If you're new to Sox Machine, Month in a Box was a feature of my White Sox Outsider book series in which I summarized each page of the calendar with leaders, awards, and a timeline of notable events that stood out for one reason or another.
Since this particular exercise was limited to paying customers during the book era, it made sense to make it exclusive to Patreon supporters when I brought it back to the site. As always, thanks for making Sox Machine possible.
TEAM PERFORMANCE
- Record: 8-12
- Standings: Third, 3½ GB
- Longest winning streak: Four, April 9-13
- Longest losing streak: Eight, April 17-26
- Largest margin of victory: 9, April 10
- Largest margin of defeat: 10, April 20
HITTING LEADERS
- Batting average: Tim Anderson, .313
- On-bace percentage: Andrew Vaughn, .367
- Slugging percentage: Vaughn, .566
- wRC+: Vaughn, 178
- Home runs: Vaughn, 4
- RBI: Vaughn, 12
- Walks: José Abreu, 9
- Strikeouts: Abreu, 17
- Stolen bases: Luis Robert, 5
PITCHING LEADERS
- Wins: 2, Dylan Cease and Reynaldo López
- Losses: 2, Vince Velasquez, Dallas Keuchel, Liam Hendriks and Jimmy Lambert
- ERA: Michael Kopech, 1.42
- Innings: 22, Cease
- Strikeouts: 28, Cease
- Appearances: 10, Kendall Graveman and Bennett Sousa
- Relief innings: 12⅔, Tanner Banks
COMING AND GOING
- White Sox debuts: Reese McGuire, Josh Harrison, AJ Pollock, Adam Haseley, Vince Velasquez, Kendall Graveman, Bennett Sousa, Tanner Banks, Anderson Severino, Kyle Crick
- Going up: Severino, Jimmy Lambert, Matt Foster, Haseley
- Going down: Lambert, Haseley, Crick
#SOXMORGUE
- Ryan Burr: Right shoulder strain
- Lance Lynn: Torn tendon in right knee
- Yermín Mercedes: Left hamate fracture
- Joe Kelly: Right biceps nerve injury
- Yoán Moncada: Right oblique strain
- Garrett Crochet: Torn left UCL
- AJ Pollock: Strained right hamstring
- Lucas Giolito: Abdominal strain
- Eloy Jiménez: Right hamstring strain
Awards
Most Valuable Player: Andrew Vaughn
The White Sox didn't have anybody who stepped up to a Yermín Mercedes-like level this month, but Vaughn came the closest. He's been the steadiest presence in the lineup, as he reached base in 15 of his 16 games played, and he's also delivered when it counts. Three of his four homers have broken ties, including a go-ahead ninth inning shot on Opening Day and a back-breaking three-run bomb that broken the White Sox's eight-game losing streak. The only drawback is below-average defense in left field, and the fact that he's only played in 16 games. Tony La Russa sat him three times, and then an HBP at the end of the month cost him the last three games of the Angels series.
Least Valuable Player: Leury García
If you want to be encouraged about García, he was saddled with this title last April, but rebounded to have a good-enough season that the White Sox were inspired to hand him a three-year deal afterward. This year is worse in all regards, though. He hit .106/.143/.191 whether batting ninth or third, and his work at second base has contributed to the White Sox's teamwide defensive woes. He typically runs hot and cold, but his downturns weren't as worrisome because there was always the sense that the White Sox could move on. There's more gravity to this particular situation, and here's hoping it doesn't continue holding him down.
Most Valuable Pitcher: Dylan Cease
With Lance Lynn out until the end of May and Lucas Giolito sidelined by an ab strain, Cease stepped up and looked every part the staff leader. The numbers are only suppressed by the abbreviated spring, which meant that he and every other starter worked shorter starts than usual. In prior seasons, 22 innings over four starts used to be something to shoot for. Now he looks like a guy who should be expected to go six every time.
Least Valuable Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel
Terrible defense is the primary reason why Keuchel gave up 15 runs over 10 innings, but the response to his worst career start is the problem, as more than half of his pitches have missed the zone since. It's hard to tell if he doesn't want to rely on his teammates or he's scared of getting shelled. Either one is hard to watch.
Fire Man: Kendall Graveman
Graveman had a couple of stumbles during the White Sox's eight-game losing streak, but his scoreless baseball up until that point contributed to the team's hot start. He struck out 13 batters over 11⅓ innings while getting grounders at a 60 percent clip, and he also stepped up for a two-inning save while Liam Hendriks dealt with a back issue, so he's delivered as advertised one month in.
Gas Can: Aaron Bummer
Kyle Crick and Liam Hendriks also have arguments, but Bummer gets the nod because of the gap in expectations and the confusing control issues. He issued nine free bases (eight walks, one HBP) on top of 13 hits over 8⅔ innings, and the grounders needed weeks to arrive. These struggles are exacerbated by the absence of Garrett Crochet and the leverage in which they're occurring. He currently owns the 10th-worst Win Probability Added score among all relievers (although Liam Hendriks has him beat there, topping the list). Here's hoping his three-up, three-down, nine-pitch outing to close out the month is a sign of things to come.
Bench Player: Nobody
The White Sox's offensive struggles are such that if any bench player were lighting it up, he'd be in the mix. Reese McGuire probably comes closest for his defensive contributions, but he also hit .135/.172/.162. There's a separate award for that.
Stench Player: Josh Harrison
He's showing signs of turning the corner with a three-game hitting streak, but the last two of those games occurred on the first two days of May. For April, he hit .135/.200/.243 with an 0-for-25 stretch covering most of the month. The defense is fine, so if his weekend is an indicator of things to come at the plate, then next month should be a different conversation.
Gold Glove: Reese McGuire
Outside of dropping an Aaron Bummer sinker for a go-ahead run, McGuire has given the White Sox what they wanted defensively whether framing, blocking or throwing, and he also called a shutout in his last start, with Vince Velasquez of all people starting. He's tied for sixth in baseball in Baseball Prospectus' Fielding Runs Above Average metric. The offense could be a liability if he continues to receive this kind of playing time, but we're only talking about his mitt here.
Hands of Stone: Tim Anderson
Last year, Tim Anderson committed 10 errors in 122 games. This year, he's up to seven in 19 games, which is a 60-error pace. He's been involved in more errors than double plays turned (six). He's not alone, as José Abreu also had a rough month at first base, and Andrew Vaughn's ceiling is a crawlspace in left, but Anderson matched his 2020 error total in one three-game series in Cleveland, which is a whole different level.
Timeline
An ominous start: The White Sox drop Opening Day in Detroit, and in agonizing fashion. Liam Hendriks blew two leads, with the second slipping through the White Sox's grasp because AJ Pollock didn't get his glove high enough on a ball against the wall. (April 8)
Milestone, then millstone: Dallas Keuchel records his 100th victory in an unlikely victory over reigning AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray. At the end of the month, he was still stuck on 100. (April 13)
Mount Eloy's Peak: Eloy Jiménez helped Keuchel with a 449-foot blast into the left-field bleachers. Then he hurt himself with a foul ball off his ankle that foreshadowed future lower-body trouble. (April 13)
Infield flies rule: The White Sox can't figure out how to ride the 29-mph wind out to left field the way the Mariners did, but they did generate some entertainment out of otherwise harmless pop-ups. (April 14)
Collapsing for Keuchel: It's never good when a Dallas Keuchel start features more errors (four) than outs (three). The combination led to Keuchel giving up 10 runs over an inning, a feat matched in White Sox history only by Milt Gaston back in 1934. (April 20)
"Top" of the order: Tony La Russa runs out one of the worst lineups in recent memory in the back half of a doubleheader, batting Josh Harrison first, Adam Haseley second and Leury García third. The White Sox go on to lose 2-1. (April 20)
Unnecessarily athletic: Harrison exits the game early after a double-jump catch that spared his knee or ankle as he avoided Andrew Vaughn, but banged up his shoulder. (April 20)
Swept in Cleveland: Leury García bats third for a second consecutive game and draws a walk, only to nullify his presence by running up right Luis Robert's butt on a double to the right field corner. Joe McEwing sends Robert home because there's nowhere else for him to go, and he's out by 20 feet. (April 21)
Two suspensions in a month: After missing the first two games of the season for contact with an umpire during the White Sox-Tigers bench-clearing incident last September, Anderson earns a one-game suspension for flipping off a heckler in Cleveland. It remains under appeal.
Throwing it all away: After combining for nearly 10 errors and misplays between them in Cleveland, Tim Anderson and José Abreu combine for a double error that allows two Minnesota runs to score. The Twins win 2-1. (April 22)
More like worst base: Eloy Jiménez becomes the third White Sox outfielder to injure himself around first base when he steps on the back half of first base lunging for an infield single. While AJ Pollock and Luis Robert escaped with mild strains, Jiménez's requires hamstring surgery and removes him from the equation for six to eight weeks. (April 23)
Bad idea: With first base open, one out and a 3-1 count on Byron Buxton in the ninth inning, Liam Hendriks -- dealing with a stiff back -- challenges Buxton with a fastball, and Buxton clobbers it 469 feet for a walk-off victory at Target Field that cements a winless road trip for the White Sox. (April 24)
Battered ball, bruised ego: Jake Burger produces the month's quintessential batted ball when he reverses a Daniel Lynch pitch 106 mph with a 34-degree launch angle. Statcast said it traveled 403 feet, yet it somehow died on the warning track about 30 feet shorter than that. (April 26)
Rick Hahn's first regrettable in-season quote: The general manager strikes an oddly defensive tone regarding Jiménez, who says the label of "injury-prone" is only the result of "lazy analysis." Because I'd forgotten about it, last year's April Month in a Box timeline opened with this image:
The stopper: Andrew Vaughn produces the month's most cathartic batted ball with a three-run homer off Scott Barlow that ends the White Sox's longest losing streak since 2018. (April 27)
Back to booting: A day later, Reese McGuire yields the go-ahead run in extra innings when he fails to catch Aaron Bummer's head-high sinker with two outs in the 10th inning. (April 28)
Rinse Velasquez: A driving rain is the only thing that can drive Vince Velasquez out of the game, as umpires halt his eight-pitch battle with Mike Trout with two outs in the sixth inning, even though both contestants appeared inclined to continue. (April 30)
