On the surface, an 8-game losing streak sounds bad. It sounds worse when you say that the White Sox haven’t won since April 16 and today is April 27. It sounds even worse when you say the White Sox are 6-10, tied for last place with the Detroit Tigers. But like I tell my kid, if things don’t go well, fake an injury. The White Sox have taken that to heart with the following injury list:
- Luis Robert – out until at least April 28.
- Liam Hendricks – out until at least April 28.
- Joe Kelly – out until at least May 6
- Yoan Moncada – out until at least May 3.
- Eloy Jimenez – out until at least June 5.
- Ryan Burr – out until at least April 29.
- Lance Lynn – out until at least June 3.
- Yermin Mercedes – out until at least May 20.
- Garrett Crochet – out until forever.
- Jonathan Stiever – out until at least June 1.
5. I didn’t know he was going to hit the farthest walk-off of all time.
The losing streak was easily going to end at 7. The White Sox were up 4-3 in the tenth inning and Liam Hendriks was pitching. It couldn’t be set up more perfectly. Until Hendriks walked a batter, then gave up the longest walk-off home run of all time, a 469-foot, 3-run bomb off the bat of Byron Buxton that finished in the upper deck. If your math isn’t working, remember that a runner starts at second in extra innings.
4. We are going to score more than 4 runs, we just don’t know when.
In the White Sox losses, the Southsiders scored 4 runs once (the game that Buxton blew up), 3 runs twice, 2 runs once, 1 run once, and zero runs once. The White Sox are 28th in runs scored this year, ahead of only the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals (who they play this week, good news).
3. Tim Anderson isn’t allowed to hit more than once every 9 batters.
Sox Manager Tony La Russa tried to leverage an old rule where a player can hit for his position and DH for the pitcher. This would allow Tim Anderson to bat multiple times in the lineup. Currently, Anderson’s batting average is .012 above Vaughn, .040 above Sheets, .052 above Burger, .080 above Mendick, .082 above Abreu, .092 above McGuire, .093 above Engel, and .132 above Grandal. Unfortunately, the umpire caught the move and told manager Tony La Russa the rule has never existed.
2. We didn’t get to play Detroit
During the losing streak, the Sox played Minnesota (currently in first place), Cleveland (currently in second place), and Kansas City (currently in third place). The Sox are in fourth, so we can all agree that it is difficult to beat teams that have a better record than you. Playing Detroit would help (currently in last place), but they don’t play the Tigers until June
1. Giolito can’t pitch every day.
Lucas Giolito didn’t pitch since opening day but finally came back against the Minnesota Twins on April 24. As he re-ramps up, he pitched 4 innings, gave up 1 run, and had 9 strikeouts. Pitchers typically can’t pitch every day (only every 5 to 7 days). But if he could, wouldn’t that be great?
