There have been loads of attention-grabbing notes from the Chicago White Sox’s California journey.
Starter Lance Lynn took umbrage with Los Angeles Angels shortstop Andrew Velazquez bunting Thursday. Third baseman Jake Burger disclosed after homering Sunday towards the Oakland Athletics that ideas from his spouse, Ashlyn, helped.
There simply wasn’t sufficient sustained success.
The Sox went 3-4 within the two collection. After starting their last homestand earlier than the All-Star break with a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, they’re 13 video games beneath .500 (37-50) and 7 video games again within the American League Central.
The commerce deadline is lower than a month away. And the Sox need to make some selections.
“Obviously we’ve got big decisions to make by Aug. 1,” normal supervisor Rick Hahn mentioned earlier than Tuesday’s sport. “I’ve seen quotes from gamers, I’ve heard from gamers instantly, (supervisor) Pedro (Grifol) and the coaches have heard from gamers instantly, that their precedence and focus is getting issues proper right here and determining a approach for us to win the division after which do some injury within the postseason.
“I, or any of us in baseball ops, isn’t going to do anything that takes focus away from that by saying, ‘This is our direction, this is what we’re doing, this is where we’re committed.’ And we’re going to do everything in our power to continue to support the guys that want to get this thing right.”
While noting the Sox entered Tuesday with the most effective document within the division since May 1, Hahn mentioned: “But on the similar time, that’s solely been a pair video games over .500 (throughout that interval), which clearly hasn’t made up for the deficit we carved for ourselves in April.
“It’s good to see the dedication. It’s good to see, to an extent, the outcomes since May 1. But we clearly have a good quantity of labor to do nonetheless forward of us. We’ve gained an honest quantity of collection the final two months, but it surely hasn’t confirmed to be sufficient but.
“I’m not going to put a marker in the sand and say, ‘We need to rattle off 10 out of 14 or we’re doing this.’ But at the same time, we can see the calendar, we can see the games back, and you want to have a reason to believe that this thing’s going to get right between now and Aug. 1.”
Last month included a stretch of seven consecutive collection towards groups with data above or at .500. The Sox went 10-12.
“You go into something like that and you objectively know that, given the opponents, going roughly .500 is decent when you’re playing that type of stretch,” Hahn mentioned. “But I’d be mendacity if I didn’t say there’s not a part of you that is aware of that, given what we did in April (8-21 on the finish of the month), we have to do higher than that.
“When you look objectively at that stretch, it was advantageous. It wasn’t nice, wasn’t horrible, wasn’t like April. But you’re feeling just like the margin of error isn’t nice and you would like we might have maximized each alternative we had so as to add to that win whole throughout that stretch, regardless of the opponents.
“To get back into this, we’re going to have to beat good teams. And we probably held our own during that stretch, but would have been nice to do a little bit better.”
Now the Sox discover themselves in a scenario the place there can be loads of commerce hypothesis. Many components will contribute to the upcoming selections.
“In the end, we’re going to make a decision about what is best for the long-term health of the organization, with obviously the priority being placed on the here and now because this is the only year we can control,” Hahn mentioned. “Ultimately, for those who’re overwhelmed by a possible return, that will tilt your steadiness extra towards the long run than the current. If you don’t play at a sure degree, that will tilt your focus extra towards the long run than the current.
“But as we sit here today, the goal tonight is to beat the Blue Jays, go on a run and continue to give the guys in there who are fighting for this season a reason to believe it’s going to work.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com