The way their record is trending, this could wind up being the worst White Sox (56-92) season in over 50 years. Worse yet, they are losing some records from past seasons of which they once held sole possession.
Royce Lewis’ bases loaded demolition of a plate-splitting 3-1 fastball from Jesse Scholtens gave the Twins infielder his fourth grand slam of the season. Previously, only former White Sox mainstay Alexei Ramírez had ever managed four grand slams in a rookie campaign. Since Lewis has hit all four in his last 18 games, the outright record is in danger for the rest of the season.
Separately, a four-spot in the top of the second inning erased any early notions of a close game, as the Twins rolled to a 10-2 victory.
A fifth inning two-run shot by Elvis Andrus constituted the entirety of White Sox scoring. Michael Kopech has yet to record a scoreless inning out of the bullpen in three tries, and was seen slamming his glove in the dugout after allowing four runs in the top of the ninth.
Pantera problems
The spirit behind Luis Robert Jr.’s stated goal to play 150 games this season is noble enough, and important for the White Sox going forward. But already at a career-high 138, his performance is hitting a bit of a wall.
An 0-for-4 night with two strikeouts has Robert at 7-for-40 (.146) with one walk and no home runs for the month of September, constituting 10 starts.
Robert has posted an OPS of .820 or better in each of the last four months, but surpassed his previous career-high for games played in a season (98), back in July.
Crochet return?
The best pitching of Garrett Crochet’s injury-shortened season might be taking place during his current rehab assignment. The former 11th overall pick has struck out seven of the 10 batters he’s faced in three scoreless innings, as he works back from left shoulder inflammation.
Even though Crochet was recently transferred from Double-A Birmingham to Triple-A Charlotte, it’s still not a given he pitches in Chicago again this year.
“He’s throwing the ball well,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “There’s a possibility but we don’t want to rush anything. It would be nice to see him. But again we’ve got to take that slow and make sure that he’s healthy and he fits to what we’ve been talking about: we want you to go into an offseason without having to rehab anything.”
Crochet has stated a desire to shift toward a starting role in the future, and the Sox could certainly use some candidates. But after undergoing Tommy John surgery last April and his current injury, Crochet has been limited to 10 major league innings over the last two seasons.
Liam’s good works
Despite being sidelined with Tommy John surgery, Liam Hendriks had a busy Friday. An estimated 1,800 fans attended a pre-game tailgate that Hendriks hosted with television personality “DJ” Pauly D, raising funds for the Be The Match foundation on World Lymphoma Awareness Day.
Fittingly, it was followed with Hendriks being recognized on the field pregame as the White Sox nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, given out annually to the MLB player who best represents the game through charitable contributions and community service.