Tag / Royals

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Stretching To 19

The White Sox extended their franchise-record losing streak to 19 games last night, losing to the Twins 6-2.  They are now tied for the 12th-longest losing streak in MLB history and have tied the 2005 Royals and the 2021 Orioles for the longest losing streak in the Wild Card era.  They are two games away from tying the American League record, set by the 1988 Orioles, and four from the modern record, owned by the 1961 Phillies.

The White Sox will look to snap their losing streak this afternoon by sending Chris Flexen to the mound.  They have lost Flexen’s previous 15 appearances, last winning a game he pitched on May 8th.  It has been 24 days since the White Sox last won a game and Pedro Grifol is still employed.

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18 And Life

April 10, 2023 was the last time the White Sox won a game at Target Field, going 0 for their last 9 against the Twins on the road.  So, as the White Sox returned to Minnesota last night, it seemed an inopportune place for them to try and break their 17-game losing streak.  They have now lost ten in a row and Target Field and have extended their franchise-worst losing streak to 18 games.

A loss tonight would tie the White Sox with the 2005 Royals and the 2021 Orioles for the longest losing streak of the Wild Card era and would leave them just five behind the 1961 Phillies for the longest losing streak since 1900.  Their season record is now 27-88.  Only nine teams in MLB history have had a worse stretch of baseball, none of which occurred during a single season.

And, in case you were wondering, Pedro Grifol is still employed.

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Sour Sixteen

After a busy day watching teammates getting traded away, rookie Jonathan Cannon took the mound last night looking to stop his team’s record fifteen-game losing streak.  He did his part, throwing 7 innings of 1-hit ball, leaving with a 2-1 lead.  Unfortunately, rookie Fraser Ellard, making his major league debut thanks to those earlier trades, couldn’t hold down the fort and the White Sox fell to the Royals once again, losing 4-3 and extending their losing streak to a franchise-record sixteen games.

Only five other teams have lost sixteen consecutive games in a single season since 1994: the 2005 Royals (19 losses), 2011 Mariners (17 losses), 2021 Diamondbacks (17 losses), and 2021 Orioles (19 losses).  The 2024 White Sox now join this list, while now racking up more blown saves (28) than wins (27).  They will once again try to snap this losing streak this afternoon against the Royals.

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Sad History

Things were looking good for the White Sox as they tried to snap their franchise-record fourteen game losing streak last night, as they carried a 5-2 lead into the 8th inning.  Two solo shots and a grand slam later, the Royals led 8-5 and, for the second time this season, the White Sox had set a new franchise record for futility with their fifteenth consecutive loss in a single season.  They also tied the overall franchise record, set across the 1967 and 1968 seasons.

Thanks to off days and the All-Star break, it has been 20 calendar days since the White Sox have won a game.  They are now 3-20 in the month of July and 27-82 on the season, guaranteeing them a losing season.  On July 29th.

 

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Losing 14 Again

The White Sox tied their franchise record for consecutive losses in a single season yesterday, dropping their second straight game to the Mariners by the score of 6-3 for their fourteenth straight defeat.  Over the course of their 125-year history, the franchise’s previous fourteen game losing streak came less than two months ago.

The overall team record is fifteen straight losses, which happened with five losses to end of the 1967 season followed by another ten straight to start the 1968 season.  The 2024 incarnation will attempt to avoid tying this mark tonight, as the Royals come to town for a three-game series.

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Looking Ahead To 2025

Last week, on the extra off day in the All-Star break, Major League Baseball released their tentative 2025 schedule while I was away in Amsterdam.  For the third year in a row, MLB is keeping with a balanced schedule, playing 52 games against division opponents, 64 games against non-division opponents in the same league, and 46 interleague games, with series against every team in the opposite league.  With the White Sox about to cement the worst season in franchise history and the Cubs trying to figure out what went wrong on their way back to contention, the 2025 season looks like it could be a long one for the city of Chicago.  So, for one day, at least, let’s turn our attention to next summer for both teams.

The White Sox celebrate the 125th anniversary of the franchise, opening their season on March 27 at home against the Angels, kicking off a six-game homestand that also features the Twins.  They will make their first visit to Sacramento, the new home of the A’s, in the last weekend of April.

The interleague schedule sees the Phillies, Marlins, Cardinals, Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Padres coming to Guaranteed Rate Field, while the White Sox will go on the road to face the Pirates, Reds, Dodgers, Braves, Mets, Rockies, and Nationals.  The rivalry with their north side foes continues with a three-game weekend series at Wrigley Field in mid-May followed by another weekend at Guaranteed Rate Field the last weekend in July.

After wrapping up the home portion of the schedule in mid-September against the Orioles and Padres, the White Sox wrap up the 2025 season on the east coast, battling the Yankees and the Nationals to finish up the year.

On the north side, the Cubs head to Japan to open their season on March 18 with a two-game tilt against the Dodgers in Tokyo.  They return to the US to face the Diamondbacks on March 27 before heading to Sacramento for the first time to face the A’s.  They open up the home portion of the 2025 season on April 4 against the Padres.

Aside from the A’s, the Cubs will head out on the road to face the Twins, Angels, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Tigers, while the Mariners, Orioles, Guardians, Red Sox, and Royals will be coming to Wrigley Field.

Only ten of their 25 games in September are against their NL Central rivals, which could make a difference should the Cubs find themselves in contention.  They end the year with a six-game homestand, facing the Mets and the Cardinals.

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2024 All Star Break Standings

For just the second time, the Midsummer Classic lands in Arlington, Texas.  As the stars of the baseball world gather at Globe Life Field for tonight’s showdown, it’s time to take a look at the team records for the 18 games, featuring 60% of the teams in the league, that I attended in the first half of the baseball season, a disappointing one on both sides of town.

2024 Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Detroit Tigers 1 0 1.000
Baltimore Orioles 1 0 1.000
Cincinnati Reds 1 0 1.000
Cleveland Guardians 1 0 1.000
Toronto Blue Jays 1 0 1.000
Houston Astros 1 0 1.000
Los Angeles Dodgers 1 0 1.000
Pittsburgh Pirates 1 0 1.000
San Diego Padres 1 0 1.000
Chicago Cubs 2 1 0.667
Boston Red Sox 2 1 0.667
Kansas City Royals 1 1 0.500
Chicago White Sox 4 12 0.250
Atlanta Braves 0 1 0.000
Tampa Bay Rays 0 1 0.000
Colorado Rockies 0 1 0.000
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All Time Team Records

After a long, disappointing winter, the 2024 baseball season is set to get underway tomorrow.  To celebrate, it is time once again to look at the all-time team records for games that I have identified as having attended dating back to 1984.  Last year, I tied 2011 for my eleventh highest game total of all time, an increase of ten games from the year before, and managed to see 21 out of the 30 teams, so there should be some nice changes.

The White Sox just may be worse this year following a disappointing 2023, with new general manager Chris Getz treading water by bringing in defensive upgrades who can’t hit their way out of a paper bag.  On the other side of town, the Cubs brought in Craig Counsell to push a team that overachieved back into playoff contention but didn’t do a whole lot to improve the roster to help him do so.  The 2024 season may just be a maddening year on both sides of town.

All-Time Team Records

Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
California Angels 2 0 1.000
Arizona Diamondbacks 16 4 0.800
Florida Marlins 15 8 0.652
New York Yankees 19 12 0.613
Colorado Rockies 11 7 0.611
Cleveland Guardians 3 2 0.600
Philadelphia Phillies 13 9 0.591
Toronto Blue Jays 17 12 0.586
Los Angeles Angels 20 15 0.571
Boston Red Sox 19 15 0.559
Washington Nationals 7 6 0.538
Cleveland Indians 31 27 0.534
Chicago Cubs 235 213 0.525
Chicago White Sox 366 342 0.517 Continue reading →
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That’s A Bummer

The tear down of the disappointing 2023 White Sox continued late last night, when Chris Getz pulled the trigger on his first trade, sending Aaron Bummer to the Braves for Mike Soroka, Jared Shuster, Nicky Lopez, Braden Shewmake, and Riley Gowens.  Bummer, selected by the White Sox in the 19th round of the 2014 draft, debuted with the team in July of 2017.  Since then, he has been a steady presence in the bullpen, appearing in 289 games over the past seven seasons.  He struggled in 2023, posting a career-worst 6.79 ERA.

Mike Soroka, 26, went 2-2 with a 6.40 ERA in seven games for the Braves in 2023 while working his way back from injury.  He suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a 2020 start and then re-tore it again in 2021 while rehabbing from the initial injury, causing him to miss the entire 2022 season as well.

Jared Shuster, a left-handed pitcher, made his major league debut for the Braves in 2023.  He made eleven starts with the big-league club, going 4-3 with a 5.81 ERA.  Nicky Lopez, a local product who attended Naperville Central high school, spent parts of five seasons with the Royals (of course!) before being traded to the Braves last July at the trade deadline.  He is a career .249 hitter with 6 home runs.

Braden Shewmake, a 25-year-old shortstop, was the 15th ranked prospect in the Braves organization.  He made two appearances for the Braves in May during a brief call-up.  Riley Gowens is another local product, a 24-year-old pitcher from Libertyville who played college ball at Illinois.  He made five appearances in the Braves system after being selected in the 2023 draft.

Bummer’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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A Change Can Do You Good

New general manager Chris Getz put his first stamp on the White Sox organization yesterday, declining the team’s $14 million option on Tim Anderson’s contract for 2024, making him a free agent.  Anderson, who was arguably the face of the franchise, saw his fortunes fall in the second half of 2022 and continued to freefall in 2023.

Drafter by the White Sox in the first round in 2013, Tim Anderson made his major league debut on June 10, 2016, going 2-3 in a victory against the Royals at US Cellular Field.  Replacing veteran Jimmy Rollins, who would be released five days later, Anderson played 99 games, hitting .283 with nine home runs, and finished seventh in Rookie of the Year balloting.  Showing that he was still a work in progress, Anderson slashed .257/.276/.402 in 2017, with a 2.1% walk rate, the lowest in the major leagues.  Defensively, he led the major leagues in errors, with 28, as well as fielding errors (16) and throwing errors (12).  He showed slight improvements in 2018, with slight improvements in his OBP and slugging percentage, while reducing his overall errors.

2019 was Anderson’s coming out party.  He led the major leagues with a .335 average while raising his OPS to .865, setting career highs with 167 hits, 32 doubles, and 81 runs.  He still had some issues on defense, leading all major league players with 26 errors, leading to the lowest fielding percentage amongst all shortstops.  His hot bat continued into the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, notching a .322 average and an .886 OPS.  He won his first Silver Slugger award while leading the White Sox to their first post-season appearance since 2008.  He thrived in the Wild Card series against the A’s, going 9-14 in the three-game series.

Anderson continued to prove that he his offensive improvement wasn’t a fluke when baseball returned full time in 2021.  He was named to his first All Star team and, on the game’s biggest stage, he hit a walk-off home run against the Yankees in the inaugural Field of Dreams game in the cornfields of Iowa.  Overall, he hit .309 and posted an .807 OPS while hitting 17 home runs and driving in 61 RBIs.  Continuing where he left off the previous October, Anderson hit .368 in the ALDS against the Astros.

Things started to sour for Anderson in 2022, both on the field and off.  Injuries limited him to just 79 games and left him with his lowest OPS since 2018.  Off the field, an Instagram post by a woman who was not Anderson’s wife insinuated they were in a relationship, and he was the father of her unborn child.  Looking for a fresh start, Anderson played with Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, earning praise from manager Mark DeRose and outfielder Mike Trout.  Unfortunately, those good vibes did not spill over to the 2023 season.  After an early injury, Anderson struggled the entire year, his OPS dropped to a career-low .582 and he managed just a single home run.

Now Anderson will look to rebuild his career outside of the only franchise he has ever known while the White Sox look to find a stopgap shortstop for 2024 until 2021 first round draft pick Colson Montgomery is ready to take the reins.

Anderson’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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