Why Rick Renteria reminds me of George Chuvalo

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I'm not a boxing fan. But still, I remember a Canadian boxer of note from the 60s named George Chuvalo. Chuvalo fought Mohammed Ali twice and lost both times, but went the distance on each occasion. What I remember most about Chuvalo is what a color guy said about him. He said George could take a lot of punishment. That seemed like an odd strength for a boxer. It seemed to me a boxer should give out a lot of punishment, not take it. Ricky Renteria reminds me of George Chuvalo. He can take a lot of punishment. Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the Pirates provided a boatload of punishment by itself.

Can the Sox continue to Reynaldo winless?

Reynaldo Lopez went 7.2 innings and allowed only two solo home runs. Backed by home runs from Tim Anderson and Wellington Castillo, he left with a 4-2 lead. The Sox even managed to take on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to go up 5-2. Then Nate Jones came in and when the punishment was over, the Sox lost 6-5. It was brutal.

Reynaldo Lopez looks to be the gem in the Adam Eaton trade. He's pitched great and has an 0-2 record to show for an ERA of 2.44. He's a building block for sure. It would be nice to see him get the thrill of victory instead of the perennial agony of defeat.

What's a manager to do?

Honestly, I can't fault Renteria with the way he used his pen. He's got nothing to work with. The Sox are at the point where the Cubs were a few years ago. There's more interest in what's going on with the farm teams than there is at the major league level. That crowd of 974 that watched the Sox play the Rays early on might seem like a packed house before the season is over.

That's more like it

After a dismal showing in St. Louis, the Cubs finished off a three game sweep of the Marlins with a 13-4 win Wednesday. The Cubs bats seem to be waking up. Anthony Rizzo had three hits, including a double and a home run. That brought his average up to .210. Addison Russell hit his first home run of the year and Kris Bryant continued his hot hitting with two more hits, including his sixth homer.

It's not exactly a Wally Pipp situation but...

Jason Heyward has been on the seven day concussion list since Monday. Since that time the Cubs have looked better. Obviously it's not all because of Jason's being out. But his absence hasn't hurt, either. Zobrist and Happ should get more time in right field. At this point, the Cubs might need to accept that what they see with Heyward now, is what they get. This is the third year of weak production. Theo might have to recognize that Heyward is the Chicago equivalent to the Red Sox signing of Carl Crawford.

A missed opportunity?

The Mets traded Matt Harvey to the Reds for catcher (at least formerly) Devin Mesoraco. It seems like a good idea for both teams. Of course, if the White Sox had traded for Harvey, he could have been their second starter. His ERA of 7.00 would fit right in with the Sox staff.

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