The White Sox have a way of being the other team involved in a game that becomes the flashpoint for scandals and accounts, major and minor.

A meaningless White Sox-Astros game on September 21, 2017 became the first major public evidence in the Astros’ sign-stealing program that rocked baseball during the 2019-20 offseason.

A sports player pleaded guilty to sending threatening messages to Tampa Bay Rays players after losing a game to the White Sox in July 2019 (he was sentenced to three years probation this week).

And now you have Joe West’s confiscation of Giovanny Gallegos’ cap during the White Sox-Cardinals game on May 26. The interruption looks like the first example of what appears to be a more aggressive summer of foreign substance policing, which sent St. Louis manager Mike Shildt into a post-match rant who described foreign substances as “baseball’s dirty little secret.”

And now the walls seem to be starting to crack. Bob Nightengale reported on Thursday that Major League Baseball told owners to prepare stronger app, possibly including an inspection of a pitcher’s glove, cap and uniform when he enters play. If anything is found on the pitcher at the time of the inspection, he must exchange the offending article, looking West with the new Gallegos cap. If it turns out that a pitcher subsequently broke the rule, he risks a 10-game suspension.

Josh Donaldson, who is no stranger to denouncing what he sees as institutional injustices, is lead the charge among positional players to crack down on illegal adhesion enhancing substances.

“If you want to clean up the game – because for me it’s going to be the next steroid test in baseball, because it’s cheating and it improves performance – the only way they can.” get out of it and get out of it. the game is if they are checked every half inning, ”said Donaldson. “If a new pitcher comes out, he is immediately controlled by the referee. Once they start doing that, it’ll be gone, and you’re going to start to see offense come back into the game.

He also presented Gerrit Cole’s recent drop in turnover in the record, which is no coincidence. Cole was one of the poster boys for soaring turnover rates as he transformed from ordinary to extraordinary after the Houston Astros acquired it.

When it comes to the White Sox, Liam Hendriks is the only one I’ve seen on this, as he was brought up during his media session after winning the American League Relator of the Month for May. Hendriks is another guy which improved its turnover rate as he turned into one of baseball’s best relievers, although his jump also relies on efficient rotation and extension. He said he had no problem with the application, as long as it is applied evenly.

“Any chance we have to level the playing field is what is needed,” Chicago White Sox closest Liam Hendriks said Thursday in an interview with Zoom. “As long as it’s even across the pitch. That’s all I’m asking.… We have to make sure we rule it.

SPARE PARTS

If Yasmani Grandal had poor framing numbers, an alarming amount of sensor interference OR a distorted slash line, you may be able to reflexively and correctly identify him as a product of aging. The fact that all three have been around all season suggests that the knee problem that first arose in spring training is still bothering him to some extent. James Fegan relays a quote from Grandal saying how it affected him on the left side of the plate.

“I got into bad habits, not being able to put as much torque on the front knee as I wanted,” said Grandal, whose right knee is his front knee in his left-handed swing. “Began to fly open. The kind of league noticed. But now that things are better, that’s what we’re working for. Transfer that weight to the front side and make sure the front side is stiff and apply as much torque as possible. We will continue to work on this. Once we get started, this is the last piece.

Fegan also takes a look at Moncada’s unprecedented season, which doesn’t look as revealing in practice as you might think on paper. Part of that is due to the lack of power, but Fegan also gets to know Moncada’s behavior on the pitch from past and present coaches. Compared to some of his teammates, Moncada doesn’t have a lot, making it a lot easier to fix mistakes like byproducts of not caring or trying.

Uni Watch is giving the White Sox City Connect uniforms a boost, with the biggest criticism being the lack of white socks that would help prevent all-black uniforms from looking like leotards.

Along with improving launcher grip solutions, offense is also harder to find thanks to better defense. The change often leads to discussion, but Rob Arthur notes that a few league-wide positioning adjustments also removed the impact of the balls in play. Third basemen and outfielder both play deeper than ever before. . This creates a vulnerability to casual singles, but as long as the pull rates remain astronomical, these singles can be absorbed much more easily than extra-basic hits.

At 23-35, 12 games behind the White Sox and nine games in second place in the wild card, the Twins have a 3.6% chance of making the playoffs, which is amazing when they started the year as third in the American League. -best bet (63.3 percent).

Aaron Gleeman delves into the Minnesota front office acquisition history for five years, similar to what I did for Rick Hahn, and finds a similar problem – one player provides just about all the value. Here, Nelson Cruz is to the Twins what José Abreu is to the White Sox.

(Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski / USA TODAY Sports)