Chicago White Sox Week in Review 8/12-8/18
The Chicago White Sox had an up and down week when they took on some difficult opponents over the stretch both at home and on the road.
The Chicago White Sox played seven games in six days this past week. They faced the Houston Astros for three games at home and then traveled to Los Angeles to play Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels for four games. How did this week turn out? What was notable about the week?
The White Sox were scheduled to play the Astros on Monday, but the game was rained out. Instead, the Sox played a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Astros entered the game 77-41, one of the best records in all of baseball. The first game of the doubleheader featured Dylan Cease versus recent Astros acquisition Zack Greinke. Greinke was his typical self, allowing only two earned runs through six innings, before the Astros bullpen locked down the final three innings. Cease wasn’t great, but his catcher did him no favors. Welington Castillo resembled rotted beef by the end of the game, allowing three passed balls. Jose Abreu was the only Sox hitter with multiple hits and the Sox lost 6-2.
In game two, the Sox had Ivan Nova on the bump and the Astros countered with Chris Devenski. The Astros planned on a bullpen day and that’s just what they got. Devenski, Joe Biagini, Hector Rondon, and Joe Smith pitched eight innings. James McCann and Ryan Goins both had two hits, Nova walked no one in his complete-game performance and the Sox won 4-1. Contending teams probably regret not trading for Super Nova at the deadline now.
In game three the White Sox had a very unfavorable pitching matchup. Ross Detwiler faced Wade Miley. Entering the game, Miley had a 2.99 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Somehow, the Sox surprised the baseball world. Wiley was out of the game in the fourth and the Astros defense had two errors in the second inning to help the Sox score four unearned runs. Tim Anderson had four hits, Eloy Jimenez homered, and James McCann became James McSlam with a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth. Alex Colome allowed no runs while getting five outs, picking up the win.
The Sox then traveled to Los Angeles to face Mike Trout and the Angels. Reynaldo Lopez took the mound to face Andrew Heaney. Lopez’s second-half success did not continue in this game. He allowed nine hits in 5.1 innings and gave up five earned runs. Mike Trout was a major problem, hitting a home run and accumulating three more hits. The offense gave him plenty of support, but when your team allows eight runs, you won’t win many games. Jose Abreu drove in three, homering twice, and Welington Castillo also homered. It wasn’t enough, as the Sox lost 8-7.
Friday night, the Sox were the talk of baseball when NBA Hall of Fame member Bill Walton joined Jason Benetti in the booth. It was wonderfully weird or truly terrible, depending on who you ask. Sox ace Lucas Giolito was on the mound, facing Patrick Sandoval in Sandoval’s second career start. Giolito struck out 11 in six innings, only allowing two runs while walking three. Mike Trout homered again, his 41st on the season. McCann went three for four, including another grand slam. In completely unrelated news, McCann began changing his last name to McSlam. The White Sox won 7-2 as Giolito picked up his 13th win of the season.
On Saturday, the White Sox used pitcher Hector Santiago and the Angels countered with Noe Ramirez. Ramirez is typically a reliever and he only pitched 1.1 innings. Santiago wasn’t terrible, pitching 4.2 innings and allowing two runs. The bullpen gave up four more runs after Santiago allowed solo home runs to Brian Goodwin and Justin Upton. Eloy Jimenez hit his 21st home run of the season, and McCann doubled. The game ended with a final score of 6-5, as the Angels got the better of the White Sox bullpen.
On Sunday the Sox tried to even up the series with the Angels. Dylan Cease took the mound for the second time during the week and he wasn’t good. The good? He struck out six, only walking one. The bad? He allowed home runs to Matt Thaiss and Kole Calhoun, allowing five earned runs through five innings. The only offensive highlight was Eloy, who homered and tripled. The Sox lost this one 5-2.
So overall the Sox won 3 and lost four. Not a great week, but not tragic by any means. Who were the stars of the week? Well, it is hard to pick against a man with two grand slams in a week.
Mr. McSlam slashed .435/.458/.870 with ten hits, two of them doubles, one triple and hit two home runs. 11 RBIs in six games played is pretty good. Only three catchers in baseball have played 80 or more games and have a higher OPS than McCann’s .829 this season. These catchers are Yasmani Grandal, Carson Kelly and Willson Contreras. For anyone that likes the advanced numbers, only JT Realmuto has been a more valuable catcher in baseball this season per WAR.
This week’s best pitcher has to go to Ivan Nova. Nova pitched a complete game against one of the best teams in baseball. He hasn’t been striking many batters out, but he has been excellent at avoiding large run outbursts in the second half. According to Fangraphs, his ground ball rate is now over 50% in the second half of the season. He isn’t really striking out more men or walking fewer, he is just getting a ton of ground balls and giving up a bunch of soft contact. This is allowing him to get deep into games and avoid a lot of damage just because he is not allowing offenses to hit the ball hard.
Related Story. James McCann is on another level for the White Sox. light
It was a decent week on the South Side. Not great, and the most memorable moment may be a strange experience in the TV booth, but it wasn’t terrible either. Up next are two series as the White Sox will take on the Twins and Rangers.