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Welp, it was fun while it lasted. The White Sox fell to the Astros and have been eliminated from the postseason. The energy was drained, Cane Guy was possibly hexed by a higher power, and the offense and fantastic pitching we’ve seen all season were MIA. Tony La Russa’s “Hall of Fame” postseason and bullpen management that was promised was left somewhere in St. Louis, as well.
But let's now dwell on what could’ve been. Here’s the story behind the numbers.
The Starters
Carlos Rodón was solid through two innings, with three strikeouts and unexpectedly high velocity that pushed triple figures. Alas, he got stuck in a jam by walking José Altuve, and Alex Bregman’s double put the Astros in the lead. While the strike zone was a little wild today, Rodón still struggled with his command, and only his slider really did anything for him. Rodón was quickly replaced by Michael Kopech for the last out of the third, and Kopech had his own fires to put out. I won’t go on my Michael Kopech is being grossly misused rant right now.
Rodón’s 56-pitch outing looked like this:
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Lance McCullers Jr. only seemed to have issues with Gavin Sheets. McCullers walked three but struck out five keeping the White Sox to just one run. Unfortunately for Houston’s future in the playoffs, McCullers left the game after just four innings, feeling forearm tightness.
McCullers’ 73-pitch outing looked like this:
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Pressure Play
Carlos Correa’s double to left that brought in José Altuve and Alex Bregman, and advanced Yordan Alvarez to third, brought the mood down for the White Sox. The LI was 3.36.
Pressure Cooker
Carlos Rodón faced the most heat during the game, as he started struggling in the third inning and couldn’t finish the frame. His pLI was 1.32.
Top Play
Correa’s double that put the Astros ahead for the rest of the game topped the WPA scales at .204.
Top Performer
José Altuve is technically the top performer with a WPA of 0.12. However, Gavin Sheets was right behind him with a WPA of 0.11.
Smackdown
Hardest hit: José Altuve’s first-inning double left the bat at 107.6 mph.
Weakest contact: Martin Maldonado’s sac bunt only came off the bat at 24.8 mph.
Luckiest hit: Chas McCormick’s sixth inning single had an xBA of only .130.
Toughest out: Gavin Sheets had a line out to first base in the seventh inning that had an xBA of .570.
Longest hit: Gavin Sheets carried the White Sox on his back today. His second-inning home run traveled 408 feet.
Magic Number: 21-11
This is my record for games covered this season. It’s been fun to put together the stats for so many games, and I appreciate everyone reading, commenting, and voting in the polls. I look forward to doing this again next season.
Glossary
Hard-hit is any ball off the bat at 95 mph or more
LI measures pressure per play
pLI measures total pressure faced in-game
Whiff a swing-and-miss
WPA win probability added measures contributions to the win
xBA expected batting average
Poll
Who was your White Sox MVP?
This poll is closed
-
39%
Gavin Sheets: Solo HR, 0.11 WPA
(26 votes) -
6%
Ryan Tepera: 0 ER, 0.02 WPA
(4 votes) -
9%
The friends we made along the way
(6 votes) -
45%
The SSS Staff for terrific coverage all season long
(30 votes)
Poll
Who was your White Sox Cold Cat?
This poll is closed
-
31%
Literally everyone
(24 votes) -
32%
Tony La Russa’s bullpen management
(25 votes) -
1%
Sore muscles
(1 vote) -
35%
All of the above
(27 votes)
South Side Sox Roll Call
It certainly did not match Game 3’s unbelievable, near four-digit gamethread, but today’s season-capper rated 473 comments. steely3000 edged Nello Rubio out for the season’s final comment win, 57-56.
| # | Commenter | # Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | steely3000 | 57 |
| 2 | Nello Rubio | 56 |
| 3 | SuperMetroid | 38 |
| 4 | packpowerfan | 32 |
| 5 | bangkokhoosier | 27 |
| 6 | squellvine | 26 |
| 7 | shumway | 25 |
| 8 | Schoolly_D | 21 |
| 9 | GrinnellSteve | 19 |
| 10 | ruffster | 18 |
| 11 | baines03 | 12 |
| 12 | WIN05 | 12 |
| 13 | katiesphil | 11 |
| 14 | Pointerbabe | 9 |
| 15 | Ozziesox | 9 |
| 16 | DuhSox | 8 |
| 17 | Brett Ballantini | 7 |
| 18 | Gutteridge70 | 6 |
| 19 | mattcoz | 6 |
| 20 | NothinbutNets7 | 5 |
| 21 | Right Size Wrong Shape | 5 |
| 22 | Lurker Laura | 4 |
| 23 | Vincent Hammons | 4 |
| 24 | Oath Breaker | 4 |
| 25 | The Lonchair | 4 |
| 26 | 1969Vikings | 4 |
| 27 | goombafrank | 3 |
| 28 | AnoHito | 3 |
| 29 | Southside Boneman | 3 |
| 30 | Grendel Bruder | 3 |
| 31 | bleigh82 | 3 |
| 32 | mrridgman | 3 |
| 33 | Resjr. | 3 |
| 34 | Mark P. Liptak | 2 |
| 35 | Southside Hitman | 2 |
| 36 | billyok | 2 |
| 37 | CanuckStro2 | 2 |
| 38 | DonGutteridge | 2 |
| 39 | Max the Bear | 2 |
| 40 | Gromowicz | 1 |
| 41 | RockyZ | 1 |
| 42 | Trooper Galactus | 1 |
| 43 | Grzlby | 1 |
| 44 | fafafaaabian | 1 |
| 45 | steeplechased | 1 |
| 46 | venom truth | 1 |
| 47 | awmarks | 1 |
| 48 | pilotsheng | 1 |
| 49 | Darkrose | 1 |
| 50 | BillyK0chFanClub | 1 |
Not a ton of green, as apparently it works when we have a big game and a lot of comments. Mark Liptak and shumway shared honors today, with four recs apiece.
to get Yordan Alvarez swinging for the huge strikeout and get out of that first inning inning trouble!