While pitching the White Sox's first complete game since Dylan Cease's near-no-hitter last September, Mike Clevinger also became the first White Sox pitcher to throw four straight walk-less starts since José Quintana back in 2015.
Clevinger last issued a free pass back on Aug. 27, when he dealt two of them in seven dominant innings against Oakland. What's remarkable is that despite Clevinger's excellent control, the White Sox are still somehow third in the league in total walks issued.
Here's a breakdown of which pitcher has walked how many since Clevinger issued his last walk.
| Pitcher | Walks | Innings |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Clevinger | 0 | 24 |
| Edgar Navarro | 0 | 4 |
| Jimmy Lambert | 1 | 2 |
| José Ureña | 2 | 10.1 |
| Sammy Peralta | 3 | 9 |
| Gregory Santos | 3 | 6.2 |
| Tanner Banks | 4 | 10.2 |
| Deivi García | 4 | 2.2 |
| Bryan Shaw | 5 | 13.1 |
| Lane Ramsey | 5 | 7.1 |
| Jesse Scholtens | 6 | 18 |
| Aaron Bummer | 6 | 5.2 |
| Touki Toussaint | 8 | 17.1 |
| Luis Patiño | 8 | 11 |
| Dylan Cease | 9 | 22.2 |
| Michael Kopech | 11 | 8.1 |
With Clevinger surpassing last year's innings total with superior performance, there's no reason to believe he'll exercise his half of the mutual option. Not only do the Sox have to replace Clevinger, but if they don't find somebody equally adept at avoiding walks, then a league-average replacement in the control department might hurt twice as much.
Spare Parts
On the other side of that chart, Pedro Grifol and the White Sox hoped that moving Michael Kopech to the bullpen would allow him to overwrite poor outings more quickly, but instead the rough outings are piling up on him.
Paul Sullivan noted the disconnect between Pedro Grifol saying the team should expect to contend for the division in 2024 even though most positions could be up for grabs, and said White Sox fans deserve to hear something that reflects what they're seeing.
Among Chris Getz's immediate postseason decisions is an emotionally charged one -- whether to pick up Liam Hendriks' $15 million option and hope that he can return from Tommy John surgery to pitch at some point in 2024, or buy him out for $1.5 million annually over the next 10 years. Hendriks told Chuck Garfien, I’m hoping they pick it up. I mean, it’s a longshot, but look, it is what it is, and I hope to be here."
Garrett Crochet hasn't officially been reinstated from the injured list, but he's in the clubhouse, and one thing that jumped out to me when watching him in Birmingham is how much he's bulked up since his rookie season.
Garrett Crochet is with White Sox, excepts to be activated soon. pic.twitter.com/786peYQUEw
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) September 18, 2023
The ballpark is expected to have a fixed dome roof and artificial turf, and it's expected to open for the 2028 season.
If Chaim Bloom's first major move -- the ownership-imposed trade of Mookie Betts -- stained his tenure with the Red Sox, it stands to reason that he could fare better with a more standard assignment if and when he gets his next crack at leading a team. The other flaws -- struggles putting together a rotation and timidity at the trade deadline -- aren't unique, and maybe are correctable.
It's always fun to read a good piece of on-deadline baseball writing, which Derrick Goold did capturing Adam Wainwright's 200th win. It's been an otherwise disastrous season for Wainwright, whose ERA stands at 7.40 even after seven shutout innings on Monday, so getting to 200 wins at least validates the effort of giving a 162-game season one more go.
