Add the Junior, It's Snappier

 

There's a lot of current major leaguers with a hanging Jr. status, just sort of a Schroedinger's succession of sorts. I mean, there's enough guys where the Jr. kinda has to be there, like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bobby Witt Jr., but there's also a couple that can go either way. Ronald Acuna is Ronald Acuna, but there's something so alluring about saying Acuna Junya. Jazz Chisholm also occasionally throws in the Jr., perhaps depending upon whether or not he's healthy. 

And then there's some people that add it on as they're going, like it becomes important to you later in life to honor those who came before you. Luis Robert decided before the season that he was adding a Jr., henceforth...Luis Robert Jr., outfielder for the Sox. And that's all well and good.

What does make it tricky is that Robert is having a hell of a season so far, and so now when everybody's talking about him, they have to remember to tag in the Jr. It's easier to do something like this in a season where you're not doing as well, like when Dee Gordon added the maiden name as he was sucking in Seattle, or when Willie Hernandez decided to go by Guillermo in his late 30s. But LouBob is still one of baseball's younger pieces, and this is looking like an important milestone season for him, and all the while he's added the Jr. and made that a variable. 

Not that it's too much of a distraction. Robert Jr. currently has 11 RBIs, 5 homers, 17 hits and is batting .347, giving him a truly incredible start, and giving fans the hope that they usually get for a White Sox outfielder until they get injured. And, look, I say that as a joke and already Jimenez is injured, so if the Sox didn't have outfielders lined up behind each other like pez, I'd be more worried. Eloy's hurt again, oh noooo, whatever will we doooo, anyway Oscar Colas, you're up. And Colas, he's hitting .275 right now, doing some solid contact stuff on the heels of the more power guys like Vaughn and Moncada.

As well-balanced and varied as the lineup is, the pitching is a lot messier and contains too many guys getting lit up. Even if Lucas Giolito is slowly improving, you can still tell he was relying on tack quite a bit before the ban. Cease and Clevinger are in strong shape so far, but Lynn is struggling, which is not a good sign from a guy that's really only given you one good season. And then Kopech is spotty at best and...it's not ideal.

This is a team I feel a bit better about than the LaRussa ones, because there's gonna be no decorum bullshit holding everybody back. They're not perfect right now, but if they're building things around, well, Luis Robert Jr., and he stays this good, they could definitely outdo the last few incarnations of this team.

Coming Tomorrow- He wanted to be traded, he wasn't...and now he's hit a ton of homers for his team.