In the few days between soliciting questions for the mailbag and generating answers for them, some questions resolved themselves. I wrote about the the Michael Kopech pitch-tipping video, and Lenyn Sosa is on the roster due to Tim Anderson's injury.
I also got a question from Rob about stolen-base rules, but I have a couple of articles I'm going to round up in a post over the next couple of days, unless the White Sox preempt it with a whole bunch of other news to cover.
In the meantime, here are the questions that remained open after the last 72 hours. As always, thank you for your support.
Why did the White Sox put clauses in their players contracts saying that the hitters and pitchers can’t have good games on the same day? Seems like a weird strategy.
-- Alec S.
This was before Lance Lynn threw six strong innings in a welcome rebound from a dreadful second outing, and still needed a Luis Robert Jr. ninth-inning homer got him off the hook. But I'm starting with this one because I'm going to reference the theme in a bit.
Was today’s Kopech the real one or the one from his first start?
-- Gregory W.
I think both are the real Kopech, in the sense that he's a two-pitch pitcher who needs his fastball to have that little extra something, and when it doesn't, the game becomes a grind. Ideally he stops tipping his curveball, and the bad starts aren't nearly as extreme as what happened in the fifth inning against San Francisco, but as a starter, he reminds me a little bit of Reynaldo López, whose success as a starter was contingent on his ability to bully hitters with his fastball multiple times through the lineup.
It's not a perfect comparison, because Kopech's slider has been better than any secondary offering López threw during his time in the rotation, but as long as a third pitch remains elusive and his top shape comes and goes, it's going to be a little bit tougher for him to hash out alternate ways of retiring hitters while he's in the middle of a start.
Is the ball back to being juiced?
-- Humberpie
The early drag coefficient readings look like they're trending downward, although it's nowhere near 2019 levels. Yet. Juiced may be a little strong, but "livelier" is a fair description.
Is Ethan Katz good at his job?
-- Tim B.
My brother asked me the same question via text, and it's a heavy one. I would call myself a Katz skeptic, just because it's starting to feel a little bit like the transition from Kenny Williams to Rick Hahn. In both cases, the younger, new guy got a lot of credit simply by saying and doing things that are reflective of modern thought, but actual results have proven elusive. There's a delay in wrestling with what that means, because there's an impulse to avoiding asking questions you don't know the answer to.
Dylan Cease is a real feather in Katz's cap, so that probably keeps him from being considered "bad" in and of itself. But Cease is also the only starter who can safely be penciled in future White Sox rotations, and they've also had to overpay for bullpen help at every turn because of a lack of internal standouts, and that probably keeps him from being called "good."
I feel comfortable saying he's not a difference-maker. The question from there is whether any pitching coach could achieve something like that when the front office is outmoded and entrenched.
The next two questions are related enough for one catch-all answer:
Why are so many Sox fans losing their minds waaay too early? The team have shown many more good signs after less than a dozen games than they did last year.
-- AJ M.
Seeing a lot of pessimism on the WST streets and I think it could be justified, but only if you don’t believe in the talent of the team. The errors are down, the focus seems up. we’ve essentially had a few bum start, which happens in a season. Am I once again being too optimistic?
-- English_Sox_Colin
These questions were asked before Tim Anderson joined Eloy Jiménez on the injured list, but I think the overlapping absences of Anderson, Jiménez and (to a lesser extent, so far) Yoán Moncada underscore the strange, unwelcome urgency to the season. If they're not winning games when these key players are looking their best, what hope is left when they're out for two to four weeks?
And this gets back to the question posed by Alec up top. The White Sox had a difficult time putting together a complete game from their complete roster, and now key contributors are falling off the roster every other day. For most teams, it'd be a small sample. For this team, small samples are all the White Sox can ever expect, because Anderson, Moncada, Jiménez and Luis Robert Jr. are so seldom healthy and fully functional at the same time.
But I couldn't help but notice these sentiments were voiced by overseas Sox fans, which leads to our next question:
I just got back from 2 weeks in Korea and Japan and went to 2 KBO and 2 NPB games and what struck me most was how much fun everyone appeared to be having. Good vibes all around. Obviously lots of elements contribute to having a fun day at the park (cost, ease of access, in stadium entertainment, on field success) but what one element could be added or improved to make going to a Sox game more fun?
-- Mark H.
I noticed a similar joy deficit when I went to NPB and KBO games in 2012, then came back to a White Sox team that eventually lost its grip on the AL Central. I think Major League Baseball can't capture the same vibe because it's become such an exercise in efficiency, whether it's by maximizing the dollar spent by the fans who show up, or only spending when there's a mathematically proven chance to capitalize. Oakland A's fans have come the closest to capturing that fan-driven feel of a game in Japan or South Korea, and a fat lot of good that's done for them.
Sadly, I think any shift in prevailing attitudes has to come from the top down, like Peter Seidler in San Diego and John Middleton in Philadelphia. If the ownership group isn't going to set the agenda of fun with the kind of roster-building actions fans love to see, then they have to make the ballpark a fun place to gather regardless of the talent, and the Sox seem to get in their own way frequently in that regard.
(Also, beers were like $3 USD when I went to a Doosan Bears game. That'd probably make everything feel more festive.)
The next 22 games: 7 Rays, 6 Twins, 3 Phillies, 3 Orioles, and 3 Jays. How many games will (must) the Sox win in this critical stretch?
-- Michael K.
This is a cop-out answer, but whatever the Guardians and Twins do will determine what the White Sox need to do at any given point in time. They have to remain within striking distance, because ...
If the White Sox aren't in contention at the deadline who gets traded?
-- orajestad9
... if there isn't a good argument for adding, then there's a great argument for selling. I just don't want to advocate selling with this front office, because they've already botched two rebuilds, and fans don't deserve to get stuck with a third.
In a world where the White Sox overhauled their front office, I wouldn't consider anybody untouchable. In a world where Rick Hahn has an annual executive option he can exercise through 2045, I'd probably only consider trading the impending free agents, and getting out from under the contracts extended to injury-prone guys.
What would you consider a successful season for Colson Montgomery?
-- Matt
In the macro, looking worthy of a September call-up, even if it's more pragmatic to wait until 2024 simply because of all the other middle infielders the Sox have more time-related pressures to evaluate.
In the micro, doing everything he's been doing, but adding a little more home run power. It'd give his plate discipline a better chance at directly translating to OBP at the MLB level, and it'd allow him to maintain a special player profile even if he has to move off shortstop.
Should bullpen players be ejected, suspended, or fined for leaving the
bullpen during a benches clearing brawl?-- WaldoWolf
I may be the wrong guy to ask, because while I'm not a staunch traditionalist, I've learned to appreciate the odd byproducts of baseball's evolution as long as they're allowed to exist, like the leagues having different rules about pitchers hitting, and minimal interleague play preventing teams from seeing each other at all. Along these lines, I'm routinely amused by the charade of relievers running out of the bullpen to join the fray near home plate, when it'd be much simpler to meet in center field and shove each other there. It's so dumb it's charming.
Beyond my personal tastes, I'd think it'd be unfair -- and maybe prohibited by collective bargaining -- to treat leaving a dugout as permissible, but leaving a bullpen as punishable, because benches are benches, even if they're in the bullpen. Besides, Joe Kelly's injury is punishment enough due to the sheer embarrassment, isn't it?
