#white-sox

#white-sox

The White Sox announced today that manager Will Venable's coaching staff will be overhauled this winter. Specifically, the club announced that they will not be renewing the contracts of pitching coach Ethan Katz, hitting coach Marcus Thames, first base coach Jason Bourgeois, and catching coach Drew Butera. James Fegan of Sox Machine adds that Sergio Santos, who manages the club's Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, will also not have his contract renewed.

His numbers on the season look good until you check under the hood. He has thrown 29 innings with a 2.48 earned run average. However, his 17.5% strikeout rate and 12.5% walk rate are both subpar figures. His 51.3% ground ball rate is pretty good but he has largely benefitted from a .197 batting average on balls in play and 89.5% strand rate.

September 6 - Outfielder Dominic Fletcher and right-handed reliever Dan Altavilla were added to the White Sox's roster on Friday, and they contributed to Chicago's 7-5 road win over the Detroit Tigers. Fletcher, 28, had his contract purchased from Triple-A Charlotte. In his first major league game of the season, he doubled twice and scored twice while playing in both center field and right field.

Between the offseason and today, the Sox have signed or claimed nine relievers. Below are the stats for each: Everyone except Vasil and Castro (who was shut down for the season with a patellar tendon tear in June) has been optioned to the minors at least once this season. Vasil's and Altavilla's stats are the only anomaly from this putrid list, and Altavilla has been in Triple-A for the majority of his tenure with the organization.

Hard work does not always guarantee success, but it does always put you in the position to excel. August has been a good month on the diamond for former Texas A&M baseball standout Braden Montgomery. On Tuesday, the White Sox organization named the Double-A Birmingham outfielder as their Minor League Player of the Month for August. Montgomery has been tearing it up since being moved up at the beginning of August, becoming a doubles machine and flashing his glove in the outfield.

The Cubs have claimed right-hander Aaron Civale off waivers from the White Sox, according to a team announcement. Left-hander Tom Cosgrove was designated for assignment to make room for Civale on the 40-man roster. In addition the White Sox announced that they've selected the contract of right-hander Bryse Wilson to replace Civale on the club's active and 40-man rosters. More to come.

Lots of folks think Win Probability Added (WPA) is a useful statistic. Many coverages, often including our own game wrap polls, like to refer to it. Others think it's just something dreamed up by a FanGraphs intern in 2008 in order to at least have something to put on a resume and has little purpose for anyone who can easily figure out the important moments in a game's flow without it (raises hand, looks around to see if anyone is nodding in agreement).

The Cubs will need left-hander Shota Imanaga to step up to salvage their series in San Francisco before continuing on their West Coast trip. The Cubs have still not yet been swept in a three-game series this season and look to avoid that fate after dropping the first two games against the Giants. The stretch of 17 games in 17 days became a little more difficult for the White Sox to navigate

"They've been really good with my innings and my pitch counts since the start of the year," Smith said after the 80-pitch outing. "Making sure you're doing everything behind the scenes in the weight room and training room and all that stuff. Making sure you're ready every five, six days, whatever it is."

It appears that rookies Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth have secured their spots as middle infielders, with an outside chance that Montgomery moves to third base down the line. Catchers Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero have secured their places as the two primary catchers for the White Sox, but it could turn into a rotation of three with Korey Lee getting recalled from Triple-A.

"When you go down to the minor leagues," pitching coach Ethan Katz said Sunday, "it gives you and opportunity to try some things that you maybe talk about up here that in the moment it's harder to accomplish, because you're trying to get through an inning and you're going to stick to what you feel is best, [as opposed to] trying to open up some other avenues.

The Sox were predicted to lose over 100 games before the year. ESPN predicted them to go 54-108 while Vegas oddsmakers put their preseason win total at 53.5. But it's possible that the team may not even lose 100 games. The key to the White Sox's success this season, and why they could fall below the 100-loss milestone, is due to the emergence of young players like Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, Lenyn Sosa, Kyle Teel, Grant Taylor, and even Brooks Baldwin.

This was the streak that propelled the Sox into a position to take the AL pennant and eventually the World Series crown over the crosstown Cubs. During the run, the White Sox beat Boston six times, Philadelphia five times, New York seven times and Washington once. When the streak started on August 2, the Sox were 7 1⁄2 games behind Philadelphia, and when it ended on August 25 at Washington, Chicago was in first place by four games over the A's.