Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 5, Blue Jays 2

After losing an incredibly winnable game to open the series against the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada, on Tuesday the Chicago White Sox came out hot to guarantee themselves a win right from the first pitch of the game to the last. The offense, pitching, and defense complemented one another very well in this series-tying victory.

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The Starters

Dylan Cease has really solidified his official nickname of Dylan SHEESH! He’s doing it all, and he’s doing it really well. Through seven innings, Cease gave up four hits, one run (a .050 xBA home run), and one walk. He struck out seven and is emitting confidence and ease on the mound. Truly personifying the number on his back.

The 95 pitches he tossed looked like this:

Baseball Savant

José Berríos knew it was not his night by the fifth pitch of his outing, when José Abreu launched a three-run shot to open the game’s scoring. Through three innings of work, the Jays’ José gave up nine hits and four runs. On the bright side, he struck out six, to zero walks.

Berríos’ abbreviated, 68-pitch outing (which Cease accomplished through exactly five innings) breaks down like this:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

Michael Kopech came into the eighth in relief of Dylan Cease. He allowed two baserunners, while recording an out. However, after nine pitches, he left, and Liam Hendriks came into the game. Liam walked the bases loaded, but he forced a 3.13 LI Vladimir Guerrero Jr. double play to leave the inning unscathed, Sox up 5-1.

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Pressure Cooker

Tasked with the five-out save and having to throw 39 pitches, Liam Hendriks recorded his 29th save while facing a 1.54 pLI.

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Top Play

José Abreu’s three-run home run to open the scoring in the first inning gave the South Siders a .168 WPA play and all that they would need to win the ball game.

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Top Performer

Dylan Cease was straight-up dealing! His .220 WPA and Abreu’s .164 WPA propelled the Sox to this Tuesday evening victory!

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: Luis Robert wasted no time and got the night started by driving the first pitch of the game to center field with an exit velocity of 110.7 mph.

Weakest contact: Corey Dickerson’s fifth inning pop out left his bat at 58.9 mph.

Luckiest hit: Corey Dickerson squared up a solid pitch against Cease in the seventh and sent the pitch over the right field wall for a no-doubt home run. Looking at the Statcast metrics, its 91.9 exit velocity, 32-degree launch angle, and .050 xBA created a home run for that ball that traveled 358 feet — talk about playing to the strength of the ball park for the home team.

Toughest out: Brian Goodwin’s second inning line out is a hit 84% of the time.

Longest hit: Four pitches after the hardest hit came the White Sox’s José’s three-run home run, traveling 411 feet.

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Magic Number: 18

The South Side Sluggers recorded an astonishing 18 hits. This offense is dangerous when it clicks, and it was a breath of fresh air after a string of games void of this offensive potential.

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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

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South Side Sox Roll Call

Wow, 446 comments for a Tuesday night game after a flat loss! Nello Rubio cruised to the win on this very active night.

As for green, we did see some. Uribe Down and BillyK0ch shared honors for top comment, with six recs apiece: