The Chicago White Sox returned to Kauffman Stadium today for their fifth consecutive game against the Kansas City Royals, and it was great to see the team’s offense show up to play. The South Siders won with a final score of 7-4, bringing them back to .500 on the season.
The Starters
Vince Velasquez started on the mound for the White Sox and he stayed there for a pretty average five innings. Allowing Kansas City to score all four of their runs, Velasquez only managed to strike out three Royals batters and left the game with his ERA at pretty miserable 5.79. There was nothing particularly unusual about his pitch velocity — overall, his throws just didn’t quite hit the mark.
Velasquez’s 87-pitch outing looked like this:
Carlos Hernández came into the game with an ERA of 9.11, and his performance today saw him lower that all the way down to ... 9.10. He was pulled in the fourth inning, after the White Sox scored their second and third runs.
Hernández’s 77-pitch outing looked like this:
Pressure Play
All eyes were on AJ Pollock as he went up to bat in the fourth inning, but unfortunately he didn’t nail the play. With two outs, Pollock reached on fielder’s choice to third, and Luis Robert was out at second with the LI at 3.83.
Pressure Cooker
Kansas City’s relief pitcher Gabe Speier faced the most pressure in today’s game, with a 2.36 pLI.
Top Play
At the bottom of the first inning, Hunter Dozier hit a home run with Bobby Witt Jr. on base, giving the Royals a two-run lead early in the game. The play saw Dozier credited with a .194 WPA.
Top Performer
Today’s MVP is our favorite center fielder, Luis Robert. Going 3-for-4 with a key, two-run dinger, Robert ran up a ridiculous .414 WPA.
Smackdown
Hardest Hit: Hunter Dozier’s home run in the first inning flew off the bat at 109.9 mph.
Weakest Contact: Nicky Lopez gently grounded out in the seventh inning at just 54.0 mph.
Luckiest Hit: Andrew Vaughn’s single in the fourth inning had an xBA of just .040.
Toughest Out: Whit Merrifield’s seventh inning line out had an xBA of .930.
Longest Hit: Luis Robert’s eighth inning home run flew 415 feet.
Magic Number: 19
The White Sox are now 19-19 for the season, which is solidly mediocre. With the team now heading to a three-game series at Yankee Stadium, let’s hope that some of the offensive effort we saw today will make a reappearance.
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 the MVP of today’s 7-4 win for the White Sox?
This poll is closed
-
82%
Luis Robert: 3-for-4, R, HR, 4 RBI, K, .414 WPA
-
17%
Tim Anderson: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 2 BB (!), .350 WPA
-
0%
Andrew Vaughn: 2-for-4, R, K, .119 WPA
-
0%
Joe Kelly: IP, H, .105 WPA
Poll
Who was the Cold Cat of today’s 7-4 win over the Royals?
This poll is closed
-
21%
José Abreu: 0-for-3, 2 BB, K, GIDP, -.248 WPA
-
44%
Gavin Sheets: 0-for-5, 2 K, -.196 WPA
-
6%
Yoán Moncada: 1-for-5, R, 2K, -.176 WPA
-
17%
Vince Velasquez: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, HR, BB, 3 K, -.175 WPA
-
10%
Slavko Bekovic: Pregame fan-shaming tweet from the NBC Sports/White Sox broadcast mothership
Loading comments...