Does it feel like the White Sox finished the month of May three games over .500?
I've triple-checked, and indeed the Sox went 15-12 in May. Potential reasons it doesn't feel like it:
- They ended with the first loss of what turned into a four-game losing streak to open June, which doesn't count.
- Only one of those 15 wins had a margin greater than three runs.
- They fell 1½ games further back of the Minnesota Twins.
- The Sox finished with a run differential of -23.
By simple Pythagorean expectations, the White Sox should've finished the month 11-16. They're overachieving by this perspective, which makes their larger underachieving even harder to fathom.
Nevertheless, we proceed.
TEAM PERFORMANCE
- Record: 15-12
- Standings: Second, 5 GB
- Longest winning streak: 6, May 3-9
- Longest losing streak: 2, May 12-13, 17-18, 26-28
- Largest margin of victory: 5, May 22
- Largest margin of defeat: 13, May 24
HITTING LEADERS
- Batting average: Tim Anderson, .385
- On-base percentage: Anderson, .433
- Slugging percentage: Anderson, .490
- wRC+: Anderson, 173
- Home runs: Luis Robert, José Abreu, Gavin Sheets, 3
- RBI: Abreu, 14
- Walks: Yasmani Grandal, 16
- Strikeouts: Grandal, 23
- Stolen bases: Anderson, 5
PITCHING LEADERS
- Wins: 3, Lucas Giolito
- Losses: 3, Dallas Keuchel
- ERA: Michael Kopech, 1.17
- Innings: 31⅔, Dylan Cease
- Strikeouts: 48, Cease
- Appearances: 14, Matt Foster
- Relief innings: 14⅔, Reynaldo López
COMING AND GOING
- White Sox debuts: Johnny Cueto, Davis Martin, Joe Kelly
- Going up: Danny Mendick, Kyle Crick, Davis Martin, Jake Burger, Tanner Banks
- Going down: Anderson Severino, Mendick, Burger, Martin, Crick, Banks, Ryan Burr
#SOXMORGUE
- Andrew Vaughn: Bruised right hand
- Aaron Bummer: Right knee strain
- Lucas Giolito: COVID-19
- Luis Robert: COVID-19
- Joe Kelly: Strained right hamstring
Awards
Most Valuable Player: Tim Anderson
Nobody rivaled Anderson for production over the course of the month, as he led the Sox in all the aforementioned categories as well as runs (13), plus a second-place finish in RBIs (12), and a surprising amount of free bases (five walks, three HBPs). He racked up multiple hits in 12 of his 23 games, and looked on track to make it 13 until he pulled his groin making a play in shallow left field. When the only argument about Anderson was that he wasn't playing enough, he's in great shape. Or at least he was in great shape. Here's hoping he's back by the end of the next Month in a Box.
Least Valuable Player: Yoán Moncada
Moncada returned from the injured list, and through five games, it appeared like he'd rediscovered his bat speed when he belted a pair of homers over three games against the Yankees. He finished the month going 3-for-39 with a double, zero walks and 13 strikeouts, while trying to ward off a second trip to the injured list due to a troublesome quadricep. Yasmani Grandal breathes a sigh of relief.
Most Valuable Pitcher: Michael Kopech
Other pitchers worked harder than Kopech, who only made four starts during the month. Three of those starts showcased how hard teams find hitting him. In one outing against the Guardians and two against the Yankees, Kopech allowed just four hits over 19 innings. He also issued eight walks, but when they're not bunched up on him like his start against New York on May 15, he can work around them. The month's weak link was a quality start, which other members of the rotation can't say. (Johnny Cueto went 2-for-2, but he didn't quite qualify for consideration.)
Least Valuable Pitcher: Dallas Keuchel
Once the defense behind Keuchel improved from "comically bad" to "decent," he ran out of excuses. He tied together commendable outings against the Red Sox and Yankees, but he came off the latter one griping that he could've gone six, and he ended up pitching six innings over his final two starts for the White Sox, allowing 12 runs between them.
Fire Man: Liam Hendriks
Setting aside his role in the White Sox's disastrous ninth inning against the Guardians on May 9, and his inability to close out a five-out save five days later (he settled for the win), Hendriks bounced back commendably. He opened the month by saving five consecutive games, which might've made the quest for six of seven during a game against the Guardians he should've never found himself in a little tougher than usual. He closed the month with six consecutive scoreless outings -- five more saves, and a scoreless ninth that helped the Sox win in 12. He left room for somebody to beat his month, but nobody came close when factoring in leverage.
Gas Can: Tanner Banks
Banks went from throwing seven scoreless outings in April to getting scored upon in all five of his May appearances. The final line: 7 IP, 18 H, 16 R, 11 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, 3 HR. Not only that, but he ended up nearly averaging 30 pitches an inning, which only makes blowouts even harder to watch. When low-leverage appearances are that difficult, there's nowhere else for a fringe reliever to go.
Bench Player: Adam Engel
One could quibble with the idea of Engel as a bench player, given that he finished the month with the seventh-most plate appearances with 81. I'd counter by saying he represented 70 percent of Abreu's month-leading 116 PA, and he played so much due to injuries elsewhere, as Luis Robert, Andrew Vaughn, AJ Pollock and Leury García all ailed at various points in the month. Engel hit .276/.321/.408 with seven doubles, a homer and four stolen bases in five attempts, which is the kind of production that's great to have as a Plan B in any outfield slot.
Stench Player: Josh Harrison
Harrison has HBP totals of 18 and 23 in his last two seasons where he qualified for the batting title, so you can't shrug at his six HBPs over 114 plate appearances this season as an aberration. It's just not great when they're absolutely necessary for him to be remotely playable, as he hit .194/.286/.274 with four HBPs.
Gold Glove: Tim Anderson
After committing seven errors in 17 games over the course of April, Anderson only committed two errors over 23 games in March ... and they were in the same game. Not only did the glaring mistakes disappear, but he also started completing plays on the edges of his range again, although he injured his groin on one of them to close out the month. With a revolving door at second base, Moncada in and out of the lineup and José Abreu showing signs of decline at first, Anderson's play helped keep the infield together.
If you want to put more than the eye test to it, Outs Above Average graded Anderson as five runs better than his April self, improving from -3 to 2.
Hands of Stone: Andrew Vaughn/Gavin Sheets
With the White Sox no longer posting grotesque error totals, the defensive discussion relies more on closer observations with regards to outs not converted. For instance, Vaughn doesn't commit a lot of errors because he doesn't misplay much hit in his direction. It's more that his best effort isn't quite good enough. Whit Merrifield's game-tying double on May 16 is a good example.
He also nearly collided with Josh Harrison on a game-ending play because he couldn't call a short fly ball in right field with confidence.
OAA and DRS both have him bringing up the rear, while UZR is also bearish on him after being the high system. He's bound to avoid really ghastly scores because he plays enough of right field, first base and DH to avoid racking up the counting stats, but one of the few rate stats to pay attention to is Statcast's Success Rate Added, which has Vaughn running 12 points below his estimated success rate on the batted balls he's faced (72 percent, compared to 84). It's the worst in baseball, and we'll have to check into next month to better contextualize it.
(Everything said above also applies to Gavin Sheets, but more so. He's one of the players who makes Vaughn's footspeed and jumps tolerable.)
Timeline
0-for-4: In one of the worst performances by an umpire not involving balls and strikes, Sean Barber has four calls overturned at first base. At least they came out even, as the White Sox and Angels both benefited with two calls apiece. (May 1)
Playable, barely: A cold and dreary start to the season reaches new lows when the White Sox and Cubs played through a steady light rain on a windy night with temperatures starting at 50 and dropping throughout the night. (May 3)
Speed kills: Three years into his White Sox career, Yasmani Grandal steals his first base, and on a lefty to boot. (May 8)
Naylor in the coffin: The White Sox take an 8-2 lead into the ninth inning against Cleveland, only to watch Josh Naylor hit a game-tying grand slam off Liam Hendriks, followed by a three-run go-ahead blast in the 10th inning, which made a very specific kind of MLB history. (May 9)
Sequel dodged: José Abreu slips in his foot race to first base with Andres Gimenez, but his foot beats Gimenez's hand on one of those ill-advised dives into first, and the White Sox dodge having to deal with the bases loaded and two outs while leading by three after a replay ends the game. (May 10)
Another lawsuit: Brian Ball, the White Sox's former head trainer, sues the White Sox for wrongful termination, alleging that he was fired due to his sexual orientation, age and disability. The White Sox strenuously denied the charges. (May 11)
Say it ain't so: After a dramatic Yoán Moncada homer ties a game against the Yankees at 7 in the bottom of the seventh, Joe Kelly retires the first two in the eighth, then issued three straight walks to set the wheels in motion for a seven-run avalanche. (May 12)
Classic Paddy: The White Sox reportedly strike a deal well into the 2022-23 international signing period, landing Cuban outfielder Loidel Chapelli Jr. for $500,000. (May 13)
Anderson-Donaldson I: Josh Donaldson sows the seeds of discontent when he drops a knee on Tim Anderson's arm on a pickoff play at third, then tries to shove him off the bag. Third-base umpire Chris Guccione does a terrific job of easing the tension on field, but he can't eliminate it. (May 13)
Running it off: Tim Anderson scores the decisive run to beat the Yankees for the second time in as many White Sox winners -- the Field of Dreams Game was the previous instance -- this time beating Aaron Judge's throw home on Luis Robert's winning single. (May 14)
Ineffectively wild: Thanks to Michael Kopech's early control problems, the White Sox allow at least five runs on two or fewer hits for only the second time in franchise history, and the first in 113 years, in a 5-1 loss to the Yankees. (May 15)
Robert to the rescue: After Kendall Graveman blows a 3-0 lead, Luis Robert comes through with a two-run homer in the 10th inning to open a five-games-in-four-days series in Kauffman Stadium. (May 16)
Old boss criticizes new boss, who was the old boss' old boss: In a story only the White Sox's tangled, over-loyal chain of command can create, Ozzie Guillen criticizes Tony La Russa for playing Tim Anderson in only one of two games of a doubleheader, prompting Anderson to tweet in response to the clip, "Ozzie needs to stfu sometimes... talk too much!" (May 17)
Wes no longer Helms: Harkening back to the other lawsuit the White Sox are currently facing, the club places Charlotte manager Wes Helms on indefinite leave. While the reason isn't given, he was the lone Birmingham employee referenced in last year's sexual harassment lawsuit against Omar Vizquel still working for the White Sox. (May 20)
Anderson-Donaldson II: Tim Anderson and Josh Donaldson exchange words on the field, followed by Yasmani Grandal confronting Donaldson at the plate, which causes benches to clear.
All parties agree that Donaldson called Anderson "Jackie" in a reference to a three-year-old article in which Anderson likened his position in the game to that of Jackie Robinson. Donaldson says he meant to defuse the tension from their previous run-in, rather than to get under Anderson's skin. Nobody believes him, including his teammates, and he's still sore about the latter. (May 21)
On-field revenge: The White Sox respond by sweeping the Yankees in a doubleheader in the Bronx, with six scoreless innings from Johnny Cueto in Game 1, and a score-settling homer by Tim Anderson on Sunday Night Baseball. (May 22)
35 runs over three games: For the second time in three games, the Red Sox hang 16 runs on the White Sox pitching staff. Josh Harrison pitched, but the most embarrassing moment came on Bennett Sousa's attempt to get the third out on a routine 1-3. (May 26)
Dallas finale: The White Sox make their first major roster shake-up by designating Dallas Keuchel for assignment. Keuchel was 2-5 with a 7.88 ERA over 32 innings in 2022, but at least his over-.500 record remained intact (17-16, 4.79 ERA for the Sox). (May 28)
Nine lives, none left: In a rough year for Joe McEwing, he loses his ninth runner at home plate with an egregious send of Yasmani Grandal, who isn't in the picture as the ball arrives home. (May 28)
Winning and losing: The White Sox outlast the Cubs 5-4 in a 12-inning victory that might be the worst-played game of the year on both sides, but Tim Anderson departs early with a groin injury that will knock him out for at least three weeks. (May 29)
Name and shame: The White Sox head to Toronto, which means everybody learns that Kendall Graveman and Dylan Cease are the White Sox's lone unvaccinated players, at least among the healthy ones. (May 31)
Mendick's Boner: Danny Mendick prevents the tying run from crossing the plate when he gets thrown out at second before Reese McGuire touches home on what looked like a Yasmani Grandal sac fly. The score remains Blue Jays 6, White Sox 5 ... all the way to the end of the game. (May 31)
