The Chicago White Sox have lost three of their last four games, as of this writing. That, in and of itself, is not necessarily concerning -- it happens to all teams in the course of a 162-game season. Even teams in contention for the playoffs. What is concerning is that the Sox could've and should've won all three. All of these games have been at home, just to add context.
The White Sox are beating themselves at the worst possible time
Let's start with the opening game of the series against the Houston Astros. The Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead and had staff ace Davis Martin on the mound. Then the sixth inning happened.
Martin seemed to fall apart after Yordan Alvarez singled to lead off. Martin hit a batter, though it initially looked like the ball had struck the bat for a double-play. Houston challenged and the call was reversed -- correctly. Martin loaded the bases and allowed a run -- he was pulled before the Astros' Christian Walker doubled and cleared the bases. Houston was within a run, and then Cam Smith homered to give Houston a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
The biggest problem in that game was the nightmare sixth inning, but the Sox made matters worse by continually popping pitches up. It was as if the team was trying to hit five-run home runs each at-bat.
Saturday it was a single that slid by White Sox RF Braden Montgomery to clear the bases -- which once again were loaded in the sixth -- to give Houston what it needed in an eventual 4-1 win.
On Monday, the Sox blew a 3-0 lead to the New York Yankees before eventually falling 9-5. Lowlights included rookie starter Noah Schultz giving up two walks in the fourth after initially cruising, Sox catcher Edgar Quero falling asleep (figuratively) and allowing Jazz Chisholm to swipe third base with no challenge, a question send when Sox third-base coach Justin Jirschele waved Colson Montgomery home with the potential tying run. Montgomery has been hampered by minor injuries and wasn't able to run full speed. The Yankees executed a perfect relay and he was gunned down easily at the plate.
Add in a few errors and it was a slopfest for the Sox.
I don't want to doomsay and assume the Sox are reverting to the bad old ways of the previous three seasons. The Sox have rebounded well from other rough stretches this season. Just this month there was bounce back after two heartbreaking losses in Cleveland, and the Sox went into the All-Star break strong, and came out of it strong, after a bad sweep at home at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. Earlier this year, this team hung around .500 with slugger Munetaka Murakami shelved with an injury. They've been competitive despite getting little playing time from catcher Kyle Teel, who has dealt with injuries all year.
And it's worth noting that this is still a very young team with relatively little MLB experience across the roster. Guys are going to make mistakes that veterans don't, or at least don't make as often.
That said, this is a team that has played itself into serious playoff contention. And while some folks might suggest that this year is still a learning year and next year will be the time for the championship contention window to open, the time to go for it is now. Next year is never guaranteed, and in this particular case, labor strife might mean there is no next year. Not only that, but there's no guarantee the American League will be as wide-open next year as it is this year.
So if the White Sox want to finish off this run with a playoff appearace, and if they want to win a series or two in the postseason, or even compete for the title, they have to play smarter baseball.
The Sox have often outslugged mistakes this year. They've even outpitched them on occasion. Now is the time to stop making mistakes. Time to put youthful errors and mental lapses behind them. Time to play smart, aggressive baseball as well as their past two opponents do.
The good news is that Sox manager Will Venable seems to be the type of field boss who can help players improve in this area. He may be a laid-back dude who players love, but by all accounts, he also won't stand for sloppiness.
If he and his coaches can get that aspect cleaned up, well, there are still things to worry about -- namely consistent pitching from both the starters and the bullpen. Plus catching depth in the absence of Teel.
Some of those issues might get solved at the trade deadline. But playing smarter baseball is improvement that will have to come from within if the Sox want to go deep in October.
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