Dollar-for-dollar, Erick Fedde's All-Star caliber first half performance easily places him amongst the best free agent signings in White Sox history. But as a kitchen-sink righty piling up quality innings in vain alongside the worst Major League offense in decades, it's been hard for him to build lasting memories with a fanbase that is trying to forget this 2024 season, ideally before 2024 even ends.
And so if Saturday was goodbye before Fedde is whisked away in a deadline deal, it was a fittingly unmemorable exit. In a game some questioned the wisdom of even having Fedde pitch in at all, he came out guns blazing, striking out a pair in a perfect first and freezing Randy Arozarena with a full count sweeper to spoil his first at-bat with his new club.
But by the end of his evening, the rejoinder wasn't as firm. A full count cutter to Jorge Polanco split the plate, and thus found the center field shrubbery to lead off the fourth. And where Fedde had wriggled out of tough spots to strand baserunners in the second and third, a pair of softer two-out singles on breakers on the edges from Josh Rojas and Victor Robles both plated runs to make for a fourth inning three-spot.
After four innings and 79 pitches, Pedro Grifol called it a day, and possibly a White Sox tenure for Fedde. But the early exit was not explained by the sight of Fedde receiving hugs in the dugout. Instead it just offered symbolism, as he quietly sat next to Garrett Crochet with a towel over his head, and the pair watched Justin Anderson give up a pair of lasers to Polanco and Cal Raleigh to more officially put things out of reach in the fifth.
"Out of reach" is an evolving concept for a White Sox offense that has not scored more than three runs in a single game since the All-Star break and has been shut out 13 times on the year. But all three of their runs on the night felt more like the product of divine intervention than the product of a string of good at-bats.
On the only ball he put in play in five trips to the plate, Luis Robert Jr. busted it down the line on a grounder to third and was rewarded when Tyler Locklear couldn't complete a scoop at first. He swiftly stole second, putting him in position to race home with another maximum effort burst when Andrew Vaughn's two-out smash up the middle bounced away from Polanco's attempt to keep it in the infield. The hustle staked the Sox to a 1-0 lead after three, which lasted all the way through the following commercial break.
Brooks Baldwin lined the first of two doubles with two outs in the sixth, and since he's not burdened by what has been, was running all the way home when Mariners shortstop Dylan Moore let a would-be inning-ending soft lineout from Chuckie Robinson bounce out of his glove.
In another instance of apparent provenance, the Sox managed to load the bases for Robert while down four in the eighth. But amid the previously referenced terrible night at the plate, Robert quickly fell behind 0-2 on two fastballs from Mariners relief ace Andres Muñoz. Given how off-time Robert was on fastballs all night, Muñoz relentless attempts to finish him off with a slider were misguided and deserved punishment.
He received it, as the second of three-straight sliders bounced away to plate Paul DeJong from third. But the third one was pretty good, inducing Robert's fourth strikeout of the night and ending all remaining illusion.
Bullet points:
*Baldwin doubled his career hit total in one night with a single and a pair of doubles to the right field corner. It was nice to see him spray a double to left-center on Friday night. But if I were an opposing pitcher, I might take a break from throwing him anything that's not middle-away for the next year or two.
*Former Twin Jorge Polanco blasted his first multi-homer game in two years. You'll never guess where that last one took place (I'm kidding. It was here).
*Davis Martin returned to a major league mound for the first time since the 2022 season finale. He allowed a run in 2 2/3 innings of relief, striking out and walking three apiece.
*These White Sox are the first team to lose 80 times in their first 107 games since the 1932 Red Sox. Starting shortstop Rabbit Warstler was really swinging a wet noodle that year (.211/.259/.276).
*Eloy Jiménez pinch hit for Robinson in the eighth, was nailed on the shoulder with 97 mph on the first pitch from former teammate Gregory Santos, and then was immediately pinch ran for by Korey Lee. You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become Roger Dorn.
