Monday, August 20, 2018

White Sox continue upswing and alook at the Cubs championship window

                                                            Image Courtesy of Bing


White Sox manager, Ricky Renteria was hospitalized before the White Sox Monday night game with the Twins because of being light headed.  Ricky’s okay.  Maybe he was just light headed at the thought of Michael Kopech pitching for the Sox Tuesday night.  I hope when Eloy Jimenez is called up it doesn’t do Ricky in.

They did it again


As for Monday night’s game, the Sox won again.  The final score was 8-5.  Lucas Giolito gave the Sox a quality start, going six innings and allowing three runs.  Lucas got the win, evening his record at 9-9.  His ERA is still over 6.00, it’s 6.08 to be exact.  He’s the Sox leader in wins which is an example of why numbers guys pay so little wins.

Abreu's march to 100 RBIs continues


The Sox got a quick 4-0 lead in the second inning with Jose Abreu’s two-run double highlighting the inning.  Abreu now has 78 RBIs. After the Twins pulled to with 5-3, Matt Davidson gave the Sox a needed cushion be belting his 18 home run, a two-run round tripper in the seventh.  Dan Palka added an RBI double in the eighth.  The Twins made it a little interesting in the ninth by scoring two runs off Thyago Vieira in the bottom of the ninth, but the end result was another Sox win.

Keep that window open!


Championship windows can be tough to figure.  The Cubs window opened a little bit earlier than some expected and could close the same way.  Their lack of starting pitching could be a real issue going forward.  The Cubs swung and missed on free agent starting pitchers bid time.  At least as far as 2018 goes.  Maybe Tyler Chatwood and Yu Darvish will contribute in 2019 and beyond, but it’s hard to count on that.  Whether they do or not, the Cubs have a lot of payroll tied up in them.  

Can Darvish pull a Heyward?


The Cubs can find some comfort in the way Jason Heyward bounced back this season.  I thought he was a lost cause and an albatross around the Cubs neck, but at least he’s been a functional player.   Heyward’s WAR is sitting at 1.8.  Does it seem like Heyward hasn’t been as sharp defensively as in years past?  His defensive WAR is 0.3, which is a decline for years gone by.  Still, a nice recovery for Heyward.  Maybe Darvish and Chatwood can do the same next year.

Take the next step


I have to admit I like MLB’s replay system.  It’s not perfect, but I think it helps more than it hurts.  Now, how about an electronic strike zone?  The needs to be more offense in the game and I would think that having a consistent strike zone for hitters would help.  It must be frustrating for a batter with good command of the strike zone to have his skill undone by a plate umpire’s inconsistency.  Also, different plate umpires have slight variations of the strike zone.  Why not correct that?





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