Konerko joins Harrelson in White Sox's TV booth
Even before the White Sox announced pitching prospect Michael Kopech was going to start against the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field Tuesday night, it was a good day at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, who is in his 33rd and final season in the Sox's TV booth, was joined by one his all-time favorites, Paul Konerko.
"Pauly would make a great broadcaster and I'll tell you why," Harrelson said. "He understands hitting better than just about anyone I've been around. And when you understand hitting, you know what the pitchers are trying to do."
Konerko, who ranks second behind Frank Thomas in White Sox history with 432 home runs and 1,383 RBI, wasted little time breaking down hitting.
Before Yoan Moncada took a called third strike leading off the first inning, Konerko offered his opinion of the Sox second baseman's overly patient approach.
"It's kind of tough to try to walk your way through the season," Konerko said. "You have to show them you can swing the bat. I've always felt that young hitters have to swing bat first, and the walks will come later."
Before heading to the broadcast booth, Konerko stopped in the Sox's clubhouse.
"I ran into Coop (pitching coach Don Cooper) in the dining area," Konerko said. "He said, 'Players only and you're media. Get out.' I told him, 'I'm going to bury you on the air.'"
Sox rally past Royals:
Trailing Kansas City 6-0 early Sunday, the White Sox rallied for a 7-6 win at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Sox scored 6 runs on 7 straight hits in the fourth inning, including home runs from Avisail Garcia, Tim Anderson and Omar Narvaez.
Reynaldo Lopez started for the White Sox and the right-hander lasted just 2 innings while giving up 6 runs on 6 hits a walk.
"I wasn't commanding my pitches," Lopez said through a translator. "I didn't do my job and just to see the guys come back and fight the way that they did and win the game, it was important."
Teaching points:
It was a busy weekend for White Sox manager Rick Renteria.
On Friday, he benched Avisail Garcia for failing to run hard to first base on a flyout to right field.
On Saturday, he was not happy when Adam Engel failed three times to get a bunt down.
The Sox are well out of the playoff picture again this season, but Renteria said doing all of the little things now will pay off down the road, when it matters.
"Every single major-league hitter should know how to bunt, and I make no bones about that," Renteria said. "That ball's got to get down. It didn't work out. (Engel) didn't get it down. He was frustrated about it. It's not that he didn't want to get it done, he just didn't get it done.
"If he's able to get it down, slow the game down enough to do his job there, he'll be able to slow the game down and do it when it's really, really important, which could be a playoff game, could be a wild-card game. All these games are tests. All these moments are tests. We've got to use them as that."