Chris Flexen recently ended a streak of 21 appearances without his team winning a game--six innings of two-run ball, earning a no decision as a five-run ninth carried the White Sox to victory--so there are no limits to what he can next accomplish.
Breaking a still active franchise record streak of 21 starts without a win? Snapping a franchise record of 16 consecutive home losses? Stalling a streak of 20 consecutive series losses? Ending a humble four-game losing streak that would be taxing for a normal team? It's all on the table until reality sets in at some point in the seventh inning.
Maybe reality set in as GM Chris Getz was on the television broadcast Friday night informing viewers that the Sox wouldn't be heavily involved in free agency next season and will need to rely on internal improvement.
That the Sox weren't going to be active in free agency is something that could have been deduced from public comments by their chief revenue officer, franchise and ownership history, front office rhetoric, spending habits of rebuilding teams, reading and subscribing to Sox Machine, but as someone who keeps ducking out of games early to attend concerts, I appreciate the difference between understanding something and hearing it outright.
Getz believes that sound decisions to strengthen the organization's processes and resources will eventually bear fruit, even if there are no big cash-fueled injections to speed it along. And fans rightly horrified by present results and recent track record, have zero faith that someone so deeply involved in half of the 100-loss seasons in the franchise's 124-year history has the organization on the right track, especially if their response to historic futility is abstain from the most immediate method of improvement. It's a match made in...well...here.
Luis Robert Jr. is hitting .209/.236/.294 since the All-Star break, with two of his three home runs in that 46-game span coming in one game. Weird! Dispiriting!
Stranger still, is that Robert hit .241/.327/.489 in 36 games between returning from injury and going into the All-Star break, which puts a crimp in the widely used explanation that the big interruption to his season and timing is to blame.
"Getting hurt early in the year, that kills everything," said Grady Sizemore, "You need those April and May [at-bats] to find your stride and see where you’re at physically, see where your swing’s at and kind of get into a rhythm. To have a major injury like that and have it shut down and go back there and get healthy and then come back midseason when everyone else is sharp is also hard. I think that he was behind the eight ball from the start of this year. There’s so many bright years ahead of him. He’s too gifted, too talented to not bounce back."
With Robert's talent, no one would be surprised if the White Sox dealt him and he flourished elsewhere. It's just that to recoup trade value, or just--gulp--produce a better major league product, the White Sox need to figure out how to revitalize Robert here.
As both old school baseball bromides and a Saberseminar presentation I watched about lineup protection and pitch usage suggest, a better supporting cast could help.
"When you get off to a slow start and your team's not winning, it's hard to slow it down, it's hard not to put the pressure on yourself and play tense and get tight," Sizemore said. "I know that from experience, and I'm that all those guys, him and [Andrew Benintendi] and [Andrew] Vaughn were all doing that early in the year. We're all trying to be the guy, the hero to come up big and be the clutch guy to have the big season to carry us through there. And sometimes when we're all struggling, it's a domino effect."
For my money, Sizemore's best answer of the day came when asked about the White Sox inability to exhibit any sign of homefield advantage, as they cruise toward the first season of 60 home losses in major league history.
"We're not getting a lot of wins anywhere," he said.
First pitch: White Sox vs. Athletics
TV: NBCSCH
Lineups:
| White Sox | Athletics | |
|---|---|---|
| Nicky Lopez, SS | 1 | Lawrence Butler, RF |
| Luis Robert Jr., CF | 2 | Brent Rooker, DH |
| Andrew Benintendi, DH | 3 | JJ Bleday, CF |
| Gavin Sheets, 1B | 4 | Shea Langeliers, C |
| Bryan Ramos, 3B | 5 | Seth Brown, LF |
| Zach DeLoach, LF | 6 | Zach Gelof, 2B |
| Lenyn Sosa, 2B | 7 | Tyler Soderstrom, 1B |
| Dominic Fletcher, RF | 8 | Max Schuemann, 3B |
| Chuckie Robinson, C | 9 | Jacob Wilson, SS |
| Chris Flexen | SP | J.T. Ginn |
