South Side Sox Summary: Week 17

Welcome to the SSS Summary — a little review of what happened this past week in Chicago White Sox baseball, including on-the-field play, the front office jibber-jabber, and everything in-between. Even if you don’t want to remember what happened, sorry, we will tell you anyway.

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If there was any remaining hope about whether or not this team could salvage the season, it has officially died. Yes, hope has unfortunately departed, right along with any faith I have that the future of the White Sox will be different as long as Jerry Reinsdorf owns the team and the front office remains unchanged.

Think about this: Rick Hahn as the head honcho, and has had two measly competitive seasons in 11 years of so-called leadership. If you were that bad at YOUR job, would you still be in it? Brian Cashman of the New York Yankees and Mike Rizzo of the Washington Nationals are the only general managers with longer tenures than Hahn, and they both have World Series rings to brag about.

What does Dick have? Two playoff wins. That’s it. The rebuild has been a complete collapse, and it’s way past time for someone to be held accountable.

My goal in creating and writing the weekly summary was to highlight the season’s positives, but the Sox have made this task categorically impossible. What satisfactory events can I possibly disertate when a team in its supposed contention window is genuinely appalling? Their record is a season-low 19 games worse than .500, and they’re on pace for a 66-96 finish. The last time they performed worse than that was in 2018, when they went 62-100 after Hahn and friends stripped the squad right down to the studs, and Yolmer Sánchez won the AL Gold Glove at second. Before that stellar season, you must take your time machine back to the 63-99 2013 club, and its Opening Day lineup that included the likes of Jeff Keppinger, Adam Dunn, Tyler Flowers, and an ancient Paul Konerko.

Like most of you, I’m honestly just really pissed off. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. As South Siders, we are passionate, loyal, and knowledgeable baseball devotees who deserve better, but I truly don’t know how or when that will happen. I wish I had a zillion dollars to buy the team and assemble the best of the best on the field and off. Clearly, I don’t, but I suppose until then, I’ll keep trying to prospect for small nuggets of gold (OK, maybe weathered mica is more accurate) that I can deliver to you, dear South Side Sox readers. Thank you for your loyalty and for hanging in there with us.

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The Recap Worth Revisiting

Thursday, July 20: White Sox 6, Mets 2

Michael Kopech was substantially better in this outing than on July 14, when Pedro gave him the old heave-ho before he could even finish the first inning. The righty still could not get a quality start, but did earn the W by pitching 5 2⁄3 innings, surrendering only one run on two hits, and striking out five. Walks remain an issue for Kopech, as he gave up four free passes, but he managed to maneuver around them. Aaron Bummer gave up the only other Mets run (I know, shocking), and Gregory Santos and Kendall Gravement finished it off.

The Good Guys welcomed José Quintana back for the 2023 season by tagging him for a run in each of the first two innings. He exited after the fifth, and the Sox drilled Drew Smith for four more tallies. Tim Anderson, Eloy Jiménez, and Zach Remillard all had two hits on the night, and Elvis Andrus drove in two with a two-out triple in the top of the seventh.

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The Standout Star of the Week

Too Little, Too Late

We saw flashes of the old Tim Anderson this week, as he went 10-for-25 with three RBIs and four runs. If only we had gotten this type of play from TA during the first three months of the season, who knows how different this team would be now? Probably not .500, but definitely not 19 games under, either.

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The Defensive Disport of the Week

The Rookie Makes the Play

Oscar Colás is one of only six players this season to have at least one defensive run saved. He made an incredible diving grab in the bottom of the fourth in Wednesday’s game. Yes, this is the same guy whose manager, Pedro Grifol, later on in the week told the media he needs to chill out. (“It might sound a little weird, but we want him to dial down the intensity.”) So let me get this straight. A young guy trying to make his way in the bigs needs to be less intense. Sure, it sounds like a winning strategy — the Kansas City Royals way.

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The Week’s Top Three Biggest BLASTS

Zach Remillard, 418 feet, Sunday, July 23

Remillard knocked his first major league dinger, a solo shot, to left center field in the top of the third inning, giving the Sox the 2-0 lead. A 418-foot bomb isn’t bad for your first-ever long ball.

Eloy Jiménez, 414 feet, Sunday, July 23

Eloy hit a solo four-bagger, his 13th, to left center field to put the Pale Hose on the board, 1-0, in the top of the second. The man has incredible raw power. It's frustrating that he just can’t stay on the field. He’s only played in 66 of 101 games this season.

Yasmani Grandal, 413 feet, Tuesday, July 18

Speaking of frustration, enter Yasmani Grandal. Sure, he hit his seventh oppo taco in the top of the second to kick off scoring for the Sox, but he’s posted a whopping 0.1 WAR in 2023. Yuck.

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Other Tasty Tidbits

The South Siders agreed to terms with seventh-round pick George Wolkow and 11th-rounder Rikuu Nishida last week. Wolkow, a local Downers Grove North High School graduate, grew up cheering for the Sox. He signed for $1 million, about $750,000 over slot value. The 6´7´´, 239-pound outfielder is said to have a vast power upside and is extremely athletic for his size. He had a full scholarship to the University of South Carolina, but decided to graduate early and reclassify for the 2023 draft. Second baseman Nishida played for the University of Oregon and signed for $170,000.

The team also DFA’d veteran reliever Bryan Shaw. He pitched in six games for Chicago, and had a 9.39 ERA.

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Running Down the Rehabbers

On July 22, the Sox reinstated Joe Kelly, who was dealing with right elbow inflammation. He pitched one inning on Sunday, gave up one hit, and struck out three. Yay! Trade value up.

Andrew Vaughn has been out of the lineup since July 18. He is struggling with a bone bruise after fouling a ball off his left foot last Tuesday. He is currently in a soft cast, but has not been placed on the IL. Why? No one knows or understands what this team does and why they do it. Maybe they think it MLB charges them every time they use the injured list.

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What’s next?

Get ready for Crosstown Classic, Round One — the Chicago Cubs head to Guaranteed Rate Field for a two-game set. The Cubbies aren’t great, but they’re better than the Sox. The North Siders sit in third place at 48-51, seven games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. Michael Kopech gets the ball for game one, and Lance Lynn takes the mound for game two. I highly anticipate that the Cubs will clobber the Sox, and honestly, they deserve it.

The squad ends the week with four games against their AL rival and second-place Cleveland Guardians. Ditto what I just said; it’s going to be a blood bath and another brutal week of South Side baseball. Strap it in.

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