Even the flagship station of the Chicago White Sox is opening the airwaves to open fire on the product.
The safer harbor of ESPN 1000 turned hostile -- fairly -- during Wednesday's Waddle & Silvy show. It opened with an hourlong White Sox venting session, but it only needed to last about eight minutes, because Berto from the West Side, aka Rob Colletti, said all that needed to be said.
If you had to quibble, he transposed the Tigers and Royals in the AL Central standings, but I only mention that to show that I indeed listened to the entire thing, and you should, too. No notes.
The Sox deserve every bit of it, not just because they're 7-18, but the way they're 7-18. Every stat captures failure, but Chris Kamka captured the most recent funereal facts after Wednesday's dud:
Spare Parts
James Fegan's article after the Toronto sweep is worth reading for a little detail on what Lance Lynn might've been referring to when it comes to "new concepts."
[Assistant hitting coach Chris] Johnson feels the feedback of the season is helpful for emphasizing swing decision concepts. But a tool to accelerate the process is iPitch, a machine that simulates the movement, speeds and locations that hitters will see in a game, modeling the pitchers they will face. Burger in particular swears by it, employing it in the offseason and throughout the regular season to increase the reps he has of hunting what he wants at the plate.
“You can set your boundaries with, ‘Hey, this is too far inside, or that’s too low,’ and go from there,” said Burger. “Repetition is key. We have it at home, but we don’t have it on the road. My home splits are a lot better. I wish we could have it on the road. I think we’re making strides to bring it with us on the road. When I use it at home right before I go up for my at-bat, I’ve seen every single pitch that this guy has and it’s easier to repeat it on the field.”
Paul Sullivan uses institutional memory to draw connections between this season and the last 7-18 start for the White Sox back in the cursed year of 1986. The shot at Lynn also jumped out at me ("...has begun to resemble the 1986 version of [Tom] Seaver, albeit without the charm or intellect").
And if the White Sox hired Grifol to contend and they do everything but, how seriously should everybody takes his ability to get it right afterward?
Neither Seby Zavala nor Yasmani Grandal meet the description in the headline, but the Statcast version of Caught Stealing Above Average is still fun to peruse because the details -- the speed and lead of the runner, the pop time, exchange time and arm strength of the catcher -- align with the eye test.
If you're thinking about where Jerry Reinsdorf ranks on the list of worst MLB owners, Bob Nutting has taken steps to make himself likeable.
Few stories are more reliable than one about an old rookie, and Drew Maggi, the 33-year-old who played 1,154 minor-league games over 13 seasons before getting called up for the first time -- is older than most.
