Black Sox Blog

In a statistically heavy column at the Hardball Times, Sal Baxamusa analyzes which teams were the most consistent in 2007, i.e. which scored in a pocket of runs each and every games.  The White Sox had the most consistent offense in 2007.

It’s been a pretty disappointing season this year, both on the field and on this blog.  I have no excuse other then I didn’t want to be too negative so rather then posting the same old “White Sox lose again” post, I just kept quiet hoping for some kind of turnaround.  Well, I’m still waiting.  And I also feel bad because I never did do my 1917 White Sox diary.  I’ll probably try to catch it up in the offseason, but it’s not the same.  I have kept up the pace at the 1967 American League Pennant Race site but we all know that has a disappointing ending for White Sox fans.

I wish there was something you could point at to blame on the White Sox horrible season.  When you combine poor hitting, mediocre pitching and mediocre fielding, it makes for a wicked combination and as it stands, the White Sox actually have fewer projected wins based on their runs scored and runs against then the Devil Rays.  So as bad as the White Sox have played, they’ve actually outplayed their projected win/loss to the tune of five games.

The White Sox are still dead last in hitting and they’re 4.20 runs scored per game is the worst in baseball.  If the pitching was like it was in 2005, it might not mean as much but only Mark Buehrle has been “good” with Javier Vazquez and Jon Garland having fair seasons.  And while Bobby Jenks has been solid, the rest of the pen has been pretty bad.  Even the fielding, which was a huge factor in their 2005 World Series run, is way down.  They’re below average in defensive effeciency, outfield zone rating and infield zone rating.

So to sum it up, the White Sox deserve to be in last place.  The Royals are still a bad team, they’re just not as bad as the White Sox.  That’s not that things can’t be fixed, but that’s a discussion for the other day.

The White Sox can play spoiler though.  They’re beating the Tigers right now, and Detroit is clinging to their playoff hopes. 

Well, I’m about 99% there.  The White Sox were humiliated their last two games against the Red Sox and they now sit just one game ahead of the Royals.  The reason I’m 99% there is because the Sox play four against the first place Tigers.  If they can somehow sweep Detroit, I’ll put them back in the hunt.  Anything less then that isn’t going to cut it.

So with a week and change left until the trading deadline, we’ll probably have to contend with a White Sox team that’s out of it.  It’s been a while because for the past few years, the Sox have been competitive it just looked like things came to a head this year.  So the question is, who gets shipped out of town and who are the guys that the team is going to build around.  Mark Buehrle is going to be here after that contract extension. Jerry Owens and Josh Fields have struggled but it’s only their first year and I think Paul Konerko will be in town.  Everyone else is fair game.

The offense still stinks.  Last in the American League with a .243 batting average and they’re just ahead of the Padres who sit at .242 (despite contending for the NL West).  They’re last in the AL in slugging (.384) and OBP (.317) as well.  And they’re dead last in doubles, which is what’s dragging down their slugging because they’re actually middle of the pack in homeruns.

So we’ll see what happens.  There’s one more against Boston, then the four against Detroit.  If the White Sox are still 15 games down, I say start selling the farm.  Jon Garland is on the mound this afternoon and he’s having one of those bizarro seasons.  He’s better then he was last year, yet he’ll be lucky if he wins 14 games because of the horrible offense.  And his numbers are skewed by that beating he took at the hands of the Twins.  Prior to that, his numbers were very good and in seven of his last nine starts, he’s given up three runs or less.

39-47.  Even if the White Sox put together an eight game winning streak out of the box, they’d still only be sitting at .500.  And with a twelve game deficit for just the Wild Card, the White Sox are going to have to come out of the box in these last few weeks in July to show whether they’ll be cleaning house at the trading deadline or whether they’ll be looking to add a piece or two down the stretch.

The Mark Buehrle signing was a start.  We locked up one of the White Sox better home grown arms and they did it at what was probably a discount at least based on market value.  It’s a weird market these days and four years, $56 million may be a bit much for even a pitcher of Buehrle’s talents, it’s just the way things have become.

Three guys names have popped up in the trade rumors.  Jermaine Dye, Juan Uribe and Jose Contreras have all been mentioned in different rumors and you know Joe Crede is also on the block.  There’s also the rumor that Scott Podsednik is gone once the season’s over with.

You hate to carve out one four game series and call it critical but in a way, the White Sox four game set against the Orioles that starts tomorrow could be a potentially big one.  After salvaging a split against the Twins prior to the break, a nice start to the second half against a mediocre team would go a long way towards the White Sox making one last push in 2007.  Jon Garland will get the start tomorrow and the hope is that he finds himself in the second half.  In the meantime, the White Sox hitters will go up against Jeremy Guthrie.

It sounds like the question isn’t whether Mark Buehrle will be trades, it’s to who and then what will the White Sox get.  I’ve heard the Mets, Red Sox and Brewers as all potential suitors so hopefully the Sox brass is working on the best possible deal that they can for the left hander.  He’s set to start on Wednesday, but we’ll see if that happens.  The good news is, he’s been our best pitcher this year (not saying much) so between and with him being left handed, the White Sox should be able to get something solid out of this.

Of course Buehrle is probably the lucky one because the Sox look like a sinking ship.  A sweep at the hands of the Cubs extended the Sox losing streak to five and the Royals have more wins then we do.  Baseball Prospectus took some heat for projecting the White Sox at 72 wins and once again they looked correct.  It they’re wrong, it could be because they were too optimistic.

The offense is still pathetic as well.  The team is hitting .234 and they only racked up two runs in three games against the Cubs.  Joe Crede is on the DL and Jermaine Dye still has an OPS near .700 and you’re talking about two mashers from last year.  It’s just so hard to believe that there’d be this steep of a slide after winning the World Series just two years ago.

This week will tell a lot because the White Sox play four aganst the Devil Rays, another poor team.  If we drop three of four, then it’s pretty clear the White Sox are smoke this year.  If the Sox can win three of four or even sweep, maybe it’s something to build on.  Even the Wild Card is a long way off though and it sounds like Ken Williams is already throwing in the towel.

It was another rough week and just to put things in perspective, the White Sox have as many wins as the Royals do.  There’s some good news in all this but I’ll get to that near the end but the White Sox have lost ten of their last twelve and twelve out of their last fifteen games.  The net effect has been a truly horrible month of June where the White Sox have gone 4-12.

What’s been wrong?  John Perrotto gives us the low down in this interesting Baseball Prospectus column.   While I know the Sox have been doing bad, I’ve stayed away from a lot of the numbers just because I’d get pissed but it was interesting to read that outside of Jim Thome’s 18.7 VORP, no other White Sox hitter has more then a 4.0 VORP.  My favorite, Joe Crede, has been the worst at a -9.9 VORP and last year’s MVP candidate, Jermaine Dye, comes out right at replacement with a -0.8 VORP.  That’s not good.  He also touches on the White Sox pen woes.

Now, let’s get to the good news.  In looking at the standings, the 10 1/2 game deficit looks pretty rough until you break things down and just look at the losses.  Because the White Sox have played fewer games then their division rivals, they sit “just” eight games back of the Tigers for the Wild Card.  Now eight games is tough to make up when your team has a hard time scoring more then three runs in a game but it’s not insurmountable if the Sox can turn things around.

And there’s no better time then the present with a mediocre Marlins team rolling into town.  Josh Johnson makes his season debut for the Marlins and Jose Contreras and his 4-7 record throws for the White Sox.  There’s no better way to get your hitters going then to beat up a guy who’s only faced minor league pitching so far this year.

One game below .500 is hardly an accomplishment, but the White Sox, after taking care of the Yankees yesterday, are still well within reach of even the Indians.  You have to hope the Sox can build on last night when they dismantled what was basically a Triple A pitcher.  The Yankees are vulnerable and they’re also going to be a factor in the Wild Card so while these wins don’t seem to mean much, when September rolls around they could be huge.

Of course the hitting has been the problem.  A .233 batting average isn’t going to cut it and the fact that they’re right at .500 is a testament to their pitching.  Jim Thome is doing what he’s supposed to do but just about everyone else has laid an egg.

And Ozzie Guillen of course is doing whatever he can to deflect the blame towards him.  I’ve never been a huge fan of Ozzie and I thought that extenstion they gave him back in 2005 was a mistake but the guy is starting to grow on me.  At least you know where you stand.

What’s also disappointing is it looks like Joe Crede will be gone soon.  First Brandon McCarthy and then probably Crede, my two favorite players.  I’ll have to pick a new poster child soon.  Maybe Gio Gonzalez.

Anyway, life has prevent me from posting too much and I’ve now fallen way behind on the 1917 diary, which may have to go up later then I wanted.  But I’m back, hopefully for good and I’ll be sure to give you my best from here on out.

Beyond the Boxscore profiled left handed minor league pitcher Heath Phillips.  He’s having a tough time in his second stint at Triple A and there’s some solid comparisons here between Phillips’ struggles and those of Mark Buehrle’s at the end of last year.

I know, it’s been a while, but it’s not fault.  We had some problems at central command at Baseball Historians and it took down the whole network.  So I not only haven’t posted in a while, but I lost a lot of my diary posts so I’ll be busy catching up here over the next week or so.  Then again, I haven’t gotten a ton of feedback on the work I’ve done for the 1917 diary so I don’t know if you’re enjoying it or not.

And while I was gone in the web sense, the White Sox have hovered right around .500 and they find themselves in the middle of the AL Central pack.  In front of them are the Tigers and Indians while behind them are the disappointing Twins and the always in the cellar Royals.  This is a big week too because we have three against the always tough Yankees and then it’s three at Wrigley Field as interleague play starts up.  The Cubs have played well as of late so we’re looking at a solid six games this week. 

Probably the biggest surprise this season is that A.J. Pierzynski is the team leader in homeruns with six.  While that’s definitely a good thing for A.J., it also tells us guys like Paul Konerko are struggling and of course, Jim Thome has been on the shelf.

It’s vet versus rookie tonight as Mike Mussina throws for the Yankees while John Danks gets the nod for the White Sox.  Danks is 1-4, but his last two starts have been solid.  It sure would be nice if he could pick up win number against the Bronx Bombers.

Two runs and four hits usually isn’t going to cut it considering Mark Buehrle didn’t throw his second no hitter of the season.  Darin Erstad hit a two run homer in the bottom of the third and that was all the White Sox got in the game.  And it’s not like the White Sox stranded anyone (okay, two base runners), they just didn’t get it done at the plate. 

A decent start by Mark Buehrle went to waste and he dropped to 2-1 on the season. He gave up three runs on nine hits and one walk with eight strikeouts in six innings.  I’m not sure why he was even in the game, but Bobby Jenks gave up two runs in the ninth.

The White Sox get a day off and then they play two in Seattle.  Javier Vazquez gets the start in the opener and hopefully he can bounce back from his poor start last time around against the Royals.

The White Sox couldn’t scored a single run off of Jered Weaver or the Angels pen and a nice start by Jon Garland went to waste. He gave up three runs on five hits and a walk and the loss drops him to 0-2 on the season.

Joe Crede was the only White Sox to reach base three times.  He singled twice and he drew a walk.

Mark Buehrle will throw in the rubber game tomorrow.  Hopefully the White Sox can put a few runs on the board for him and the Sox can pick up this final game in the series.

Alright, this one was a mixed bad.  Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome were both in the lineup and while Jermaine Dye came back with a bang and led the White Sox with two homers, Jim Thome had to leave the game with a rib cage injury.  Dye hit the two solo shots and A.J. Pierzynski went yard as well.  Tad Iguchi drove in two runs while Darin Erstad had two hits and he scored two runs in the 7-3 win.

Jose Contreras improved to 2-2 with the win.  He gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks with one strikeout in 6 1/3 innings.  The pen came through as well and four relievers combined to hold the Angels hitless in 2 2/3 innings.

The White Sox are still in the log jam but they’re in second place because of percentage points sitting at a game and a half back of the Indians.  Jon Garland will get the start tonight against Jered Weaver.

The White Sox lost their opener to the Tigers 6-2 and the gave was played in rain most of the game.  With Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome out of the lineup, there wasn’t much offense to speak of in this one and the White Sox didn’t score their two runs until the ninth and even then, it was on a bunch of walks.  They did have they tying run at the plate though but Brian Anderson grounded out to third base to end the game.

Pablo Ozuna and Juan Uribe “drove” in both runs with bases loaded walks.  Nobody had more then one hit and in total, the White Sox were held to just four hits total.

John Danks dropped to 0-3 with a mediocre outing.  He gave up four runs on nine hits with six strikeouts in six innings of work.  Boone Logan threw three innings and he gave up three runs.

The finale is tonight and we’ll see if the rain holds off long enough to get this one in.  Jose Contreras will try to get the White Sox back on track with a win.

The White Sox overcame a 4-0 deficit and took the lead only to lose it and have to scored two runs in the ninth to win it.  Paul Konerko scored when Pablo Ozuna tried to bunt him over to third and the pitcher threw the ball away.  A.J. Pierzynski later scored on a wild pitch to give the White Sox an insurance run that didn’t end up being neccesary.

Pierzynski finished the game three for five and he scored two runs in the 9-7 win.  Darin Erstad went two for four and he both scored and drove in two runs.  Joe Crede hit his second homer of the season.

Javier Vazquez had tough time in the first inning and gave up four runs but he calmed down and didn’t give up another run until the seventh.  He was credited with six innings and he gave up five runs on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts.  Boone Logan picked up the win and Bobby Jenks saved it in the ninth.

Now the White Sox skip back home to play two against the Tigers.  It’ll be a rematch of the Friday matchup with John Danks throwing against Chad Durbin.

Things are really heating up in the AL Central and the White Sox kept pace with the pack with a 7-4 win over the Royals behind an awesome game by Paul Konerko.  The first baseman has had his struggles this year but he broke out with two homeruns and five RBIs.  Tad Iguchi also had a nice game at the plate with two hits and two runs.

Mark Buehrle had another nice start and he improved to 2-0.  He gave up three runs on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts.  Bobby Jenks threw a shutout ninth (although he got into trouble) and he picked up his seventh save.

Javier Vazquez gets the start tonight and the White Sox will hopefully dismantle Brandon Duckworth.  The Sox may just be 10-8, but they’re just a half game back of the first place Twins/Tigers.

This was tough one to take. Jon Garland gave up three quick runs then was awesome the rest of the way.  By the time he left the game after eight innings, the White Sox had 5-3 lead and it was looking like a sweep.  Then with two outs, David Aardsma gave up a two run homerun that sent the game into extra frames and then Boone Logan gave up an RBI single to Placido Polanco that ended the game in a 6-5 loss.

Garland gave up just the three first inning runs and in eight innings, he gave up five hits and a walk.  Darin Erstad finished with three hits and an RBI and Joe Crede homered, drove in two runs and drew two walks.  It was Crede’s first homerun of the year and hopefully the solid game means he’s hitting out of his slump.

Next up is a two game series against the Royals.  It’d be nice to just take these two games before the Tigers roll into town for two more games.

I like this little winning streak the White Sox have put together.  And today’s come back win was pretty impressive.  Jose Contreras was tagged for four runs in the first and it started to look like a repeat of opening day.  Then the White Sox chipped away at the lead and by the fifth inning, the game was tied.  Then Contreras gave up the lead again and Joe Crede came up huge with an RBI single in the eighth to tie it and then in extra frames, Jermaine Dye drove in the game winner on an RBI double and he later scored for a touch of insurance.

Both Dye and Crede finished the game with two RBIs.  Pablo Ozuna also had a nice game at the plate and he finished with two hits and two runs.

David Aardsma got the final Tiger out in the ninth and he picked up the win.  Bobby Jenks threw a perfect tenth and he picked up the save.  Contreras lasted seven innings, but he gave up all five of the runs in the 7-5 loss.

Jon Garland will throw tomorrow as the White Sox go for the sweep.  He’ll lock horns with last year’s ROY, Justin Verlander.  Should be a good one.

The White Sox got it done in the end despite a spotty start by rookie John Danks.  Down 4-2, the Sox scored two in the sixth and a run in the seventh to squeak by with a 5-4 win.  Danks gave up four runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.  Nick Masset picked up his first career win with a 1 1/3 innings of shutout relief.  Bobby Jenks got into trouble in the ninth but he closed it out and picked up his fifth save.

Paul Konerko had the big hit with a two run single in the sixth.  Darin Erstad had the game winner with an RBI single in the seventh and Juan Uribe and Tad Iguchi homered.

Tomorrow afternoon has a pretty solid pitching matchup with Jose Contreras going up against lefty Nate Robertson.  If the Sox win, they pass the Tigers in the standings.

A.J. Pierzynski hit a three run homer in the fourth inning to put the White Sox up 3-1.  Unfortunately, Javier Vazquez couldn’t hold the lead and while he left with a one run lead, one of the runners he left on base scored the tying run.  Fortunately, the White Sox scored three in the eighth to win it.  Joe Crede singled home a run and then Rob Mackowiak hit a two run shot to make it 6-3.  Bobby Jenks got touched up for a run in the ninth but the Sox had plenty of insurance as they picked up the win 6-4.

Jim Thome had an odd game. He walked five times and scored a run as he was pitched around.  Crede and Mackowiak were the two White Sox to have more then one hit.

Vazquez gave up three runs on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts in six innings of work.  Matt Thorton picked up the win and Jenks saved his fourth game of the season.

Next up is three at Detroit against the Tigers.  This has turned into a semi-rivalry here and tonight’s start features John Danks going up against Chad Durbin.  I think Danks will pick up his first win tonight.

Wow, I would have never seen this one coming.  Mark Buehrle threw a no-hitter tonight against the Rangers in front of a home town crowd.  He walked just one batter and he struck out eight in a truly amazing start.

The White Sox scored all of their runs via the long ball.  Jim Thome hit two solo homeruns and sandwiched between them was a grand slam by Jermaine Dye.  Tad Iguchi finished with two hits and he scored a run.

The rubber game is tomorrow night and hopefully Javier Vazquez can continue his solid start.  He’ll face off against Vicente Padilla, who has a had a rough time this year.

Jon Garland had a pretty solid start, at least through the first six innings.  Then he started giving up more runs and made the deficit insurmountable.  I guess it doesn’t matter too much though because the Sox couldn’t get the bats going anyway.  Garland gave up five runs on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts in seven innings.  His two big mistakes were a pair of homeruns.

Jim Thome was pretty much the offense.  He went one for two with two walks and he drove in the only run of the game with a solo homerun.

Game two is tonight.  Mark Buehrle will take on Kevin Millwood..  Burhrle is off to kind of a mixed start and that he got nailed by that comebacker.  Hopefully this is a break through game for the left hander.

Jose Conteras gave up just one hit in five innings.  The pen then threw eight innings of no hit ball.  That one hit came on the very first at bat of the game.  The White Sox still lost.

Contreras gave up a lead off double to Grady Sizemore, sent him to third on a passed ball and then he scored on Trot Nixon’s ground out.  In the fourth, Casey Blake and some guy named Shoppach walked and sandwiched between them was an error by Jhonny Peralta that loaded up the bases.  Contreras then walked Grady Sizemore and the Indians scored their second run on just the one hit.  Sigh.

The White Sox actually scored their run the old fashioned way.  Jermaine Dye singled home Pablo Ozuna.  Imagine that, an RBI single.

So Contreras drops to 1-2 and the White Sox head home to take on the Rangers.  Jon Garland gets the start tomorrow and hopefully he’ll right the ship.

The White Sox picked up eight hits and three walks but all eleven of those base runners were stranded today.  Scott Podsednik and Jim Thome each had two hits in the game.

John Danks made start number and despite a solid outing, he dropped to 0-2.  He gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts.  Nick Masset was knocked around and he gave up two runs in 1 1/3 innings.

The rubber game is tomorrow afternoon and it’ll be each team’s number one throwing with Jose Contreras going up against C.C Sabathia.

Javier Vazquez did it again and this is why we traded for him.  He improved to 2-0 and he gave up just two runs on eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.  Bobby Jenks got into trouble in the ninth but he pitched out of it and he picked up his third save of the season.

Juan Uribe continued to hit the ball well.  He only had one hit but it was a homerun and he finished with four RBIs.  Joe Crede had three hits and Jermaine Dye went two for three with a homerun, two runs and two RBIs in the 6-4 win.

John Danks will make his second start of his young career tomorrow. He’ll face Paul Byrd in the afternoon.

The White Sox exploded for five runs in the final two frames as they took the three game series in Oakland.  I’m impressed because even in 2005, it seemed like the White Sox had problems playing in Oakland not this year.  Jermaine Dye tied it with a big two run homerun in the eighth and then Darin Erstad drove in the game winner on a sac. fly.  Paul Konerko also had a nice game at the plate and he had two hits, two RBIs and two runs in the 6-3 win.

Mark Buehrle really calmed down after he was tagged for three runs in the first and despite not getting a decision, he had as much to do with winning this game as anyone.  He gave up the three runs on just four hits and two walks with a strikeout in seven innings.  David Aardsma picked up the win and Bobby Jenks got it done in the ninth and he saved his second game of the season.

The White Sox have tomorrow off and then they play a pretty big three game set against the Indians.  Javier Vazquez gets the start in the series opener and hopefully he’ll continue the wickedness he had going last weekend.

This is tough.  Jon Garland had a great start and threw seven shutout innings and the White Sox took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth.  Bobby Jenks came in and then proceeded to give up four hits and walk en route to two runs as the White Sox lost it 2-1.

The lone White Sox run came in the fifth inning when Juan Uribe singled home Alex Cintron.  In all, the Sox managed just three hits, all of which were singles.

Mark Buehrle is looking to make his second start of the season despite taking the comebacker to his arm in his last start.  He’ll face Joe Kennedy this afternoon in the rubber game.

Hopefully we can put that opening day start behind us.  Jose Contreras seemed to be back to his old self and he gave up just a single run on four hits and four walks with four strikeouts in six innings. 

Scott Podsednik had three hits including a homerun and Jim Thome went yard for the second time this season in the 4-1 win.  With the Twins and Tigers both losing, the White Sox picked up a game on both of them and they sit tied with Detroit in second place at 3-3.

Jon Garland gets the start tonight.  He’ll face Chad Gaudin.  I hate these late night games because I can never stay up.

You can fault John Danks too much in this game because he did what he could to keep the White Sox in the game.  Unfortunately, the Sox hitters couldn’t do anything against Johan Santana.  The only run for the White Sox came in the eighth when Santana was long gone and it was a solo homerun off the bat of Juan Uribe.

Danks gave up three runs on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings of work.  His big mistake was a three run homerun by Justin Morneau.

Now the White Sox hit the road with a trip out to Oakland.  We never seem to do well out there but Jose Contreras will do his best to bounce back from that horrible opening day start.  The White Sox face another tough pitcher in Rich Harden.

Now this is some pitching.  Javier Vazquez combined with the bullpen to hold the Twins to three hits in a shutout today.  Vazquez led the way and he gave up just one of those hits. He walked four and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings.  Bobby Jenks gave up a hit and struck out two in the ninth and he picked up his first save of the season.

Juan Uribe homered and had two hits while Paul Konerko went two for four with a double and an RBI.  Tomorrow it’ll be Jose Contreras on the mound and he’ll be facing Johan Santana.  Man it’d be nice to get at the Cy Young winner.

The White Sox got their first win out of the way today in 4-3 victory over the Indians.  They did get a scare though because Mark Buehrle was hit with a comebacker in the second inning and he had to leave the game.  Fortunately, the x-rays were negative and there’s some hope that he won’t even miss a start.

The winning run was a walk off RBI hit by pitch by A.J. Pierzynski.  For some reason, that doesn’t surprise me too much and just another way A.J. comes through for this team.  Scott Podsednik had two hits, a run, an RBI and a stolen base in the win.

The Twins roll into town tomorrow.  Javier Vazquez gets the start and he’ll face Carlos Silva.  I like that matchup and it sure would be nice to hand the Twins their first loss.