There's really nothing the White Sox can say about losing 3-0 to a pitcher who entered the game with zero wins and a 10.00 ERA for his career, and given the long season, there's usually nothing to say about it.
There might be something to say about it later in the week should the Sox fall into another pattern of unwatchability, but going 5-1 in the last six games bought them the slightest bit of a reprieve. I don't think this team has the relentless stream of talent to rattle off 10 wins in a row, so you have to gird your loins for weeks and weeks of toil if you want to see the Sox try to get back in it.
The division's chief competition looks like they're going to give the White Sox the time. If you believe Zack Meisel's theme that these Guardians love to rope-a-dope their fans by teasing with optimism before crushing them with misfortune, then perhaps Gaddis' excellent outing is yet another tease.
Triston McKenzie and Aaron Civale are likely another rehab start or two away from rejoining the rotation, which will help. And, one would think, better days are ahead for some of the hitters who have established track records (Bell, Rosario, maybe Giménez). But there’s a lot to fix on this ship that has leaks springing up all over the place as it sails through the kiddie pool that is the AL Central.
And here's Dan Hayes writing about the Minnesota Twins after their latest loss:
Bailey Ober was off the mark early. The Twins’ coaching staff made what appeared to be several questionable decisions at the outset as well. And Twins hitters? Well, they never got going.
The combination added up to a homestand-opening dud Monday as the Twins lost to the San Francisco Giants 4-1 in front of a crowd of 16,627 at Target Field. Ober allowed four first-inning runs, including a three-run homer, and the Twins were no match for the previously hittable Sean Manaea, who struck out eight over 3 2/3 scoreless innings. The Twins finished with only four hits in an uninspiring loss, their fifth in seven games.
With the exception of maybe the Tigers, everybody in the AL Central looks like they're in the same boat of having to investigate fundamental flaws in their product, so nobody has any answers in this division.
With all that out of the way, I thought this Romy González quote about Hunter Gaddis was a little bit sweet.
“Everyone has their day in this game,” reasoned second baseman Romy Gonzalez, who made an outstanding play in the field but struck out three times. “Everyone’s a professional; everyone’s the best in the world. He definitely had his day. You tip your cap to him.”
González could've had the same said about him on Sunday, when he went 3-for-3 with a game-breaking two-run triple after entering the day hitting .132/.128/.184, so you can say (guy who had a randomly good) game recognizes (guy who had a randomly good) game.
Spare Parts
Pedro Grifol, who stood in the batter's box for some of Liam Hendriks' live bullpen session in Cleveland on Monday, said that Hendriks' stuff "ticked up." It looks like we're not going to have any pitch data between now and his reinstatement unless he requires another rehab stint, so there's a little bit of a leap of faith here.
Given the Frank Grimes-like run of personal misfortune that derailed his career with the White Sox, it's cool to see him breaking out years later with the Yankees (especially since he took turns with the Guardians and Twins in between). He's doing it with a low-spin slider that he calls the slambio.
If you believe that the A's Las Vegas plans are so unclear because all parties want few details to be known before a funding plan is rushed through an abbreviated public debate period, then everything is going swimmingly. But it'd be something if the A's ended up reopening discussions with Oakland after all this.
Reading this postmortem of Madison Bumgarner's Arizona career makes one realize that Dallas Keuchel was the median outcome with that particular crop of free-agent pitchers.
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