Mark Teixeira sat out the entire weekend series against the Red Sox due to left wrist soreness, but Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports that he’s playing first base and batting cleanup tonight against Gavin Floyd and the White Sox. Teixeira originally injured the wrist on a swing against the Red Sox on July 29 and…
“I’m not ejecting you for arguing balls and strikes. I’m ejecting you for that batting stance.” (AP)
The Yankees have yet to visit Minnesota, Cleveland, and Chicago this season, but they’ll get the latter two out of the way this week. The Bombers are in the Windy City for a three-game series after splitting four with the White Sox in the Bronx back in late-June.
What Have They Done Lately?
The White Sox lead the Tigers by two games in the AL Central with a 65-55 record (+64 run differential). They nearly got no-hit by Jeremy Guthrie yesterday, completing a three-game sweep at the hands of the Royals. They’d won three straight prior to that. The ChiSox have won just five of their last dozen games, so they’re scuffling a bit.
Offense
80 power means you can blow as many bubbles as you want. (Getty)
With an average of 4.7 runs per game, Chicago has a sneaky good offense that can really hit the ball out of the park. Paul Konerko (141 wRC+) recently came off the seven-day concussion DL and joins MLB homer king Adam Dunn (121 wRC+) to give the club 55 dingers in the middle of the order. Thirty-five of those bombs belong to Dunn, who should see a whole lot of Clay Rapada and Boone Logan these next three days — 101 wRC+ vs. LHP and 134 vs. RHP.
Outside of those two, rookie manager and former Yankee Robin Ventura has been getting excellent production from A.J. Pierzynski (133 wRC+) and Alex Rios (125 wRC+). Both Kevin Youkilis (104 wRC+) and Alejandro De Aza (101 wRC+) have been solid as well, though both are battling nagging injuries — Youk a sore knee, De Aza a sore oblique. Both are day-to-day at the moment. Taking De Aza’s spot in center field (and atop the lineup) for the time being is former Yankee Dewayne Wise (121 wRC+ in limited time). As you may recall, his bunt turned the season around.
The rest of the roster is filled out by flawed but occasionally useful hitters. Dayan Viciedo (93 wRC+) has power, Alexei Ramirez (67 wRC+) makes a lot of contact, and Gordon Beckham (64 wRC+) … really doesn’t do much of anything. Tyler Flowers (79 wRC+) is the backup catcher and Ray Olmedo (7 wRC+ in very limited time) is the backup infielder. Chicago employs a 13-man pitching staff and with the Youkilis and De Aza injuries, they’re a little short on healthy bodies at the moment.
Pitching Matchups
Monday: RHP Freddy Garcia vs. RHP Gavin Floyd
It’s been a bit of a tough year for the 29-year-old Floyd, who spent some time on the DL with flexor tendinitis in his elbow and has seen his ERA (4.43) rise for the fourth consecutive season. His walk (3.22 BB/9 and 8.2 BB%) and homer (1.32 HR/9) rates are the highest they’ve been since becoming a full-time starter for the ChiSox, though his strikeout numbers (7.52 K/9 and 19.2 K%) are among his career bests. Floyd is using his mid-80s cutter more than three out of every ten pitches this year, by far the highest rate of his career. His four- and scantily-used two-seamer both sit in the low-90s and his trademark curveball is an upper-70s hammer. It is very underappreciated in the pantheon of baseball’s great pitches. He’ll also use a low-80s changeup. The Yankees tagged Floyd for four runs with more walks (five) than strikeouts (three) in 5.1 innings earlier this year.
(Tasos Katopodis /Getty Images)
Tuesday: RHP Ivan Nova vs. LHP Francisco Liriano
One of three deadline pickups, Liriano has actually been pretty good for the ChiSox. He threw a total dud against the Athletics last week (six runs in 3.1 IP), but otherwise has thrown at least five innings and allowed no more than two runs in his other three outings since the trade. The 28-year-old southpaw’s numbers are all over the place, with strong strikeout (9.85 K/9 and 24.9 K%) and ground ball (44.2%) rates but an ugly walk (4.77 BB/9 and 12.1 BB%) percentage. Pretty much a microcosm of his career. Liriano is a two-seamer (low-90s) and slider (mid-80s) machine, throwing the two pitches just about 75% of the time. A mid-80s changeup is his other offering.
Wednesday: RHP Phil Hughes vs. LHP Chris Sale
When these two clubs met for four games earlier this year, the 23-year-old Sale was the one pitcher the Yankees did not see. The left-hander is a legitimate Cy Young candidate in his first full year as a starter, pitching to a 2.72 ERA (3.18 FIP) with dynamite peripherals — 8.48 K/9 (23.8 K%), 2.17 BB/9 (6.1 BB%), and 44.4% grounders. Sale employs both two- and four-seamers that run from the low-to-mid-90s, and he backs them up with a wipeout upper-70s slider that is just death on lefties (.229 wOBA against). His low-80s changeup is an effective second offspeed pitch. Sale has slowed down a bit of late, allowing at least four runs in three of his last five outings, leading to questions about his workload (career-high 145.1 IP) and fatigue.
(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Bullpen Status
Ventura has eight pitchers in the bullpen and right now four of them are rookies, including closer Addison Reed (3.17 FIP). He’s being setup by a pair of veterans — right-hander Brett Myers (4.05 FIP) and left-hander Matt Thornton (3.24 FIP) — with another veteran guy in the middle innings (Jesse Crain, 3.19 FIP) and another in long relief (Phil Humber, 5.54 FIP). Obviously things have gone downhill since the perfect game. Rookie left-handers Donnie Veal (1.00 FIP in very limited time) and Hector Santiago (5.25 FIP) join righty Nate Jones (3.69 FIP) in the middle innings.
Former Yankees farmhand Jose Quintana gave the ChiSox seven innings in yesterday’s loss, so their bullpen is pretty fresh. Veal and Jones have pitched in each of the last two games, so they might be unavailable tonight. Crain pitched yesterday for the third time in four games, so he might be off limits as well. Other than that, their late-inning guys are good to go. The Yankees are in good bullpen shape as well thanks to Hiroki Kuroda‘s eight innings last night, but check out our Bullpen Workload page for exact recent reliever usage. South Side Sox is the best White Sox blog around, so check that out for the latest and greatest on the opponent for the next three days.
Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog
8/20-8/22 Series Preview: Chicago White Sox
The Royals beat the White Sox 5-2 Sunday afternoon, sweeping first place Chicago in a weekend series. The Royals are in a stretch of playing playoff contenders that started on August third. They started by losing two of three to Texas, then took two of three from the White Sox, split four with Baltimore, took two of three from Oakland, then swept the White Sox. That’s a 10-6 record. The starters posted 11 quality starts in that time, mostly due to a very low walk rate. Getting rid of Jonathan Sanchez had to help in that regard.
White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko was credited with an infield hit with two outs in the seventh inning Sunday, costing Kansas City’s Jeremy Guthrie his chance for a no-hitter. The slow-footed Konerko hit a grounder into the hole at short. Alcides Escobar grabbed it, but made a poor throw that bounced high off the…
White Sox center fielder Alejandro De Aza made a premature exit Friday night after injuring his back on a slide into second base and is not action Saturday. Sunday isn’t looking very promising either. According to beat writer Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, De Aza was walking “gingerly” before Saturday’s game against the…
I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the box score this morning, but there it was. Jeff Francoeur drew three walks in last night’s 4-2 win over the White Sox. The three walks were actually a career-high for Francoeur. The free-swinging outfielder came into last night’s action with just 20 walks all season.…
As expected Paul Konerko is back in the White Sox’s lineup for tonight’s game, returning after missing 10 days with a concussion. He’ll likely take things slow at first, serving as Chicago’s designated hitter instead of playing his usual first base, but Konerko reported no problems after taking batting practice earlier this week. Konerko has…
Thursday’s game between the White Sox and Blue Jays was delayed after a fan went into cardiac arrest down the left-field line at Rogers Centre. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital. According to “the man in white,” who was tweeting from the game, a fan performed CPR on the ailing man first and then…
The White Sox hit five home runs tonight to beat the Blue Jays 7-2. All seven of those runs scored on home runs, a trend that holds for Chicago all season. They’ve now scored 247 of their 556 runs on homers, 44.2%. That’s fourth in the AL and the majors, just behind tonight’s opponent the Blue Jays.
The White Sox are good in general at hitting for power with men on base. They’ve hit 82 home runs with the bases empty, 72 with men on, but in many fewer at bats. A high slugging percentage is most effective with men on base, as long hits move base runners a long way, often around to score. The White Sox are making the most of their opportunities.
Paul Konerko is on the seven-day concussion disabled list after taking a Jarrod Dyson elbow to the head on August 7, but the White Sox slugger is expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow night. Konerko reported no problems while taking batting practice and playing catch Wednesday, and manager Robin Ventura indicated that he’ll…
The White Sox have signed Jose Lopez to a minor league contract and assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate, according to the International League transactions page. The Indians released the utility man over the weekend.
Lopez, 28, hit .249/.272/.366 in 224 plate appearances for Cleveland this year while playing first, second, third, and right field. He has already appeared in one game for Chicago’s Triple-A squad in Charlotte, picking up three hits including a double.
A couple of notable international free-agent deals to pass along …
The White Sox have agreed to terms with Dominican right-hander Victor Done, according to Ben Badler of Baseball America. The 16-year-old Done has a good delivery and throws a hard fastball and sharp curveball, reports Badler, who adds that the South Siders have “significantly increased” their international presence over the past year.
The Mariners have signed 16-year-old Brazilian left-hander Luiz Gohara, whom many teams regarded as the best pitcher in this year’s international signing class, according to Badler. Gohara’s fastball already touches 94 mph, reports Badler, and he throws a good slider. (h/t to Andy Loretta of Baseball Latin America, who first passed along a link to a Portuguese-language report of Gohara’s signing).
White Sox right-hander Jake Peavy has taken three complete-game losses on his way to going 9-8 with a 3.04 ERA this year. The only other pitcher in either league with more than one is Justin Verlander, and he has two. CSNChicago’s Chuck Garfien has the full rundown on Peavy’s string of bad luck this year, [...]
Adam Dunn hit two home runs last night, but one of them was absolutely murderized. Apologies for the Hawk Harrelson commentary: Dunn’s homers came in a losing effort, but each came at key times, tying the game up in the fourth inning and again in the ninth to force extras. Though Dunn has been slumping…
Adam Dunn hit two home runs last night, but one of them was absolutely murderized. Apologies for the Hawk Harrelson commentary: Dunn’s homers came in a losing effort, but each came at key times, tying the game up in the fourth inning and again in the ninth to force extras. Though Dunn has been slumping…
