As Josh and I have wended our way through previewing the White Sox's 26-man roster (and beyond) in recent Sox Machine Podcast episodes, I've found myself being genuinely invested in most players we talked about.
Take this morning's corner infield preview, in which Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Sheets, and Yoán Moncada all generate reasons for enthusiasm and skepticism. The problem with the White Sox isn't necessarily the front-line talent, but the looming threat of Plan B's looking like Plan F's.
Baseball Prospectus then released its White Sox preview, with charts that helpfully illustrate the drop-offs. You can argue that Andrew Vaughn's projection should be more ascendant than an average between his first two seasons, you can buy into Elvis Andrus, and you can say that Oscar Colás won't be replacement-level bad, and none can be dismissed as mere homerism.
The problem is that the charts go from green to red pretty quickly, and whether it's requiring Sheets to play the outfield or Romy González to be as good as the White Sox say his offseason was, the arguments that the White Sox can still thrive without good injury luck are only rooted in faith.
Spare Parts
Even with the addition of Elvis Andrus, the White Sox have a lot of ground to make up at second base, which doesn't pair well with an approach to right field that is subject to improvisation.
A more traditional spring training staple is the new pitch, or a pitcher emphasizing a pitch he hadn't really thrown. Here's a story about Michael Kopech's changeup, which hasn't been seen yet because he's on a delayed schedule after knee surgery.
Davis Martin left a loose end when he departed his final start of the season with bicep soreness, but it apparently posed no problem to his offseason throwing program.
- Max Scherzer tests the limits of the new pitch clock rules -- FanGraphs
- MLB already cracks down on Max Scherzer's attempt to exploit pitch clock -- New York Post
You can't say Max Scherzer doesn't live up to his promises. From last year:
Relevant to Mike Clevinger, who has floated the idea of legal action against 670 The Score, three of Trevor Bauer's six defamation cases have now been dismissed.
- A fight is brewing in Chicago between a multinational concessions business and its workers -- Defector
- United Center workers strike during otherwise depressing Bulls game -- The Athletic
Those who work for the concessions group that supplies food to the United Center and Guaranteed Rate Field had authorized a potential work stoppage back in January, and they exercised it this weekend at the Bulls game. The Defector article by John Wilmes details how Jerry Reinsdorf accelerated the growth of Levy Restaurants.
My favorite podcast doesn't often talk our favorite pastime, so here's a good one to try if you've never listened.
