Pregame notes: Showdown of model franchises

One team in this matchup is owned by a man whose blatant disinterest in fielding a winning team, the experience of long-suffering paying fans, or the finances and needs of multiple local governments has made him the target of well-earned scathing criticism from across the sports world.

And the other team is Jerry Reinsdorf's worst-in-baseball Chicago White Sox, who might have pretty similar problems.

Ostensibly the news of the day is Jake Eder getting called up. Because of the strength and potential of his bigger breaking ball and low angle left-handed delivery, Eder is ranked as high at No. 11 in the White Sox system by Baseball America (one spot behind Bryan Ramos) despite his recent performance record in this organization suggesting he's closer to unusable.

A session with Brian Bannister added a seam-shifted changeup and a cutter to his game, and taught Eder that he was a natural supinator. But the breakthrough in understanding how his stuff worked didn't arrest a second half slide or help Eder have any success in Charlotte.

Eder was atrocious in Triple-A, walking 27 in 34 2/3 innings with a 9.87 ERA, and was recalled in the wake of allowing three home runs in four innings during his last outing. Grady Sizemore said Eder will be treated similarly as Jairo Iriarte: clean single innings of relief in low leverage with plenty of rest in between. It's in line with Bannister's previously stated preference for giving starter prospects a late look in the bullpen, it's just that with Eder's current level of progress, even that could be asking too much.

The one soothing element of Bryan Ramos' fight to find playing time is knowing that on the 2024 White Sox, one series of looking hitterish is probably all it takes to become a fixture. Another opposing left-handed starter is a big factor in Ramos leading off, since Gavin Sheets and Nicky Lopez are both sitting, but Sizemore's praise of the 22-year-old is trending pretty romantic, so it's hard to believe he'll go back to riding the pine for games on end.

"When I first got up here and I was going to the complex everyday in December, and there was one guy that I saw there everyday and it was Ramos in the gym, in the cage, working on his routine," Sizemore said. "Hopefully he can get us going a little bit at the top of the lineup, and also it gives him a chance to get an extra at-bat that he wasn't getting when he was down in the lineup. So I'm going to get him as much exposure as I can."

Garrett Crochet is nine strikeouts away from 200 for the season. He probably won't get there in four innings of work. But maybe! Probably not.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Athletics

TV: NBCSCH

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