injury.

This'll be a cool 'fun fact' in a couple years' time: the most home runs of any White Sox player in 2025 came not from Andrew Benintendi, Luis Robert or even Colson Montgomery, but from middle infield guy Lenyn Sosa, who cracked 22, and actually did a lot of nice power stuff with 75 RBIs and a .261 average. He's not perfect, and led the team in strikeouts with 127, but it's nice that somebody managed to move forward offensively on this team.

2026 Prediction: Well...look. Chase Meidroth is gonna be the answer at 2nd. Colson Montgomery is gonna be the answer at short. Miguel Vargas seems to have third. Up until very recently I assumed Sosa would be the guy at first, but then this Murakami guy landed and I'm now thinking he might take a lot of the reps, assuming he's not a full-time DH. So Sosa is gonna have to be a bench bat/utility guy, and his defense isn't really befitting of that. So who knows, really.

Jonathan Cannon also began the year in the rotation, and unlike Davis Martin and Sean Burke, Cannon didn't display much growth from that dismal 2024 year. In 22 games he had a 5.82 ERA, a 1.486 WHIP, and some time in Charlotte.

2026 Prediction: Okay, so the way things are looking right now, the White Sox' Opening Day rotation is looking like it'll be Shane Smith, Anthony Kay, Davis Martin, Sean Burke, and either Sean Newcomb or a fully rehabilitated Drew Thorpe. You also have to remember that at some point, the White Sox are gonna call on Hagen Smith. And Ky Bush might factor into things as well. I'm saying all of this because I don't think Jonathan Cannon will be doing much starting next year, and honestly he might have better luck as a long reliever.

Since coming back from Korea, Mike Tauchman has been a Chicago bench favorite, and he continued that run into the South Side after two years with the Cubs. Tauchman wound up as one of the highlights of the White Sox this year, hitting .263 with 9 homers and 40 RBIs in 93 games, shortened by injuries. I think Tauchman's cut came because of how confident the Sox were in building their homegrown outfield, even if they still trade Robert. They seem to think Brooks Baldwin is the guy in right, and I feel like they have someone getting ready in center at some point. 

2026 Prediction: Honestly, the Padres could really use a guy like him, or maybe somebody like the Reds or Giants. 

The Sox' top relief specialist was rookie Mike Vasil, who took a charter role in the bullpen and absolutely took off, with a 2.50 ERA and 82 Ks in 101 innings. His 2.9 WAR was the 3rd-highest on the team, and the highest of anyone who made the Opening Day roster. Very cool that Vasil and Smith, two Opening Day rookies, were some of the most valuable White Sox at year's end. 

2026 Prediction: They're going with Jordan Leasure as RP1, so Vasil will be the chief relief specialist without needing to close, and will have a very strong first half. I worry that all that work will lead to overexertion though.

Martin Perez was an Opening Day rotation member that had a stellar run, got hurt and finished the year strong. Though he only had 11 games in Chicago this year, the veteran starter had a 3.54 ERA, a 1.107 WHIP and 44 Ks. He did wind up with 6 losses, which I attribute to rough run support.

2026 Prediction: Somebody's gotta sign him, right? He can still pitch. He's 34, very much still that guy. The trouble is I think Jose Quintana's cornering his market a bit, and the people who miss out on Quintana might have to settle for Perez.

Coming Tomorrow- At long last, the end of December, which means I have to talk about how my Yanks blew it again.

A Tale of Two Rebuilds

 

I feel like basing a Bob Nutting rebuild against anything else is unfair because inherently only one of the teams is trying to win, but I figure this'd be interesting. The White Sox and Pirates are both trying to rebuild. One is clearly succeeding more. I wonder why.

In the Top 7 WAR earners on the White Sox right now, you will see a journeyman outfielder...and six rookies. Two of them started the season with the team, the rest were midyear callups. This is a team that is almost entirely being run by its rookies, and you're seeing more progress than there was when it was just the replacement level guys. Luis Robert, Andrew Benintendi and Miguel Vargas were, I suppose, expected to lead this team, but apparently they weren't needed if Kyle Teel, Colson Montgomery, Shane Smith and Mike Vasil can just perform to peak capacity immediately. 

The Edgar Quero/Kyle Teel catching platoon is making fans wonder why the White Sox even bothered with Matt Thaiss, Korey Lee and Omar Narvaez at all. These two are not only great catching answers but are both MLB-ready, and working in the bigs right now. Teel's been doing great; in 70 games he's hitting .280 with 8 homers and 33 RBIs. Quero is also hitting .280 but is better behind the plate. Either of those guys could be a great everyday catcher going forward, and Teel especially could aid this lineup for a while. Between them and Montgomery, there's finally life in this lineup, and it's all these kids. Montgomery's hit 18 homers and 49 RBIs in 62 games, an 100 RBI season seems like it'll be coming very soon for the guy. Shane Smith has a 4.06 ERA and 129 Ks, and you wonder how he's gonna do when he's got a better team behind him. 

Obviously the White Sox are gonna be better next year. Drew Thorpe and Ky Bush will likely be back. There's the possibility of Braden Montgomery, Hagen Smith and possibly even productive MLB numbers from Tim Elko. You can see a team forming from this.

And then you have the Pirates. I dunno what the hell you can see in there.

Look, have there been productive rookie pieces called up this year? Absolutely. Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft have both played crucial roles in the rotation this year, both have been solid since midyear promotions and have ensured the Pirates aren't forced to keep Heaney and such. Ashcraft specifically has been really good, with a 2.74 ERA in 24 appearances. Now, it's very much a band-aid on the fact that Jared Jones was out for the year and Bubba Chandler isn't ready to start at the MLB level yet [as much as they're trying]. But it does help to have people that know what they're doing in that rotation, young guys that could be around for a bit.

Because uh...I dunno how much longer Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller are gonna be on this team. Keller's probably gone this offseason. Skenes...I dunno, maybe the next year. Everybody's already said that with the season he's having, the team should be putting in more around him, and Nutting just does not want to do that. The one thing they couldn't control was that none of Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez or Oneil Cruz would pan out, but how much of that was natural? Cruz famously was stuck in Indianapolis for like a year when he could have been up, then when he got up he wasn't the guy. Davis and Rodriguez were rushed, either got hurt or struggled and are now in weird mediocre limbo. What I'm saying is it's a wonder Skenes got off to the start he did, or else he might be in that holding pattern as well.

I don't know how many of the pieces of the Pirates that have succeeded this year are the type that will carry this team forward next year. It's just Skenes, and he wants out. The White Sox rookies don't want out yet, they're actually trying to build a team. Skenes is just trying to pitch his way onto a team that does want to build.

Coming Tomorrow- Ironically a rookie pitcher, on a team that honestly isn't too concerned with pitching at the moment.

Two Rookies, One Plate

 

There's a lot of intriguing catching platoons out there this year. The Braves are using Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy equally yet still emphasizing Baldwin. The Angels are using Logan O'Hoppe and Travis d'Arnaud relatively interchangeably solely because I think they're paying d'Arnaud too much to refer to him as a full backup. The Rangers are using Kyle Higashioka as the primary and Jonah Heim as the glorified backup, and Higgy seems to somehow be working more. And now we have the White Sox, after breaking into the season with a Matt Thaiss/Korey Lee catching duo that was working so much better than expected that the Sox had to deal Thaiss to Tampa, going with two rookie catching options and both working.

It helps that these two have not only been the prizes of the White Sox's farm system, they were the prizes of other farm systems as well. Edgar Quero was an Angels catching prospect [which makes it even funnier that O'Hoppe wasn't even homegrown], and he was traded to the White Sox in that ill-fated Lucas Giolito deal. Kyle Teel, along with Chase Meidroth and current Birmingham Baron Braden Montgomery in that matter, was brought to Chicago in a much more even trade for Garrett Crochet, who has thankfully continued at ace levels. Two aces are in other markets, ironically both in Boston, and in return the White Sox got a catching platoon that could last them a while.

The Teel/Quero duo has been a success so far, netting a 3.2 WAR cumulatively. Quero, as he started earlier, has the firmer stats, he's hitting .282 with 79 hits in 87 games, plus 35 RBIs. He's also the better defensive catcher, with above-average numbers there. Kyle Teel is the more powerful hitter, he's got 51 hits and 25 RBIs in 54 games, hitting .300 and sporting an .802 average. I think Quero is more likely to be the everyday catcher going forward, whereas Teel is more likely to be moved to either 1st or DH. Keeping both in the lineup is probably optimal, because they're both great at different things and are both important to this team's upbringing. It's the same reason Lenyn Sosa will likely still factor into things even as Chase Meidroth gets to play 2nd everyday.

That's another very good thing about this season for the White Sox: they can finally see answers at multiple positions. Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth are looking like a long term DP combo. Quero and Teel are both great catching options for the foreseeable future. Miguel Vargas, at the very least, can be an anchor at third for the next few years. And Shane Smith, Davis Martin and Sean Burke are already viable major league starting options. Now, because it's so few, you're seeing this team accommodate lots of replacement level players just so they can finish the season. Michael Taylor's starting in center, Brooks Baldwin and Curtis Mead are in the mix, and the bullpen mostly consists of people booted off better rosters. Occasionally one of those will do well, like professional leadoff man Mike Tauchman and finally-healthy Martin Perez, who's been on yet another strong stretch. But it's a lot of filler.

The hope is that Teel, Quero, Montgomery and Meidroth can be the starting seeds of a team that can compete again. And if those guys are already doing well...it could be soon.

Coming Tonight: Last night, he faced one of the hottest young pitchers in the game while also being backed by another one of the hottest young pitchers in the game. So you can sort of understand why he's having a down year.

Somebody's Got to Keep the Lights On

 

Okay, so, it's August, teams already pretty much know if they're competing or not, so you're seeing a lot of rookies taking over, getting shots. Some of them are up to continue the natural progression of the rebuild. Some are up because there's basically no other options.

Happier one first. The White Sox, while still well under .500, are definitely a better team than they were last year. You can see the next steps very distinctly, and you can see the guys who are gonna carry the team forward. Now, there's pieces like Brooks Baldwin and Miguel Vargas who THINK they're foundational pieces but are actually building blocks, and then there's guys like Chase Meidroth, Kyle Teel and Colson Montgomery, who are very much the future.

Montgomery, since coming up, has been exactly what Sox prospectors have been hearing for years. This guy can hit, and he's doing it immediately. In 32 games in the majors, Montgomery has hit 10 home runs 26 hits and 26 RBIs. He's only hitting .241, but he's got a .565 slugging percentage and a .876 OPS. That is...striking. He's a one man artillery and he's only 23. They have him at SS primarily to fill in for Meidroth but 3rd is his primary position. I'm not quite sure how Meidroth, Montgomery and Vargas will all play in the same infield. Maybe they won't. But I do see Montgomery as the centerpiece of this Sox team going forward. The rebuild in 2016 began with a shortstop callup, and so here we are again.

It's also important to note that Edgar Quero, since joining the team as a catching option, has propelled himself into the team's Top 5 WAR earners, and is hitting .268 with 26 RBIs. Quero is just an efficient, trustworthy catcher, and honestly they need a guy like that. While the team has formed a surprisingly nice bullpen, I'm anxious to see who becomes the ninth inning man for these teams. Maybe we've yet to meet him. 

Comparatively, the Nationals are a lot less confident in their future, because they're mostly just bringing people up to fill innings. People like Brady House, Daylen Lile, Jose Tena and Shinnosuke Ogasawara are in mostly because the Nats don't have much of a choice. House would ideally be spending the rest of the year in the minors, but because Paul deJong and Jose Tena weren't getting it done at the hot corner, he's thrust in and gets to hit .239 for a last place team. Daylen Lile, in the absence of Dylan Crews, has been the primary choice in right field, and he is a serious liability on defense. As is Luis Garcia, who seemed to be just turning the corner last year. 

So where does that leave Robert Hassell II? On an earlier callup he struggled to get the taste for major league pitching, but since being brought back in the wake of Alex Call's trade, he's been a ton better. He's now hitting .250 with 2 homers and 13 RBIs in 30 games, plus has been so much better upon the August callup, with a .389 average in that stretch. It's about time one of these other rookies figured the majors out, as I was worried it'd just be James Wood. 

It remains to be seen how long it'll be til the Hassell-Wood-Crews outfield is not only a reality, but successful. Crews was primed for a great 2025, struggled, then just as he was getting the hang of things, got hurt. Wood had a stellar first half, and has been quieter since the ASG break. Hopefully next year all three are healthy and hit the ground running, but the Nats need to figure out how to be good within the period where they'll all be in their peak. It still looks like a few years away, and who knows if any of them will have flamed out or have been traded by then.

As of now, the White Sox look like they're a bit more confident in their future than the Nationals. But anything can happen.

Coming Tonight: One of my all-time favorites, rounding out what could be the last season of his career.

Don't Let 'Em Get Hot

 

The following is absolutely true: the first four games the Chicago White Sox played after the All-Star Break resulted in wins. All of them were won by 5 runs or more, including a 10-1 win against the Pirates. Now, while it is still true that these are the Chicago White Sox, it's still very nice to see a team like this beginning to find a spark. Remember, it happened last year at the very beginning of the ill-fated Grady Sizemore era. This team can still find ways to win, and they've done it against even someone like the Rays. 

And you're also beginning to see less of a disconnect between the standouts and everyone else. Last year it was literally just Crochet and Fedde and no one else, and now it's a little more spread out. The statistical standout so far is Adrian Houser, who has a 1.89 ERA and a 5-2 record through 10 starts. I was in attendance for one of his two losses, and even then he wasn't that bad. It wasn't a blowout, he just gave up some runs. And that just proves how steady and reliable Houser is, even after being a late-rotation guy for both the Brewers and the Mets. With this Sox team right now, in all its inexperience, it needs a guy like Houser to right the ship. You're seeing Davis Martin and Jonathan Cannon falling in behind him.

It also helps that some of these rookies are actually taking to the team pretty well. Chase Meidroth is the everyday shortstop, he's decent on contact. Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel are the primary catching options, a full rookie battery, and they're both doing alright, despite Teel not hitting any home runs yet. Colson Montgomery, through 15 games, is hitting .261 with 12 hits, 7 RBIs and a homer. It's not Charlotte levels but it's also not a full drop-off at the MLB level. The Sox have relied on a ton of rookies this year and they've all, more or less, been pretty helpful. They've also relied on a lot of veterans in need of playing time, and many of them, like Steven Wilson, Mike Tauchman, Michael Taylor, Dan Altavilla and Tyler Alexander, have plugged in exactly where this team has needed them.

I think the goal of being better than the 2024 team is going to be met, even if they're still far from competing. I also think some people are gonna be dealt at the deadline, and Luis Robert is one of them, and whoever gets him might get a surprise surge down the stretch. For whoever remains, there's still time to develop, and I do think once a few more pieces arrive they'll have something palpable that can be taken seriously. Until then, get used to seeing people like Lenyn Sosa, Brooks Baldwin and Tim Elko hanging around.

Coming Tonight: A Pirates reliever who plenty of teams have checked in on.

What on the White Sox is ASG-Worthy??

 

Okay, so...the All-Star Game's coming up in a few weeks. Voting for the starters is wrapping up this week. Then Boone and Roberts go about deciding the rest of the rosters. In that comes the tricky business of deciding at least one nominee from each team, even the crappier ones. For some, it's easier than others: I think the nominee for Pittsburgh is a done deal, and I could *guess* who'd get picked from Colorado but it wouldn't exactly sell merch. But this is how the ASG works, every team is accounted for, and every team has good players on them worthy of merit.

But...how do you reward a team like the White Sox? Who on this team should be remembered for anything? Last year at least they had Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde, now they have a lot of young no-names, a few veterans who aren't hitting, and some fringe guys doing their thing. Who do you recognize from that? Who do you put next to people like Bobby Witt Jr., Tarik Skubal and Cal Raleigh? 

Well...I have some ideas. They're not all good ideas, but they're ideas. So let's see

-Miguel Vargas. Statistically, Vargas is the White Sox's best player. Yes, he's only hitting .234, but he's got 10 homers and 34 RBIs. In May he hit .263 with 7 homers and 17 RBIs. He's accurate, he doesn't strike out much, he's good at contact and he's a young, hip infielder the fanbase can hopefully get around. My issue with Vargas is that there really isn't much to him. Like, what can you say about those stats? Oh great, he's...producing but not advancing, and if he was still in LA he'd be benched for this. I think logically Vargas has the best chance of getting a nod, but I don't think on its own these stats would be ASG-worthy. Similarly,

-Chase Meidroth. Big rookie contact guy. Steals bases, plays great 2nd base, hitting .263. It's good for this team, but considering that Jacob Wilson will be on the ASG team, it doesn't make sense. If you're putting up a rookie, they've gotta be really burning the league down, and Jacob Wilson is doing that as a contact bat. Comparatively Meidroth has 56 hits in 58 games, which is good but not the same. 

-Shane Smith. He set some records early, had some great starts, and the White Sox are coming off a season with a true rotation standout. Smith has started 15 games, has a 3.38 ERA, 68 Ks and a 1.272 WHIP. Those are good numbers. They maaay be enough to sneak him into an SP spot, but considering how contentious the starting positions are for this roster, and considering that there's a lot of great pitchers [Framber Valdez, Yusei Kikuchi, Bryan Woo, Chris Bassitt] who aren't even guaranteed a spot right now, I don't know how likely it is that they can justify Smith over the majority of them. 

-Adrian Houser. Statistically, Houser is the best pitcher on the White Sox. He's also only been there for 6 starts. That doing pretty well for 6 starts gets you a 1.5 WHIP and a ride to second on the leaderboard says more about the White Sox than Houser. And yes, he's looked good, with a 2.27 ERA in that time, but that's a very small sample size for ASG berth. Paul Skenes had more starts before July last year. 

-Steven Wilson. Steven Wilson is the guy I am honestly thinking SHOULD get the nod for the White Sox, and I know this is a contentious point because all of you are going 'who??' Steven Wilson is....well, Steven Wilson is a progressive rock musician known for his music with the band Porcupine Tree, but Steven Wilson the PITCHER is a former Padres reliever netted in the Dylan Cease deal. Right now, Wilson is one of the best players on the White Sox because he's been steady in the face of mess. He has a 1.73 ERA, a 1.3 WAR, and 25 Ks through 26 innings. Nothing on this team has been steady, yet Steven Wilson has been steady. And so I think it should be him. There is the issue of nobody having heard of him, but...people still haven't heard of Evan Meek, Bryan LaHair or Kevin Correia, so that's not much of a serve.

Maybe it's none of them. Maybe they go with Luis Robert or Andrew Benintendi regardless of statistical evidence suggesting the contrary. Who knows? I certainly don't. But whoever gets it will likely remember every second of the experience, because who knows if it'll ever happen again.

Coming Tonight: Got booted out of Philly for a guy who barely lasted, and has provided a surprising amount of security since arriving in his new city.

Meidroth Runneth Over

 

The White Sox continue to provide fodder for unintentional humor, even as they look to improve on their 2024 finish. For instance, this past week the Sox brought up Kyle Teel, their trusty catching prospect they got in exchange for Garrett Crochet. Teel was killing it in Charlotte, and despite Edgar Quero having a decent enough time as a backup for Korey Lee, the Sox, who'd already made room by trading Matt Thaiss to Tampa, felt the need to promote Teel anyway. So far, Teel has been decent, hitting .375 without any extra base hits. 

But what's making me laugh is the fact that the White Sox called up a major former Red Sox top prospect, and the Red Sox just stopped and went '...wait a second...we ALSO have Red Sox top prospects!' And so last night they called up Roman Anthony, meaning all of Campbell, Mayer and Anthony are in the bigs and performing. This IMMEDIATELY takes the attention away from the Kyle Teel thing. Like, no offense, but Roman Anthony might be the best prospect in baseball right now, and seeing him play for the Red Sox is more exciting than 'oh, the White Sox ran out of major league catchers'.

That's really the upsetting part. The White Sox have an exciting rookie shortstop, like the Red Sox, but because the White Sox are...the White Sox, nobody really cares. Chase Meidroth is actually a pretty nice infield bat, he's hitting .299 right now with 46 hits in 43 games. Great contact hitter, great at short, got 8 steals. This is the kind of guy the White Sox should be building on. It sucks that Benintendi's still struggling and they're batting Luis Robert like 6th in the lineup, but Meidroth, and Miguel Vargas actually, are looking like answers for the future. 

Yet on the same team you have replacement level guys like Josh Palacios, Lenyn Sosa, Brooks Baldwin, Andrew Vaughn and Michael Taylor holding this team back. It's a lot of minor league caliber players who are getting starts because they don't have anybody better. At least with the rotation, you can believe that Shane Smith, Davis Martin and Adrian Houser are the best people to start games, and they deserve their spots. This team just has too many guys who are starting due to lack of other options.

The Red Sox, however, are bursting with options. There's talks that they might trade Jarren Duran or some of their veteran guys just to make room for the kids. That is a luxury the White Sox wish they had, and they might not have it for a while at this rate.

Coming Tonight- More than anyone arguably in MLB history, this player's fate has been 100% selected for him. And every fan is now watching him pitch knowing of what could happen at some point in the next few years, and they're trying to enjoy it while they can.

Comparatively Alright

As the White Sox go towards another dilapidated, disappointing last place finish, they are weirdly beginning to do so from a point of leverage. Because now, after a season with one of the worst single season finishes by a team in a while...there now seems to be a team worse than the White Sox. The Rockies have won 7 games, lost 35. They are on pace for a season worse than the 2024 White Sox, who at least had Garrett Crochet, Erick Fedde and moments of good Tommy Pham. Who do the Rockies have that's doing even slightly alright? Jordan Beck and his awful defense? Ryan McMahon and his strikeouts?

 Meanwhile, the White Sox actually look better this year. Not GOOD. No, they're...probably still gonna lose 100 games. But they've won 3 of their last 4. This month they've taken 2 from the Astros, taken a big win from the Brewers and are now handling the Reds. The 2024 team couldn't really do things like that, except for that random week midyear where they were suddenly winning things. Now they actually have people who know what they're doing in crucial positions. Now there's actually a substantial amount of young players taking hold and proving they're here at the right time.

And...Andrew Benintendi actually looks kinda competent. His first two seasons in Chicago weren't great, and he couldn't really reach the contact work he was doing with Boston or KC. Now, despite being sidelined with an injury, he's still one of the better hitters on this lineup, with 5 homers and 12 RBIs. That may not look great, but when you consider that many hitters are just completely blowing it right now, like Andrew Vaughn, Jacob Amaya and Michael Taylor, it's at the very least a nice factor. Benintendi is still capable of great numbers, he just hasn't had the health or consistency lately. And now that this team honestly needs a guy like him, he's been a little better.

You're also thankfully seeing younger players get off and running on their careers with this team. Edgar Quero is hitting .303 with 9 RBIs in 21 games, Chase Meidroth has been a major improvement at 2nd, and the pitching is being run by Shane Smith, Sean Burke and Mike Vasil. To remind you all, in 2024 the rookies were pushed into the picture and many of them were burned out very quick. Ky Bush and Drew Thorpe are out for this year due to the need to have them in the majors last year. So I'm glad that Shane Smith was eased in from camp, has been given plenty of room to succeed, and has a 2.08 ERA and 38 Ks, with some rookie standards for keeping runs down. Unlike Crochet, who was essentially getting his bags packed in May, Smith will probably be a White Sock for a little while, and he's a piece they can definitely build on. And on a team of Brooks Baldwins and Miguel Amayas and Miguel Vargases, guys they're just putting up to fill the roster, that's a promising presence.

The White Sox are still technically a bad team. As alright as they've been lately, they're gonna have weeks that are downright awful, and they're coming. But at this rate, they'll finish ahead of Colorado and stay on a pace to eventually bounce back from bottoming out. It will take some time. 

Coming Tonight: He's extremely tall and hits harder than the majority of the league, and even he can't keep the Pirates out of last.

How to Build A Young Rotation And Make It Last

 

The White Sox have got to be looking at the Nats' rotation right now going 'here's what we COULD be'. Cause if their rotation can be hindered by Martin Perez going down with an injury, they need to be taking notes.

Right now, the Washington Nationals, in their moment of patheticness as they wait for James Wood and Dylan Crews to run the team, have arguably one of the strongest rotations in baseball, and the majority of it is made up of young, strong hurlers. Many of them are homegrown, like both Mitchell Parker and Cole Irvin. Parker is picking up almost immediately where his 2024 left off, with a 3-1 record, a 1.37 ERA and a league-leading 1.7 WAR. He's had five terrific starts so far, and he's stepped up in a way no one was anticipating. Irvin is 2-0 with a 3.68 ERA and 27 Ks. Of the young Nats starters, he's the oldest at 28, and he's running the risk of getting past his peak before this team can really take off. 

And then there's...y'know...the guy they got from the Padres who strikes out everybody. Yeah, him. MacKenzie Gore K'd 8 more tonight, bringing his season total through 6 starts to 53. That is an extremely good thing, and it's even better that he's been, for the most part, on target, with a 3.34 ERA. Gore may be the flashier, bigger exclamation point pitcher, but Parker might be the better guy.

Now, the worrying part is the fact that after these three and Trevor Williams, there is a gaping hole at the back of the rotation. Anyone who would be a good idea to fill it, like Josiah Gray, D.J. Herz and Cade Cavalli, is hurt. They've been forced to use rookie Brad Lord as a fifth starter, which hasn't gone well. I'd honestly love to see them give Shinnosuke Ogasawara a shot, but he's been middle of the road in the minors. The one issue with having a rotation of young guys is you run the risk of burning them out, and hopefully the three starring guys in Washington stay this sturdy.

The White Sox, meanwhile, are just hoping to get into some consistent stretches with their young pitchers.  The issue of not burning out the young arms is already a factor, as you can already see SEVERAL on the IL after just a small bit of service time. Jesse Scholtens, Ky Bush, Drew Thorpe and Prelander Berroa are all on the 60-Day IL after partial seasons of White Sox support over the last few years. Thorpe, of all of those, seemed like The Guy through his rookie starts last year, but because every minor leaguer throws hard now, he needed a year of downtime. Martin Perez has joined them on the 60-Day, after a wonderful start. 

And while there are good young stars left, many of them aren't good enough to outrun the ineptitude of the team. Sean Burke's the only one doing truly terribly, he's got a 6.23 ERA [your opening day starter, everybody!]. Many, like Davis Martin and Jonathan Cannon, are pitching well enough but just have been unlucky. Cannon's 0-3 with a 4.81 ERA. The highlight, undoubtedly, has been Shane Smith, called up in time to make the Opening Day rotation, and holding down a 2.30 ERA and 20 Ks through 5 starts. Plus, today he finally got his first career win, one the bullpen couldn't blow considering that the game was called after 7 innings. I think it's better that a lot of these guys are good pitchers with a lot of promise, and I prefer that to last year, where you had only 2 truly great starters and a lot of people desperate to fill innings. We're not at the 'break glass for Chris Flexen' part of the season yet. There is that open fifth spot, and while I think it would be wise to call up former Red Sox starter prospect Wikelman Gonzalez, chances are they might throw in Bryse Wilson or somebody like that, for efficiency's sake. 

I think the White Sox are a couple years away from being where the Nats are, coasting on reliable starters and building something quietly. They're still pretty terrible, but the presence of Smith, and arguably Martin and Cannon, proves that they may not always be.

Coming Tomorrow- His team is within inches from competing, and he might be the force that gets them there.