One thing we've learned about Tony La Russa since he returned to the White Sox is that he doesn't criticize players by name, or even other identifiers. At least unless they swing on a 3-0 count off a pitching position player, then it's open season.
It's a policy he might want to revisit after blowing an 8-2 lead to the Cleveland Guardians in the ninth inning on Monday night, first and foremost because the White Sox have lost the benefit of the doubt when it comes to any ninth-inning lead. The Sox led by 11 when Yermín Mercedes homered off Willians Astudillo a year ago. A 12th run suddenly looks less like overkill.
Also, it leads him to say things that fail to address how things actually look:
“We didn't lose that game because of our defense,” La Russa said. “I disagree with that. They didn't have the cleanest game either, right? Just a tough, brutal loss for the home team.”
If La Russa singled out the defense, then he would be identifying plays not made by Gavin Sheets, Tim Anderson, Tim Anderson and Yoán Moncada as problems. And even that seems to be too specific for his tastes.
But the White Sox have committed the most errors in the league (26), and only the Cincinnati Reds have a worse team total of Defensive Runs Saved (-20 to the Sox's -13). Anderson has committed nine errors this season, and seven of those have come in three games and 20 chances against the Guardians. The entire New York Yankees defense has committed seven errors in 1,030 chances.
The bullpen tried to absorb the blame afterward, as Tanner Banks, Liam Hendriks and Ryan Burr all had a hand in the loss to varying degrees, but shoddy defense is why Hendriks was deemed necessary for the sixth time in eight days, and why he had to warm up twice before entering this game. Shoddy defense is the primary reason why Dallas Keuchel inspires panic and loathing amongst the fan base, rather than standard back-of-rotation discontent. Shoddy defense was the through line during the White Sox's eight-game losing streak, whereas normal, acceptable defense was a big reason they won six in a row against teams that need help to win.
There were legitimate reasons for La Russa to avoid laying into Moncada, who was playing in his first game of the season, or Sheets, who is being asked to handle right field when nothing about his skill set says he should (remember when he criticized White Sox fans who dare suggest the on-hand options for right field were lacking?). Anderson has no such excuses, but maybe La Russa's experience leads him to see no point in criticizing by name.
But what about as a unit? The White Sox defense yielded four unearned runs in a game where they squandered the six-run lead. Just about every team is struggling to hit this season, and a lot of teams are contending with pitching injuries. The gruesome defensive woes set the White Sox apart from the standard team with ambition. Similar to Rick Hahn getting snippy at the idea that people call Eloy Jiménez "injury-prone," the unwillingness to confront it publicly makes it hard to trust what else they're seeing.
It's alarmist to say these games are going to sink the White Sox or otherwise project doom regardless of your overall optimism. If you believe in the Sox, you'll look at the talent on (or fresh off) the injured list and see plenty of upside in store. If you're a skeptic, the AL Central still looks like it's going to be a slappers-only circus, especially with the injuries the Twins have suffered.
It's not Chicken Little behavior to point out that if the White Sox were to be a spectacular disappointment, the most direct line to disaster involve things like a3-10 record against the AL Central, an 0-7 start against their most direct rivals, due in large part to embarrassing defensive displays projection systems wouldn't even think to capture.
