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.

Anything Was Going to be Better

 

The Chicago White Sox' starters, their first run through the rotation, gave up 2 earned runs. Cumulatively. Sean Burke, Davis Martin, Jonathan Cannon and Martin Perez all went scoreless, allowing no runs. Perez even went the extra mile and struck out 9, a major performance for the guy the Sox essentially took a flyer on. It wasn't until rookie Shane Smith let a comparatively-mammoth TWO runs score that any starter showed any humanity. The record books are lumping in this White Sox starting staff with few others to accomplish the same feat. And to do so right after setting all of the worst kinds of records in 2024...is insane. We knew there'd be time needed to rebuild, but this is...immediate. Only Cannon was in the majors a year ago, and he made the roster as a rookie flyer. Martin, Burke and Smith were called up in the late months of 2024, and/or this month [in Smith's case]. Smith was a rule 5 pick snatched away from Milwaukee as well. All of this was either farmed, signed or traded for. And it's worked.

Now...I have to point out...they're allowing runs NOW. Like, Burke got lit up a little, today Cannon let some runs go by. They're not gonna be machines forever. But they are capable of great starts, and they can go 6 or so without showing much wear. That is very promising, especially after the great Garrett Crochet arm conservation project of August 2024. I'm not sure which ones, if any, show ace potential, and remember that we still have the possibility of both Ky Bush and Drew Thorpe to keep in mind, as well as the eventual arrival of Hagen Smith.

I think Davis Martin, of any of these guys, could be in it for the long haul. Not too flashy, doesn't overexert himself, just dominant. They need a guy like that. Burke is a little flashier, but I also like what I've seen from him so far. He shut down a lineup with Jorge Soler and Mike Trout in it, not everybody can do that, let alone starting Opening Day for your fourth career start. I think this still being a rebuilding squad means Martin, Burke, and the whole gang aren't going 20-0 or anything. But they're better than a lot of the pitchers the Sox had to start last season. None of this Chris Flexen nonsense again. Even Perez, a Flexen-level pick, has a lot left in the tank. 

It does help that the White Sox lineup has a bit more to it this year. Andrew Benintendi has remembered how to hit, he's hitting .320 with 6 RBIs and 2 homers. Brooks Baldwin looks like the closest thing to a young star this team has. Matt Thaiss is clearly covering catcher until Kyle Teel gets here [which looks...soon] but he's no slouch, with some decent offensive production so far. Again, Luis Robert isn't hitting for average but the power numbers are great, and once again he's auditioning for a market where games can actually be won. This isn't...terrific so far, especially after this Tigers series, but there's more going on than last year, it seems.

The 2025 White Sox just needed to be better than the previous year's version, and they're on track to do that. I'm not saying they'll be a completely good team, but...they'll get there. Especially if these pitchers stay on target.

Coming Tomorrow- Meanwhile, on the other side of Chicago, one of the best pure hitters in the game produces a season I can finally enjoy now that he's finally out of Houston. 

The Last Gasp of Collective Futility

 

Sometimes, when the schedule is set up, they luck out with September matchups. Like, they stumble onto really relevant series' between competitive teams in the thick of competition. A Phillies-Mets series as both fight for playoff spots. A Yankees-Mariners series as the M's fight to stay alive. Surprisingly enough, a Tigers-Royals series as the Tigers crawl towards the Twins' playoff spot. 

But other times, the opposite happens. Where there'll turn out to be series that mean nothing. It's like a Week 16 Thursday Night Football match between the Jets and Raiders. Like, that's not gonna be riveting [maybe this year is different, who knows]. And so we have a September matchup between the White Sox and Angels, two genuinely terrible teams that have both been eliminated from playoff competition. Unsurprisingly they've been close. Today's game ended with a Jordyn Adams walk-off in extras, despite the fact that the Sox were leading for most of the game.

The White Sox' patheticness has been well reported. They're currently 36-117, meaning they might not even win 50 games this season, which...is incredible. Their biggest hitter, Luis Robert, is hitting .225. Their best pitcher, Garrett Crochet, has been limiting his innings for the past two months. One of the most crucial contracted players, Yoan Moncada, missed 5 months and has played 12 games this season so far. And people like Bryan Ramos, Miguel Vargas, Zach DeLoach and Chuckie Robinson, all of whom have been relied upon in the past month, are hitting under .200. Former All-Star Andrew Benintendi is hitting .226 with a .685 OPS this season. I have no idea what happened to this man. I really hope it wasn't the injury he got with the Yankees, I'd feel awful if that was it. 

The emerging people now aren't even revelations or team-lifters, it's just 'well this guy isn't completely sucking right now'. Davis Martin was pushed into a starting role after people left, and he's been pretty decent, with a 4.27 ERA and 43 Ks. Unfortunately he's 0-5. Y'know, cause he plays for the White Sox. Is he a good pitcher for the long run? Who knows?? If you're a good pitcher on the 2024 White Sox, that may not mean anything further. Look at Erick Fedde, his Cardinals numbers paled in comparison to his Sox numbers because he was suddenly playing for an actual MLB team rather than Savannah Banana fodder. 

The Angels, though, might have the more heartbreaking story. Mike Trout was off to an incredible start this year, and then almost immediately he gets hurt and the season is a wash. Again. Anthony Rendon similarly had a snakebit year, only playing 57 games this year despite genuinely looking like he wanted to play baseball this year. Even great pieces that accumulated throughout the season, like Luis Rengifo and Jose Soriano, got hurt right when they became the most useful. And so the rest of the season was just this upsetting stride to the finish, with lots of disappointment and lots of blown opportunities.

Again, you can give the Angels credit for finding pieces that work, like Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel and Ben Joyce. They also got an excellent season out of Tyler Anderson, despite wasting a year getting to this point. But there's also a lot of people who were supposed to be great for this team, like Brandon Drury, Jo Adell, Caden Dana and Kyren Paris, just haven't gotten it done this year. Griffin Canning, finally healthy after a lot of setback years, is basically just a body this year. He's made 29 starts this year, one less than Anderson, and he's mostly been good for innings eating, with a 5.16 ERA and a 6-13 record. Canning was decent when he had more of a team around him, and now he's just...a pitcher. Y'know, good he was here all year, hope he keeps it up. 

This series clearly isn't gonna be as well remembered as some other ones this season, but at the very least the stakes aren't as high. It's two teams on the same rung, it might be close, no use trying to be better than you are. Hopefully a series like this will actually mean something in a couple years. 

Coming Tomorrow- His former team just clinched a division without him. He's gotta feel great about that.