White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet was one of the team’s few bright spots in the first half of the season.
AP
Perhaps you’ve noticed, there hasn’t been much good news in the Chicago sports world recently.
The first half of baseball season did nothing to help the cause. So as the all-star break arrives, let’s try to find some sliver of silver lining to the Cubs and White Sox.
For starters, there’s been plenty of attention given to the White Sox having 71 losses at the all-star break, reportedly the most ever. But it would also be fair to point out the calendar. July 16 is relatively late for the All-Star Game.
So you only have to go back one year to find a team with a worse record at the break. Oakland was 25-67 for a .272 winning percentage, while the Sox are 27-71, a .276 winning percentage.
Bad records are not unusual in MLB these days. Baltimore and Arizona lost 110 games in 2021, Detroit dropped 114 in ’19 and the Orioles dumped 115 in ’18.
Of course, all those big losers picked first or second in the ensuing MLB Draft, while the White Sox can select no higher than 10th next year, thanks to the new anti-tanking rules.
Hang on, that last item is bad news. Forget we brought that up.
Teaching moment
Here’s an unlikely reason to feel decent about the Cubs’ chances of making a run in the second half: Miguel Amaya.
The second-year catcher was having a miserable year at the plate. The Cubs decided to give him a few days off so he could work on changing his hitting approach. Since that time off, Amaya has gone 5-for-12 at the plate with a home run.
Now, Amaya probably isn’t the key to Cubs’ success. But it’s an encouraging sign that the Cubs coaching staff could pull him aside, make some improvements and have them show up on the field right away.
The Cubs finished the first half with an 8-3 stretch. The bottom of the order will be important to the Cubs staying hot when play resumes.
Christopher Morel and Pete Crow-Armstrong each hit a pair of home runs Sunday in St. Louis. Those two are in their first seasons as full-time MLB players, and have been through some struggles. Maybe sticking with them instead of making a panic move will pay off as the season winds down.
Left-handed thinking
The White Sox may be down, out and victims of bad luck. But their impending left-handed assault on the American League is going to be interesting.
Three of their top 16 prospects by MLB Pipeline are left-handed pitchers. There’s 2022 first-round pick Noah Schultz, Ky Bush, acquired from the Angels for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez; and Jake Eder, who arrived from Miami for Jake Burger. Then they added Arkansas LHP Hagen Smith with the No. 5 overall pick, plus lefty Blake Larson (No. 68 overall), an Iowa native who played at IMG Academy.
“We really believe in that guy (Smith),” White Sox scouting director Mike Shirley said Monday. “We feel like he’s a front-line guy.
“As far as the pitching, we feel like we’re onto something. You see these power arm, left-handed profiles that are playing for us. It is intentional and I think we’re executing the process.”
Maybe drafting Smith means the Sox expect to trade current king of the lefties Garrett Crochet, but there’s still a few weeks to dream about what could lie ahead.
If this path doesn’t work, maybe at least the Sox will have a left-handed pitcher with Chris Sale type of talent they can use to kick-start the next rebuild.