"Oh No! We Suck Again!" -- Reviving the White Sox in 2025

[jksander]

April 22, 2025: Noah Syndergaard (0-1, 4.64 ERA, 21.1 IP, 11 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) pitched against Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (1-2, 4.18 ERA, 23.2 IP, 31 K’s, 1.06 WHIP) in our first game of the year at Target Field. Luis Robert Jr hit an RBI single that, coupled with an E9 error, allowed us to take the lead in the top of the first. We added on with a walk by Kyle Teel, but they got one back in the bottom of the inning when Byron Buxton hit a line drive double to drive home Will Castro. Joey Gallo led off with a homer in the top of the third, his first dinger of the season, but the Twins stayed hot on our tails, Buxton hitting another double to drive home Matt Wallner as they kept within a run, our lead 3-2 heading into the top of the fourth. Syndergaard got us through the fifth inning, and we brought out Shane Smith in the sixth, Miguel Vargas hitting a solo homer in the top of the seventh to get us into the stretch leading 4-2. Penn Murfee took over with one out and men on second and third in the bottom of the seventh, getting one out but then allowing Royce Lewis to hit an RBI single that drove in two, tying the game and blowing the save. We called out Clevinger in the bottom of the eighth, and with one out he gave up a fastball to Carlos Correa, who hit it out of the park and gave the Twins a 5-4 lead. But we loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth, and Mike Tauchman got a line drive into right field, driving in a pair to shoot us back into the lead! Brandon Eisert came out to close it out, and he pitched around a single by Will Castro to shut them down and complete the 6-5 win! Clevinger got the win, improving to 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA after a hit, a strikeout and an earned run, while Eisert saved his fourth game and continued his solid start ... he has an 0.47 WHIP right now through his first seven appearances over 6.1 innings. We outhit Minnesota 8-6, led by Miguel Vargas who hit three times and walked once, scoring three and batting in another.

April 23, 2025: Jonathan Cannon (0-2, 4.00 ERA, 18.0 IP, 12 K’s, 1.39 WHIP) pitched against Chris Paddack (1-0, 4.56 ERA, 19.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.45 WHIP), and the Twins took the lead in the bottom of the second off an RBI single by Trevor Larnach. They added a two-run homer from Carlos Correa in the bottom of the fourth, and Cannon got us through the fifth inning on just eight pitches, saving us from having to hit the pen too early. Luis Robert Jr hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth to get us on the board, and Kimbrel took over in the bottom of the inning, getting us through two innings without any trouble at all. Shane Smith came out to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, getting us into the ninth with a chance, but our offense stayed quiet and they beat us with relative ease 3-1. Cannon went five innings with four hits and four strikeouts, but he walked five batters and allowed them three earned runs, falling to 0-3 with a 4.30 ERA. They outhit us 5-3, our only offense being Luis Robert Jr’s homer.

Austin Slater’s rehab assignment following his hamstring strain has gone well, but that leaves us with a roster crunch ... Starling Marte is earning $19.5 million this year and refuses to consider a demotion, and Tauchman is one of our most consistent hitters. We’ve decided to send Corey Julks down to AAA and move Slater over to left field, and he’ll return to our 26-man roster in time to be on the bench for tomorrow’s game.

April 24, 2025: Ryan Weber (1-2, 2.74 ERA, 23.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) pitched against Elberson Castellano (2-1, 5.65 ERA, 14.1 IP, 17 K’s, 1.74 WHIP) in our final game of the series against Minnesota. They took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Matt Wallner, and they added on with an RBI single by Carlos Correa. Trevor Larnach hit an RBI double, and we were in a 3-0 hole before we even came up to hit for a second time. Martin Perez took over in the bottom of the fifth still trailing by three, and Penn Murfee came out in the sixth. In the top of the seventh we finally got something going, Sterling Marte hitting a two-run homer to put us back within a run. Justin Dunn came out with two outs and Will Castro on first in the bottom of the seventh, but his third batter faced, Carlos Correa, hit an RBI single that drove in two more runs to stick the dagger in. Tyler Gilbert took over with runners on first and second, but they added on another run before we finally got out of the inning. Gilbert stayed out the rest of the way and we would go on to lose this one 7-3. Weber fell to 1-3 with a 3.33 ERA, allowing four hits, a walk and three earned runs with three strikeouts. We were outhit 11-7, our offense led by Marte’s two hits, one run and three RBIs including his third homer of the season.

We now hold a 7-18 record, putting us in a very distant last place in what is shaping up to be a competitive division, with Kansas City (15-10), Minnesota (14-11), Detroit (14-11) and Cleveland (12-12) all within 2.5 games of each other. We’ll head west now to face the Los Angeles Angels (11-14) in a three-game series, and will then return to Rate Field to play Milwaukee (15-11) and the Athletics (12-12).

[jksander]

April 25, 2025: We’re back to the top of the rotation for the series against the Angels, with Sean Burke (0-4, 5.57 ERA, 21.0 IP, 22 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) hoping to get his mojo back against Tyler Anderson (1-1, 5.56 ERA, 22.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.41 WHIP). The Angels took the lead in the bottom of the third with a two-out RBI single by Mike Trout, but Burke avoided outright disaster with the bases loaded moments later when Jo Adell popped out to center. We loaded the bases in the top of the fifth with no outs, and Miguel Vargas walked in the tying run when they kept Anderson out for too long ... with no outs and the bases loaded they went to the bullpen, and with one out Tauchman walked in the go-ahead run! Unfortunately for Burke, he was at 81 pitches as we came out for the bottom of the fifth, with Kimbrel and Perez warming in the pen. But he got two quick outs while those arms warmed, and we let him pitch to Jorge Soler with a chance to qualify for the win. Soler popped out harmlessly to center as he completed that inning, his night coming to an end after throwing 91 pitches but with our lead still at 2-1. We brought Mike Clevinger out in the top of the sixth, still leading by a run, Clevinger gave up a fastball to Tim Anderson with one out in the bottom of the seventh, blowing his save and tying the score at 2-2 when the ball went out of right field and deep into the lower deck. Shane Smith took over with clear bases, got the second out, and then gave up a single to Luis Rengifo, walked Jorge Solar, and then let Mike Trout hammer a double into left that scored two and dug us a nice hole. Kimbrel came out with two outs and the bases loaded, and the wheels fell completely off as Mickey Moniak hit a three-run triple to turn this into a rout. He scored off a wild pitch, and we trailed 8-2 when Kimbrel finally got that last goddamned out. Penn Murfee pitched the bottom of the eighth without incident, but it didn’t matter ... we had no pop left in our bats and we lost this one by the same margin.

Burke had a great night after a rough third inning, finishing with five innings and three hits, two walks, six strikeouts and one earned run ... but didn’t get a win. Instead, Clevinger blew the save and Smith took the loss, allowing two hits, three walks and five earned runs while getting just one out. Smith had been solid all year, but that one inning blows his ERA up to 5.19 now through 14 appearances over 17.1 innings. Ouch! We matched them on hits, 9-9 ... Meidroth led the team with three to nowhere, and Vargas gave us our only real pop, with a hit, two walks and an RBI.

TRADE ALERT: We made a deal with the San Diego Padres, sending Andrew Benintendi (who comes off the IL in a few days and will be ready for a rehab assignment after breaking his hand during spring training) and center fielder Luis Robert Jr to the Padres in exchange for Yu Darvish and a prospect package including 25-year-old first baseman Tirso Ornelas, 24-year-old catcher Brandon Valenzuela and 24-year-old power-hitting left fielder Joshua Mears! We’re going to be retaining 30% of Benintendi’s remaining contract, but even then our money still will be improving by just over $5 million, even with Darvish’s four year contract that includes $67 million remaining to be paid out through 2028. Our main focus has to be on the draft and upcoming offseason, at which point we should have well over $100 million in cap space to start finding pieces for the rebuild. We are promoting Dominic Fletcher from AAA Charlotte to cover center field the rest of the year as a backup for Michael A. Taylor, and are demoting reliever Tyler Gilbert to make room for Darvish, who will take Jonathan Cannon’s place in the rotation, with Cannon moving into a spot starter / emergency high leverage position in the bullpen.

April 26, 2025: Fan interest has been piqued by our recent trade, as fans seem to understand our move to offload Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr ... and though his contract is a big one, folks seem to be excited to see Yu Darvish in a White Sox uniform (he’ll pitch in the final game of this road series). This afternoon Trevor Bauer (0-1, 5.91 ERA, 10.2 IP, 10 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) started against Reid Detmers (2-2, 4.76 ERA, 28.1 IP, 28 K’s, 1.62 WHIP). The Angels took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Logan O’Hoppe that drove in two runs, and moments later Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer into right that made it 4-0 Angels. Martin Perez took over in the bottom of the fifth trailing 6-0, and he gave up three quick runs to put us down far enough we knew we’d never get out. Cadyn Grenier got us on the board with a run scored off a groundout by Starling Marte, and Miguel Vargas got us another with an RBI single, and with two outs and Trout on second in the bottom of the sixth we brought out Justin Dunn who let Trout score off an RBI by O’Hoppe to give the Angels a double digit run total. Kimbrel took over in the seventh and Cannon in the eighth, the Angels piling on plenty in that final innning, and we went on to lose badly 12-2. Bauer fell to 0-2 with a 7.98 ERA, allowing nine hits, a walk and six earned runs while striking out five, but we were outhit 17-5 so this game was out of control pretty much as soon as it started. Grenier and Dominic Fletcher had a hit and a run each to lead the offense, for what it was worth.
 
April 27, 2025: Yu Darvish (4-1, 3.64 ERA, 29.2 IP, 25 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) made his first start with our White Sox today, facing Jose Quijada (1-1, 4.91 ERA, 11.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.64 WHIP). As has been their usual M.O., the Angels got out to a quick start, taking the lead with an RBI single by Taylor Ward in the bottom of the first, and they added on with an RBI double by Kevin Newman and an RBI single by Luis Rengifo in the bottom of the second to lead 3-0 heading into the third inning. But we got on the board in the top of the fifth with a two-run blast out of right by Joey Gallo, his second of the season, and Darvish had a quality start, with Clevinger taking over after the seventh inning stretch, still trailing 3-2., and he kept it that way through the bottom of the eighth. We had an opening in the top of the ninth, with two outs and runners on first and second as Michael A. Taylor took a walk to load the bags! That brought up Joey Gallo .... who struck out swinging. Game over, Angels sweep with a 3-2 victory. Opportunities don’t come gift wrapped any better than that one. Darvish lasted six innings with seven hits, four strikeouts and three earned runs, but took the loss and fell to 4-2 with a 3.79 ERA. They outhit us 9-3, but Gallo’s homer had kept us in it ... he just didn’t have another good hit in him. He still led the team with a hit, a run and two RBIs.

We’re off tomorrow for travel, and will then have three games against Milwaukee (17-12, 1st NL Central) and three against the Athletics (14-14, 3rd AL West) here in Chicago. Our record now stands at 7-21, dead last in the league, and we’re riding a five-game losing streak.

[jksander]

April 29, 2025: Noah Syndergaard (0-1, 4.44 ERA, 26.1 IP, 16 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) started against Milwaukee’s Nestor Cortes (3-0, 2.61 ERA, 31.1 IP, 31 K’s, 1.13 WHIP), and in the bottom of the first we got the lead, Lenyn Sosa batting home Starling Marte with an RBI double and Tauchman scoring from third moments later when Vargas hit into a fielder’s choice. Reaching safely as the throw to home failed. Syndergaard got us through the top of the sixth, and with a lefty heavy stretch upcoming for Brewers hitters we brought out Martin Perez to pitch in the seventh, and he got us into the stretch still holding a shutout. Michael A. Taylor tagged up and scored off a sac-fly by Meidroth in the bottom of the inning, and Perez handled the top of the eighth crisply. Brandon Eisert came out in the ninth to protect the three-run lead and close things out, and despite letting two runners on board in the inning, he got Owen Miller to ground out to first, stranding both as he completed the shared shutout to win 3-0. Syndergaard gave us six innings with just four hits and four strikeouts, improving to 1-1 with a 3.62 ERA, while Perez had a great two inning appearance, with just one hit through 27 pitches ... he now has a 5.16 ERA through 22.2 innings. Eisert then saved his fifth game in his sixth save opportunity, remaining locked in without a run against him now through 7.1 innings over eight appearances. The Brewers outhit us 6-4, but Lenyn Sosa led the way in the first inning, finishing with a hit, a walk, and the RBI that started it all.

April 30, 2025: Ryan Weber (1-3, 3.33 ERA, 27.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.07 WHIP) pitched against Milwaukee’s Aaron Civale (4-1, 2.89 ERA, 37.1 IP, 34 K’s, 0.99 WHIP) in our second game, and Weber got by on guile for the first two innings but got sloppy in the third ... Sal Frelick got on board with a one-out double, stole third and then came home on a passed ball, giving the Brewers an early 1-0 lead. He managed to get through the fifth inning without any more scoring, and in the bottom of the fifth we took the lead with a two-run blast by Austin Slater, his first of the season! Penn Murfee took over in the sixth, but he wound up with a blown save as Garrett Mitchell hit a homer out of center to tie it up 2-2 with two outs. Craig Kimbrel took over in the seventh, still tied, and again with two outs they hit us for a long one, this time Jackson Chourio hitting the two-run slam out of left to push the Brewers back into the lead 4-2. Justin Dunn came out with men on the corners, still two outs, stranding both runners with a groundout to first by Mitchell. Dunn got us through the eighth, and Shane Smith pitched in the ninth but our bats had nothing left to offer and we lost 4-2. Weber had five solid innings with five hits, a walk, three strikeouts and a single earned run, but Murfee blew the save (his third) and Kimbrel took the loss, falling to 1-1 with a 7.11 ERA with two hits, two walks and two earned runs. They outhit us 9-4, with Slater’s two-run homer our only offense.

May 1, 2025: Sean Burke (0-4, 4.85 ERA, 26.0 IP, 28 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) faced Freddie Peralta (3-2, 4.09 ERA, 33.0 IP, 44 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) in the third game of the Milwaukee series, and it only took about five minutes for the Brewers to take the lead, Jackson Chourio hitting an RBI single to put them up a run in the top of the first on one out. Our defense was terrible in the inning, and I’m amazed we got out of there with just one more run scoring, trailing 2-0 before our team even batted once. They added on another three runs in the top of the third and then loaded the bases, at which point this one became a rout. We finally got into the botom of the inning trailing 7-0, and it was clear Burke’s night was over. Jonathan Cannon took over in the fourth and Perez in the seventh ... they pounded us for three more runs in the top of the eighth before we brought Murfee out with two outs, and we wound up losing 10-1, our only run coming in garbage time in the bottom of the ninth as Chase Meidroth hit an RBI single to score Teel. Burke had a brutal night, lasting three innings with eight hits, four walks, four strikeouts and seven runs (six earned) as he fell to 0-5 with a 6.21 ERA through seven starts. They outhit us 14-8, Teel leading the way for us with two hits and a run scored.

At 8-23, we know what our team is at this point. Next up we’ll face the Nomadic Athletics (15-15) here on our field for three as we tr to find any silver linings we can as the long season progresses.

[jksander]

May 2, 2025: We’re almost a fifth of the way through the season, and Trevor Bauer (0-2, 7.56 ERA, 14.2 IP, 15 K’s, 1.64 WHIP) took the mound to face A’s pitcher J.P. Sears (1-1, 5.79 ERA, 23.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). They hammered us from the start, a three-run homer by Lawrence Butler setting the stage as they led 3-0 midway through the first. We got on the board in the bottom of the second when Vargas scored off an RBI single by Drury, but Shea Langeliers hit a solo shot to get it back in the top of the third. Bauer’s night came to an end with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, as Justin Dunn came out to put out the flames. Striking out Brent Rooker to get us into the bottom of the inning still trailing 4-1. Kimbrel came out in the top of the sixth and pitched around a baserunner to keep us within three, and Clevinger took over in the seventh. Despite three errors in the later innings, we kept the score within three runs, but our bats were hesistant all night. Shane Smith got us through the ninth, and we’d gone six innings without letting them extend their lead, but we looked limp in the end and never gave them any fight, losing 4-1. Bauer took the loss and fell to 0-3 with a 7.85 ERA, allowing seven hits, a walk, four runs (three earned) and striking out five ... he’s playing below replacement level at this point, but really so has most of our team. They outhit us 11-9, with Drury’s hit and RBI being our lone spark.

We’ve claimed second baseman Otto Lopez off waivers from the Marlins, the 26-year-old defensive sparkplug having hit .318 with three doubles in very limited time off the Marlins bench. We’ve waived / DFA’d Brandon Drury to make room for him on our roster, and he’ll be competing with Lenyn Sosa for playing time as the two alternate starts.

May 3, 2025: Yu Darvish (4-2, 3.79 ERA, 35.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) started against Luis Severino (1-3, 6.91 ERA, 28.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.81 WHIP) in game two, and we took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Starling Marte to go up 1-0. Davrish looked damned nice through four innings, and his reappearance in Chicago after five years has drawn a great deal of interest including some Cubs fans we’ve seen coming out to watch him pitch. But our bats weren’t giving him a lot of cushion. He came out for the top of the sixth still leading by one run, and having thrown just 58 pitches, with just three hits against four strikeouts (no walks), so he had plenty of rope. But he walked Gio Urshela to start the inning, and with two outs, Lawrence Butler hit an RBI double to bat in the tying run, and the next batter, Brent Rooker, hit an RBI single to drive Butler home, elminating the lead just like that. We tied it back up when Marte hit another RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, and Craig Kimbrel took over for Darvish in the top of the seventh, striking out two and getting Jacob Wilson to ground out to first, sending us into the stretch still tied 2-2. Shane Smith took over in the top of the eighth, keeping it tied as we did our best to will our offense forward. Jonathan Cannon took over in the ninth with the score unchanged, and he got us into the bottom of the inning with a chance to walk this off ... Jorge Alfaro took a leadoff walk, and incredibly Grenier was able to stay patient and walk himself, pushing Alfaro into scoring position! But our next three batters went down, two whiffing and Tauchman popping out to left so we were stuck going into extra innings.

They hit a two-run homer to start the top of the 10th, drawing groans from our home fans, but in the bottom of the inning Miguel Vaughn took a leadoff walk to join Tauchman on base ... and with one out, Austin Slater joined them, loading the bases! And with two outs, Jorge Alfaro hit a weak line drive through the gap, the ball rolling around the outfield as two runs scored, tying this game again as Michael A. Taylor advanced to third! Grenier struck out swinging, but almost made it safely to first on a passed ball, but instead this one was headed for the 11th, with Clevinger coming out to pitch. With one out, Zack Gelof hit a sac-fly that scored their ghost runner, Shea Langeliers, from third, and we came up to hit trailing by one with Grenier on second. They walked Otto Lopez and Chase Meidroth, but Tauchman hit into a 6-2-3 double play, pushing Lopez to third and Meidroth to second ... Vargas came up to the plate in a tense situation, and with the count full he struck out swinging. Game over, the A’s win this one 5-4 in another stinging heartbreaker. Darvish pitched six innings with four hits, one walk, four strikeouts and two earned runs, and Kimbrel, Smith and Cannon got us into extra innings, where Clevinger wound up being the sacrificial lamb ... he allowed two walks, struck out a battter and gave up the unearned game-winning run, which meant he fell to 1-1 with a 1.32 ERA. They outhit us 7-6, our offense led by Starling Marte who had two hits and two RBIs.
 
May 4, 2025: Noah Syndergaard (1-1, 3.62 ERA, 32.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) got the start in our final game against The Baseball Team Formerly Known As Oakland, pitching against Mitch Spence (0-2, 3.82 ERA, 30.2 IP, 27 K’s, 1.43 WHIP). He got two quick outs in the top of the first but then let Brent Rooker hit one out of left field to put them on the board, his ninth homer of the season. But we answered in the bottom of the first with a two-run blast by Chase Meidroth, his first of the year, and an RBI double by Austin Slater in the bottom of the second helped us extend the lead! Michel A. Taylor added an RBI single moments later and we went into the top of the third leading 4-1! We’d add five more runs in the bottom of the fourth as we batted around, and Syndergaard got through six innings before we brought out Penn Murfee with the score 11-1 in our favor. Murfee got two outs but allowed a pair of runs to score for the A’s, and we went to Martin Perez with a runner on first as we tried to avoid a meltdown. He got us out of the inning and through the eighth as well, and Justin Dunn came out for the ninth with an eight-run lead to just get us out of here ... he got three quick outs and we won this one in an 11-3 blowout! Syndergaard improved to 2-1 with a 3.29 ERA, allowing just four hits, a walk, a strikeout and a run in his six innings of work. We outhit them 13-7, led by Otto Lopez who hit three times with two runs and an RBI in the leadoff spot, while Meidroth added two hits, two runs and three RBIs including his homer. Lopez has hit .444 in his first two games with us, and has brought his average up to .355 with five doubles on the season as a whole.

We were glad to get out of here quickly this evening, as we have to be in Kansas City tomorrow to be ready for a four game series against the 24-11 Royals, who lead our division already by five games over Minnesota and Detroit. We’re now 9-25 and more than 14 games back, on pace for just 43 wins ... not the pace we were hoping for as we try to put last year’s misery behind us.

[jksander]

May 5, 2025: Kansas City is the hottest team in baseball right now, and we’re the crusty grunge most teams are trying to scrape off the shower floor in the clubhouse. So when Ryan Walker (1-3, 3.09 ERA, 32.0 IP, 22 K’s, 1.09 WHIP) faced off against Alex Marsh (1-1, 2.12 ERA, 29.2 IP, 23 K’s, 0.88 WHIP) this evening in front of more than 30,000 fans at Kauffman Stadium, nobody expected us to do much of anything but to lie down and beg for mercy. So it was no surprise that they took the lead in the bottom of the first with a two-out RBI double by Salvador Perez, But Michael A. Taylor tied it up with a solo homer in the top of the second, and Weber kept us in this one deep into the evening. Jonathan Cannon took over in the bottom of the sixth, still tied up at 1-1, where it stayed until, with two outs in the bottom of the eighth they took the lead with a homer out of left by Salvador Perez to put the Royals up 2-1. Cannon tried to get the final out and gave up a two-run slam out of right to rub it in our faces, this time by Kyle Isbel. Martin Perez took over to get the final out in the inning, and in the top of the ninth Lenyn Sosa loaded the bases with a walk on two outs, but again we bombed when given a golden opportunity on a platter. Michael A. Taylor struck out swinging and we lost 4-1. Jonathan Cannon took the loss, falling to 0-4 with a 4.31 ERA despite getting us through 2.2 innings with five hits, two strikeouts and the three earned runs, all of which came off homers. We outhit them 10-8, making the loss all the more frustrating because we had chances. Taylor had hit twice with a run and an RBI, but he couldn’t come through in the clutch moment against his former team.

May 6, 2025: For game two of the series we started Sean Burke (0-5, 6.21 ERA, 29.0 IP, 32 K’s, 1.52 WHIP) against the Royals’ Seth Lugo (1-1, 3.89 ERA, 41.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.32 WHIP). The Royals scored quickly with a two-run homer by Vinny Pasquantino in the bottom of the first, and they added on in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single by Dairon Blanco, to lead 3-0. Lenyn Sosa got us on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI single, and in the top of the seventh Chase Meidroth hit an RBI single to get us back within a run! Mike Clevinger took over in the bottom of the inning, Lenyn Sosa hit a sac fly in the top of the eighth that let us tie the score, and we stunned the home crowd into choruses of boos when Joey Gallo scored from third on a wild pitch to put us into the lead! Clevinger got three quick outs to shut them down in the bottom of the inning, and Brandon Eisert took over in the ninth, ending the game with Nelson Velazquez grounding into a 6-4-3 double play that let us cap off the 4-3 upset victory! Burke was once again denied a win, but he went six innings with four hits, two walks, three strikeouts and three earned runs. Clevinger instead took the “W” with a two-inning effort, one strikeout, no baserunners as he improved to 2-1 with a 1.23 ERA through 29.1 innings over 19 appearances. Eisert saved his sixth in a row, allowing one hit on four pitches as he remains unscored upon. We outhit the Royals 7-5, led by Joey Gallo, who came alive tonight with three hits, a walk and two runs scored.
 
May 7, 2025: Trevor Bauer (0-3, 7.85 ERA, 18.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.75 WHIP) could really use a solid outing, going up against KC’s red hot ace Kris Bubic (4-1, 3.29 ERA, 41.0 IP, 43 K’s, 1.17 WHIP). He certainly didn’t start smoothly, and the Royals took advantage, taking the lead on an RBI double by Salvador Perez that would have been a triple if he wasn’t such a slow baserunner. But we held them to just that one run, and we tied it up in the top of the third with a sac-fly by Austin Slater. In the top of the fifth, Lenyn Sosa led off with a homer, and Mike Tauchman batted in a run with a single later in the inning to put us up 3-1! We kept it going, adding on a run in the sixth with an RBI double by Sosa, and Bauer got an out in the bottom of the inning but then gave up a homer to Velazquez, so with two outs and nobody on we brought out Jonathan Cannon who got us into the seventh with the two run lead still safe. But in the bottom of the seventh they tied it up on two outs with a two-run homer by Bobby Witt Jr., and this one was suddenly a nailbiter.

Cannon got us into the stretch still tied 4-4, and Mike Clevinger took over in the eighth as rain began to fall. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Clevinger gave up a curveball to Freddie Fermin that didn’t curve thanks to the slick ball, and Fermin hit it into left for an RBI double and the lead. In the top of the ninth, Otto Lopez led off with a walk, and then Austin Slater left the home fans in KC completely livid when he power-bombed a two-run homer into the right field stands to shoot us back on top! A sac-fly into center by Gallo allowed another run to score, and Kyle Teel hit a blistering drive into left field to push through another ... the Royals were in shock ... with the bases loaded and just one out, Grenier struck out swinging and Lopez, batting for the second time in the inning, grounded out to the shortstop ... but we’d built an 8-5 lead for Brandon Eisert to protect. He struck out three batters to get around a leadoff single by Jonathan India, and as hard as it is to believe, we beat KC 8-5 for our third win in four games!

Bauer lasted 5.2 innings with six hits, six strikeouts and two earned runs, a more confident performance that improved his ERA to 6.75. Cannon blew the save for him, setting up Clevinger for another win -- he’s now 3-1 with a 1.48 ERA, and Eisert now has seven consecutive saves and a 0.64 WHIP through 9.1 innings in 10 appearances. They outhit us 12-11 in a real battle, and Lenyn Sosa came through in a big way with three hits, a run and two RBIs, while leadoff man Otto Lopez, still new in town, got himself two hits and two runs, giving him a .359 average overall and half a game of war -- he’s only played in nine games all year, but he’s quickly earned his starting spot for us.

May 8, 2025: With a surprising lead in the series two games to one, we went into this afternoon’s final game in Kansas City riding a wave of confidence, with Yu Darvish (4-2, 3.67 ERA, 41.2 IP, 33 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) facing Kansas City’s Michael Wacha (3-3, 4.83 ERA, 41.0 IP, 30 K’s, 1.51 WHIP). The Royals took the lead in the bottom of the third with a sac-fly by Vinnie Pasquantino, and they added on with an RBI single by Dairon Bianco. Another sac-fly by Pasquantino scored Maikel Garcia, who had reached earlier on an error by Otto Lopez at second, and we went into the top of the sixth trailing 3-0 ... but Darvish got us through the sixth without further incident, and we went OFF in the seventh with an RBI double by Lenyn Sosa that scored two and then tied the score with an E5 error that put Cadyn Grenier on base! Sosa scored the go-ahead on an RBI single by Otto Lopez, and then Chase Meidroth hit a two-run single, shooting us into the lead 6-3 as we went into the stretch! Darvish gave them a run back with a two-out single by Bianco, but we went into the eighth leading by two and Shane Smith took over in the bottom of the eighth, and he kept the lead unchanged. Mike Tauchman hit a two-run double in the top of the ninth to extend our lead to four, and Kimbrel came out for the non-save opportunity and put them away efficiently as we closed out the 8-4 win!

Yu Darvish had the best game any of our pitchers have had all season -- seven innings with 10 hits, five strikeouts and four runs (three earned) as he improved to 5-2 with a 3.70 ERA. Smith had his second hold of the year, and he and Kimbrel did the job we asked of them, and though we were outhit 11-10, we stranded a ton of their runners, and got a balanced hitting performance from pretty much our entire lineup. Lopez (two hits, a run and an RBI) and Michael A. Taylor (two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI) led the way, but everyone in the lineup got at least a hit except Gallo, and he got on base once with a walk.

The series win doesn’t shoot us back into contention, but we’ve won four of our last five games, which has been a huge confidence boost. We return home for three this weekend against Miami (15-22, 5th NL East) and then will have a much-needed day off Monday before a road trip that takes us to Cincinnati (21-17, 2nd NL Central) and back to the north side for three against the Cubs (16-22, 4th NL Central).

[Eugene Church]

Nice thread... I enjoyed following a team game-by-game... it's been a long time since I did that with my old All-Time All-Star Association. Team rosters were composed of the all-time best players. Yankees, Cardinals, Tigers, Giants, Cubs and Pirates were the best teams. I played it for 10 years and lost it when the Forum suffered a crash and did not have it backed up. I just didn't want to start over again. It was disheartening.

[jksander]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Nice thread... I enjoyed following a team game-by-game... it's been a long time since I did that with my old All-Time All-Star Association. Team rosters were composed of the all-time best players. Yankees, Cardinals, Tigers, Giants, Cubs and Pirates were the best teams. I played it for 10 years and lost it when the Forum suffered a crash and did not have it backed up. I just didn't want to start over again. It was disheartening.

Much appreciated I've tried doing faster "speed sims" to help with testing, but in the end I come back to these long-term slow sims where I play out all the games ... it just fits my writer personality. If I want something faster I get that from my online leagues

[jksander]

May 9, 2025: Attendance is back up over 15,000 for game one of our three game series against the Marlins here at Rate Field, with clear skies, temps in the 60s and the wind blowing out at 12 miles per hour for our 7:05 p.m. first pitch. Noah Syndergaard (2-1, 3.29 ERA, 38.1 IP, 21 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) has been red hot in his last several starts, and he faced Max Meyer (1-3, 4.54 ERA, 33.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.31 WHIP) with our team riding an unexpected wave of success. But that luck came to an end early ... poor positioning at third and then an error at short put runners on base, and though Syndergaard got two strikeouts, Augustin Ramirez hit a three-run blast out of left, and the Marlins have four red-hot hitters in the top half of their lineup ... that wind blowing out is going to be a wild card all night. Syndergaard did what he could, getting us through six innings, but our offense was going to need to help. Justin Dunn took over in the top of the seventh still trailing 3-0, and in the top of the eighth they added on with a two-out solo homer by Ramirez for his second dinger of the game. Finally we got on the board in the bottom of the inning with Grenier scoring off a wild pitch and Joey Gallo batting in Lopez with a single, and Dunn got us through the top of the ninth without anyone adding on. We loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning, Meidroth beating out an infield squib to do it, but Vargas hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end our winning streak as Miami prevailed 4-2. Syndergaard gave us six innings with eight hits, a walk, six strikeouts and three runs, ALL UNEARNED ... so his ERA improved to 2.84 as he fell to 2-2. Dunn pitched the remaining three innings with a hit, three strikeouts and an earned run, and we were outhit just 9-8. Gallo had a hit and an RBI, and Lopez had a hit, a walk and a run from the leadoff spot.

May 10, 2025: Ryan Weber (1-3, 2.92 ERA, 37.0 IP, 25 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) got the start against Miami’s Cal Quantrill (1-4, 6.06 ERA, 32.2 IP, 21 K’s, 1.62 WHIP) in game two, and we took the lead in the bottom of the first with a leadoff homer by Austin Slater, and in the bottom of the second we added an RBI single by Dominic Fletcher to increase our lead to 2-0. We added on four more runs in the bottom of the fourth, and Weber got us through the fifth unblemished. With two outs in the top of the sixth and nobody on, Martin Perez took over, and Penn Murfee came out to pitch in the eighth leading by seven runs. He blew the shutout in the ninth, as the Marlins got on board with a two-run homer by Jesus Sanchez, but he ended the game with back to back strikeouts and we won easily, 7-2. Weber improved to 2-3 with a 2.53 ERA, lasting 5.2 innings today with a hit, a walk and two strikeouts. We outhit them 10-3, led by Slater who had three hits, two runs and four RBIs, including homers in the first and fourth innings, giving him four for the season.

Brandon Drury cleared waivers but has refused a minor league assignment, so we have released him, adding $557,284 to our expenses for the year.

May 11, 2025: Sean Burke (0-5, 5.91 ERA, 35.0 IP, 35 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) got the start in our last game hosting Miami, with the Marlins starting Anthony Veneziano (0-6, 7.44 ERA, 32.2 IP, 22 K’s, 1.59 WHIP) ... will one of these beleagured starters get his first win of the year today, or will the winner come out of the bullpen? Manuel Vargas hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third to get us our first lead of the day, and Burke got out of a two outs bases loaded jam in the fourth to keep the Marlins scoreless. Tauchman added on with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, which was immediately followed by a two-run double by Vargas, giving us a solid 4-0 lead! Craig Kimbrel took over for Burke in the top of the sixth, and with two outs he gave up a two-run slam out of left by Jesus Sanchez to put Miami on the board. Martin Perez came out and got us out of the inning with the lead still safe, and Vargas hit a sac-fly to drive in Chase Meidroth from third, giving us a 5-2 advantage heading into the seventh. Mike Clevinger took over in the top of the eighth leading still by three, and he was uncharacteristically off tonight, giving up back to back hits including an RBI double by Sanchez to get the Marlins back within two off just two total pitches ... but he stranded a pair and got us out of the inning still leading by two, a lead Brandon Eisert came out to protect in the top of the ninth. He got three quick outs and it was over, we beat Miami 5-3 to complete another two to one series win. Burke was able to get his first win of the year, improving to 1-5 with a 5.17 ERA thanks to just one hit, one walk and six strikeouts through five innings! Perez got his second hold and Clevinger his third, and Eisert saved his eighth game in a row and remains perfect through 10.1 innings with a 0.58 WHIP! Considering he was traded to Tampa for cash considerations in January and then picked up by us off waivers, it’s pretty impressive that he already has half a game in WAR through 11 appearances. We outhit them 11-5, led by Vargas, who hit twice with four RBIs, and by Tauchman, who had three hits, two runs and an RBI.

This win gets us to 14-27, and since losing our first three games of the month, we’ve now gone 6-2 since then, winning back to back series. We’ll have a tough challenge on the road agianst Cincinnati, who at 23-17 trail the NL-C’s leader Milwaukee by just a game. But if we can keep this streak of success going, our series on the north side against the Cubs (17-23) could cement this as a “real thing.”

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by jksander

Much appreciated I've tried doing faster "speed sims" to help with testing, but in the end I come back to these long-term slow sims where I play out all the games ... it just fits my writer personality. If I want something faster I get that from my online leagues

Once I do 100 seasons for my IPA, I just might revive the All-Time All-Star Association and report it like you do, except I will recap each day's games for all 16 teams. I will use the 16 original franchises with no playoffs except for the World Series. No interleague games either. I like baseball the way it used to be. We have too many teams to follow these days. And free agency makes it pretty hard to stay up with the players.

I will try to follow your White Sox. I will have the time to do that. It is interesting to get to know each of the player on a day-to-day basis.

[jksander]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Once I do 100 seasons for my IPA, I just might revive the All-Time All-Star Association and report it like you do, except I will recap each day's games for all 16 teams. I will use the 16 original franchises with no playoffs except for the World Series. No interleague games either. I like baseball the way it used to be. We have too many teams to follow these days. And free agency makes it pretty hard to stay up with the players.

I will try to follow your White Sox. I will have the time to do that. It is interesting to get to know each of the player on a day-to-day basis.

Wow that'll be a lot of detail ... looking forward to it I play out my games in one pitch mode, only controlling substitutions myself. I do all the pitching but will sometimes do a "half inning sim" for when we're up to hit, since my hitting coach controls everything on that, but I like to be able to see when a pitcher's in trouble for sub purposes.

[Eugene Church]

I just sim the season and the each playoff game in my IPA.
I no longer play out the playoff games in one-pitch mode.

Should I do the AAA I will just sim all games day-by-day and report on them.
I will probably play out the World Series in the one-pitch mode and the AI control it all. I will just watch the game.

[jksander]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

I just sim the season and the each playoff game in my IPA.
I no longer play out the playoff games in one-pitch mode.

Should I do the AAA I will just sim all games day-by-day and report on them.
I will probably play out the World Series in the one-pitch mode and the AI control it all. I will just watch the game.

Yeah I'm a control freak lol I want to manage the games

[jksander]

May 13, 2025: Trevor Bauer (0-3, 6.75 ERA, 24.0 IP, 26 K’s, 1.58 WHIP) got the start in game one against Cincinnati at Great American Ball Park, facing Nick Martinez (2-3, 3.00 ERA, 48.0 IP, 38 K’s, 1.10 WHIP). Michael A. Taylor led off with a homer in the top of the second to give us an early lead, and in the top of the third we added on when Meidroth scored off a groundout by Vargas, giving us a 2-0 advantage in hostile territory. We added on three more in the top of the sixth, and Bauer had a phenomenal start, getting us through the sixth with a 5-0 lead. Justin Dunn came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh and Penn Murfee in the eighth, but Murfee struggled ... with one out and loaded bases, Martin Perez took over in an attempt to put out the growing fire. Two of Murfee’s runs scored off a single by Christian Encarnacion-Strand, but we got out of the inning still leading by three, and Eisert came out for the ninth inning. He finally proved he is human, as Matt McLain hit a two-run double that drove in a pair to cut our lead to one, and with two outs Jeimer Candelario hit a two-run homer out of center to gut us 6-5. Eisert wound up with his second blwon save and his first loss, falling to 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA thanks to four hits and four runs off 22 pitches with two outs. Because of the ninth-inning meltdown, Bauer lost his chance at a win after a stellar six inning effort where he had just four hits, two walks and six strikeouts without a run against him ... his ERA improved to 5.40 as he seems to be settling into his role here. Each team had 12 hits, ours led by Taylor, who hit three times with two runs and three RBIs, and by Meidroth who added three hits, a run and an RBI.

May 14, 2025: Today was nasty, with rain and low clouds, wind blowing in from center at a pretty brisk clip. Yu Darvish (5-2, 3.70 ERA, 48.2 IP, 38 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) pitched against Andrew Abbott (1-4, 7.93 ERA, 36.1 IP, 34 K’s, 1.79 WHIP) who has been on a cold stretch lately. Cincinnati wasted no time, as Spencer Steer hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first to give them a 1-0 lead, but Meidroth hit himself one in the top of the third to tie it up! Mike Clevinger took over on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, and we were still tied after the stretch, Shane Smith coming out with two outs and Cooper Bowman on first, getting us out of the inning with a strikeout after Bowman stole second and got stranded. We brought out Jonathan Cannon with one out and men on first and second in the bottom of the eighth, and he struck out Jake Fraley and got TJ Friedl to ground out to first, keeping us tied into the top of the ninth. Unable to score, Cannon (and solid infield defense) got us through the bottom of the inning and into extras, with the rain having held off to allow a hell of a game!

With Grenier on second to start the inning, Otto Lopez hit a shot into right field for a quick pop-out, but Grenier was able to advance to third ... Chase Meidroth walked, and rather than let him hit, they walked Tauchman too to load the bags ... setting up Miguel Vargas to hit a GRAND SLAM out of center, and fans started throwing trash on the field, they had to pause the action when Gallo, heading to the plate, almost got hit by a beer can! Gallo grounded out to first, and after a walk by Teel, Austin Slater popped out to third, bringing out Craig Kimbrel to finish things off. But the insanity wasn’t over. In the bottom of the inning, with one out, Elly De La Cruz hit a three-run slam out of right to cut our lead to one, but Kimbrel pitched like he’d been there before, getting two outs to get us out of there with a 5-4 upset win!

Jonathan Cannon got the win, improving to 1-4 with a 4.46 ERA, pitching 1.2 innings with just two strikeouts, no baserunners. The 24-year-old hasn’t been happy that he’s had to play out of the bullpen, but he came through in a pinch tonight. Darvish only lasted five innings, but he had just four hits, a walk, five strikeouts and a run against him, and we won despite them outhitting us 8-5. Vargas only took one hit to get us the four runs that won this game, so it’s all about persistence.

May 15, 2025: It’s hard to believe that All Star voting starts tomorrow, but it has definitely been an eventful season for our White Sox, as we now have a 15-28 record and wins in seven of our last ten games, including last night’s thriller here in Ohio. We’re three weeks away from the draft combine, seven weeks away from the draft itself, and baseball’s just heating up!

Today we played our final game of this series in Cincinnati, with Noah Syndergaard (2-2, 2.84 ERA, 44.1 IP, 27 K’s, 1.17 WHIP) going up against Nick Lodolo (2-1, 5.98 ERA, 40.2 IP, 41 K’s, 1.57 WHIP). We scored first, going up in the top of the first with an RBI single by Vargas, and Kyle Teel batted in two more with a single on two outs. But they got it all back in the bottom of the second with a three-run homer by Cooper Bowman, and with two outs Syndergaard gave up another, a two-run blast by Spencer Steer, digging us a 5-3 hole in an epic meltdown. But we had nothing to lose, and let Cincinnati think they had us whipped ... top of the fourth, with one out, they walked Taylor and Grenier, Taylor advancing to third on a pop-out by Lopez. That’s when Cayden Meidroth dropped a bloop single into left, driving in Taylor for a run while advancing Grenier to third, cutting the deficit to one as we went into the bottom of the inning. Syndergaard settled in and got us through the fifth, and he got three outs in the sixth with just seven pitches thrown, keeping the score unchanged ... and with two outs in the top of the seventh we tied it up with a solo blast by Miguel Vargas, taking the lead back just moments later when Gallo hit one the opposite way to put us up 6-5!
 
Jonathan Cannon took over after the stretch and got through the seventh with ease, but his first batter in the eighth, Spencer Steer, hammered one out of left to tie it up with his second homer of the game. Clevinger took over from there and got three quick outs, and Meidroth wound up leading off in the ninth by reaching on an E6 error, taking second in the chaos. They intentionally walked Tauchman, and with two outs they did the same with Teel to load the bases ... but we couldn’t get a run in, so Clevinger held firm and got us into extra innings with three more quick outs. With one out in the top of the 10th, Slater advanced from second with a wild pitch on one out, and they walked Grenier, setting Otto Lopez up perfectly to knock a run in with a single into right to give us the lead. Clevinger struck out TJ Friedl in the bottom of the inning and then we brought out Eisert, who got two quick outs and we escaped with yet another HUGE overtime win, beating the Reds 7-6 to take the series with a 10th inning win! Clevinger improved to 4-1 with a 1.50 ERA, lasting 2.1 innings with four strikeouts and no baserunners, while Eisert saved his ninth game with two critical outs to avoid scoring the ghost runner. Syndergaard recovered well from the rough second inning, finishing with six innings and five hits, a walk, five strikeouts and five earned runs. We outhit Cincinnati 11-6, led by Vargas who hit three times with two runs and two RBIs.

With the two out of three wins in Cincinnati, we’ve improved to 16-28, and will face the 17-27 Cubs with a chance to suddenly be the best team currently in the Windy City, for what that’s worth. Even better, we’re only six games behind the fourth place Tigers, when a few weeks ago we’d looked like complete Central Division goners.

[jksander]

May 16, 2025: Winners of our last three series, our White Sox are 8-6 so far this May, and we’ve won four of our last five and eight of our last 11 games, while the Cubs come into this series having lost five of their last six after winning five in a row early this month. Ryan Weber (2-3, 2.53 ERA, 42.2 IP, 27 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) pitched against Matthew Boyd (2-3, 4.44 ERA, 46.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) in game one, and Miguel Vargas hit a solo homer in the top of the second to give us an early lead! But the Cubs tied it up in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Ian Happ as this one started to heat up. Weber loaded the bases in the fifth but didn’t concede a run, and we got the lead back in the top of the sixth with a three-run double by Tauchman! Craig Kimbrel took over in the bottom of the inning, and with two outs he gave up a two-run homer out of right by Carson Kelly to cut our lead to one run. Martin Perez came out and got us into the seventh, but the Cubs tied it in the bottom of the inning with a triple by Hoerner, though we were able to keep it tied heading into the top of the eighth. Our bats awoke again in a big way in the top of the eighth, Tauchman scoring the go-ahead on a double by Vargas, Sosa hitting an RBI single, and Jorge Alfaro batting in Gallo and Sosa with an RBI double to put us up 8-4! Shane Smith came out in the bottom of the inning and if you liked runs, this game was the one for you -- Eduardo Escobar hit a solo homer to cut the lead to three, and Kyle Tucker hit a sac-fly to right, driving in Happ to get them within a pair. Justin Dunn took over with two outs and struck out Seiya Suzuki swinging, and we got one of the runs back to go into the bottom of the ninth leading by three and just needing to CLOSE IT OUT ... and with two outs, Escobar tripled in two runs to cut the lead to one, with Happ at the plate. Jesus ... but Dunn got Happ to ground out to first and we escaped with a 9-8 win in an absolutely insane game at Wrigley.

Martin Perez blew his first save, but came out of this one with the win, improving to 3-1 with a 4.99 ERA, allowing two hits, two walks, a strikeout and an earned run in his 1.1 innings. Dunn, meanwhile, got his first save with 1.1 innings and two hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two earned runs, living on the edge as his ERA remains a tenuous 6.41. The Cubs outhit us 12-10 but we managed to pull it off, something that would NOT have happened a month ago. Vargas led the way with three hits, a walk, two runs and three RBIs, giving him 25 runs batted in this year, and Alfaro did well in the nine spot, hitting three times for a run and two batted in.

May 17, 2025: Sean Burke (1-5, 5.17 ERA, 40.0 IP, 41 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) got the start in game two against Ben Brown (1-3, 5.15 ERA, 43.2 IP, 37 K’s, 1.60 WHIP). We took the lead with an RBI single by Dominic Fletcher with one out in the top of the fourth, adding on with an RBI single by Otto Lopez and a sac-fly by Chase Meidroth to go up 3-0 midway through the inning. Penn Murfee came out with two outs and Gage Workman on first in the bottom of the sixth, catching Workman trying to steal second and keeping our three-run shutout lead into the seventh. Joey Gallo hit a two-run homer to add on, but Murfee blew the shutout in the bottom of the inning with a one-out RBI double by Suzuki. Meidroth hit an RBI single in the top of the eighth, and Kimbrel took over for Murfee with two outs in the bottom of the inning ... with three more runs scoring for us in the top of the ninth, he stayed out there and shut them down the rest of the way as we blew the Cubs out 9-1, guaranteeing us a fourth straight series win. Burke improved to 2-5 with a 4.53 ERA, pitching 5.2 innings with two hits, a walk and seven K’s. Murfee earned his second hold with a two inning effort, allowing a hit, a walk, a strikeout and an unearned run as his ERA improved to 5.25. We outhit them 11-4, led by Fletcher with three hits, two runs and two RBIs while Lenyn Sosa put up two hits and scored three runs.
 
May 18, 2025: We’ve now won four games in a row and have our chance for our first series sweep of the season, and against our crosstown rivals to boot! Trevor Bauer (0-3, 5.40 ERA, 30.0 IP, 32 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) got the start against Justin Steele (3-3, 3.61 ERA, 62.1 IP, 57 K’s, 1.19 WHIP). The Cubs took the lead in the bottom of the first with a solo homer by Kyle Tucker, his ninth of the season, and they added a run in the third with an RBI double by Hoerner. The Cubs scored two more in the fifth, leading 4-0 as we came up to hit in the sixth, and Justin Dunn took over in the bottom of the inning still trailing by the same margin. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit one out of right to make it 5-0 in the bottom of the inning, and Noah Perez pitched the rest of the game as we lost this one 5-1. We’re improving, but this game showcased that we don’t need to start getting full heads yet. Bauer took the loss again, falling to 0-4 with a 5.66 ERA after allowing five hits, three walks and four runs with five strikeouts in his five innings. They outhit us 7-4 and had two homers, while our only run was scored by Meidroth (two hits, one run) off a single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth by Joey Gallo.

We’ll return to our side of town for three against Seattle (19-26, 5th AL West) and three against Texas (34-14, 1st Al West), and will then hit the road for three against the Mets (25-22, 2nd NL East) and three against Baltimore (16-30, 5th AL East) to get us into the beginning of June. We’re currently 18-29, and though our offense has improved, we still have a -47 run differential and losing records both at home and on the road. Plenty of room to improve.

[jksander]

May 19, 2025: Yu Darvish (5-2, 3.52 ERA, 53.2 IP, 43 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) got the start against Seattle’s George Kirby (3-4, 5.09 ERA, 40.2 IP, 44 K’s, 1.13 WHIP). The Mariners took the lead in the top of the first with a two-out RBI single by Luke Raley, but we tied it up in the bottom of the third with an RBI single by Miguel Vargas. They retook the lead in the top of the fourth with a solo homer by Luke Raley, and in the top of the sixth Raley hit ANOTHER out of right to make it a 3-1 ballgame. Justin Dunn took over in the top of the seventh, still trailing by a pair, and with one out they hit another two-run homer, this time by Ryan Bliss, and this game was officially out of control. But our bats woke up after the stretch ... Caden Grenier walked, Otto Lopez doubled him to third, Meidroth hit a groundball single that held Grenier and Lopez ... and then Mike Tauchman hit a grand slam out of left to tie the score at 5-5! Martin Perez came out to pitch in the top of the eighth, and with one out and men on first and second in the top of the ninth Clevinger came out to throw. Ryan Bliss singled the bases loaded, but Mitch Garver and Randy Arozarena struck out swinging and we came up to hit in the bottom of the inning with a chance to walk it off ... but instead this one went into extra innings. The ghost runner scored at the top of the inning for Seattle, but Luke Raley hit into a 4-6-3 double play to get us up to hit trailing by a run ... and we went down without any fight at all, losing this one 6-5 in ten innings. Clevinger took the loss, falling to 4-2 with a 1.46 ERA, pitching 1.2 innings with two hits, two strikeouts and the unearned run. We outhit them 11-10, led by Lopez (two hits, two runs) and Meidroth (three hits, one run).

May 20, 2025: Noah Syndergaard (2-2, 3.40 ERA, 50.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) pitched against Logan Gilbert (3-5, 5.19 ERA, 52.0 IP, 50 K’s, 1.37 WHIP) in game two, and in the bottom of the fifth we finally broke the early-game stalemate with a solo homer by Michael A. Taylor to go up 1-0! Syndergaard got us into the stretch still leading by the one run, and Shane Smith took over in the top of the eighth. With the score unchanged, Brandon Eisert came out in the top of the ninth, getting three quick outs to cement the 1-0 shutout victory! Syndergaard improved to 3-2 with a seven inning effort that involved just two hits and four strikeouts, no hits or walks -- his ERA improved accordingly to 2.98 through his first 10 starts. Smith got hold number three, and Eisert saved his 10th game of the season ... pretty solid, considering this was just our 19th win of the year. We outhit them 5-2, led by Taylor’s solo homer.

May 21, 2025: Ryan Weber (2-3, 2.45 ERA, 47.2 IP, 29 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) pitched against Luis Castillo (3-3, 5.26 ERA, 49.2 IP, 49 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) in our third game against the Mariners, and they blew us up early with a three-run homer by Julio Rodriguez in the top of the first. Miguel Vargas got us on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI single, but they added a run on in the top of the third with an RBI single by Mitch Haniger, and with two outs, the runner on second and Weber already at 68 pitches, Kimbrel took over from there. Justin Dunn took over with one out in the top of the sixth, still trailing by three, and Murfee came out in the seventh, getting us into the stretch without Seattle adding on ... though he did it the hard way, loading the bases and then ending the inning with a pair of strikeouts and a pop-fly to center. Grenier scored off a flyball single by Austin Slater in the bottom of the seventh to get us back within two, and Martin Perez became our fifth pitcher of the night when he took the ball in the eighth. With one out, Julio Rodriguez hit a solo shot out of left, his second homer of the game, and in the ninth Jonathan Cannon came out with one out and runners on second and third, melting down completely as he loaded the bases and gave them three more runs just for fun. Seattle never blinked, and their reward was an 8-2 win as they took the series two games to one. Weber rightfully took the loss, falling to 2-4 with a 3.04 ERA after an eight hit three strikeout four run game through just 2.2 innings ... we were outhit 15-7, led by Slater with a hit, a walk and an RBI.

After this series we’re now 19-31, and after tomorrow’s day off we’ll play three against Texas (35-14) here at home before hitting the road to finish the month. Nobody expects us to be even remotely competitive in this series, as Texas leads the majors with a +82 run differential and a 16-8 record on the road alone, almost as many wins as we have altogether.

[jksander]

May 23, 2025: Sean Burke (2-5, 4.53 ERA, 45.2 IP, 48 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) has been hot lately after a slow start, and tonight he faced off against Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi (3-3, 3.31 ERA, 51.2 IP, 55 K’s, 1.28 WHIP). Miguel Vargas hit an RBI double to put us up 1-0 in the bottom of the first, and with two outs in the bottom of the second Otto Lopez hit an RBI single to add on a run, giving us a little more cushion. Texas got on the board in the top of the third with a groundout to first by Corey Seager scoring Kyle Higashioka from third, but we got Jake Burger to strike out swinging, leaving another runner stranded at third as our lead held. Burke doesn’t have great endurance, but he got through the first five innings tonight with the lead still under our control, and Clevinger took over in the sixth ... but he wrenched his shoulder and had to come out after 11 pitches, replaced by Shane Smith with two outs and nobody on. The injury does not look serious, he’ll just be day to day for the next few ... but his sudden exit was jarring. Our offense came out with real fight in the bottom of the inning, adding on three runs with a Vargas slam, and Smith got us through the remainder of the night with a stellar bullpen performance as we held tough to win 5-1! Burke improved to 3-5 with a 4.26 ERA after five innings with two hits, four walks, three strikeouts and an earned run, but Smith was the clear hero of the game ... he pitched for 3.1 innings, earning his second save of the season, allowing two hits, with two walks being his only baserunners. He now has a 4.00 ERA through 27 innings over 22 appearances. We outhit Texas’ power lineup 8-4, led by Vargas who hit twice with a run and four RBIs.

May 24, 2025: Trevor Bauer (0-4, 5.66 ERA, 35.0 IP, 37 K’s, 1.49 WHIP) pitched in game two, taking on Kumar Rocker (4-0, 4.06 ERA, 51.0 IP, 50 K’s, 1.18 WHIP). Texas took the lead in the top of the second with a two-run homer by Josh Smith, but we got one back in the bottom of the inning when Cadyn Grenier hit an RBI single, and in the bottom of the third we took the lead with a two-run homer by Vargas, with Gallo hitting right behind him for a solo homer of his own. Leading 4-2, and with Bauer on a tear, we held our ground firmly from there. Justin Dunn took over with one out and Josh Smith on first in the top of the seventh, still leading by the pair, but that’s when our wheels fell off ..Martin Pere. he loaded the bases and Evan Carter hit a two-run double to tie it up, and Kimbrel had to come out to stop the bleeding with runners in scoring position. He walked Seager, and we got Leody Taveras out trying to score off a wild pitch ... a grounder to short by Berger and a solid throw by Grenier to first got us out of the inning with the score tied 4-4. Martin Perez came out in the eighth, and he completed our collapse, giving up an RBI double to Kyle Langford with no outs, though he got three quick outs to avoid anyone else scoring. Jonathan Cannon came out with one out in the ninth, getting Joc Pederson to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to bring us back up for one last shot. With two outs, Chase Meidroth hit an RBI triple to get within 90 feet of tying this one, and they walked Tauchman, but Vargas grounded out to first and ended this as a 6-5 loss. Bauer lasted 6.1 innings with two hits, four walks, seven strikeouts and three earned runs, and the bullpen had a rough night from there despite the fact that we outhit them 7-6. Vargas led the way with a hit, a run and two RBIs thanks to his homer, but he wasn’t able to pull a rabbit out of his hat in the ninth.

May 25, 2025: Yu Darvish (5-2, 3.62 ERA, 59.2 IP, 48 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) faced Cody Bradford (4-1, 2.59 ERA, 29 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) in our final home game of the month and the last of this Texas series. After three relatively quiet innings, Darvish gave up a leadoff homer to Leody Taveras in the top of the fourth to put Texas in the lead. But we hit back hard in the bottom of the inning ... leadoff double by Tauchman, a walk for Vargas, a one-out single by Kyle Teel to load the bases, and then Austin Slater blew the roof off the stands when he hit a grand salami out of center to put us up 4-1 -- the 32 year old is hitting just .191, but he has five homers and 15 RBIs! Darvish got us into the stretch with the margin unchanged, and in the bottom of the inning Tauchman hit a two-run homer to extend our lead to five runs. Shane Smith took over in the top of the eighth, and in the top of the ninth Wyatt Langford hit a solo shot out of center to get the Rangers back within four, but Smith got us through the rest of the inning without letting them close the gap -- we won 6-2 and took the series two games to one, improving our record to 21-32! Darvish got his second win since joining our team, pitching seven innings with two hits, 10 strikeouts against one walk, and one earned run, and we outhit them 11-4! Tauchman had two hits, two runs and two RBIs, and Austin Slater had two hits and his grand slam for four RBIs.

Tomorrow we’ll be in New York to play the Mets (27-26, 2nd NL East) for three, and then after a day off and a flight to Baltimore we’ll have three games against the Orioles (19-34, 5th AL East) to get us into June.With two weeks before the draft combine, we’re really starting to feel this season heating up! So far in May we’ve gone 13-10, putting some distance between us and our 8-22 start, but there’s a long way to go if we want to consider our team “competitive” even within our weak division.

[jksander]

Requesting this be moved to the new OOTP 26 forums

[jksander]

May 26, 2025: Noah Syndergaard (3-2, 2.98 ERA, 57.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) has been worth every penny of his one-year contract so far this season, and today in New York he took on Mets pitcher Tylor Megill (3-3, 5.26 ERA, 51.1 IP, 53 K’s, 1.46 WHIP) in our first game at Citi Field. We took the lead in the top of the second when Cadyn Grenier was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, driving in Joey Gallo to score. But the Mets got three runs off us in the bottom of the third thanks to a Brandon Nimmo homer out of right field, putting us on our heels quickly. We rallied in the top of the fourth with a two-run homer by Jorge Alfaro to tie it at 3-3, but they answered with a leadoff homer by Pete Alonso in the bottom of the inning to put the Mets back in control. Moments later Francisco Alvarez hit one out of right to make it 5-3, and Syndergaard’s night was on its way to ending as we started warming bullpen arms. But he got through the inning with two quick outs and then lasted through the fifth as well, helping to take some pressure off our bullpen. Still trailing by a pair, Kimbrel took over in the bottom of the sixth, and with one out they added on with a Francisco Alvarez RBI single. Murfee took the ball in the seventh, and the Mets pounded the nails in, adding another homer to make it 7-3 heading into the eighth inning. Dunn got us through the ninth inning unblemished but it didn’t matter as we lost 7-3. They outhit us 10-6 and out-homered us 4-1. Syndergaard took the loss, falling to 3-3 with a 3.32 ERA thanks to five hits and five runs (four earned) with four strikeouts, our offense led by the two RBIs Alfaro got off his first homer of the season.

May 27, 2025: Ryan Weber (2-4, 3.04 ERA, 50.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.15 WHIP) started against New York’s Paul Blackburn (5-2, 3.22 ERA, 58.2 IP, 56 K’s, 1.23 WHIP). Bandon Nimmo hit a homer in the bottom of the first to get them on the board, but Miguel Vargas hit one for us in the top of the second to tie the score at 1-1. The Mets retook the lead in the bottom of the third with an RBI double by Pete Alonso, and a three-run homer for Francisco Alvarez gave them a commanding 5-1 advantage as our home-run issues continued. Martin Perez took over in the bottom of the fourth, and Justin Dunn came out in the sixth, giving leadoff hitter Ronny Mauricio a solo homer immediately after taking the ball. From there it was just a matter of bringing this one to an end by any means necessary. They hammered us for three more runs in the bottom of the seventh and we lost this one 9-1. Weber fell to 2-5 thanks to a three-inning eight hit three strikeout effort that cost him five runs, only two of which were earned. They outhit us 12-7, outhomering us again 3-1 ... Vargas’ solo bomb, his eighth of the year, was our only offense.

May 28, 2025: Sean Burke (3-5, 4.26 ERA, 50.2 IP, 51 K’s, 1.20 WHIP) started our final game against the Mets, facing Kodai Senga (2-1, 2.64 ERA, 64.2 IP, 73 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) ... and the Mets hammered us from the opening pitch with a solo homer by Jose Siri to immediately put us in a 1-0 hole before most fans had their first beer. They had another solo homer by Pete Alonso in the bottom of the third (his 12th of the year) and with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the fourth we faced a 45 minute rain delay and Jonathan Cannon wound up taking over for Burke after it ended. He wound up loading the bases in the bottom of the fifth on two outs, Brett Baty hitting an RBI single into right to add on a run, at which point Jared Young hit a three-run slam out of right to make it a 6-0 lead. In the top of the sixth, however, something woke us up ... Vargas hit an RBI single, and Lenyn Sosa hit a three-run double to get us back within a pair! Martin Perez took over in the bottom of the inning, and with one out and two men in scoring position we had to rest him for Shane Smith, who immediately gave up both runners with an RBI double by Siri. A two-out RBI single by Baty followed, and this one was again a rout. Donovan Walton hit a solo homer on two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and we threw our hands up in surrender. They’d go on to win 10-4, completing the sweep as they outscored us 26-8 during the three game beatdown. Burke took the loss and fell to 3-6, allowing three hits, three walks and two runs with six strikeouts, during a rain-shortened 3.2 inning effort. They outhit us 10-7 and added four homers to their resume, while Vargas led our offense with two hits, a walk, a run and an RBI.

We’re off tomorrow, and will then play three against the Baltimore Orioles (22-34, 5th Al East) to bring this month to a close.

[Pelican]

Totally enjoying your accounts - primarily because I have also taken on the challenge of reviving the Pale Hose. In my case, I ask the question "what if the White Sox had as much money to spend as some of the top MLB teams?" Not Dodger or Met or Yankee money, but plenty of room for free agent contracts. Long story short, I now have the 7th highest payroll, at $197,631,500. This massive spending (see below) has gotten Chicago to third place, with a 13-15 record, on May 3rd.

Yup, signed Bieber for $12M for one year. He is 3-1 with a minuscule ERA.
His ratings are 44/57/76 on a 0-100 scale.

Profar for $3M for one year. Hitting .358. Money.

Gleybar Torres for $6.8M for one year. .250, 5 HR, 14 RBI.

H.S. Kim at SS for $3.960M for one year (seeing a pattern here with one year contracts). He is hitting .208.

Somehow traded Braden Shewmake for Marcell Ozuna in a contract dump for Atlanta. Smart move for the Bravos. Ozuna has been awful.

OF Dominic Fletcher to LAD for Clayton Kershaw, another huge contract dump. He is 0-3 and 4.10 and of course flirting with injury. Bad move.

Overpaid for Danny Jansen at $11.5M for one year. .239 hitter. But solid behind the plate.

Signed Carson Kelly for $1.9M. .107 hitter.

Anthony Santander for $31.8M for three years. And he is pounding the ball at .333 with 5 HR and 18 RBI.

SP Frankie Montas for $2.6M for a year. Already 2-2 and 3.70 and eating innings.

Thairo Estrada at 2B for $7.2M. Hitting .290 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. Solid.

Overpaid for RP Steve Okert at $6.8M. But needed a lefty in the pen.

Foolishly traded Miguel Vargas [.381] to the Pirates for Bae [.000].

Minor league deal Jon Cannon to the Orioles for Dylan Beavers. Beavers is tearing up AAA and will be in Chicago soon enough.

Traded Drew Thorpe to KC for Hunter Harvey. Harvey does not have great ratings.

Claimed Pierce Johnson off waivers from the Braves, and he has pitched well out of the pen.

Signed Verlander to a $2M deal, and he is 0-2 and 5.66 and presently on the IL. His contract incentives are unlikely to trigger.

After all those moves, I really need more production from holdovers Luis Robert [.184 4 13] and Andrew Vaughn [.253 1 9] to compete. Garrett Crochet is 3-1 and 3.03 ERA.

As a further study in masochism, I also have 2025 sims with the Gnats and the Pirates. Again, assuming a wealthy Silicon Valley type or bitcoin mogul has bought the team and provided funding. None of these teams will be the Dodgers, but I am learning that, with comparable budgets, MLB would be very competitive.

[jksander]

If Reinsdorf would pull his head out of his ass, there's no reason the Sox couldn't be successful in a city the size of Chicago, but the owner wants what the owner wants I suppose lol ... my Cubs aren't in a much stronger position re: ownership's unwillingness to spend. It's bizarre that the NYC and LA markets have owners who will spend but the midwest is all "let's be frugal and try not to suck too outrageously."