Gamethread: White Sox at Dodgers

The Chicago White Sox (30-39) take on the Los Angeles Dodgers (38-30) in the series finale, and of course Sox fans are hoping that the Good Guys can snag a series win from one of the best organizations in baseball. Would that mark a turning point? Who knows, we probably said the same thing weeks ago after snapping the 10-game losing streak.

Dylan Cease is most certainly not having a similar season as last year, where he finished second in Cy Young voting. This year, rather, he has a 3-3 record, with a 4.38 ERA and 1.34 WHIP, which is certainly not where he wants to be. If you told me in at the end of last season that Cease would be one of Chicago’s struggling starting pitchers, I certainly wouldn’t have believed you. He relies heavily on his fastball (40.8%), as well as a slider that is utilized 39% of the time. Let’s hope the slider is slidin’, because the Sox sure could use a series win before heading up to Seattle.

Andrew Benintendi takes a back seat this evening after getting hit by a pitch last night, however, I’m not sure anyone told Pedro Grifol that his replacement doesn’t necessarily need to bat in his same spot. Gavin Sheets now sits at the 2-spot, and All-Star candidate Luis Robert Jr. will bat third for the Pale Hose, after smoking his own homer out to left last night.

Eloy Jiménez is settling in nicely in the cleanup spot after his return from the IL, and he’s hitting .286 over the last five games. Of course, Jake Burger is the talk of the town, after blasting a pair of homers last night — propelling the Sox to victory — and he will bat fifth, looking to lead the team to a series W. He’s hitting so well that the South Siders batting average leader, Yasmani Grandal, doesn’t even come up until seventh. There’s so much talent on this team, perhaps someone just needs to tell them how to use it.

Here’s how Pedro lines them up tonight:

Michael Grove is on the mound for the Dodgers, and he’s had a rough year (8.28 ERA) ... naturally, I assume the White Sox will make him look like he’s an All-Star. Grove relies heavily on his fastball, which he throws 43.8% of the time, as well as his slider, which doesn’t seem to be as effective as Cease’s given his 2023 ERA. But remember, this is the White Sox we are talking about. The Dodgers continue to rock with the dangerous bats of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and more, so Cease will surely be challenged tonight.

Time for the South Siders to make some noise on the West Coast, and take a series win on up to Seattle. You can catch the action in the usual locations, NBC Sports Chicago and ESPN-AM 1000.

Let’s go Sox!