But for the grace of the baseball gods, go thee Cub fans when one looks at the White Sox tailspin.
The jump the season moment was probably when manager Robin Ventura had his best consistent hitter, Melky Cabrera, bunt with two runners on in a scoreless game. Moving the runners up one base for Todd Frazier would be fine but Frazier, like the rest of the Sox, have been struggling at the plate. In the post game, Frazier took the bullet saying it was up to him to drive in the runners.
It is Ventura that continues to have a large target on his back. He got a great vote of confidence from his players after the Adam LaRouche nonsense. But the team has underperformed badly in the last two seasons.
The White Sox got off to a great start with excellent starting pitching. But in the span of a week, the White Sox went from first in the AL Central to third. Jose Quintana pitched extremely well but the Mets sent the White Sox to their seventh straight
loss with a 1-0 defeat. Quintana lost
for the fifth time in 10 decisions despite limiting New York to a run
and six hits in seven innings. Quintana has a 2.13 ERA but is a .500 pitcher. Previously, the White Sox season was crushed when the Royals came back from a 7-1 deficit in the 9th inning humble the South Siders. The White Sox have lost 15 of 19 and are
now only sit two games above .500.And the "bad" losses continue to pile up.
The offense has been the key to the slide. It has been feast or famine at the plate. The Sox seem to only look for the long ball to score runs. They don't seem to have the plate discipline to take walks or drive the ball to the opposite field to sustain long innings. In 52 games, the Sox have scored 4 runs/game and pitching has given up 3.69 runs/game. The best batting average is .284 by Adam Eaton.
As some commentators mentioned, the team needs a "spark" to stop this losing streak. But this is a veteran ball club that should be able to make their own sparks. Management continues to be in "win now" mode (with rumors that the team is interested in trading for Padres expensive starter James Shields) but does the roster really have the talent to win now? Or are the Sox "wasting" the prime years of Chris Sale?
The Sox really don't need pitching help. It needs one or two bats in the middle of line up. Tim Anderson, the #1 prospect, has not lit up AAA this year. He is the shortstop of the future. But the window of winning is now. The team could use a left handed power hitter to play a corner outfield spot. But most teams are not thinking trade at the end of May.
Some preseason writers think this is the true Sox team: a .500 scuffling club. But the rare quick start had raised expectations for Sox fans. The next two weeks will be critical for the Sox long term success.
