Just a few months ago, I had given up on Jose, thrown in the towel. I wanted nothing to do with him anymore. After one particularly frustrating 7 walk performance in Oakland, I went so far as to give my solution for how to deal with The Count.
In summation:
How far we've come since that day. Far indeed. Since then he is 11-2 with 3.02 ERA. Amazingly, that ERA includes two games where he allowed 6 or more earned runs. -- When Contreras is on, he's absolutely dominating.
- Punch him in the face
- Don't let him call his own game, but make him think he's calling his own game.
- All that shit we tried before.
- Take the bat with you. Punch him in the face. Then hit him with the bat.
Since August 1st, the White Sox have compiled a dismal 24-26 record. Contreras has gotten the win in a third of those games (8-1, 2.03 ERA). To put it another way, since the calendar changed to August, the Sox have a record of 9-1 in games started by Contreras and 15-25 in games started by anyone else.
There's your "ace" folks.