Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 3, Rays 2

The White Sox won! I just got caught up on Stranger Things, so maybe we’re all trapped in the Upside Down, but I’ll take it if that’s where the White Sox win games. Let’s check out the stats behind this win.

The Starters

Dylan Cease had a weird day against Tampa Bay. His pitches were all over the place, threw almost as many balls as strikes, and walked seven. Yet he struck out five and only allowed one hit, and was not charged for any earned runs. Nearly every Rays at-bat seemed like it took 10 minutes as Cease often worked a full count, and the 101 pitches show how rough his day was.

Cease’s outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Drew Rasmussen was the more economical pitcher today, with just 81 pitches. His numbers aren’t as impressive as Cease’s, but Rasmussen was able to pitch through seven innings while Cease struggled to get through five.

Rasmussen’s 81-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Pressure Play

Kendall Graveman managed to get himself in quite the eighth-inning pickle, loaded the bases with two outs. Thankfully, Isaac Paredes hit the ball straight to Danny Mendick’s glove for an effortless throw to first for the out. The Rays challenged the call, but were unsuccessful with getting that overturned. Graveman’s LI was possibly the highest I’ve seen in two seasons of cracking Six Packs, coming in at 8.16.

Pressure Cooker

Kendall Graveman certainly faced the most game pressure, as he nearly blew the game in the eighth inning. Graveman’s pLI was a super-high 4.99.

Top Play

Jake Burger carried the White Sox on his back as he hit one out of the park, scoring himself and Mendick and providing the eventual winning margin. His WPA was an outstanding .517.

Top Performer

We all know who wins this: Burgatron himself! His two-run home run put the White Sox in the win column for the first time in forever. Burger’s WPA was a wonderful .517. His girlfriend and dog were also in attendance.

Smackdown

Hardest hit Jake Burger’s delightful two-run home run in the eighth inning not turned the tables on the Rays, but also was smoked at 107.8 mph. I hope his girlfriend Ashlyn treats him to a milkshake tonight.

Weakest contact Yandy Díaz reached first on an error after gently hitting the ball at 66.6 mph.

Luckiest hit Andrew Vaughn tried to keep the eighth inning rally going, as he sent a ball to shortstop for a single. The xBA, however, was .090.

Toughest out Vidal Bruján sent the ball out to right, but it was quickly gloved for an out in the second inning. Bruján’s xBA was .790.

Longest hit The only home run in the game also wins in this category. The Burger Bomb traveled 427 feet.

Magic Number: 15

Liam Hendriks is one of the top-ranked relief pitchers in the American League, sitting second in saves with 15..

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