South Side Sox Summary: Week 20

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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It was another perplexing week of White Sox baseball with a tale of two different clubs. They played the Yankees, who came into the week 58-52, and the Brewers, who were 60-53. Pretty similar records by both, and the Sox took two of three from New York and got swept by Milwaukee. There’s just no rhyme or reason to when they win and when they lose; frankly, it’s maddening.

We are rooting for and covering an aimless team led by a front office that is a sandwich short of a picnic. It feels arduous to analyze anything in this wholly lost season. Without direction and serious leadership, it often feels like the future is pretty hopeless.

It’s possible that when the 2023 season concludes, there will be some compelling transformations both on and off the field. And honestly, it’s probably the best we can hope for to turn this franchise around.

So onward we go, South Side Sox readers. Let’s review the week that was.

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The Recaps Worth Revisiting

Monday, August 7: White Sox 5, Yankees 1

Dylan Cease carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and we saw a glimpse of the Cy Mustached Man of old. Despite walking seven batters, he made it through 5 1⁄3_, surrendering no runs on one hit and striking out six. A rag-tag team of bullpen arms, including Brent Honeywell, Lane Ramsey, and Brian Shaw, finished things off, allowing only one run.

Garrett Cole, who? Yeah, the Good Guys had no problem with the Yankees ace. Andrew Vaughn powered up the offense with a two-run 104.4 mph blast in the bottom of the second. Then, Andrew Benintendi and usual suspect Luis Robert Jr. provided some extra wiggle room with three combined RBIs in the bottom of the eighth.

Wednesday, August 9: White Sox 9, Yankees 2

Contender? You wanna be a contender? Well, too bad. The Sox tossed the Bronx Bombers aside like they were lowly Oakland A’s as the pitching and offense clicked on all cylinders. The Pale Hose racked up 11 hits, including a two-hit game from Yasmani Grandal, Elvis Andrus, and Yoán Moncada.

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The Defensive Disport of the Week

Andrew Vaughn’s Spikes Glitter Like Gold

With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the sixth inning, AV flashed some leather. He made a diving grab on Jake Bauers’ shot down the first base line to end the Yankees’ threat. Vaughn is one of only six players on the team with at least one defensive run saved.

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The Week’s Top Three Biggest BLASTS

Oscar Colás, 430 feet, Wednesday, August 9

In the bottom of the second, Oscar crushed a two-run dinger to right-center field, expanding the lead to 3-0. It was his third bomb of the year and first home run of the season at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Yoán Moncada, 430 feet, Saturday, August 12

With his fourth knock of the season, Moncada drilled a solo shot to center field, which extended the Sox lead to 2-0.

Eloy Jiménez., 419 feet, Friday, August 11

Eloy smashed his 14th round-tripper to left field in the bottom of the third. The two-run drive momentarily gave the squad a 4-2 lead.

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Prospect Peek

Pitcher Mason Adams is turning some heads. A starter out of Jacksonville University in Florida, he was the White Sox 13th-round pick (No. 401) in the 2022 MLB Draft. The 23-year-old began the 2023 season in Low-A for the Kannapolis Cannonballers, where he dominated with his big league 60-grade slider. With an impressive 3.36 ERA, 10.89 K/9, and 2.09 BB/9 over 77 2⁄3 innings, the righthander was promoted to High-A Winston-Salem this week. He earned a quality start in his first appearance with the Dash on Aug. 13, when he gave up two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three. He should move quickly through the system if he continues to put up solid numbers.

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Other Tasty Tidbits

Luis Robert Jr. joined some exceptional company last week when he swiped his 15th and 16th bags on Wednesday. Only Robert and Shohei Ohtani so far this season have hit 30-plus bombs and stolen 15-plus bases. La Pantera is having himself a year, and would it not be for Ohtani, he might have had a chance at MVP consideration. Staying healthy has been significant for the 26-year-old center fielder, allowing him to put up All-Star numbers. Right now, he’s accumulated a 4.8 WAR and is slashing .271/.385/.563 with a .889 OPS and 138 OPS+. However, his health luck may have run out as Pedro Grifol pulled him from Wednesday’s game after he sprained his left pinky finger on a stolen base. He hasn’t batted in a game since, but he is also not on the IL. Are you scratching your head? Yea, so are we.

The Sox claimed Deivi García off waivers from the Bronx Bombers on Thursday, Aug. 10, after the Yankees DFA’d the righthander earlier in the week. The twenty-four-year-old made his professional debut with six starts in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He has spent most of this year with Triple-A Scranton but made two brief appearances with the big league club in May and July out of the pen, where he had a 1.59 ERA in 5 2⁄3 innings.

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Running Down the Rehabbers

On Aug. 6, the Pale Hose placed catcher Seby Zavala on the 10-day IL with a strained left oblique. Grifol said the injury was not serious. Carlos Pérez was the corresponding move, coming up from Charlotte to fill in as backup catcher.

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What’s next?

The South Siders only play five games this week, with two at Wrigley Field against their north-side foes and three in Colorado. The second-place Cubs are in the postseason hunt for either the NL Central title or a Wild Card spot within their grasp. Currently, they are 3 1⁄2 games back of the Milwaukee Brewers and one game out of a Wild Card slot. They’re coming in hot, winning four of their last seven games.

The Rockies are sitting in the cellar of the NL West, 26 games back of the first-place Dodgers. Colorado has a slightly worse record than the Sox at 46-73, and after coming off of a terrible 2022 season where they went 68-94. It’s possible this year will be even worse yet, as they are playing without two of their biggest stars. Charlie Blackmon has been out with a broken hand since June 10, and Kris Bryant has been out with a fractured finger since July 22.

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