Off and running: White Sox struggle to slow opposing basestealers
The early numbers look bad for White Sox catchers James McCann and Welington Castillo.
Heading into Tuesday night's game against the Kansas City Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field, McCann was 0-for-5 throwing out attempted basestealers.
Castillo was 1-for-7.
The Sox worked hard on shutting down the opposition's running game in spring training, but it has yet to show.
"It's a combo," manager Rick Renteria said. "There are situations in which the pitchers don't give themselves a chance to contain that guy a little bit. They've been working really hard on speeding up to the plate."
Being slow to the plate has made it difficult for McCann and Castillo to throw out runners. Castillo finally got on the board Monday night, erasing Hunter Dozier at second base with Manny Banuelos on in relief for the White Sox.
"Holding runners is huge, especially with that type of team that we're playing," Castillo said. "It's part of my job to try to make a good throw, but at the same time they need to give me the time to throw him out."
Eliminating the higher leg kick and taking a slide step to the plate with fast runners on base is a good way to eliminate steals, but not every pitcher on the Sox's staff is on board with the strategy. That's OK with Castillo.
"I'm the type of guy that I'm going to say, 'If you don't feel comfortable doing the quick slide step, don't do it,'" Castillo said. "I'm more worried about executing the pitch. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, even if it's part of my job because I need to throw that guy out, that's fine."
Historic start:
Not only was he leading the major leagues heading into Tuesday's play, shortstop Tim Anderson's .453 batting average was the highest in White Sox history through the first 15 games of the season.
"I'm going to keep working, give these fans something to watch," Anderson said. "It's fun. It's fun going out playing and having a lot of energy. I put a lot of work into it, just studying the game and going behind the scenes. I'm going to continue to get better and keep learning and keep maturing."
Close to the heart:
Alex Colome pitched a scoreless ninth inning Monday to earn his fourth save in as many tries with the Sox this season.
It was also the 100th save of the 30-year-old relievers's career.
Colome would have likely recorded the milestone last year, but he was traded from the Rays to the Mariners in late May and moved into a setup role in front of Edwin Diaz, who wound up leading the majors with 57 saves.
Acquired by the White Sox in a November trade that sent catcher Omar Narvaez to Seattle, Colome is thrilled to back pitching in the ninth inning.
"Those are the instances of the game where I like to pitch," Colome said through a translator. "Generally, it's something that makes me better. It pushes me and I like that."