On Thursday afternoon, two noteworthy White Sox trends dominated whatever discourse there is surrounding a battle between two 70-loss teams at the beginning of August.
Yoan Moncada struck out all four times at bat during the Sox' 6-4 victory over the Royals -- all looking, all on fastballs.
Here's the first:
The second:
The third:
The fourth:
And if you want that charted:
For the most part, Moncada's tendency to get outguessed with two strikes has been a nagging tendency, perhaps magnified by a cluster of worse-than-borderline calls that went against him. When it happens every other game, it's difficult to pinpoint why his plate discipline seems to have manifested itself into a bad habit, rather than something that should win out in the long run without much of an adjustment needed.
But after a four-strikeout game that gives him a five-K cushion over Aaron Judge for the league lead in called strike threes with 48, it should be a little easier to stress it. Had it just been the fourth one (a backdoor dart from sidewinding lefty Tim Hill) or the second one (a borderline pitch from Brad Keller), it'd be easier to shrug away as getting beat. But these were the 32nd, 33rd, 34th and 35th times he's been called out on fastballs this year, and that shouldn't be the thing locking him up so frequently, especially in RBI situations. On a 3-2 count to start an inning, it's fine. With a runner on second and two outs, not so much.
"There were a couple of pitches I thought that, yeah, he could've put the bat on the ball for sure," Rick Renteria said after the game. He went on to say that Royals pitchers hit their spots against him, but came back around to say that it's the kind of game that should rattle around in Moncada's mind.
It reminds me of Nick Madrigal's quote about his plate approach:
“In the cage, I try to stay disciplined, but I also try to hit pitches outside the strike zone. Umpires sometimes are all over the place, so I really try to not let them take control and leave it in their hands.”
Moncada is a vastly different hitter, but he could use just a little bit of that.
* * * * * * * * *
Fortunately, Daniel Palka provided the palate-cleanser with his third pinch-hit homer of the year, which ties Oscar Gamble in 1977 for the single-season franchise record.
As a pinch hitter, Palka is now 4-for-11 with two walks in 13 plate appearances, which is good for a .364/.462/1.182 line. He has five strikeouts in this sample, but this is the kind of power that makes it easy to accept a trade-off:
It's also a moment that's easier to anticipate, and not just from Palka's posse in the 108 ...
... but he's even front of mind for Jason Benetti in such situations on broadcasts. This team needs any buzz it can get, and his late-game appearances provide one.
Chances are this is small-sample-size excitement a team can eventually plan around -- he's not going to face Jason Hammel every time -- but "left-handed thumper" used to be a widely appreciated bench profile until bullpens went to eight relievers. I want to see him get a long audition for that role at a minimum, based on this quote alone:
Daniel Palka had one thing on his mind when he was summoned to pinch hit.
A single probably would have put the ahead, but the big rookie was swinging for the fences.
"One hundred percent, homer," Palka said. “Seriously. I wanted a ball up I can hit out of the park."
