Tyson Ross v. Andre Rienzo - Lineups & Preview 5/31

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As the White Sox had finally reached the lofty height of one game over .500, it was inevitable that they would have to lose last night. After all, they haven't been two games over .500 since April 15th, why should they start now? On the optimistic side, it's impressive that they've managed to survive at a .500 clip given that they have been without the services of their best reliever all season, their best starter for most of the season, and now arguably without their best hitter for a few weeks. Today they face off against Tyson Ross, who has salvaged his career in San Diego.

Tyson Ross was a 2nd round pick for the Oakland A's in 2008. Outside of a few snippets of innings here or there, Ross has generally posted really bad peripherals throughout his career, and his ERA generally hasn't been pretty either. After a 2012 which saw Ross post a 6.50 ERA with his typical high-walk-low-strikeout components, the A's flipped him to San Diego in exchange for a pitcher who can't pitch and a position player who can't hit. 

Ross does get his share of grounders, however, so the White Sox will have to hope they find holes, and take advantage of the fact that this matchup is going to be in Chicago instead of Petco. Patience will also be key, both in terms of laying off the sinkers Ross throws below the zone, and as Ross walks a ton of hitters. 

Courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information

Courtesy of ESPN Stats & Information

So Ross is going to keep the ball down, frequently chucking it out of the zone. Personally, I have always despised Ross' delivery. He plants his left leg and appears to be incapable of bending the knee. He then twists his body around it as though his plant leg is impeding his delivery instead of being a part of it. 

Meanwhile, Andre Rienzo is coming off of back to back starts where he actually logged good strikeout numbers -- 8 in 6 innings against Kansas City and then 7 in 5 innings against the Yankees. The knock against those outings would be the fact that the Yankees without Beltran and Teixeira don't really have much of an offense to speak of, and the Royals are the worst offense in almost every meaningful category this year. Interestingly, somehow Rienzo has posted no platoon split in 2014, allowing a .699 OPS to LHB and .705 to RHB. Not what I would have anticipated given his profile. 

One more out against Arizona and Rienzo would have a streak of four quality starts in a row. I'm sure the White Sox would be fine with another 5-6 inning 2-run outing, especially on a day like today where the bullpen is coming off of an off day on Thursday and only two innings pitched last night. 

White Sox Lineup:

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

Andre Rienzo -- SP

Padres Lineup:

  1. Everth Cabrera -- SS
  2. Seth Smith -- LF
  3. Carlos Quentin -- DH
  4. Chase Headley -- 3B
  5. Yonder Alonso -- 1B
  6. Wil Venable -- RF
  7. Cameron Maybin -- CF
  8. Rene Rivera -- C
  9. Alexi Amarista -- 2B

Tyson Ross -- SP

Where to watch: 1:10pm CT -- WGN and Fox Sports San Diego

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