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“We’re mired in mediocrity. That’s not the goal, that’s not acceptable, that’s not what we’re trying to accomplish for the long-term.” — Rick Hahn, July 21, 2016
“A beautiful house takes five years to build. The builder tells you that. After 2.5 years you rant and rave that it’s not good. Is that shocking to you? It’s an instant gratification society. You’re not happy. We get it. The job is halfway done. Enjoy the process or don’t. Up to you.” — Steve Stone via Twitter, July 17, 2019
Oh hey! The Blue Jays shut out the White Sox. It is April 25, 2023, and the White Sox are 7-17, right behind the Tigers and just barely ahead of the 5-18 Royals. So, with Hahn and Stone’s messaging to fans, I have to wonder when it might just get better.
The Starter
José Berríos went through seven innings only allowing five hits, one walk, and striking out nine. The White Sox couldn’t buy a run if they wanted to. Of course, Jerry Reinsdorf would never spend money like that.
Berríos’ 103-pitch outing looked like this:
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Pressure Play
Danny Jansen’s three-run home run in the second inning had the starting pitcher sweating early on. The LI for the play was 2.05.
Pressure Cooker
The starting pitcher for the White Sox faced the most pressure in a blowout game of his own creation, with a 0.71 pLI.
Top Play
Jansen’s three-run, .230 WPA home run gave the Blue Jays all they needed to win the game since the White Sox aren’t capable of hitting the ball in the air.
Top Performer
Jansen was tonight’s star, with three hits, two home runs, four runs batted in, and a .258 WPA.
Smackdown
Hardest hit: George Springer started with a single tattooed at 108.3 mph.
Weakest contact: Hey, it’s a White Sox player! Gavin Sheets’ seventh-inning single was tapped at 47.0 mph.
Luckiest hit: Singles-machine George Springer hit another in the sixth, with a .080 xBA.
Toughest out: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s fly out in the fourth had a .700 xBA.
Longest hit: Danny Jansen’s home run traveled 392 feet.
Magic Number: 10
As a reminder, it’s still April and the White Sox are 10 under .500. Cool.
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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