South Side Hit Men

All divisional games are important. It will be more of a significant challenge than KC's rookie and two overmatched lefties, though confident facing Happ. Maeda has started slow but bounced back his last start at home against Texas. Pineda is going to be a pain in the ass, though thankfully the Sox' hottest starter is slated for the finale. Buxton going down is a major blow, Sox have a chance for a sweep. Still believe Cleveland is the Sox' main rival this year for the division. With the loss of Clevenger, Lindor and Carrasco, they'll will still likely be good with their core pitchers and Ramirez, but likely their ceiling will be capped around 85-88 wins.

Nice, thanks. It's a good tradition. Outside of the terrible May 5th game, this has been a very good week (Tuesday - Sunday) all things considered. Positive news for Eloy and Luis injuries. The Sox swept the formerly first place Royals for the second straight series in Kansas City (they swept a four game series last September). Mendick played an adequate RF, and Vaughn has looked very good in LF, giving the team more options this year and beyond. Hopefully Tony will use him more now, he is a better hitter than Leury and entering his peak age. Tony had positive news regarding Engel, and his return will really help the lineup and outfield.

I'm still relatively new here, but when did the tradition of creating a second thread after the game thread begin after a White Sox win? I'm not sure what happened on WSI, but I believe there was just one thread for pre game, in game and post game, also archived like it is here. Not sure if a blowout win or loss warrants a lot of discussion, many people turn off an 8-0 game, whether their team is winning or losing. A close game leads to more discussion. Controversial decisions or statements like the "Cinco de Mistakes Game" will blow up the discussion.

Did Tony offer it to anyone else first? Are you trying to claim Dave Duncan would not be in the dugout with Tony and his son if he said yes? The only "falsehoods" regarding this entire situation have come from the Chicago White Sox led by Jerry Reinsdorf.

Perhaps you could better make use of your time learning reading comprehension rather than posting hot take responses to posts from 1-2 weeks ago. The dysfunction was clearly directed toward the owner and his manager, as I referenced the Wilpons. Two days AFTER my post, the media was reading the MLB rule book to the manager. Hahn had a clear process to conduct his manager search. Dysfunction derailed it. And you're quoting newly injury updated timelines made AFTER my post regarding both Eloy and Robert. 12-16 weeks FROM BASEBALL ACTIVITY, means starting athletic activities like training and batting cages, not taking the field for the White Sox. 16 weeks takes it to when the Minor League Season is ending. Also I stated FULL recovery. Based on the initial diagnosis, as reported by the White Sox on May 3, it was not probable Luis AND Eloy would return to the White Sox after starting baseball ACTIVITIES up to 16 weeks out. 5-6 months to recover to the point to start baseball activities, takes one to the end of the minor league season as well. Thankfully, both had improved diagnosis reported by the team AFTER May 3. I could only respond to the injury diagnosis on May 3 as reported on May 3. Also note my praise for Ethan Katz, the primary reason the White Sox are where they are at. The Sox only have him based on the fact Tony La Russa's choice, octogenarian Dave Duncan, turned him down, and Lucas Giolito went out and recruited Katz.

I'll return Tuesday with another game thread! Keep the line moving, White Sox!!!

Yes, he went 1-4 on April 30th. April 20th was the next most recent hit, also 1-4.

Surprised he swung the bat. O for May entering May 12th.

Vaughn makes great play, Tony takes him out. Swapping out for Mendick would make more sense, if this was even necessary, which it isn’t, especially with the big lead.

It more a product of facing poor pitchers and just standing there not swinging the past few games. His best at bat this month was the sac fly last night.

Yes, Mercedes needs to return to the five hole.

Forgetting Evan Marshall

I don't expect Jose to duplicate last year (162 RBI pace), but he should hit his normal 30/100 numbers. Hoping Yoan can bump up the power during the year and approach his 25 HRs in 2019. Vaughn still young, but his doubles will start turning to HRs over the next few years. Robert and Eloy still very young, their power will only grow over time as well.

I did that for three decades with Hawk. Len isn't the problem.

Please no pinch running Hamilton move.

Sadly, the Sox will likely get screwed by the East Coast voters. Carlos Rodon was for April Pitcher of the month, even though he wasn't formally awarded the title. A Sox pitcher will need to be light years ahead of everyone else to get the award.

Mendick making it look easy out there.

No, he is the GOAT. Don’t point out what’s happening, you’ll be classified as a “hater”. Hope Hahn gives him another four years, perhaps $25m a year, he’s clearly worth it.

Nice hit Mercedes.

“Haters”, or people who actually know the game. Apparently the best GM in the game is a “buffoon” for sitting his ass in the postseason, as is Steve Stone and others who have pointed out his clear weaknesses.

Your hyperbole and misrepresentation of my post trolling for likes is absurd. Where did I say Grandal is “so bad”? I gave my reasons for why Collins is a better fit with Lucas (he has never clicked with Grandal) and Rodon (Collins is better at handling his slider, Rodon can be comfortable throwing it vs. worrying about Grandal ole’ing it.

I just don’t see a scenario Jerry eats such a large contract, especially this early in the season. Assuming perhaps a few to several more million may be available this season, I’d rather muddle through at this point with the current OF options, and save the cash for July. You never know what will happen with pitching, and this year is especially challenging due to the ramp up from 60 to 162 games, plus perhaps up to 20 + more if the Sox have a successful postseason run.

Agree with most of this. Had no problem with Mazara gamble when they had no more money, but preferred Nick Castellanos due to his age and positional need over another old DH and Mazara. Successful low budget signings (and young player in house contracts) are the key. I liked the Rodon signing, and thought Lynn made sense due to his contract. Kenny did far more with far less $ in 2005 due to several savvy signings spread out over many players. I also argued this off-season it made no sense to pursue Bauer or Springer, or before I joined here Machado, unless JR was committed to permanently increasing payroll by the same amount, because it makes even less sense in terms of roster construction and percentage of payroll tied up for a couple of guys. The Sox are already greatly constrained spending over 40% of current payroll on three older guys (Keuchel, Grandal and Hendriks). They need to pivot to committing future payroll to their young outstanding core, when their deals expire.

Sox’ Pythagorean record is 21-10 vs. their actual record of 18-13. Still early, but hoping Tony improves so that he doesn’t become a hinderance to the team’s performance.

For catchers, their matchup with pitchers is important, more so than say platoon advantage / hitting concerns for 1 of 9 in the lineup. Still a small sample, but Lucas and Rodon appear more comfortable pitching to Collins (Lucas game calling - split with McCann even more pronounced & Collins’ ability to handle Rodon’s ability slider); whereas it appears the other three pitchers can do Ok with Grandal. Pitcher ERA by catcher: Lucas: Collins 3.38 vs. Grandal 5.85. Rodon: Collins 0.43 vs. Grandal 0.90. Keuchel: Grandal caught every game. Lynn: Collins 0.00 vs. Grandal 1.80. Cease: Grandal 2.14 vs. Collins 2.89. Lucas didn’t mesh well with Grandal last year either, with McCann 2.61 and Grandal 5.66.