Tomorrow never knows: In a weak AL, White Sox should be aggressive before deadline
The White Sox have every right to feel good about the future.
But their short-lived run atop the AL Central in 2021 should provide a blaring reminder — tomorrow is never guaranteed.
Plenty could go wrong the rest of the way, but for now, the White Sox are in position to earn one of the two playoff byes in the American League. The AL as a whole is pretty weak, and the vibes inside the Sox clubhouse are a few miles high.
If there's a chance to bolster the pitching staff before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, the White Sox should go for it. Who knows if they'll get as good an opportunity as they have right now.
The return to the South Side didn't go well Tuesday, as the White Sox lost to Boston 8-1. The ChiSox can still extend their streak of home series wins to 11 by taking the next two games.
Even mild-manned manager Will Venable admitted there was something special to last weekend, when the Sox were walked off twice in Cleveland, then came back to win the last two games of the series and recapture first place in the division.
“I did think that was another level of special and another level of grit that our guys showed just coming back after two tough ones,” Venable said. “For those guys to come back and do what they did, I thought it was really special.”
How could the White Sox improve their chances of becoming — might as well say it — a true World Series contender? A bullpen arm for sure, an extra starting pitcher would be nice. The offense has been mostly deep and dangerous, especially with Munetaka Murakami expected back soon from a hamstring strain.
“I think that Getzy (general manager Chris Getz) is always doing whatever he can to make our team better,” Venable said. “This team continues to win and play good baseball, and I know everyone wants to continue to support that in whatever way we can.”
Tuesday's game was the second start for Noah Schultz since coming off the injured list, and first at Rate Field since May 13. The 6-foot-10 lefty missed about five weeks with right patellar tendinitis.
The Oswego native still seems a little rusty. He endured a 33-pitch first inning with no damage, despite loading the bases; then gave up a pair of home runs to Andruw Monasterio and Ceddanne Rafaela in the second. Schultz did manage to complete 5 innings, giving up 4 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks and a hit batter.
“Not great, not really happy with it,” Schultz said after the game. “I felt I had good command, good feel for the cutter, but no off-speed stuff. This is a lineup, you want to go heavier off-speed. Not being able to land the sweeper or change-up as much as I'd like to is definitely frustrating.”
The White Sox offense couldn't do much against Boston starter Payton Tolle. Once he left, they loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh but scored just 1 run. The Red Sox then broke it open with 4 in the ninth, all charged to Brandon Eisert.
Sam Antonacci collected 3 of the White Sox' 4 hits. Another non-lowlight was catcher Kyle Teel throwing out two basestealers.
Murakami takes field
White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami began a rehab assignment in Triple-A Charlotte by going 1-for-3 with a single and two strikeouts, while playing first base, on Tuesday. Murakami has been out since May 29 with a right hamstring strain.
If all goes well, it seems likely Murakami will be back in the majors by weekend when the White Sox host the Athletics in the lead-up to the all-star break. Even with all the time missed, Murakami is tied for 12th in MLB with 20 home runs.
“It's going to be day-by-day, so I'm not going to put a timeline on it, just because I don't know how he's going to recover, how many at-bats he gets, how he's feeling,” manager Will Venable said. “Hopefully at some point before the break, we'll activate him.”
After the game Murakami told local reporters he had no concerns about his health. Right-hander Tanner McDougal returned from forearm tightness to pitch a scoreless inning for Charlotte. It was his first Triple-A appearance since April 29.