Is Humber pitching himself out of White Sox’ rotation?
White Sox starting pitcher Philip Humber didn’t have much to say to the media after yet another forgettable start Sunday.
Sox manager Robin Ventura did.
Humber has been anything but perfect since pitching a perfect game at Seattle on April 21.
After giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 6 hits — 3 of which cleared the fences — in an 11-9 interleague loss to the Astros, Humber is 1-4 with a 7.50 ERA since his gem against the Mariners.
Much like rotation mate Gavin Floyd, Humber has been continually leaving pitches up in the strike zone during his futile stretch and paying a heavy price.
“I thought I made a lot of good pitches, and the ones that weren’t good pitches left the ballpark,” Humber said. “It’s part of this ballpark in the summertime. That happens when you get balls up and they get them in the air; they are going to carry out most of the time.”
Considering his poor showing since Seattle, considering he has allowed 7 home runs in his last 4 starts and considering he is 0-7 with a 5.92 ERA in his last 14 outings at the Cell, is it time to pull Humber out of the rotation?
“It’s hard to work your way out of it if you don’t pitch,” Ventura said. “Whether that’s starting or the bullpen, I don’t know. But it has to get better.”
Ventura said Humber is going to make his next scheduled start, Saturday at Los Angeles.
But when John Danks comes off the disabled list, Humber (2-4, 5.92 ERA) could move to the bullpen and Jose Quintana (1-1, 2.05), who has been filling in for Danks, could keep his spot.
Humber has just about pitched himself out of a job, and Floyd (4-6, 5.38 ERA) hasn’t been much better.
“Very similar,” Ventura said of the two pitchers. “It’s just one of those things where they have an inning that’s good and then they have an inning when they leave it in the middle.
“You can’t do it with these guys. They can swing the bat, especially in hitter’s counts. First pitch, or a hitter’s count, they’re ready to swing.”
Humber wasted another explosive game from the White Sox’ offense.
Trailing 11-5 in the eighth inning, home runs by Paul Konerko and Orlando Hudson made it close, but the gap was too big.
“I think you’ve got to,” Konerko said when asked if the Sox still have faith in the pitching staff. “You catch some days where it’s good to hit.
“It’s just that there are so many ups and downs as the season goes. Every team goes through it. It always seems like it’s worse when it’s your own team.
“If you look around and look at the scores every night and look at teams that are supposed to be good, they go through the same thing. I think the teams that nip it the quickest and get back on track as the season goes, those are the teams that will wind up being there in the end.”
While going 4-5 on the homestand against Seattle, Toronto and Houston, the White Sox lost three games when they scored 5 or more runs.
“I think you look at it as it’s kind of a wasted offensive day,” Ventura said after Sunday’s loss. “It’s frustrating when you score like that, just like it’s frustrating when you get a guy that pitches great and you don’t score anything. You’ve got to get them together.”
sgregor@dailyherald.com