With little to look forward to in 2024, a ray of light on Opening Day for the White Sox
Garrett Crochet struck out eight in the White Sox’ 1-0 loss to the Tigers on Thursday.
Quinn Harris/Getty
It feels like the 2023 White Sox season ended yesterday. That’s the problem. More recovery time would have been nice. Additional healing could have been helpful. Extra counseling might have done wonders. And I’m not sure I would have said “no” to electric-shock therapy.
The Sox lost 101 games last year and won’t be good this year, either. PECOTA, a computer system that predicts players’ and teams’ performances, puts the Sox’ chances of winning the World Series this season at 0%. Really? You couldn’t find a 0.1% chance somewhere in your cold, insensate wiring? Come on, throw a team a bone.
Alas, there’s no gussying up the truth, which is that this could be another hellish season for the franchise’s fans. The Sox not only are asking for patience as they try to build over a failed rebuild, they’re preparing to ask taxpayers to help foot the bill for a new ballpark. Or else.
The implied threat in Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf’s meeting with Nashville mayor Freddie O’Connell in December was that if he doesn’t get what he wants from the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois, he’ll move the team. Your game summary: He beats fans over the head with bad baseball while getting ready to rifle through their pockets.
One last finger in the eye of the faithful: There’s a new TV voice of the White Sox, John Schriffen, even though Sox fans don’t remember asking to get rid of his popular predecessor, Jason Benetti.
So, yes, happy baseball season, everybody!
The Sox opened their 2024 schedule Thursday with a 1-0 loss to the Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field. Starter Garrett Crochet was excellent, striking out eight, walking none and allowing one run in six innings. Is there any way he can pitch every game this season? Asking for a bunch of friends.
The Sox had only three hits, none after the fourth inning. Might want to get Crochet some BP.
It was a lovely day for baseball. I hate to rain on a parade when the sky is so blue, but the Sox have a roster you couldn’t pick out of a lineup. Well, sure, there’s Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada, the ghosts of Sox’ hopes past. There’s Crochet, who earned the Opening Day start even though he had never started a major-league game in his life, and fellow fireballer Michael Kopech, now in the bullpen. There’s 11-year veteran Kevin Pillar, who was cut Friday only to be brought back Sunday. Nothing about that explains how he found himself starting in right field against the Tigers.
Other than that, Thursday was like the first day of New Student Week. I’m sure we’ll get to know Braden Shewmake, Steven Wilson, Jordan Leasure, et al, this season, but for now, thank goodness they have names on the back of their jerseys.
Crochet struck out two in the first inning, including Riley Greene, who went down swinging on a 98.8-mph fastball. It’s exactly what Crochet and the Sox needed. A reason to believe.
The lack of run support was concerning because the Sox were second from last in baseball in runs scored last season. A reason not to believe.
Brace yourself for another bumpy ride.
Earlier this month, the Sox traded Dylan Cease to the Padres, the most recent reminder that the franchise is going through a fresh overhaul. Cease came to the South Side as part of the 2017 deal that sent Jose Quintana to the Cubs. He more than held up his end of the deal, finishing second in the 2022 American Cy Young voting. The Sox didn’t.
After firing vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn during last year’s debacle, they elevated Chris Getz from assistant general manager to general manager. If the temptation is to say, “poor guy,’’ it must be because you Sox fans are kind people. You don’t want to see anybody suffer needlessly. On the other hand, it’s almost a certainty you’re going to suffer this season, and it doesn’t hurt to have company.
The hope is that Robert, Jimenez and Moncada have career years, that Crochet becomes a feared pitcher and that Kopech turns out to be a revelation as a reliever. That’s a lot of hoping, but what else is there to do?
For the moment, the Sox and their suffering fans can fixate on Crochet’s first start. He was great. It’s probably asking too much for him to fill Cease’s spikes, but ask away. It’s what Opening Day is all about.
Somebody should have asked for more Sox hits before Thursday’s game, though.