2026 First Month Recap

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Speaker 1: Hey, vacationing the lawyer.
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Speaker 4: From your favorite source for Chicago White Sox Talk, delivering news, interviews, analysis and more. This is The Socks Machine Podcast with your hosts Jim Margolis, James Vegan, and Josh Nelson.
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Speaker 5: Thanks Robin, Welcome to a new episode of the Box Machine Podcast. I'm your host Josh Nelson, and it's Sunday night to April twenty six, twenty twenty six as we record this new show. So after going four and two on the road to Sacramento and Arizona and then winning Friday Night in comfort behind fashion Munititakamarakami, hitting it as eleven home run of the season, the White Sox lost on Saturday and Sunday in ten innings against the Washington Nationals, and thus losing another home series After sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays at home. The White Sox have lost eight of their last nine home games and now Mike Trout is coming into town for three games. In this episode, we'll recap the news from the series with James S. Vegan, and later we'll recap the first month of the twenty twenty six season with Jim Marglis as The White Sox are eleven and seventeen after a month's play, but only three and a half games back at first place and a game behind Minnesota for third place in the America League Central. First, we start with general manager Chris Kaetz speaking to the media prior to this series starting. Obviously a lot of attention being paid to Munataka Maurakami signing the Japanese Lullyer continues to look like a better decision by Gets, and he likes how Murakami generates off into opportunities with each play of parents.
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Speaker 6: Creates plenty of action he does, and the action is either with his bat or when he doesn't swing and he takes walk. So you know, that level of patients and run at the plate, you know, potentially brings more opportunities for other guys that are coming up to the plate with with him on.
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Speaker 2: Base and just RBI opportunities things like that. But that that patience can have an effect.
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Speaker 6: And you know, you when you're in a lineup, when you're a hitter and you're you're watching someone having success like Muney is having right now, you know you take note on why he's having success. And not everyone has the power that Muney has, but that patience, that the the ability to take pitches that are not stripes or pitches that you cannot do damage with, and that's really something that we stress.
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Speaker 2: But when you have a player that that is exemplifying that on.
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Speaker 6: A regular basis, you know that can have influence on others as well and how they take their advents.
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Speaker 5: The expectation was that Murakami would have some type of a learning curve against Major League Baseball pitching, and in a way, he's still learning. When you look at the strikeout rate, it gets thinks with Mr. Kami's work ethic, that trend could slow down or reverse.
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Speaker 6: He's got some natural ability. He's got an engine that is you know, he's got a gifted uh, he's got gifted power.
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Speaker 2: But it also it's.
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Speaker 6: Combined with the work ethic that is, you know, top of the top of the scale.
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Speaker 2: I mean, he's a guy that.
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Speaker 6: Not only pays attention, but you know, you look at his work on the field, both defensively as base running, you know, studying, you know, video and how pitches are going to attack him. Is understanding of his own craft is something that he prioritizes. So you've got work ethic and skill, and you know that that's a great recipe for success in this game.
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Speaker 5: Lately, both on social media and the Sox Machine Comments section, there's been the conversation of the White Sox signing Markami to a new contract. Chris Getz wants to slow down that idea.
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Speaker 2: Oh, I don't know.
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Speaker 6: You know, obviously he's gone out there and performed really well quickly in his White Sox career. Our goal, you know, from the beginning, is making sure that he can just go out there, be comfortable.
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Speaker 2: Be himself, knowing that if he can get comfortable, he can be a productive major league player.
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Speaker 6: So I certainly don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but what he's done.
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Speaker 2: So far has been really impressive.
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Speaker 6: Naturally, you look at that anyone that's wearing a White Sox uniform. Okay, is this someone that you know we want here? Do we feel like this is someone that's going to be productive for a long time in ages? It is certainly a factor that's just part of, you know, the equation when when you're putting together a team, both in the short term and long term. So but it's still, you know, more than anything, we're happy where he's at right now, and he seems to be very comfortable.
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Speaker 5: The White Sox are still waiting for Kyle Teal to overcome his hamstring injury, and it's looking like his return for sure is being pushed back into May.
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Speaker 6: Yeah, til you know, he's still doing well. You know, we haven't quite been able to get it to the finish line. There's always this you know, final stage and threshold that needs to be met before we send someone else on a rehab. You know, we want to be very careful when it comes to to Kyle Teal and certainly a hamstring. So I know that he had a really good day yesterday and he feels good today. So we'll see how this weekend goes and take it from them, but out for a while now, you know, he missed a chunk of spring training and obviously all of the regular season so far.
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Speaker 2: So you know, you want some at bats.
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Speaker 6: You want him to experience the different nuances that exist in every game, so both behind the plate, you know, base running and certainly the at bats as well. So I don't have a finite number on the amount of at bats or amount of games. It's it's one of those you kind of read the situation, take his feedback, take coaches feedback, and take it from the Danner.
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Speaker 5: McDougal's also dealing with the hamstreen injury. Gets provided update on the flame thrower.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, he had a little.
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Speaker 6: Bit of hamstrick tightness when he was covering first base. You know, there weren't too many concerns with the strength testing, and you know today there was a little bit of soreness.
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Speaker 2: We're going to alter, you know, some of his in between start work, but.
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Speaker 6: As of right now, he's putting on making his schedule start.
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Speaker 5: Gets also talked about the league in general, to gauge how his White Sox team is faring against the competition league wide, making that information and deciding in what areas the team as a whole needs to grow upon.
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Speaker 6: Always pay attention and and beyond just the American League, just the league in general. You know, the teams that defense has become a high priority contact you know in the just contact.
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Speaker 2: In general, roll let alone in the zone or outside of the zone and not chasing uh.
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Speaker 6: And then you know, building teams with with with more speed, and I think it's been in years past. So you know that I'd say that that's a a league trend more so than just the American League.
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Speaker 3: You know.
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Speaker 6: So so you know how you're the teams that we're facing in the you know, the approaches that our pitchers need to take and and the small details that pop up during the game. You know, you look at safety squeezes and the offensive approaches of some of these teams, and you know, we've had discussion on, you know, how to defend the safety squeeze, which is a difficult play to to defend in general, but pitchers may making quality decisions on whether to throw home or the first base.
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Speaker 2: You know, what are the face of the baseball when it's coming off the bat and the direction and how to handle that.
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Speaker 6: So those are conversations that we seem to be having more frequently now than we have in years past, So you know that that's that's certainly something that that has shown itself.
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Speaker 2: The way that bullpens are being built. You know, you kind of.
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Speaker 6: Sense the trend of you know, different you know, different arms taking the late innings.
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Speaker 2: You're seeing that more now than I think you have in years past as.
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Speaker 6: Well with with not having just a you know, one closer or one set up guy.
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Speaker 2: So not anything much different than how we're approaching things. But but those are certainly some trends that have shown up now.
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Speaker 5: The Chicago White Sox did make a roster move over the weekend by dfan catcher Reese McGuire and then calling up Drew Romo to take a spot. White Sox manager Will Venable explained what the thought process of that decision making was.
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Speaker 7: Well, reach was great here, you know what he meant at the clubhouse, complete pro really good with the game planning stuff. We just haven't got a lot of production out of the catching spot. Drew's been doing a really good job offensively and defensively down there. And then just want to see if we can get some more production out of that spot.
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Speaker 2: See if you.
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Speaker 7: Know that that tandem can yeah do something to push Caro to, yeah, just get us some more offense from that spot, so we'll see how it looks. And you know, Drew made a really strong impression in spring training, specifically with his defense and his game calling, his ability to communicate with pitchers and coaches.
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Speaker 5: There's some speculation that Romo would be a better suited backup for Kyle Teel instead of carrying two left handed hitting catchers, but Venable insists that this decision to call up Romo is independent from planning on Teal returning.
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Speaker 2: I think it's really independent of Kyle.
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Speaker 7: Just think that, you know, we're sitting here almost a month end of the season and really haven't got a ton out of that spot. And so I think as we're continuing to find ways to improve and continuing to find ways to improve our roster, that you know, taking a look at that position specifically and finding a way to you know, at.
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Speaker 2: Least explore a potential upgrade. I think it's an important.
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Speaker 5: Thing to do. Let's learn more about what transpired at Rtefield this weekend. Joining me as Sox Machines be reporter. It's James Vegan and James Tough series loss for the White Sox. The last two games went into extra innings, but they have now lost eight of their last nine home games. In your opinion, what was the leading cause for this weekend's series loss to Washington.
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Speaker 8: I have to give it up to you. Apparently this is a homer defendent offense as we put today at I mean, they scored one run. They probably didn't knock their game number down too much, but they're the only team with more than fifty percent of their runs coming to via the long ball, and they didn't hitting long balls the last two days. The conditions, especially Sunday, were not conducive to them. But they don't want to be a hope independent offense. They want to be this team that can, you know, put the ball in play or manufacture runs outside.
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Speaker 1: A long ball.
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Speaker 8: But right now they're not very good at doing that. So when they're not hitting the ball out of the yard where you're not seeing Murk, Commy and Vargas and Montgomery go deep, they are a bit inept in terms of producing. But also, there were two lefty starters, or at least lefty there are two lefty starters this weekend. This offense, especially with Austin Hayes out against especially with Edgar Carro not you know, up to what he's been against left handers in the past. Tarrek Hill, Tanner Murray are kind of what's rounding out the back end of the lineup. Louis on Helicunya there it kind of is like half of a real attack right now, and like once you get past that, you know, top five, the White Sox hitters, they're not really developing a lot of threats. So it's health, it's it's not it's it's definitely a lot more swing and miss than they can really sustain to be effective. And turns out, bunting with the runner back at third base, while still encouraged, has yet to be shown to be a really radical element outside of you know, guys making their major league debut throwing the ball in the right field a little bit so injury, uh, you know, kind of projects in terms of you know, Edgar Carrow kind of driving fastballs more, which was his goal in the off season, or luisn Lacuna hitting the ball in the area, had a good at one like solid contact on Sunday that stuck out with you know, an FA at the end of the day, but not having that up in order. You know, ideally Hayz is coming back, so maybe rushing back because Tanner Murray just sustained an injury.
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Speaker 1: Maybe those are answers a little bit.
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Speaker 8: But you know, I think against lefty starters, they're probably going to be a bit weaker, you know, all season long until something really develops on that front.
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Speaker 5: You mentioned Tanner Murray. He made a fantastic diving catch, but he got himself up and was clearly in a lot of pain. What's the latest injury status on Tanner Murray, James.
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Speaker 2: They didn't really give us anything.
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Speaker 8: They said he's still being evaluated, but it the Venable mentioned him being a lot of pain. Everything about it looks like an il stent en route, and with Austin Hayes already on his rehab assignment, that would be like the easier or less friction frictiony way.
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Speaker 1: To like address it.
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Speaker 8: Hayes played five innings of defense on some day, which I think was probably his first time on the field. Probably not ideal to Russian back up before he's played a full game of defense. It's also probably not ideal to have to make a forty man roster move for Murray if Hayes is coming back in a matter of days. So I'd leaned towards thinking they would just bring Hayes back up.
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Speaker 1: But we'll see, all right.
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Speaker 8: They are kind of if they're not bringing that something them back up to where they're at with health, you're kind of making a forty man move every single time you have to need any positional reinforcement.
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Speaker 1: Then that gets hold quick.
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Speaker 8: But racing towards twenty twenty four totals in terms of players used already this season.
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Speaker 5: So one of those forty man roster moves, and I think this caught a lot of people buy surprise, is that the Chicago White Sox dfa backup catcher Reese McGuire and they promoted Drew Romo to the roster. Now, we heard from Will Venable earlier in this podcast. James and Venable explained the decision making on why the White Sox made this swap. But with you looking into it a little bit more and the lack of production from the catcher spot, especially offensively for the White Sox, to me, this seems like a desperate attempt to force something to happen offensively for the White Sox. What do you make of this swap for the White Sox removing McGuire for Romo.
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Speaker 8: It's a little like changing tires on a you know, a car with the busted transmission, because you're you're swapping out the backups when really, like the starters are the issue, so to speak. Like it's in terms of like narrative consistency about what they talked from the you know, position standpoint, and the reason they gave for like McGuire coming on.
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Speaker 1: It's a little bit like, well, what did you think was gonna happen?
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Speaker 8: Because McGuire's come in, his framing's been solid, but he hasn't hit, and you know, as pop times are fine, he's like one nine six, Like it's average, not good, but it's not like all this guy will never throw out a base stealer. But he's over fifteen. So you can kind of point say, like, hey, we're not getting production. Let's just give the guy who's hot at triple A a chance. You'd think that Romo gets some sort of chance at some point, uh in this depth spot. And at the same time, the reason your catchers are bottom of the league in production is because Carol is having an awful start. And Kyle Teal is hurt and they're not bucking on you know, Caro being getting the primary playing time because like this is still a rebuilding season, saying like, oh it's late April. When not getting enough production from the the catching position, let's not play either of our catchers of the future at all, even though Carol, Like I think if Teal came back and you put Tick Carrow on triple A, no one be like, why are they abandoned the future? It'd be more like, this guy's clearly struggling, let's get him right. It's just like if heels out and you are saying, Carol can't fix what's going on up here, let's.
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Speaker 1: Send him down.
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Speaker 8: Now, you're just playing placeholders in the spot. So Romo's pretty young, and obviously it was a former second round pick or a thirty fifth overall pick. Compront guy, You're not really moving forward to what your long term picture is with that spot, So it's weird to make a move based on production when it's still going to be like, we need to move to our future. We're gonna try to get Carol right, and that's really the reason why your production is where it is is that he's not hitting, he's not turning around fast folds right now, and Teal doesn't have a definitive date for a re assignment just yet because you know, his running is still not one hundred percent. So it's talking about this problem without really doing something that's going to meanfully address the problem. At the same time, like the on on paper, Reese McGuire has not played well and Roma has played well in Triple A, giving him a shot?
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Speaker 1: Why not?
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Speaker 8: Why not turn through guys? Why not transfer options? It's just a little bit like going back to you know, Jim's original headline was a recent cquire of like they signed him for some reason. It's a lot harder to figure out what the reason is when I don't. I know he's had hot streaks at other stops. But as someone who watched Reese McGuire in twenty twenty two watched him now, same guy can calck through the door. Yeah, there's not allipop. The offenses is not really there. He does the little things right behind the plate. I thought you were cool with this and that's why you brought him on. Did you see some wildly something wildly out of what your expectations were to you know, pull the ripcord after a month more or less kind of kind of I can't say, but it's not an unjustifiable move. It's just it's not really going to It's not what's going to.
00:18:20
Speaker 1: What's going to change.
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Speaker 8: This is Haggar Harrow to start hitting at this point because nothing else is really beyond your control, or nothing else was really within your control in terms of like you know, Teal coming back, or you know, the backup catchers not being backup catchers.
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Speaker 5: Well, even going back to screen training, I think this what leads to some of the confusion is what was Corey Lee doing wrong to not be the White Sox backup catch Why did you feel like, as the White Sox you need to spend more than a million dollars to sign Reese maguire to bring him into the fold and then go through the whole waiver process, the DFA process for Corey Lee and hoping that he sneaks through and he gets to Charlotte Knights. I know Corey Lee has not been playing well Charlotte, like the White Sox catchers are just overall not playing all that well. But I feel like that also leads to some of the confusion from a White Sox fan perspective, James of, like, this team feels so dependent now on Kyle Teal. Like Jim ends up being right, Like, Yeah, Kyle Teal is one of the most valuable players in this White Sox team, because this team just feels like it's really lost to the catcher position without Kyle Teal.
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Speaker 8: Yeah, Like, to your point, it seems like the one through line for what they want for the backup catcher spot.
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Speaker 1: Is not Corey Lee.
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Speaker 8: And yeah, I was not like particularly swayed by Corey having like a big spring training Offensively. I thought he's going to have like, you know, kind of Reese McGuire shape offense, probably a little bit more raw hop in terms of what he does, but like has been someone who chases a lot and has swing and mississues. But and he's not as good as a framer as Recentqua, but he's also not as bad as like Edgar Carrow. And the one thing that you know, Corey Lee would do is suppress the running game. So with what you're kind of shuffling through, like I thought it was probably certainly fine to go with him during this window without Kyle. You know, Kyle Teal both in terms of, you know, good relationship with the pitching staff, you know what you can bring it from a run prevention running game prevention standpoint, and probably would have you know, walked into the Homer or two because he's got that kind of juice a bit more than what you had. I guess it's preferable to try new things when what you had was not like necessarily satisfactory. But it does seem like a lot of motion for something that's you know, hasn't really amounted to much in terms of what they've done as an alternative. But yeah, I think Jim was right on it because the way they've talked about Kyle Teal, both offensively and defensively, like they clearly view that he has since he's been out in terms of like talking about Edgar really doesn't have the margin beyor to start chasing the way he did, you know in the first couple of I think he's paired it back a little bit. You've seen him taking some walks recently, but also feeling like Kyle Heal just from a physical standpoint, it's so much more frameing potential. That's something you got from like talking to Walker mckimmnn about it. Yeah, I think Kyle Teal being not a franchise player, but like clearly like a huge part of the core is something that's been you know, really reiterated through this whole process. And I'm pro guys playing in WBC. I think it's fun. I think like it's something they should get the opportunity to do. I don't think like the ideas of teams like coarding them as like these protected assets, not laying the play baseball is what I'm trying to endorse. At the same time, he was this important, why did they let him play in the WBC. I bet they clearly think about that a little bit now that he's missed a month. It's cool that he was there. Certainly was a bit thing for a SA Mansinachi as well. It's gonna happen all the time. Kyle's a high effort player. But yeah, I Kyle Teal being a huge face of the franchise is weird that we are feeling that more in his absence than even you know, watching him play very well last season obviously.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, and we're still not going to see Kyle Teal until now the month of May, as he is going to miss the complete first month of the twenty twenty sixth season, and we're still waiting, as James mentioned on when the rehab stint will start for Kyle Teal. So hopefully something happens with Drew Romo and Hagar Carro to find a hot streak to help with the catcher production. Romo did appear in the last two games. He went over three with two walks and a strikeout. Someone else I got runner and yep, he did that as well. Someone that got beat up a little bit on this weekend is Jordan Leisure. Leisure has now allowed tenor and runs this season in thirteen and at third innings pitched. How if you really break down the game log for Jordan Leisure and before these last three outings he had five straight scoreless outings from April fifth to April sixteen. It's just that in his last six outings it's seven walks to only five strikeouts. Is the lack of control and living in the strike zone? Is that the biggest factor right now, James, with Jordan Leisure struggles or is there something else that's hurting his game?
00:23:28
Speaker 8: I mean, you could say that because that's always true, but there's also like those are kind of long term limitations for him. Uh, he's probably gonna be like a ten plus percent walk guy his whole career. He's going to be very homer prone. Is simply just because like he does not everything is about his hacking the top of the zone with his fastball, and he does just not generally cround balls. He's like a swing and miss guy or you know, flyout, So you're never gonna see like an Aaron Bummer outing from Jordan Leisure where it's like, oh, he.
00:24:05
Speaker 1: Got five week cons.
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Speaker 8: Five top balls and I don't know how, but they scored two runs.
00:24:13
Speaker 1: I don't like.
00:24:14
Speaker 8: I mean, it's hard to say, like you can't do this because like this nature believing, especially like you know, a leverage guy. I don't like him coming in traffic because like there's always like an extra base run it's gonna come from like the level of walk he has to him and he's so reliant on getting slider chase that it's just it's not very you want to give him a clean inning. He needs that margin for air. He's not someone who can work in tight spaces very easily with the way his game works. That said, like he's getting less with on his fastball, and the way that like certainly is weird. He's getting really damaged on a slider in a way that seems a little fluky because like the mists and the chase on it are both there.
00:24:56
Speaker 1: The way his norms are.
00:24:57
Speaker 8: His fastball has always been a little vulnerable just because like his slots so over the top that like people are like super geared up, Like I know it's gonna be the top of his zone.
00:25:05
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get on top.
00:25:05
Speaker 2: Of it a bit.
00:25:08
Speaker 8: The Velo hasn't like fallen off in some big way where I'm like, or the action's fallen off in some big way where I think his fastball is like not working.
00:25:14
Speaker 1: But he's just like a.
00:25:16
Speaker 8: Guy where like if something's a little off, you can certainly see these spurts on him. I think he'll ultimately be okay or normalized to some degree, And I think certainly the Socks have like a lot of confidence in him to kind of be like a solid big leaguer based on what he did last season. I think that the barriers to him becoming like super locked in a thinning guy or certainly something beyond that or something we're seeing him run into, like timing again, where it just seems like the ceiling that you know, a grant tailor offers of being like an all star level reliever or being someone who can like you are comfortable seeing clothes there until I see that splitter more which he showed in Kansas City and look great.
00:26:01
Speaker 1: It's something that's working on for a while. You just have vulnerability.
00:26:05
Speaker 8: Lefties, you have chase dependants, you have you know, walk stuff where it's like bad out of he can clump on him and have him try to work through like a basis loaded champ.
00:26:16
Speaker 1: These are just things that are really hard to see.
00:26:17
Speaker 8: Him, like navigating well, even though like man, that slider really gets a lot of misrates and it's hard to really give up on a guy who throws ninety six and gets like nears forty percent whip on a slider against major leagu getters. The tools are obviously there for like a useful major league believer. It's just so many things to like are just if they're just a little bit off, like an inning cogo Hey wire on him that make me wonder, like what's the ceiling beyond Like what he did in the second half last year, and how how are we going to get him to be more reliably what he was like in the second half last year that I don't have the answer for so a long way to say, I don't really know, but the main thing I would just be like, I would have to.
00:27:00
Speaker 1: See the third pitch more. It looks good.
00:27:02
Speaker 8: It seems like it's a big Another thing you can maybe not using the zone a splitter is not like a strike pitch, but just like more weapons that get him out of the mindset of like just having to throw the perfect slider.
00:27:13
Speaker 1: Over and over again to get through anning. I don't know, No, it's a pickle.
00:27:20
Speaker 5: You've ring in really good points, and maybe Leisure is not a guy you want to use in the tenth inning. Moving forward from a White Sox perspective, but even Sir Anthony Dominguez struggled in the tenth inning on Sunday against Washington, allowing two runs. The White Sox don't have a lot of options right now in the bullpen because they are starting to use Brian Hudson as an opener and it's worked. And I wonder James moving forward, since the White Sox are big fans of using the opener, and Sean Burke bitched really well on Sunday, career high and innings for him. So when you see Hudson bitches scoreless first inning, you see how Burke picks up the load in the second and it's a scoreless outing for the White Sox. Through nine innings, the strategy has been working for them. So moving forward, is Hudson the guy that opens for the White Sox when they're facing a lineup like Washington that's a little bit lefty heavy, and is it still Grant Taylor for the lineup setter righty heavy?
00:28:21
Speaker 2: So they are like.
00:28:24
Speaker 8: Two different breeds of opener for sure, because like the White Sox don't have like well, I guess now they have no Schultz, but they haven't used an opener for no Schultz. And then there's Anthony k but like they don't have seemingly like the right handed version of Hudson. Hudson is like one. He's like a testament to why they obsess over armslot. He's this low slot left he's throwing ninety one. I mean, his fastball is just like tearing through people.
00:28:51
Speaker 1: Right now.
00:28:51
Speaker 8: He looks a lot better than when they had him late last season. He's been kind of good out right, but just such a different look than Burke. He's gonna come up over and be like an over the top Rity. So he's the kind of opener of like, hey, we're gonna throw you the exact opposite thing that you're otherwise building your lineup for. Type of opener that you know, that was the way it kind of really started with a raise, whereas Grant Tailor is of the mind, so like, hey, we're just gonna take one of your times that your top of your order comes up, and we're gonna hang a zero on it to start the game, and then we're gonna move from there, which is like I mean include sir Anthony demingas in the conversation, here's our best reliever, and he's gonna get us a zero and get us rolling. Whereas like I don't know if they necessarily have a right hand equivalent of like here's a low slot Writy, I'll be weird before you face. Like that would be like Pat Murphy would be like the type of guy who opens for Noah Schultz or Anthony k type of thing, like here's just like kind of a weird guy to throw you off before your lineup that's supposed to face ritis. But yeah, I think Hudson certainly is in that that bucket a little bit. I wonder if, like a little bit, if he starts continues to be really good, does he just move into like leverage work at some point. I think Sean Newcomb's been solid where maybe you don't really have to consider that the same way he would if he was struggling, but he's been kind of I wonder if like this is kind of an emergent because like Hudson's been a little bit better than that, you know, that Tyler Gilbert mode of last season where let's have this like low slot lefty open for a couple of writings.
00:30:26
Speaker 1: I think right now it's fitting.
00:30:28
Speaker 8: But like if he keeps having success, does he just move into leverage later in the game, since you have so much churn going on in this bullpen where you know, Tyler Davis as wall Abido, like all these guys who have been here less a week where you're not really sure like what their places long term, Whereas I think like Hudson's kind of starting to earn himself some stained power right now.
00:30:48
Speaker 5: Well you'll be able to read more features from James on Socksmachine dot com as the White Sox continue their home stand with the Los Angeles Angels, visiting Derek Showman in the White Sox hitting coach, and a lot to say so even more from James coming from rate Field. You'd be able to read that work on Socksmachine dot com and James, make sure you hop over to the Angels dugout and personally thank Mike Trout for carrying your fantasy baseball.
00:31:13
Speaker 1: Team this week four Baby.
00:31:16
Speaker 5: After this weekend series, the Chicago White Sox have wrapped up their first month of the regular season. They are currently eleven and seventeen. As I mentioned in the intro and helping me recap the first month of the twenty sixth season. Joining me is Sox Machines Managing editor. It's Jim Margolus and Jim. They got to double digit wins. They got to eleven, a bit surprising. They're tied for last of the Kids City Royals in the division, but they're just three and a half games back out of first place. They're only a gay back of the Minnesota Twins for third place the division. So how would you sum up the first month of this season for the White Sox.
00:31:57
Speaker 9: Could be worse. I think would be the way to uh call it based on one how they started, uh to the fact that Shane Smith is currently in Triple A. If you told me that before the season, I'd say, like they're in hell. And it turns out that Noah Schultz is a pretty good replacement uh spot for spot, So that helps. And then you have the outfield, which is missing Austin Hayes, Luisan Hilcunya has not figured it out. Uh, you know, Sam Antonachi is part of the mix. You have Brooks Baldwin, who is you been out the whole season. He was supposed to be part of that as well. In center field, they've been patching, you know, basically spot for spot every single UH game or every single series at the very least, and it looks like a mess sometimes. And so when you see these huge red flags and the fact that the bullpen hasn't quite lived up to expectations either, you can see it being another you know, single digit month and you know, depending on how you count it, uh, you know base or you know calendar month, month's worth the days or you know, end of April, you know, They're still not out of the woods entirely for it to be like a good April. But I think, for you know, one month of baseball in the books, the fact that they their record looks like an ordinary bad teams record and not one of the worst teams in baseball or worst teams ever record, I think is at least a step in the right direction.
00:33:25
Speaker 1: Just a matter of now.
00:33:28
Speaker 9: Yeah, one, that's very low bar, and then two, just can they actually, you know, get some guys back, particularly Kyle Teal. I think if you get Teal and Shane Smith looking like a number three, number four starter, that probably helps us quite a bit versus right now with catchers being a mess and everything else, uh kind of feels like they're hanging on by a thread.
00:33:55
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree with you that it could be a lot worse. I could also hear podcasts say it could be a lot better. And I think the last nine games really sums up on how this twenty twenty six season has started for the White Sox. There are some days where it's like, Wow, it feels really good to be rooting for the White Sox. It looks like this ship is finally turning into the right direction. And just like this last weekend, the last two losses happened in extra innings, and it's like, oh, if the White Sox just got a key hit here with runners in scoring position, if they're not one for twelve, if they're two for twelve with the runners in scoring position, maybe they went on Saturday, And if they could just scored one run over nine innings against the Nationals, they would have won on Sunday. So this record could be closer to five hundred, maybe even above five hundred with some of the games they have blown in the first twenty eight games of the year. But I also agree with your gym on the same point that it could be better. Yeah, they could easily be like what six and twenty two they start this season, and it's kind of in the middle at eleven whin with what they have currently on the roster. And I think what helps with the White Sox being eleven and seventeen and why they are interesting to those outside of Chicago is Munataka Amurakami and his first month of the season already at eleven home runs and it's kind of fun to calculate his on pace metrics Jim for the rest of the season because he has played every single game, so really easy. Just take his current numbers, divide it by twenty eight, take that percentage, times it by one hundred and sixty two. There you go, is on base numbers. So I ask you, Jim, out of these four options, which on base metric is most achievable for Munatakamurakami sixty four home runs, one hundred and fifteen RBIs, one hundred and twenty seven walks, or two hundred and thirty seven strikeouts.
00:35:55
Speaker 9: I'm going to be a wet blanket and start with two hundred and thirty seven strikeouts, just because, uh, we've seen that before. We've seen that before from moderately productive hitters like Mark Reynolds holds the record for two hundred and twenty three. Adam Dunn would have broken it had the White Sox not pulled off of his playing time that year a little bit. I think they kind of at the end managed it a little bit so he wouldn't get the record, but he had two hundred and twenty two. But like Done was fine that season. He was average for a DH that year. Mark Reynolds, the year that he set the strikeout record, he had one hundred and twenty seven ops plus, So that's a case where two thirty seven you expect he's not gonna play every day. Probably comes down to that two twenty range. And so like we've seen that before, from decent to good hitters, good power hitters. So that's why I say two thirty seven and not necessarily a bad thing or like everything's gonna collapse, just more of a matter of there's a lot of swing and missing this game. I would say, like incorporating the other elements, one hundred and twenty seven walks seems like a lot, but he doesn't swing it much out of the zone. Like his his plate discipline is very impressive. And I think as long as he has that kind of home run power and like the one hundred and thirteen hundred and fourteen mile Prower home run power, that just makes everybody in the ballpark say like, oh this is real and scary, like he will get treated with a certain amount of respect that allows him to draw the walks if he just swings at nothing. And again that's the kind of player type we've seen before, whether it's done, whether it's Joey Gallo. So wouldn't roll that out you know, for one hundred and sixty two game pace that he's currently on, then probably one hundred and fifteen RBIs then probably sixty four homers, just because you know how hard it is to hit sixty homers in this season. There are easier ways to get tow one hundred and fifteen RBIs, even if he hit like fifty homers or something like that. So ends up with the ugly home run to RBI ratio that I've talked about before. But given the walks, given the just amount that he's doing with the balls that he's putting in play that are going over the fence, the home run the fly ball rate is great. Like, yeah, I think you take that overall.
00:38:15
Speaker 5: There's a part of me that's like, obviously, sixty four home runs is the most achievable out of these four. Nobody in White Sox histories hit fifty, so to hit sixty would be like crushing the record and bypassing it. I am hoping that you are wrong about the strikeouts, but I think I agree with you that two hundred and thirty seven strikeouts is probably most achievable. But I am going to pick one hundred and fifteen RBIs Munda Takomerkami. I think at some point this season he's going to figure it out and really cut down that strikeout rate where it's well above thirty percent right now, that hopefully in a couple months he gets that strikeout rate around twenty percent. But at the same time, I'm still hitting for power, just with more guys on base and really cashing in. There are some at bats for Murakami that he does have runners in scoring position, He's just not take advantage of that opportunity, and he's not cashing in for the White Sox so while he does have a pretty ugly home run to RBI Ratio has mentioned, Jim, I do think that he has. I think the one hundred and fifteen RBIs is most achievable out of these four, especially the rate that he's hitting home runs right now for the White Sox. SO Listeners in the comments section on the sooxmachine dot com podcast page let us know in the comment section which one you think is most achievable for Munataka Murrikami for the rest of the year. Sixty four home runs, one hundred and fifteen RBIs, one hundred and twenty seven walks or two hundred and thirty seven strikeouts. So for Marrikami, let's talk about a topic that we were concerned about out all off season, and that is the White Sox outfield. So, after a month of watching this outfield, Jim, how are you feeling about the White Sox outfield?
00:40:11
Speaker 9: Not good? Feels like they're barely able to put one together at times. A lot of infielders playing out there. Austin Hayes is able to stabilize the outfield any like. It's not great that he's so experienced with hamstring polls that he knows how to mitigate it when he feels a gram on him to where he's able to come back. But you know what he showed early seems like he should be able to help. I don't think Andrew Benintendee is dead yet, but he's not like a left field or you want out there necessarily like Sam Antonacci. I think has been fine in left field early on, and I think he's more or less showing what you think he's going to show at the plates in his first weeks. So that's okay. But just the center field plan, luisn Helicunya hitting like everything on the ground is a real problem and he's been shaky in center field when it comes to like the high fly reads. Yeah, I'm not sure if it's oddly or if it's just you know, makes sense kind of counterintuitively when you think about a little bit, is that you know he looks good on the line drives the ones where he has to make a hard break like he seems like he trackses down pretty well and you see the closing speed. It seems like the high flies are the ones where he dances with a little bits and you see the kind of family circus like route of just because you're running around circles until he catches it like around stomach level. That makes you not necessarily the most confident what he's doing out there. I think Derek Hill has been what you thought in terms of like a fifth outfielder who is kind of like a third to fourth outfielder at this point. I guess Tristan Peters will say, like he's been okay, couple big hits in late slash extra innings, looks okay in center field. Not hitting for a ton of power. He kind of bunts more than I want him to, but he he's at least providing a professional at bat and I think providing some of the surest actions in the outfield. So I think he's been okay for somebody who was off the radar in spring training and made the roster kind of by surprise. But yeah, certainly need Austin Hayes back to round down the amount of guys who are out of position and stretched out, whether offensively or defensively. And then I guess we'll reevaluate when he gets a week or so under his feet and hopefully he's able to run at full speed and play defense basically all the time and go from there.
00:42:41
Speaker 5: Now, moving over to the pitching side for the White Sox, how are you feeling about the starting pitching unit, Jim.
00:42:47
Speaker 9: Better now that Noah Schultz is here and his stuff plays. If you told me that Schultz would be in the rotation by the end of April, I'd say, I hope it was that he earned it, and I hope it's not because they there's a total emergency. And no, he looked awesome at Charlotte's and he's looked better and better in terms of like his arsenal rounding together with every start in the majors. So yeah, that's cool. And then you have Sean Burke, I think demonstrating some of the best command he's shown his last two times out, especially with the curveball. Davis Martin is getting outs, and I think with him, his arsenal is so diverse and so shape shifting that I don't think you necessarily counted him to do anything the same way twice, or do anything the same way month to month, because the book changes and he changes. If he's not going to be a strikeout guy, and his strikeouts are up this year, but if he's not going to be somebody who gets a strikeout in inning and he relies on suppressing babbup and he relies on just quick innings, basically just the efficiency, then he's got throwinnings. He's got to get outs, and so far he's getting outs and that looks great. Eric Fetti, I think is holding serve like not necessarily bringing back memories of twenty twenty four altogether, but like he's been fine. So you have like four spots there and just the fifth spot's kind of a mess right now with Anthony k his transition not going all that smoothly and Smith being a project you. Jonathan Cannon on the injured list that that spot looks a little bit iffy right now. But I think most teams don't know exactly what they're getting from the fifth starter so that you can more or less take It's just you get to the point of like Tanner McDougall, you know, his hamstring grabbing a little bit his last time out. Do they have that sixth starter on deck? Should somebody get hurt? And right now it's you know, might be Shane Smith coming back if need be and just trying to, you know, fix the plane in the air if he's still not all the way resolved in Charlotte's. But overall, I would say thumbs up. Arrow's pointing up enough guys doing what they need to be doing in order to feel like this should hold together for a little bit.
00:45:05
Speaker 5: It'd be great if Shane Smith can bounce back and be better than serviceable. I don't know if he can regain his old form. If he can regain his old form, that would be another boost to the starting pitching rotation because Davis Martin the way that he started this season after five starts as a god send Jim, especially in light with Shane Smith being demoted to triple A somebody needed to step up and help lead this rotation, and Davis Martin has done that, and his first five starts, Sean Burke has been surprising me, especially with how well he threw on Sunday.
00:45:39
Speaker 2: If you don't want earn.
00:45:40
Speaker 5: Run average, Davis Martin's FIP is three point zero nine. Sean Burk's FIP is four point zero two. That's very serviceable the starting rotation. And if Noah Schultz can maintain this type of stuff obviously be great. If he could cut down on the walks, but he's learning. It's only three starts in the major leagues. I am a bit worried, Jim. It comes to Eric Fetti that there's gonna be the Matt Laitos effect and this thing goes sideways fast. But a nicer guy, nicer guy, Anthony Ka. If this doesn't work, like maybe he can be the Mike vassal of this bullbend and you push him into the bullben and be a swing guy like I know he won't like Decu. He's not a big fan of somebody opening up games for him right now. But it's five appearances. His fit is six point five y three. His earned run average is over five, like the White Sox need more out of him. So I'm with you that the starting rotation can get better, but at least the next couple of weeks punch a hole through the nearest wooden object podcast listeners. The White Sox do not need any injuries to their starting rotation right now as some of the guys are trying to ramp up down in Charlotte and Haiggin Smith had a difficult start right in his last time out for the Night Jim, Yes, yeah, So if it's it's one of the Smith's that's going to be coming up. If there is a need for the White Sox and the starting rotation, I'm hoping that it's because they start, they're joining the rotation, replacing like an Anthony k or an Eric Vetty, and that's another boost in productivity for the starting rotation. But you do bring up a good point. If there is an injury the next couple of weeks, it could be it could be difficult on the starting front for the White Sox.
00:47:29
Speaker 9: Yeah. I just think with Eric Fetty, basically every start that he gives you as a gift. Sure, and uh, the fact that he's fine is plus. Like they didn't pay him a whole lot, so you're basically looking at him as a protective layer for the Schultz McDougall, Hagen Smith trio. And I think he's done.
00:47:51
Speaker 5: That part, and I think that's the reason they signed him, right, I thought that was the point.
00:47:56
Speaker 9: Yeah, but given the just how poorly he pitched last year, it wasn't necessarily the safest bet, and right now he's providing good value.
00:48:05
Speaker 5: If someone in the rotation needs to be replaced because of productivity reasons, I think that would be Anthony k being pushed back into the bullben and still have someone open for Eric Vetti. But I would still have Fetti part of every pitching every fifth day. That makes sense, Jim, like I would go Fetti's fine. K's probably the one at risk now, speaking of the bullbend, and that's the final unit we'll talk about as far as his month recap, How are you feeling about the White Sox bullpen, Jim, Because they spent quite a bit of resources this offseason and trying to improve this unit.
00:48:42
Speaker 9: I would say current performance not good. I still think there's a wake can shape into something better. I think Grant Taylor has been great buy and large, especially for the amount of roles they've used him in that he's been very personal. He's been able to bounce back, both in terms of like recovery but also like when he's had wobbleer outings, like it hasn't carried over. He's been pretty slump proof thus far. Knock on Wood, So that's the most important important guy in the bullpen, and he's holding up thus far. So that's a good place to start. But after him it gets pretty iffy. I think sar Anthony Dimingez has been showing why he's been limited to set up right handed oriented relief work just because you know, stuff is vulnerable to lefty. Still, he's yeah, he was impressed against James would like that was a great strikeout, but then he falls behind three to one, gives up a challenge Homer fastball on ninety five, and you can see like, oh yeah, it's still very sketchy. When he's facing a lefty in high leverage. The walks are there, the strikeouts are there. It's an adventure, and so I think that's why teams were He closed some and he did okay, and I think he's probably dynamic enough to where like I don't necessarily say it's a mentality thing or he can't handle closing. I think you think it's just the stuff is erratic enough to where sometimes it flops at the worst possible moment, or it can't be hidden, or somebody can't come into finishing an inning for him, it's got to be him or bust. So that's why I think you're seeing some of the strain there. I think probably the biggest disappointment is Jordan Leisure so far the home runs coming back, that's that that hurts a bit because like Jordan Hicks has not looked you know, he's had some good innings, but then like he looks like he doesn't necessarily have great stuff the second inning or maybe like pitching him back to back days doesn't look as sharp, so he's having a hard time like building momentum. They've changed out so many other guys in the other spots, like Brian Hudson I think is maybe the best of the guy's left over. And yeah, but like Sean Newcomb has been another guy who's you know, been pushing in different roles and ben okay, but not necessarily what they've want what they paid them for, So yeah, it's kind of a mess right now. I think there is a way that they can find an order to it. It's just while they figured out, like, it's kind of iffy, and I think, like, I'm curious, when you get to Charlotte, you have Wickling Gonzalez is pitching pretty well, you have Ben Peeples who's pitching fairly well down there, so they still have a few more more arms they can shuffle through to find an order. So that's why I'm not hitting like the panic button yet. And certainly what we saw last year was worse, So it's a yeah. Again. The low bar, very easy clear makes it hard to tell like what's better from what's still terrible. But I would say it's more of a three quarters poll conversation. When they get to forty games, that's like another two weeks from now. What kind of hierarchy do they have? How do you feel about like the last three guys or in the bullpen, the back end of the bullpen? Does it feel like will of Nable has good options? And if they don't, then like yet, that's where the money should have helped, and you know so far has not.
00:52:13
Speaker 5: I don't think this is a hot take but my take on the White Sox Bowl event, especially in particular with Grant Taylor, is going to come with some extra sauce at the White Sox front office. You guys need to make up your mind. I think he has the stuff, maybe not to be exactly like Mason Miller, but he can be elite reliever. And if there's any part of you that does not believe that Grant Taylor will ever his shoulder is never going to hold up every fifth day to take the ball and pitch five innings, just make him an elite reliever like the opener idea and having him pitched the first two innings. I'm not against that idea if you want to build him up to be a starting pitcher at some but if that's not going to happen, he is your best high leverage guy. Use your best high leverage guy when you need him for the highest of leverages and develop him that way. And if he's electric over the next couple of months, and if you don't think that he's ever going to be more than a closer type for you, and if a team calls and makes an offer, you can't refuse in a trade because they think that he's going to be the next Mason Miller. Then go that route, or you keep them because then you have Mason Miller at home, and now you have an electric reliever that can shut down other teams when you really need him in the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning. I just think moving forward to the next month or two for the White Sox. We talked about it with James with the opener strategy, find another right handed pitcher to open games for the White Sox. I'd much rather I'd feel a lot more comfortable, and I'm sure Will venable with too. Jim if he knew that he yet grant Taylor to help protect leads in the seventh through ninth innings.
00:54:05
Speaker 9: Yeah, I don't think that's necessarily a hot take just because I think it's a found take. I think hot take is if you saw more guys in this weird amorphous role doing this, then you might say, like, yeah, like, why can't great Taylor be like all those other pitchers who open and then close and have the best stuff their bullpen. But this case, yeah, there's no other use case like this to where he's throwing two innings opening for a guy who you're hoping can hold it through like six, and then you're left with ratings to cover without your best arm, and then you have him. You're having lights out stuff but still not being the closer, and you know that gets a little bit weird when it comes to just what she signed to Anthony Domingez for. But then also the fact that, like you know, saves get paid in arbitration, so if they're trying to delay that seat, perhap apps that's another reason why they're trying to.
00:55:03
Speaker 2: Have him pitched A.
00:55:05
Speaker 9: Yeah, but it does add up, like, yeah, I think it's case with Taylor, Like if you're making the closer, then he's got a closer. It makes it very easy to tell, like, oh, you're not, you're avoiding saves. If he's uh in, you should be pitching the ninth inning and is not, Like it makes it very easy to tell. So like that's I think he's young enough, his career is early enough where I'm not all the way down that road yet. But the further they they hold off on either building him up and stretching him out or committing him to being uh, you know, helping slidify the bullpen because it does nobody else the favors like it bums out the rest of your team if you blow late ending leads and if you know, so, it's a case where you know, when they signed Amingas, they thought, oh right, we'll be holding more leads, and you saw why everybody wanted to do that. So if you have a weapon, who can help you do that? And he's not available because he either opened the game or he opened the day four and pitch two winnings, he's not available, And then it just gets weird, like you're not not You're like burn the candle at both ends, but one end is kind of pointless. And in terms of uh, you know, he's not going to be the opener on a good team. He's either gonna be a starter on a good team or he's going to be the closer on a good team with what he throws, and how like wide arranging his arsenal is so yeah, I think I'm with you that I would just like a better explanation for it. I think nothing else, Like it's just been feeling like it's he's misused, and uh, I can understand that they want him to be able to throw two winnings, and I don't see why he can't do that in later innings and have the same use case. I think maybe the only reason is like it's unpredictable, like if you try to hold him for two winnings, you're waiting for that two winning appearance. Does he accumulate rust and then like it gets weird trying to maintain his worklow while the games he can impact don't matter, versus like if he's opening, he is pitching innings that matter because it's scoreless or it's a you know, narrow lead, but still like so much can be done in the later innings after he leaves the game that can overwrite it and make it feel kind of pointless.
00:57:20
Speaker 5: Yeah, And one of those is if Grant Taylor opens for two innings and then Anthony cave ballows up and Kay gives up three runs over three innings, then what was the point?
00:57:29
Speaker 2: Right?
00:57:30
Speaker 5: Just That's why I feel like call up winkle Megnzalez Winkleman could be your opener, have him go an inning, have Anthony k come in and try to get at least four innings for you, and if your offensive slugging because you're facing their team's number four, number five starting pitcher and you have a lead, even if it's a whacky game like seven to five, let's say hypothetically, but you're going into eighth inning and you know you got Grant Taylor and Sir Anthony Domingus, I feel a lot more comfortable about the White Sox chances of clinching that game. No matter how you got there, a win is a win. I just don't want them to burn Grant Taylor's innings any series if they're limited. I guess I just at this point, Jim, moving forward, if you could only use him twice at a series, or if you only get two innings every series of Grant Taylor because of just his shoulder one inning two games, he could still be an impact reliever for you to help close out tight games. And the White Sox in the first twenty eight games, I've been playing some tight games, Jim.
00:58:34
Speaker 9: Yeah, it's what every other team does with an arm like this, one way or another, you keep it consistent versus Yeah, having them open you having them serve the same role as Brian Hudson is strange when you put it that way.
00:58:51
Speaker 5: Yeah, it sure does. And you also signed Sean Newcomb to kind of I don't know. I don't know, I just I guess in a way podcast listeners, Taylor, in my opinion, is too good to be an opener. If you're not gonna allow him to push the three or four innings, If there are people within the White Sox organization that do not think he can hold up being a starter, then let's scrap that idea and let him be an elite reliever that still has a lot of value for the White Sox and who knows, maybe other mob teams if they come calling. But that's the first month of the season for the White Sox. They're eleven and seventeen. They continue their home stand against the Angels. This upcoming week, we'll have our midweek podcast episode for you guys as well. A lot more content coming on soxsmachine dot com and written form, so make sure that you do visit the website every single day. But thank you so much for listening to this edition of the Sox Machine podcast. If you just discovered the Sox Machine podcast, you can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts a just Spotify and Apple Music. Check out our videos as well. We've been putting up more full length videos, short form videos, and of course, our YouTube shorts as well of the interviews from Raitfield with James now Heavy at Fancy Camera in tow. You can check out our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com sash soxs Machine, follow us on social media. We're on all the social media platforms at sox Machine. Follow James at Jrfigan. You can follow me at sox Machine Underscore Josh. If you want full access to all of our coverage of the Chicago White Sox, Major League Baseball and the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, sign up to become a sox Machine subscriber at Soxmachine dot com. Slash products Monthly plans started at five dollars. They get to the ad free version of Built the podcast. The website unlocks the comments section for you as well. We have additional tiers of support, including some spots open and our Vegeance Committee, which then you be part of our group. Chat again, congratulations to one of our VC members Kyle, as he just got engaged in Spain. So congratulations to copulations. Very exciting news. And yeah, if you want to want to be part of Sox Machines Veterans Committee or be helping support us to keep the lights on and continue our coverage to the Chicago White Sox. Go to soxmachine dot com slash products and sign up today. The Sox Machine Podcast is a production of Soxmachine dot com. You're a all things Chicago White Sox baseball and part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Alongside Jim Margulus and James Figan. I'm Josh Nelson. Thanks for listening and watching.