In yesterday’s loss against the Philadelphia Phillies, the White Sox made poor managerial decisions, which along with a lack of quality on the roster, caused yet another close loss.
With a 47-61 record this season, it’s pretty clear that the people that run the Chicago White Sox are not the greatest at management. That was pretty evident in Saturday’s loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
The White Sox had many chances to a breakthrough in the 3-2 loss in the Phillies. One of the best chances to score was in the seventh inning when the Sox had runners on second and third and only one out. Unfortunately, they failed to score due to a poorly timed bunt by Yolmer Sanchez. This play was likely called by manager Rick Renteria and is unfortunately called much too often by this team.
Now, hindsight is 20/20, but probability shows that bunts are statistically a bad strategy unless the player is bunting for a hit or the pitcher is up. Neither event was the case with Yolmer at the plate, who would’ve been better going for a sacrifice fly or a hit. After the play failed, the White Sox pinch-hit Matt Skole, who made the third out. You would have liked to see James McCann pinch-hit in that situation.
In the eighth inning, Dylan Covey was brought in, and it is a serious question why that guy is on any big-league roster. What is Rick Hahn thinking? Covey struggled but managed to only have one run score while he was pitching, although that put the White Sox down further 3-1 before they ended up falling by a score of 3-2.
In order for the White Sox to finally become good, they have to become a smarter baseball team. This means they cannot afford to have games like this one. The team needs to prioritize getting on base and hitting for power, and not bunting. The White Sox may be a bit better of a baseball team, but they don’t really appear to be a smarter one, something they will need to be going forward.