Pregame notes: Getting back to plan A

Not to accuse Grady Sizemore of being a company man, but one of many things worth watching about his tenure are what front office directives re-emerge now that a manager that they publicly (and privately) admitted they had a disconnect with is no longer in place.

Out of the pair of trades Chris Getz & Co. pulled off on Feb. 3, the biggest impact the organization so far might have been acquiring the No. 68 pick, which they used to draft and sign high school lefty Blake Larson for a $1.4 million bonus. But Dominic Fletcher was supposed to take over as the primary right fielder against right-handed pitching, and instead has hit .217/.283/.268 in barely over 100 big league plate appearances, missed a month with a sprained shoulder, and gotten half of his at-bats this season in Triple-A.

Sizemore sounds like he--and/or the Sox as an entity--wants to spend the final six weeks getting a better idea of who they traded for six months ago.

"With him and Luis [Robert Jr.] together, with [Andrew Benintendi], I think that's a solid outfield," Sizemore said. "So I hope we can get him going. He's swung the bat really well the last couple of days and I just want to keep feeding him."

Speaking of Luis, he spoke after Tuesday night's game and admitted his struggles have affected his confidence, explaining that it's natural a player to start questioning their ability if they feel like they're doing all the work and isn't getting results.

"It’s frustrating, so frustrating that sometimes you think, ‘I’m quitting.’" Robert said via interpreter. "But of course you won’t. You just have to keep working."

It's some combination of how hard Robert is on himself and how down in the dumps he is about his recent performance that he refused to pin any blame on his hip injury or trade talks for his struggles, or that he basically said "haters gonna make some good points," in response to fans booing him after a strikeout Tuesday night.

"That’s how they feel and you have to respect that," Robert said via interpreter. "Nothing I can control. I’m passing through, I’m struggling right now."

"He wants to have better at-bats and have that success that comes with it," Sizemore said. "I think it’s a comfort and a confidence [thing] right now. He looks like he’s maybe lost a little bit of that, a little bit of comfort. And I think that happens with all hitters. He’s been through a lot this year."

It's pretty natural for any forward-thinking White Sox fan to ask what's being gained from this much playing time for 29-year-old Nicky Lopez, a non-tender candidate this winter simply by way of it being his final arbitration year and him not being a star-level player.

But he's been quietly dragging his season offensive numbers to what was expected/hoped for before the season began, posting a .377 on-base percentage since the All-Star break.

Nick Senzel has not appeared in a White Sox game since Aug. 5. This is not a "PLAY NICK SENZEL" section, because he's a 29-year-old on an expiring contract with poor career and season numbers. This is a section dedicated to morbid curiosity for how long a veteran player with no role on an awful rebuilding team will just lie fallow.

Obviously the addition of Miguel Vargas has changed the landscape for Senzel's playing time since he was acquired, but his marketable skills are defensive versatility around the corners and hitting left-handed pitching. Vargas is effectively the everyday third baseman, which is Senzel's primary position, and Corey Julks is getting the spare starts in the outfield corners against lefty starters. He could play first base, but Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets have both been playing regularly under Sizemore regardless of handedness.

So he's stuck! And about to have his seventh-straight game out of the lineup. In a season such as this one, you've got to find things that interest you.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Yankees

TV: NBCSCH, Amazon Prime Video, MLBN (Out of market).

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