The White Sox had a week that could very well be described as average, as they did in fact go 3-3. A closer look of the lost series to the Angels and the series victory against the Mariners will tell you a story of midweek missed opportunity capped on either end with quite the dominant efforts.
What went wrong for the Good Guys this week?
Offensively, there were far too many runners left on base. For those of us that might need a refresher after a long weekend of celebrating the moms in our lives,
runners left on base do nothing for the scoreboard.
The woes started during Monday, May 4’s win in Anaheim. José Soriano is officially scared of the South Siders after getting walloped for two starts in a row. Even though the offense would score six runs and the defense shut out the Angels, the team would only go 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position and leave 12 runners on base. In a 6-0 win, you can afford to leave a few runners on base.
But leaving runners on base was a huge issue during a 4-3 loss, which is exactly what happened on Tuesday when the White Sox went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and leave 11 on base. Wednesday’s 8-2 loss was capped by seven runners left on base. In fact, with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, the bases were loaded for Edgar Quero … before he grounded out to end the game.
Friday saw five runners stranded in a 12-8 loss to the Mariners. I have not taken a math class in 10 years, but if my math is correct, had the runners not been left on the base paths and they crossed home plate, those two losses become wins.
Contributing to the stranded runners problem is the sheer number of strikeouts this team is continuing to rack up. To date, White Sox hitters are striking out in 28% of the time. Only six teams are striking out at a higher rate, with the Rockies and the Angels leading the pack. The Toronto Blue Jays have almost 50 more at-bats on the season and still trail the White Sox by more than 100 strikeouts.
Strikeouts are a particular issue for one very powerful hitter on the South Side squad, none other than Munetaka Murakami. Fans love him for very good reason, but he also ranks second most among qualified players in strikeouts this season, with 60. He has 173 plate appearances on the year, which means he is striking out a little more than a third of the time he is up to bat. On the flip side of this, because there always must be a positive spin with stars, he has drawn 30 walks, which puts him in the Top 10 of qualified players so far this season. Home runs are fun, but it would be great if Mune could focus on putting the ball in play a tad more than he currently is.
Pitching also had its woes this week.
Erik Fedde’s record dropped to 0-4 after going just 4 2/3 innings in his start, giving up four earned runs along the way. All four runs came via the long ball, thanks to Mike Trout, Jorge Soler and Zach Neto. The righty’s last two starts in April had improved his ERA to the lower half of three, but after this latest effort Fedde is back over three and a half.
Noah Schultz entered Wednesday’s series finale with the Angels hoping to build off of his strong start in San Diego. Instead the 6´10´´ rookie was only able to get through 3 2/3 innings. He exited the game after wearing seven earned runs on seven hits.
Sean Burke was also coming off of his hottest outing of the season, and last Friday’s game was anticipated as a pitching duel. Instead, a total of 20 runs were scored in the game, Burke being on the losing side of things. His 4 1/3 innings resulted in six runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
One of these days, I will start with the good that happened in the week, but today is not that day. If you made it this far, congratulations. It is time to talk about the highlights of the week.
First and foremost, Soriano may be an ace against every other team in the league, but he is not one when he faces the White Sox. He earned his second consecutive loss on May 4 against the Pale Hose after going just four innings and giving up five runs. The final three runs came via back-to-back dingers by Murakami and Miguel Vargas. The fourth was with both of them on Star Wars Day.
Soriano followed up this loss with 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball against the Blue Jays on Sunday; he and his 1.74 ERA will be just fine for the rest of the season, especially knowing he’ll no longer have to face the fearsome White Sox.
It would not be a week if we did not also talk about Mune for more than a split second. A massive amount of strikeouts or not, the dude can rake. As if on cue in the top of the first inning of Friday’s opener against the Mariners, Munetaka hit his 15th of the season to get the scoring going. The Good Guys would not see the winning end of the slugfest, but one can appreciate a great start.
A player I would have never guessed I would be highlighting ever this season is Randal Girchuk, who hit two home runs this week. One of those was an inconsequential pinch-hit long ball in Friday’s loss, but his home run on Sunday tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning before Vargas’ sacrifice fly brought Drew Romo around to score the winning run.
While he had 10 strikeouts this week, Chase Meidroth improved his batting average by a whole 14 points. He is hitting .343 in May, and added a home run to the list in Tuesday’s loss. His middle infield counterpart, Colson Montgomery, is only hitting .176 in May, but he did homer in Saturday’s win, which was fun to watch in person.
I know you are sitting here wondering why I have yet to mention Vargas and his game on Saturday. Well, here I am saving the best for last. May 9 was Game Day for the Girls at the ballpark. It featured many wonderful opportunities for female fans to come out and enjoy a game and other activations. Vargas proved himself to be a girl’s girl and hit not just one but two home runs on Chicago’s road to victory. When the third baseman hit his second dinger of the night, Randy Arozarena didn’t even bother to move from his spot in left field. Vargas now has nine home runs on the year. As of May 10 Vargas, Murakami and Montgomery have more home runs (34) than six MLB teams.
Davis Martin. That is the pitching highlight of the week. The righthander continues to mow down batters and plow through tough lineups. In his rematch with Soriano on Monday, he went seven innings for a third time this season, giving up no runs on five hits, walking none and striking out a career high 10 batters.
Then on Sunday, Martin threw six innings of one run ball, giving up three hits, walking two, and striking out another nine hitters. His ERA is now a stunning 1.62. I really hope he is looking for hotel rooms for himself and his family in Philly for mid-July.
Also getting a nod this week for his pitching performance is Anthony Kay. Last week, there was much discussion about how he was emerging as the weakest link in the rotation. I am not saying he read my article, but Kay did have five strong innings on one run (zero earned), earning Saturday’s win.
The White Sox had an off day on May 11 but will be back at home for the entirety of the week. First up in continuing the homestand are the Kansas City Royals. And this weekends series brings the Chicago Cubs to the South Side for the Crosstown Classic, a matchup that might be more interesting than it has been in recent years.
