The Season Is 5% Over. Let’s overreact!

It’s a fan’s nature to overreact to small sample sizes. What else do we have to do, really? It’s not like we can turn in a lineup card or make a call to the bullpen.

Here’s a few takes that White Sox fans may have early in the 2021 season. Are they overreactions, or will they hold true when 90% of the season is gone?

The team defense is terrible.

Overreaction? Not at all. The defense has been brutal. BUT, it’s possible (and even likely) that the team is pressing early due to an unfamiliarity with expectations of being, you know, good. So while this is not an overreaction right now, in August, we’ll look back at this period as an aberration. I mean, balls aren’t going to keep bouncing off Luis Robert’s head. One hopes.

Nick Madrigal sucks, or is at best merely replacement-level.

Overreaction? Ehhh, probably. The major league game is clearly moving faster on him than he anticipated, and we were told he had a high floor and a ready-for-MLB-on-Day-1 baseball IQ. His defense and baserunning have not shown that at all, to be kind. His OBP isn’t high enough to make up for lack of power. However, he has played a grand total of 35 major league games. In a non-pandemic, parallel universe, it is mid-to late May in his rookie year (depending on if he was held down for service time). I am not giving up on him yet. Check back with me in June, though.

While we’re at it, Andrew Vaughn is overrated, too.

Overreaction? Yes. He has some work to do, too, but he’s shown encouraging patience at the plate, and he’s not made any cringe-worthy plays in left field. Yes, that’s what passes for good news at that position right now.

The bullpen is giving me a heart attack! Or making me want to throw things.

Overreaction? Nope. A few truly horrible meltdowns that were painful to watch.

This is all Tony La Russa’s fault.

Overreaction? Ummm, maybe. He took responsibility for the horrible loss to Seattle, which he should have. We’re not hearing any leaks from the clubhouse that he’s grumbling about the game being played “the right way,” which was my primary concern going in. He’s made some questionable decisions, but my personal jury is still out on TLR. (And I am on record as hating the hire when it happened.)

I’ve seen enough; this team will finish third or worse in the division.

Overreaction? Yes. The Sox, on the whole, have played about as terribly as they can and are still 4-4. They have been in every game.

Yermín Mercedes, AL Rookie of the Year

Overreaction? No. If you doubt The Yermín Season of Destiny, you hate baseball. And fun.

Back when I did game recaps, I finished with LL’s Three Things, so, for old time’s sake ...

This rebuild might actually work: Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet have nine Ks in six innings between the two of them. Also, the offense is real.

I watched so you didn’t have to: Pick an error, any error. There are seven to choose from!

This is what being a Sox fan feels like: Having your husband ask who Nick Williams is, and you say, “Our fourth-string left fielder. Yes, in Game 8.”

Hit the comments with your early-season takes, and if you think they’re an overreaction or not!