Royals 5, White Sox 1: Carlos Rodón finally mortal

It’s seldom great when the White Sox’s second-most thrilling plate appearance of a game results in a walk.

Granted, it was a very good walk. Leury García overcame a terrible strike call during Larry Vanover’s woeful night, a Scott Barlow slider off the plate that should’ve been the third ball of the battle, but instead turned into an even count. García fouled off six consecutive pitches, then held off a slider in the dirt for the third ball he was denied. A fourth ball immediately followed, and García took his base after 12 pitches, which brought the tying run to the plate.

Everybody probably had dreams of Yoán Moncada turning on a Barlow slider and crushing it over the Goose Island for a game-tying homer. Instead, he hit a soft grounder into the shift. He was desperate enough to make the walk count that he dived into first base, but the situation was already out of his control.

Thus, García’s ultimately fruitless walk slotted behind José Abreu’s triumphant fourth-inning solo shot for the team’s best offensive moment. Back in the lineup one day after a scary collision with Hunter Dozier, Abreu accounted for half the White Sox’s four hits. For his first, he hammered a Mike Minor slider, the ninth pitch of his own protracted battle, well over the Sox bullpen to show that the bandage on his left cheek was the only lasting mark from the frightening incident.

Alas, that only made it a 4-1 game, because everything else about the night didn’t go the White Sox’s way. Carlos Rodón had his first off night, giving up four runs on eight hits and three walks over 5⅔ innings. Rodón couldn’t throw either of his secondary pitches for reliable strikes, and the Royals had enough contact in their bats to damage the fastball. It didn’t help that the combination of Vanover and Zack Collins wouldn’t award him legitimate low strikes, as he had five calls go against him at the bottom of the zone. The frustrations also seemed to carry over to the running game, as the Royals stole four bases in four attempts.

It could’ve been worse, because Rodón needed 78 pitches to get through three innings before settling in well enough to throw just 10 apiece in the fourth and fifth. Despite all the high stress situations early in the game, Tony La Russa sent Rodón out there for the sixth, where even Hanser Alberto’s leadoff single didn’t knock him out of the game. He faced three batters and threw 12 pitches, and while La Russa wanted the lefty-lefty matchup, I’m not sure Jarrod Dyson and Nicky Lopez were worth the strain.

Besides, the White Sox couldn’t mount a successful rally off Minor and two Royals relievers. Minor, who already was the first left-handed starter to face the White Sox in a game his team won since 2019, became the first lefty starter to pick up a win against the White Sox since 2019 by allowing just four baserunners over seven innings, striking out seven. The White Sox didn’t get a first batter on base until Abreu opened the ninth inning with a single, and they only had two at-bats with runners in scoring position all night. His changeup neutralized a White Sox lineup that wasn’t at its deepest, what with García and Billy Hamilton in the same outfield, and Zack Collins behind the plate.

Maybe La Russa would’ve gone to the bullpen earlier if he knew Evan Marshall looked like his old self. Marshall retired all four batters he faced, two by strikeout. He had all three of his pitches working in any count, with particularly sharp action on his breaking ball. Matt Foster survived two singles for a scoreless eighth, although perhaps he shouldn’t have come out unscathed, because his flip home on Dyson’s squeeze attempt forced Collins to cover a lot of ground on his tag. The replay showed that Kelvin Gutierrez was probably safe, but the replay room couldn’t prove a negative with regards to Collins’ mitt touching Gutierrrez’s arm, and so the run never crossed the plate. See? Not ever Vanover miss went the Royals’ way.

Bullet points:

*Moncada had a less than stellar night at third, letting an Alberto grounder handcuff him for a single, and firing low on a 5-4-3 attempt that Nick Madrigal still turned.

*The five spots after Abreu went 0-for-18 with six strikeouts, although Dyson robbed Andrew Vaughn of extra bases with a fine diving catch.

Record: 23-15 | Box score | Statcast

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ThisReallySox

Adam Engel cannot come back quick enough. These lineups with Hamilton and Garcia are generally pretty brutal. I don’t know why TLR continues to bat Garcia 2nd

Holland23

I really hope the Sox can find upgrades for Garcia and Hamilton. Maybe some complementary players who can hit righties. For me that would be the most obvious upgrades we can make, alongside maybe a bullpen arm (for Lamb).

Joliet Orange Sox

I really want to see the end of the Hamilton and Lamb era for the Sox. I’d like to see Leury García play less (and perhaps never start) but I’d be ok with García as the last man on the roster after Engel returns. His ability to play anywhere in the field provides flexibility that has at least some value (compared to the no value I think Lamb provides) and allows the Sox to more easily carry a player with no position (Yermín).

I am concerned that TLR is incapable of limiting García’s playing time but that might be a concern with whoever is at the end of the bench.

Last edited 2 years ago by Joliet Orange Sox
soxfan

This might be splitting hairs, but once Engel returns I see Garcia as more expendable than Hamilton. Assuming Mendick can be the utility IF/OF, then while Garcia is arguably a better overall player, Hamilton’s unique skill set (PR, plus defensive replacement) is more useful to the team than Garcia’s versatility. Engel or Hamilton could play CF. Mendick could start at a corner OF position and move to the IF or vis versa. And Hamilton and Garcia have similarly flaccid batting lines so *shrug*.

Joliet Orange Sox

If Hamilton is there instead of García, the Sox could find themselves short an infielder on a day when someone is under the weather or ejected or …

Also, while both are lacking offensively, I believe García is a better hitter than Hamilton at this time by enough to matter. García has slightly higher career wRC+ (73) than Hamilton (66) but they are essentially the same age and García has been aging better. García put up wRC+ of 83 or above from 2017-2020 (619 PA in 2019) while Hamilton has never put up wRC+ of 83 except over 22 PA in his first season. I recognize completely that this is because Billy Hamilton is a truly terrible major league hitter while Leury García is merely a bad major league hitter. ZIPS has García projected at 75 wRC+ this year and Hamilton projected at 55 wRC+ because of Hamilton’s poor performance in recent years as one team after another thinks they can use that speed and mistakenly believes he’s not as terrible a hitter as he is.

I hope this discussion is moot because the Sox find players better than either García or Hamilton to be at the end of the bench but I’m pessimistic. Every team has a utility player who can’t really hit at the end of the bench.

soxfan

You’re not wrong, but I’m not as interested in their wRC+ or any other offensive metric because (with Engel back) I’d do everything possible to limit their at bats and evaluate them based on what else they could do for the team.

And you’re right, this should be moot because it shouldn’t be hard to find replacements for either or both.

As Cirensica

Leury might be slower than Hamilton, but Garcia is a lot more useful than Hamilton. Both are good bench players to have. Emphasis on bench. I’d keep Leury over Hamilton.

shaggy65

Sadly, that great walk in the 8th inning will probably only embolden TLR more.

Reporter: Why do you bat Leury in front of your best hitters when he has an on-base percentage below .250 and he’s objectively been one of the 50 worst regulars in baseball this season?

TLR: We just feel like he continues to give us good at-bats.

dwjm3

That at bat by Mercedes in the 9th was pretty awful. He works a 3-2 count and then proceeds to swing at ball four largely to prevent the ball from hitting him. He proceeds to break his bat and hit a weak grounder to second

Meanwhile, Nicky keeps squirting weak grounders all over the yard.

Some of these guys are rough to watch right now.

I found myself missing Robert and Eloy last night.