Where Things Went South (Side)

Michael Kopech perfectly represents the White Sox' 2018 season. When he was brought up, people were going wild. He pitched a few lights-out games, made a name for himself as a fearful starting pitcher...and then tore his UCL, and misses the rest of the season. And possibly next season as well.

The White Sox just can't seem to catch a break lately.

And it's sad, because they're shitting away the best years of Jose Abreu's career. By the time he eventually gets out of Chicago, and I imagine it will be soon, he might not be able to make the same-sized impact anywhere else. Even with Yolmer Sanchez and Tim Anderson grounding a pretty alright infield, and Reynaldo Lopez and Carlos Rodon pitching well...they still have a lot undecided, and a lot that isn't working. Their staff ace is James Shields, who hasn't had a good season since leaving Kansas City, and he's been losing 16 games thus far, bringing his career to an embarrassing halt. The other co-leader in home runs, besides Abreu, is Daniel Palka, a bench player turned starting right fielder who has 22 home runs, but lacks the staying power. Their closing pitcher is...Jace Fry? Nate Jones? It's not entirely clear.

It's also not clear how this team will rebound for 2019. I don't know if Abreu's sticking around, or even if Rick Renteria is worth keeping (though good things happened to the last team that fired him), but I do know that something needs to be done. The White Sox need to prove that what's been happening over the last few years isn't the new normal, and that they can be a strong presence in the AL Central again.

Coming Tonight- Closer for a pretty nice last place team.

It All Comes Down to Slamtana

The Phillies may, in fact, be the 2017 Brewers of this season. They had a great run, came up through a mostly youth-movement led charge, held first for a little while, and once it came to the Wild Card season...sort of vanished into the background.

Look, it's honestly not anybody's fault. It's just hard for a team to succeed when their pitching staff is miles ahead of their lineup, even with Wilson Ramos in the mix. This is also a very strikeout-friendly lineup, with a lot of people weighing down their averages with strikeouts, even once-heroic ballplayers like Odubel Herrera. Rhys Hoskins and Carlos Santana can hit all the home runs they want, but in order for this team to truly work, they NEED to hit for average. Or else there's no point.

This offseason, I would suggest that the Phils try to keep as much of this team around for next year as humanly possible, because there is a chance that Kapler and co can help perfect these guys. There are little things that might need to be done, little changes, that could help this team power past the Braves next year, and it starts with getting the lineup back in line. The little glimpses we saw in July, of this team in first place being awesome? That could be a bit more longer-lasting than we all were thinking.

Coming Tomorrow- He's out for the season, but even then he's kind of perfect to help me eulogize the White Sox.

Congratulations Frank Gore!

Yesterday, Miami Dolphins RB Frank Gore passed Curtis Martin, a legend of the opposing Jets, on the all-time rushing leaders list, nudging Martin off of fourth. It was a fantastic day for Gore, and Miami, and to commemorate that, I might as well post this Stars Are Out custom that's been waiting in my folder for a few months.

Well done, Frank. Onto Sanders, I guess.

It All Comes Down to Slamdujar

The Yankees, with roughly two weeks to go in the season, are looking like they're going to clinch a wild card spot. Yes, the A's are right behind, and they have the momentum, but...the Yankees are still finding some sneaky ways to win. They've been unlucky lately, and have lost a few too many games due to some suspect pitching choices, but they seem to know what they're doing as the playoffs approach.

Part of the strategy seems to be using Miguel Andujar more, and seeing as his rookie season has been phenomenal on multiple levels, it's a noble plan. He and Torres have been a perfectly fine infield duo, both chasing Ohtani for the ROY award, though Andujar deserves a few extra points for not getting injured at all this year, which definitely helps.

It's also been nice having Luke Voit and Andrew McCutchen on the team, as both have been fantastic lineup presences. The former is a welcome replacement for the listless Greg Bird, while the latter has been filling in admirably for Aaron Judge, who still isn't able to hit. It's also been great to have Ronald Torreyes back on the bench, while the additions of JA Happ and Lance Lynn have, for the most part, been pretty smart, and have worked well. Justus Sheffield may be starting a game for us soon, which...might be interesting, but seeing what happened to Chance Adams on his first start, I'm not making an assumption quite yet.

The goal here is to retain the upward momentum of this current stretch while also shaving off the elements that made them so prone to losses, especially to losing teams. This is a strong Yankees team, one that could be dangerous if given a major playoff position, but this year they need to earn the right to be there, and it is going to taken playing better than Oakland...something I'm not sure if they can do.

Coming Tonight: Another guy with 'Slam' in his nickname, this one night quite as lucky statistically.

Another Year of Unmemorable Padres Baseball

In 2010, the Padres had a record of 90 wins and 72 losses, a record that would get them into the playoffs any other year, and a record several teams are gunning for this year. They finished second in the NL to the San Francisco Giants, and the wild card exploits of the Atlanta Braves kept them out of the playoffs, after organizing a surprisingly potent team.

That was the last time the Padres had a foreseeable chance at the playoffs. And that includes their 2015-era quest for contracts. They've been middling or unspectacular ever since. And even if they've drafted a few competent people, they haven't especially handled their farm system well, owing back to last season, where they had to squeeze two Rule 5 acquisitions into the 40-man roster due to lack of options.

Is it possible that a lot of the people they're calling up just aren't good? Not necessarily. I'm not denying the talents of people like Hunter Renfroe, Manny Margot, Christian Villanueva or new standout Franmil Reyes, but...none of them are able to lift this team past mediocrity. It's not like you can see any of these guys carrying the next generation of this team. I don't know if that's a knock at the farm system or a knock at the team in general, who, even with Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers, still can't seem to get things together.

And you want to see a team like this succeed, but with the rotation as messy as it is, and with the lack of impressive batting averages in this lineup...I don't know how likely success is for a team like this. And even if they try another tactic like 2015, it may not work with a hollow iteration of the team, like this one.

I wanna be optimistic, but...just look at what the Padres are dealing with.

Coming Tomorrow- It may be Gleyber Torres' year, but this guy might try to steal the ROY honors right out from under him.

Minor Threat

When your team's in last, and you're still pitching 4.20 with a 12-7 record...you could be doing a lot worse.

And that's how Mike Minor's return to the rotation has been going- he's been the sole constant of the preseason's proposed Hamels-Martin-Minor-Fister-Colon rotation, with Martin and Fister getting injured, Hamels leaving for Chicago, and Colon...finally pitching like he's 45. Several of the other pitching options haven't worked well either, like Matt Moore and Yovani Gallardo. And some of the kids they're brought up into the rotation just...haven't really made an impact.

It doesn't help that, on the whole, this has been a pretty unspectacular Rangers team, with usual standouts Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre just...doing alright. And there's the usual emphasis on home runs over average, especially with Joey Gallo, who SERIOUSLY needs to improve his technique, because if he's thinking the league revolves around guys who hit 40 home runs and strike out 200 times, he's dead wrong.

And while the farm system has pointed to people like Willie Calhoun and Ronald Guzman succeeding the old guard...they haven't done a great deal yet. A lot of this farm system has suffered since the last wave of prospects have come up, and at this point we're sort of waiting on better rookies to come up, which is kind of sad, but...it's how things work in the leagues sometimes.

Coming Tonight: Someone who's doing alright for the Padres.

The Climb

(I couldn't resist)

So. Right now the Brewers are the Yankees of the NL. They essentially have the top Wild Card spot all locked up, are statistically ahead of another few division leaders, and have the right momentum at this point in September. Going back to last September, when they caught momentum at the exact wrong time, and lost out on a WC spot to two already-red-hot NL West teams...this is a nice change of pace.

It's also nice that the formerly-homegrown rotations have taken on a few veteran augmentations, like Jhoulys Chacin, the staff's ace, Wade Miley, who's been having a comeback year, and Gio Gonzalez, who's been fantastic in his two starts thus far. And even with them, the mainstays like Chase Anderson, Junior Guerra and Zach Davies have all been great. Heck, even the bullpen, with Josh Vader and Jeremy Jeffress pitching like pros in middle relief, is ferocious.

This is a team that's very ready for playoff contention, even if they're likely going in as a Wild Card team. The Cubs are only two games ahead of them, but the Brewers have won eight of their last ten, they have the momentum, and they have Curtis Granderson. So even though the Brewers are still probably going in as a Wild Card team, I'm not calling the division just yet.

The Brewers, if they do end up with the WC spot, would either be going up against the Cardinals, who are fading, or the Dodgers, who are rising quickly. And right now...I think they're up to either challenge. They're just wholly great this year.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the last remaining consistent pitchers in Arlington.