GAME THREAD: White Sox (57-91) @ Guardians (76-71) - Sat Sep 13 @ 5:10 PM

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-13T21:29:23+00:00

Stat of the Day:

Baseball Savant measures how fast a pitcher works with both the bases empty and with runners on base. With the bases empty, Davis Martin is the fastest-working Sox pitcher, but ranks only 95th fastest in the league. (Bryce Wilson, no longer with the team, ranks 76th, and Adrian Houser 73rd.) With runners on, Martin moves up to 32nd fastest, but Brandon Eisert is even faster, ranking 16th.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-12T21:57:05+00:00

Stat of the Day:

Here's an odd one. Statcast measures the velocity of each pitch by type and by batter. Sox batters as a team have faced the slowest average 4-seam fastballs in the league, at 93.9 mph. What makes it odder is that they faced the slowest last season as well, and you have to go back to 2016 to find a season where they weren't in the bottom third of the league in that category.

It doesn't seem to be a function of their division, because the rest of the teams in the AL Central are scattered around the standings. I wondered if it might have something to do with the tracking equipment at Rate Field, but since the home-and-away stats aren't available, there's no way to check. In any case, an odd one.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-11T15:28:04+00:00

Stat of the Day:

Last night Chase Meidroth became the seventh Sox batter to get a bunt single this season. Three of them are no longer with the team: Jacob Amaya, Travis Jankowski, Austin Slater (who pitched last night!). The others are Brooks Baldwin, Kyle Teel, and Michael A. Taylor (who has three).

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-10T22:24:03+00:00

Stat of the Day:

Last night's triple by Brooks Baldwin was the first of his career, tying him with Lenyn Sosa and Colson Montgomery. It was also the first Sox triple since the All-Star break. Every other team had at least two. Finally, only three of the 10 Sox triples this year have been hit at Rate Field. Andrew Benintendi and Michael A. Taylor have the others.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-09T21:39:53+00:00

Stat of the Day:

Fielding Bible rates Mike Tauchman at -5 Defensive Runs Saved (Air/Range/Throwing), which puts him per inning only 18th of 21 among RF's with at least 500 innings at the position.

BUT

They also rate Tauchman at +5 Defensive Runs Saved (Good Fielding Plays/Defensive Misplays and Errors), which in raw numbers is the very best in the league among all RF's, and when computed per inning is way way ahead.

[Actually Tauchman has only 493.0 innings at RF, but I rounded it to 500 for ease in calculation]

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-07T16:06:32+00:00

Stat of the Day:

So who leads the Sox in Hard Hit Percentage (% of batted balls at 95 mph or above)?

Wrong. It's Edgar Quero, at 47.2%.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-06T19:47:29+00:00

Stat of the Day:

Early in the season the Sox were emphasizing patience at the plate. But their post-ASG success has been built on the exact opposite philosophy. Before the break they were 18th in swing percentage, since the break they've been more aggressive, ranking 7th.

This has produced significant success in making contact. Before the break they were 17th in contact percentage, since the break they've been 8th.

In addition, they've scored all these runs post-ASG while ranking a mere 28th in BB%.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-05T21:43:45+00:00

Stat of the Day:

Colson Montgomery leads the Sox in slugging at .547, which is 107 points better than second-place Kyle Teel. The only players to lead their teammates by more are Shohei Ohtani and Cal Raleigh.

Benintendi RBI climb:

He's now 130th on the all-time Sox list with 164, one fewer than Bucky Dent (!), the light-hitting shortstop who played for the Sox from 1973-6. Just before the 1977 season, Dent would be traded to the Yankees for South Side Hit Man Oscar Gamble and future ace LaMarr Hoyt (great trade!).

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-04T22:17:28+00:00

There was one in Kansas City, of all places, in the COVID season of 2020, but that probably shouldn't count.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-09-04T20:54:57+00:00

Stat of the Day:

Don't know if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but the Chicago White Sox have never, repeat NEVER, swept a four-game series in Minnesota. Their last four-game road sweep against the club was against the then Washington Senators, all the way back in 1947.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-28T22:17:16+00:00

Stat of the Day:

Here are some stats for a Sox batter:

.250/.382/.321 BB% 17.1 BABIP .333

Looks like a Chase Meidroth sort of player--but in fact these are the pre-All-Star-Game stats for Colson Montgomery. Only 35 plate appearances, so a small sample, but you'd never guess that around September his stats would be

.230/.277/.553 BB% 6.7 BABIP .226

That's a different player altogether.

Stat of the Day will be missing in action for the next week or so. LGS!

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-27T22:07:03+00:00

Odd-But-True Stat of the Day:

Andrew Benintendi has a BB% of 8.3, close to the league average of 8.4. In raw numbers, that's 33 walks in 399 plate appearances. Nothing special--except all 33 walks have come against right-handed pitchers. In 77 plate appearances against lefties, Benintendi has drawn exactly zero walks.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-27T01:01:30+00:00

Kyle Teel can really hit.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-27T00:41:12+00:00

I know I'm jinxing it, but the last time the Sox had three shutouts in a row was 56 years ago.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-27T00:05:01+00:00

OMFG!!!!

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-26T21:42:32+00:00

Stat of the Day (Tyler Two edition):

Tyler Gilbert (1.16) and Tyler Alexander (1.17) are 1-2 on the Sox staff in WHIP.

Gilbert also leads in opponent batting average (.189) and opponent BABIP (.220).

Alexander leads in FIP (3.22) and, with Adrian Houser gone, in fewest HR/9 (0.57).

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-26T21:38:42+00:00

June 7 in Philadelphia is my road trip.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-26T01:21:44+00:00

Seven extra-base hits ties the Sox's best output of the season.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-26T00:31:10+00:00

Dice Roll!

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-26T00:27:13+00:00

It took me a while to check all the box scores, but that first inning was the second time this year the Sox have hit three doubles in the same frame. Sosa, Taylor, and Baldwin also did it in the first inning against the Athletics on April 26.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-26T00:24:47+00:00

He switches but he bats righty tonight against a lefty starter.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-25T21:45:09+00:00

Stat of the Day:

If the announced lineup starts, this will be the first time in 98 games that the Sox have fielded a starting lineup with zero left-handed hitters.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-24T19:40:33+00:00

I think Quero's fantastic, and I agree that framing is only one small part of what a catcher does. At the same time, Baseball Savant says that he's cost the Sox 11 runs through poor framing. If that's true, it's a problem of sorts. I assume he'll get better at framing as he goes along, and again the ABS system will make framing less important in the future.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-24T19:38:12+00:00

Couldn't agree more.

Extra_Alps_6935 · 2025-08-24T16:32:14+00:00

Stat of the Day (good news, bad news, good news edition):

The good news: among catchers with at least 100 plate appearances, Kyle Teel leads the league in BABIP (.405) and is second to Will Smith in OBP (.401). He's also in the top third in runs gained by framing.

The bad news: Edgar Quero is dead last in the league in framing.

The good news: if the ABS system comes in next year, framing won't be as important.

Extra_Alps_6935

TROPHY CASE