The Chicago White Sox lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field in front of a rather large crowd. After winning the series opener on Tuesday night in a rather convincing fashion, they allowed one of the best teams in the league to get into the series.
Instead of running back the winning lineup from the night before, they changed things up against one of the best pitchers in the world. Tony Gonsolin dominated White Sox batters for the most part and is now 7-0 on the season.
Unfortunately, the White Sox made things just a bit easier on him. Tony La Russa continues to put out bad lineups that don’t give the White Sox the best chance to win. For one, this game against Gonsolin was the game that he decided to bench Andrew Vaughn.
Vaughn has been one of the best hitters on the White Sox this season and they certainly could have used him against Gonsolin. It is fair to give him a day off every now and again but this game wasn’t it. He didn’t even give him an at-bat when down late in the game.
The worst part of this lineup, however, is the decision to lead off with Leury Garcia. He is one of the coolest guys that the White Sox have but he is just not that good of a hitter. He has no business being an everyday Major League player let alone a lead-off man.
Tony La Russa’s bad decisions are making it hard for the White Sox to win games.
This brutal decision was put on display during the game when the White Sox had one of their best opportunities to score runs. After Jake Burger got them on the board with a solo shot, they had a chance to get closer to tying the 3-1 game.
Leury Garcia’s lead-off spot in the lineup came up with a runner on first and third with one out. He put up a completely non-competitive at-bat in that situation and struck out. It was very hard to watch.
Tim Anderson is out with an injury so they need someone to lead off games but Garcia is among the worst candidates. AJ Pollock has had tremendous success in his career as a leadoff hitter but he wasn’t the play for La Russa.
Almost any other hitter on the team would also be a better option for the pure sake of extra plate appearances. He also will get better opportunities like the one Garcia let evaporate with ease. It is a really bad strategy by the manager.
After the game, Tony La Russa was asked about lineups and he didn’t really appreciate the question too much. He danced around it while sounding kind of defensive. It just shows that he is lost right now at the wheel.
Credit to @VinnieDuber for asking the question to La Russa about lineup construction. TLR got a little defensive and essentially said too your cap to Gonsolin and the Dodgers.
— Slavko Bekovic (@SBekovic) June 9, 2022
He also gave credit to Gonsolin and the Dodgers. They do deserve credit but the White Sox made it even easier on one of the best teams in the league. It is very weird how this is all shaking out. To be honest, this tells you everything you need to know about him as a manager in the year 2022.