White Sox Coaching Blunders Are Making a Bad Team Even Worse
From ignoring Jesse Scholtens’ reverse splits to a last-minute role change that left Anthony Kay in the dark, getting swept by the Rays highlighted how poor decisions and communication are compounding the White Sox’s struggles.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Chicago White Sox can’t seem to get out of their own way. Apart from the team’s MLB-worst 6–13 record, MLB-worst -40 run differential, and MLB-worst . 195 team batting average, the White Sox continue to hinder themselves with questionable pregame decisions and strategies.
Getting swept at home by the Tampa Bay Rays was no fun, but that alone can happen to anyone. The Rays are a smart, consistently competitive organization. In this case, though, it was only the tip of the iceberg, as more than one decision by the White Sox this week raised an eyebrow—or even a red flag—for any objective observer.
Ignoring Splits Against Jesse Scholtens I previewed Wednesday’s game against the Rays, where the White Sox lineup was set to face 32-year-old right-hander Jesse Scholtens , a former White Sox pitcher who was called up by Tampa Bay to serve as the bulk reliever. Scholtens has reverse splits over the course of his MLB career. He struggles against right-handed batters but dominates lefties.
The disparity is striking, yet it seemed like the White Sox paid very little attention to the data and instead put together a lineup solely based on traditional rules of handedness, stacking six lefties despite Scholtens being a lefty killer. Scholtens ended up pitching five innings and allowing just one hit—a very unsurprising outcome given the flawed approach. Jesse Scholtens: 5 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Continue to the original source for the full article.