Six Pack of Stats: Giants 12, White Sox 3

FanGraphs

The Home Opener didn’t go as many would expect, as the Chicago White Sox got smacked around in the first game of the series by the San Francisco Giants, 12-3, , losing their third game of the year. The bullpen has been the struggle point for the White Sox, but today, the starting pitching is where the White Sox faltered. Their record is now 2-3 on the season as we move into an off-day tomorrow. Time to regroup, boys!

The Starters

Michael Kopech’s first inning felt like it was a totally different game than his next four. He started out strong, getting a 1-2-3 inning, looking completely under control. Everything pretty much went downhill from there for Kopech. Joc Pederson tagged him for a solo shot in the second, Unfortunately, that was just the first of five bombs given up by Kopech today — the other four coming all in the top of the fifth. It was a meatball Monday on the South Side, and the Giants were feasting. The only pitch the Giants didn’t hit out of the park was Kopech’s changeup ... which he used exclusively against left-handed batters. Kopech ultimately gave up seven earned runs on eight hits, walking three and striking out five. His ERA after his first start sits at a 13.50. Let’s hope that this will remain an outlier after he gets some quality starts under his belt.

Kopech’s 91-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Anthony DeSclafani did not nearly struggle as much as Kopech did today, looking solid and commanding during his six innings. The White Sox offense once again couldn’t capitalize in situations with RISP. There was some decent contact here and there, but nothing much outside of Moncada’s second-inning double pushed past third base, and a couple of fourth-inning base hits from Eloy Jiménez and Andrew Benintendi. DeSclafani secured his first win of the season, giving up only three hits, striking out four, and not walking a single South Sider hitter — can’t say I’m too surprised about that.

DeSclafani’s 73-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Pressure Play

After back-to-back singles from Benintendi and Jiménez, Yoán Moncada had a chance to spark a comeback in the fourth, only down 3-0. Sadly, he grounded into a double play to end the inning, The play had an LI of 2.10.

Pressure Cooker

Eloy Jiménez faced the most pressure today — just edging out Yoán Moncada — coming up in key situations with runners on, and getting on base twice in the process. JIménez’s pLI was 0.83.

Top Play

Joc Pederson’s second-inning homer gave the Giants an early lead. The play had a .108 WPA.

Top Performer

Anthony DeSclafani was the game’s best, after his impressive, three-hit, scoreless outing. He had a WPA of 0.213.

Smackdown

Hardest hit: Eloy Jiménez’s single in the fourth inning left the bat at a whopping 112.3 mph.

Weakest contact: Thairo Estrada had the two weakest hits of the game, though his ground out in the first came off the bat at just 21.2 mph.

Luckiest hit: Thairo Estrada’s second plate appearance resulted in a base hit, after leaving the bat at just 39 mph and recording a measly .210 xBA.

Toughest out: Tim Anderson scorched a line drive in the third — too bad it was hit right to the center fielder. This out had an xBA of .670 ... pain.

Longest hit: Joc Pederson’s home run in the second off of Michael Kopech traveled 432 feet.

Magic Number: 7

A new record was tied at Guaranteed Rate Field today — seven home runs in a single game given up by White Sox pitching. Joy!!

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