A week after the Padres lured Derek Norris' revered bat out of Oakland, this isn't the best time to feel rosy about the White Sox seasonal arrangement of below-average and whiff-prone catchers, but they are here. There are many of them, which is the best feature of this group.
Read MoreLast off-season, the White Sox made a pretty good bet that I had no interest in them seeing through. They bet Flowers probably couldn't do worst than 59 wRC+ (That's 40% below league average) while allowing more passed balls than half the AL despite only playing 84 games.
Read MoreFive innings worth of a crisply pitched game is lot of innings. It's most of the game, even! It's certainly plenty to ask of Scott Carroll. But as Carroll snuck out of the fifth inning, throwing something that vaguely resembled a wipeout slider but obviously couldn't be, it was obvious that the Sox were not preparing the calvary to rescue Carroll at the first spot of trouble--as they have none--and instead hoping to stretch Carroll out for as long as he could go.
Read MoreThe moment it happened I knew it was coming. It shouldn't be worth addressing and, yet, it is.
Read MoreIn a surprise twist of fate, Tyler Flowers has not become a scrappy, high-average hitter by simply willing it. His adjustments were championed, and acknowledged even here, that I donno, something's working, when Flowers was hitting .373/.413/.440 through April 28.
The very clear warning signs were present in hilariously obvious degrees (36.3% strikeout rate, .600 BABIP), but he was doinking singles. Maybe he would keep doinking singles after the magic died.
Instead, Flowers is looking to have normalized his numbers by the All-Star break. He's hitting .165/.248/.303 since April 28, striking out over 40% of the time with a .255 BABIP. Flowers can't cover the strike zone, make consistent contact due to the hitch in his swing, and only possesses a good batting eye and enviable strength. At least he started using that a bit.
Read MoreThis would be quite the pitching matchup in 2011. Ian Kennedy worked over 220 innings at a sub-2.90 ERA (and won 21 games) that year en route to a top-5 finish in the National League Cy Young race. For John Danks, 2011 wasn't his greatest season, but it was his last, full pre-injury season. In 2011, he was still John Danks, and not John Danks, who's still working to regain his form...
Read MoreWhen the White Sox agreed to bring back Paul Konerko on a "last hurrah" contract for 2014, one had to wonder how the roster would fare with three DH/1B types on the roster in Konerko, Adam Dunn and Jose Abreu. (Well, four if you count Dayan Viciedo).
Early-season injuries to Avisail Garcia, Conor Gillaspie and, now, Adam Eaton made that a conundrum earlier than most expected, and when the White Sox played their fourth of 10 games in National League parks Monday against the Cubs, the issue was further magnified.
Read MoreThe Catbird Seat is a White Sox blog by White Sox fans that focuses on intelligent and humorous baseball commentary. Brought to you by ESPN's SweetSpot Network.
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