Six Pack of Stats: Royals 4, White Sox 2

The Chicago White Sox dropped yet another key division game against the Kansas City Royals, their first game without All-Star shortstop, Tim Anderson (end of his suspension/start of his lengthy absence due to a torn ligament). Sadly, this once again brings the White Sox one step closer to .500 (what else is new?) and giving them more obstacles to overcome as we approach the stretch run of the season.

The Starters

Lance Lynn battled through six innings today, however, two home run balls gave the Royals the cushion they needed. All four runs came at the hands of Lynn, who ultimately gave up seven hits and four earned runs throughout his six innings, while walking just one. He was able to strike out five Royals batters, though he appears to still be struggling establishing dominance throughout his outings. After 90 pitches, his ERA now stands at a 5.88, though we as White Sox fans are still hoping there is the Cy-nominated version of him before the end of the season.

His 90-pitch outing went down like this:

Baseball Savant

While the South Side offense continues to struggle to produce runs, Brady Singer did the thing where he looks like a Top 5 pitcher against the White Sox. Singer limited the Sox to five hits through his 7 ¹⁄₃ innings, racking up six K’s in the process. He, however, is now at a 3.49 ERA. Typical outing where Brady destroys the lineup.

Singer’s 99 pitches looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Pressure Play

Josh Harrison came up in the ninth inning with one out and runners on first and second, after the Sox had just chipped away at the deficit, bringing the score to 4-2. Harrison ultimately struck out, leaving the Sox short-handed under an LI of 3.91.

Pressure Cooker

Reliever Jose Cuas pitched a tight ninth inning, racking up a 3.38 pLI. For the White Sox, Yasmani Grandal’s sole at-bat, a ground out to first, led to a team-high 2.84 pLI.

Top Play

Vinnie Pasquatino homered off of Lance Lynn in the bottom of the third to put the Royals up early, 2-1. That homer added .234 WPA for K.C.

Top Performer

Brady Singer ran up a .240 WPA, barely edging out teammate Nick Pratto (.234). The top Sox WPA in the opener was Josh Harrison, at .055 WPA.

Smackdown

Hardest hit: Salvador Perez had the first hit of the game, which left the bat at 108.4 mph.

Weakest contact: AJ Pollock popped out in the third, that left the bat at just 53.4 mph. It also had an xBA of .010, so it was pretty much doomed from the start.

Luckiest hit: Jose Abreu’s single in the ninth had just an xBA of .030, which is a hit just 3% of the time. We sure do love August Abreu.

Toughest out: Yoán Moncada lined out in the fifth on a ball that left the bat at 105.2 mph — the third highest EV in the game — and is a hit 73% of the time. Brutal.

Longest hit: Abreu and Michael Massey both had fly outs that traveled 401 feet. Even the home runs in the game didn’t fly as far.

Magic Number: 7

Usually seven is a lucky number — but seven hits, and seven left on base doesn’t cut it today. The White Sox continue to strand runners and fail to score runs when the opportunity arises.

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