Jose Quintana tries to redeem us all - Lineups & Preview 5/26

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The White Sox rotation is second-to-last in the AL in most measures worth caring about: ERA, FIP, fWAR, BB/9, smiles.

It's bad, I tell ya.

And this is after after a turn through the rotation that included brilliant outings from newly-returned Chris Sale, John Danks, Jose Quintana, and passable work from Hector Noesi.

With Sale out for over a month this season, Quintana has been the steady hand at the top of the starting five. For the most part, he's looked tremendous. He's throwing just as hard as last year with just as much precision, and looks to have taken a big step with developing his slider, which now looks a lot more like a wipeout offering than just another variation of his fastball/cutter mix.

But as you can tell from the 3.67 ERA, it hasn't quite all congealed into sustained brilliance yet. Quintana looked otherworldly for the vast majority of an April start against the Tigers where he struck out 10 and walked none, but suddenly couldn't get an out in the sixth inning and coughed up a 3-0 lead. He teased a no-hitter against the Cubs, but marred his outing by losing his release point in the fifth inning and wound up with as many walks as strikeouts. His last start in Kansas City was probably his most complete work of the season, and he still got BABIP'd to death and had the three runs the bullpen charged to him added to his line.

He has the tools to dominate a still rather lefty-dependent Indians lineup (or one that's full of guys who are just better when they are hitting left-handed), and I am confident a lights-out stretch is coming from him at some point, but it wouldn't be surprising to see a sudden loss of command leave him with less than he should wind up with today.

White Sox Lineup:

  1. Adam Eaton - CF
  2. Marcus Semien - 2B
  3. Conor Gillaspie - 3B
  4. Dayan Viciedo - DH
  5. Adam Dunn - 1B
  6. Alexei Ramirez - SS
  7. Alejandro De Aza - LF
  8. Tyler Flowers - C
  9. Moises Sierra - RF

Jose Quintana, SP

In eight games since returning to the lineup, Adam Eaton is hitting .306, but also hasn't taken a walk and only has one extra-base hit. He's certainly helping, but an often-forgotten problem with missing time is having to get back into the groove at the plate.

Cleveland Indians Lineup:

  1. Michael Bourn - CF
  2. Asdrubal Cabrera - SS
  3. Michael Brantley - LF
  4. Carlos Santana - DH
  5. Ryan Raburn - RF
  6. Nick Swisher - 1B
  7. Yan Gomes - C
  8. Lonnie Chisenhall - 3B
  9. Mike Aviles - 2B

Josh Tomlin, SP

Carlos Santana is the proud owner of the weirdest batting line in the sport (.159/.327/.301) as he's walking a ton, but has suffered significant setbacks in contact and power, coupled with rotten batted ball luck and refrigerator speed. That he's been occasionally working at the rarely-attempted catcher-to-third basemen transition probably isn't helping.

Signing Ryan Raburn to a multi-year deal for his age-33 and 34 season has gotten off to a predictably disastrous start for the Indians, but he does hold a .297/.346/.518 career line against the Sox in 100 games. So, if he does so much as hit a dinky sacrifice fly today, expect to hear all about it.

 

Where to Watch: Today's game is on Comcast SportsNet at 1:10pm CT.

 

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