WEBVTT - AL Central Showdown on the South Side 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:02.480 Hey, vacationing the lawyer. 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:03.480 Here's my business card. 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:07.920 I'm Attorney Howard Ankle. You or someone who knows been 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:11.440 heard it, work akin law and get the medical bills paid, 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:17.000 the lost wages reimbursed in the compensation you deserve. Hey, 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:19.439 We're one of the largest filers throughout the state of 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:23.800 Illinois of workers compensation claims. We're here to help call 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:28.600 three one two six million injury law made personal. That's 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:29.280 ankin Law. 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:48.520 From your favorite source for Chicago White Sox talk, delivering news, interviews, 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:53.080 analysis and more. This is the Socks Machine podcast with 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:57.400 your hosts Jim Margolis, James Vegan, and Josh Nelson. 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.600 Hello, folks, welcome to a special edition socks Live. 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:04.000 I am your host, Josh Nelson, as we are streaming 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:07.280 live on Friday, August seven, twenty twenty six. Typically we 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:09.840 have a podcast episode that we record for you guys 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.560 at a video show, but I had to fly out 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:15.240 to San Francisco for a family medical emergency, So thank 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:18.120 you so much for watching this live stream. A lot 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:21.400 has happened for the Chicago White Sox as they just 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:26.119 wrapped up their series against the Boston Red Sox and man, 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:30.480 maybe the less we talk about what happened in Boston 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:32.920 the better, but it did not go well again for 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.080 the White Sox against the Boston Red Sox, as the 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.759 White Sox are once again swept and a really devastating 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:44.280 twelve to eleven loss in thirteen innings last night, and 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:47.160 in these six games against the Red Sox, of course, 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.920 the White Sox go oh and six. They only scored 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:53.640 fifteen runs this year against the Boston Red Sox and 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:55.960 they allowed forty five. So you just do the math 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:57.559 and that is a negative. 0:01:57.680 --> 0:01:59.200 Thirty run differential. 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.880 I guess the silver lining for the Chicago White Sox, however, 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:04.520 is that when you take a look at the American 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.200 League Central standings, the Cleveland Guardians really fumbled the bag 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:09.560 as they got. 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:12.480 Swept at home why the New York Mets. 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:17.480 A really head scratching series result for the Cleveland Guardians. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.919 The White Sox still have a three game lead over 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:23.240 the Guardians, but the Minnesota Twins have caught the Guardians. 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:27.880 The Twins actually hold the tiebreaker against Cleveland, so right 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.519 now Minnesota would be in second place the fifty seven 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:34.079 to fifty nine record. There are the Tigers, even though 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:38.120 they traded Terrek schouolbl and Casey miiz Away. There they 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.840 are fifty six and fifty nine, three and a half 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.960 games back of the White Sox and the Kansas City 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:47.120 Royal still in last place twenty games will of five hundred, 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:50.200 twelve games back of the Chicago White Sox. 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:52.320 So it's a big weekend for the White Sox as 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:53.600 the Guardians come into town. 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:55.840 But we do need to chat about what happened in 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:58.440 Boston as we got a chance to see the new 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.520 guys the White Sox acquired a trade and enjoining me 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:04.400 on this edition to Soxs Machine Live, a Sox Machines 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.880 Beat Reporter James Vegan and managing editor Jim Margolis. And 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.320 hello gents and James, I'll start with you again. The 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:15.720 new guys joining the Chicago White Sox shortly after the 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:20.400 trade deadline again Luis Castillo, hu Escar Brazobon, Joey Bart 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:22.840 and Bren Doyle. And of a lot of tension on 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:25.120 Louis Castillo because he was the big fish at the 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:28.240 trade deadline. He only goes four innings in his start 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:31.399 last night, gives up five and runs on six hits. 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.440 He did strike out five, only walked. 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:36.520 One, but he only threw seventy one pitches, and I 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.480 guess that is where I want to start James, because 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:42.920 I really felt like the whole point of the White 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:46.600 Sox acquiring Luis Castillo at the trade deadline is to 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.800 help with the starting rotation and to help give it 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:52.920 depth and to take on some of those innings. But 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.040 if Castillo only goes seventy one pitches, doesn't that kind 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:00.160 of defeat the purpose of the White Sox acquiring him. 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:04.520 Sure, I don't think it was a pitch count limitation issue. 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:07.560 I think it's kind of what my concern was when 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:11.160 the underlying argument was, you know he can more stably 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:15.000 provide bulk innings, is that if he's ineffective, he's not 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:19.080 going to go that deeply. His last four starts for 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:22.440 the Mariners before he got traded, we're all ninety plus 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:25.520 in terms of pitch count. It's simply like this guy 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.239 struggle with the second times of the order. He didn't 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:33.880 have consistently effective secondaries. You know, he kind of until 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.159 the eighth hitter was like dictating the tempo, which is 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.240 like a lively fastball, but then didn't have like this 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:40.120 big counter move when the second turns of the order, 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:42.080 was getting knocked around, and why do you sign up 0:04:42.120 --> 0:04:44.280 for a third trips to the order, which then is 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:47.120 the fundamental issue you were ducking with Fetti where you 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:49.200 were just giving him this hard out two times of 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:55.279 the order overall. But Castillo certainly has the capacity to 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:58.919 go longer and deeper into games. But if he's struggling 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:02.240 and they don't have the you know, kind of adjustment 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.760 necessary to hit him back to his best best self, 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.440 then yeah, there's gonna be shorter outings because he's given 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:11.360 up five runs. He had a couple I thought, especially 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:14.680 the sliders to you know, the one that Wong hit 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.200 out and the one in Monsterio doubled on obviously wasn't 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:21.120 like hit incredibly hard, but wasn't a bat missing slider. 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:23.760 We're pretty located well, located low. 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:26.520 And away from right handed hitters and still got hit, 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.880 which kind of reflects the larger reality of him looking 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:31.919 over at his numbers before it comes on where the 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.960 sliders with weare is way down. The change up isn't 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.400 like a major factor that you see him like getting 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.520 through outings with, and so like, yeah, he still has 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.720 this you know, four seamer two seamer like mix that's 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:47.760 both like ninety five plus that looks pretty, you know, imposing, 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.640 but in terms of showing people a different look that's 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.360 really effective. You know, he hasn't had that consistently over 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.040 the course of the season, and if he doesn't do that, 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:59.680 then yeah, he won't get through six innings very easily, uh, 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.800 with like leads intact. So I don't think it's like 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.680 necessarily like man, they're going to be giving putting him 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.000 like four or five and dive every time out with 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.360 their intention. But if they don't get him right, that's 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.640 you know, effectively what they still have. So yeah, it 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.000 doesn't serve the purpose if he's not good. 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:21.239 Sure, I just wonder is this a situation that maybe 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:27.640 from top to the manager's office, can you just have 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.520 Castillo pitch ninety pitches like that? That's not a White 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:32.839 Sox thing, right, They're not Chris Gets is not going 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:36.440 to mandate that you must have Luis Castillo eat. 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:39.320 Five innings or more every single outing. 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:46.000 I think Gets gives enable admirable certainly in twenty twenty 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:48.479 six level of leeway to try to manage the window game. 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:51.120 I think point Luis Cassill, you give up five runs 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:53.400 and four inings. Is trying to win the game, not 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.240 a you know, we need a certain sort of length 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:59.400 to manage what we need or get return on our 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:00.640 investments of decision. 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:05.280 Got it okay, So it's a bummer that Luis Castillo 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:09.360 didn't eat up any innings. Things went really sideways for 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.960 the White Sox late in that game, simply just because 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:14.280 they ran out of bench guys and they were running 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:17.640 out of pitchers going into extra innings. Eric Fetty and 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.720 Chris Murphy had to pitch in the game, and if 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:22.720 they got into the fourteenth inning, I have no idea 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:23.600 Jim who would. 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:24.480 Have pitched for the White Sox. 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.960 But for all these new guys, the White Sox got 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.400 some bad luck as Joey Bart was hit in the 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:34.920 hand and he has pretty much a fractured knuckle, so 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:36.400 he's going to miss some time. 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:37.840 And it's been. 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:40.720 Reported that Egar Carro is going to be rejoining the 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.160 White Sox. So before the deadline, I was worried about 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:45.600 the White Sox catching situation. 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:47.320 It's Drew Romo and Edgar Carro. 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.160 A couple of games later, guess what, it's Drew Romo 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:54.720 and Edgar Carrow thanks to some bad injury luck. So 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.000 what do you make of the White Sox catching situation 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.440 and the brief time that we saw Joey Bart with 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:00.000 the White Sox. 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:03.640 It almost feels like they need to trade Drew Romo 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:06.400 just to get away from this cycle where they keep 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:11.400 going back and forth with a potential solution they think 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:16.320 will rectify their underwater catching mix. Like they had Kyle 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.120 Teal come back and then he lasted nineteen games and 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.560 then got hurt again with the high ankle sprain, and 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:26.080 then you had Joey Bart come in, and expectations weren't 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:29.240 anywhere close for Bart as they were for Teal, Like 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:31.480 this was not a this is going to be the 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:35.079 beat that the lineup needs, and he kind of presses 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:38.480 behind the plates with the athleticism to catch and throw 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.760 and call games. This is more Joey Bart is fine. 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:44.840 We're not going to demand too much from Joey Bart. 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.680 This is clearly a stop gap situation, And even with 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:52.559 expectations muted, and even with Romo figuring that he's still 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:55.040 going to be part of the mix, they still end 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.400 up where they started or where they've been for most 0:08:57.440 --> 0:08:59.520 of the season with Romo and Caro over and over 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.760 and over again, and so it you know, man plans 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:06.000 and God laughs. And it certainly seems like a a 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.560 Twilight Zone type situation of just no matter how many 0:09:08.559 --> 0:09:10.679 doors he enter, no matter how many corners he turn, 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:13.000 you end up in the same room looking at the 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:18.960 same thing. And uh, yeah, it's certainly the pressure is 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:21.200 I guess the way you look at it, the pressure 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:24.120 is either off or on. Either pressure is off because 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.080 they did what they could. And so it's Romo and 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:29.240 Caro and you kind of shrug. You get what you get, 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:31.839 no matter the efforts, and it's just the way the 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:36.240 season unfolds or the pressure is on, and that's uh. 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.000 You know, Caro was supposed to be somebody this year, 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:44.800 and they've shown with the playing time allocations, no matter 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:48.480 how poorly Romo has hits that they preferred him behind 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:50.079 the plates, you know, catching two out of three or 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:53.360 two out of four every series. And it seems like 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:58.080 Romo's bat has been you know, barely tenable or untenable 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.320 depending on how much everybody else is hit. So it 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:04.680 does seem like this particular road does go through Edgar 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.400 Carrow at least a little bit as much as the 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.040 White Sox have been trying to resist it. 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:12.280 Drew Roma did throw out two base runners filling in 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.600 for Joey Bart in Thursday's loss. I thought that was 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:20.280 pretty impressive by Romo. The Red Sox were not afraid 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.719 to test the White Sox in this series as far 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.160 as it stolen base attempts, so I thought that was 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:30.160 impressive by Roman to come in and be able to 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.600 throw a couple of runners out. But yeah, offensively, not 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:36.719 much at all. You could read socks Machines Month in 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:40.320 a box that Jim does every month recap July, and 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.439 the production from the catcher perspective for the White Sox 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:47.319 definitely was not approving as the season progressed until Kyle 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:49.600 Teal was in the lineup. But even with Teal in 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.120 the lineup, Teal was still breaking off a lot of Russ, 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.400 So it really comes. The White Sox just seemed to 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:58.439 be spinning in circles right now with the catching position 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:02.800 until somebody gets healthy, either Kyle Teel or Joey Bart James. 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:06.040 We haven't heard as far as how extensive this injury 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.360 is for Joey Bart right we don't know how long 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:10.280 he's going to be missing time. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:12.800 They have not provided an estimate. 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.560 We know it's specifically he broke a fifth metatarsal, and 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.720 we can confirm that Carol's getting called up, so it's 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.080 clearly a roster move. But no, we've not been given 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:24.160 a timeline on it yet. 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:27.200 All Right, I guess to to wrap up as far 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:30.320 as what happened against Boston, what do you guys make 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:33.840 of what the Red Sox have done? It is Jim 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.760 the last thirty six games, a thirty one to five record, 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:40.760 I think, and rightfully so White Sox fans are just 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:44.040 throwing their hands up, be like, hey, everyone's losing to Boston. 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:47.760 So this isn't something to be really concerned about. I mean, 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.160 Boston just went into Dodger Stadium and swept the Los 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:54.040 Angeles Dodgers after they had a big trade deadline. So 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:56.040 what do you make of the Boston Red Sox. 0:11:56.600 --> 0:12:01.560 It feels like they don't necessarily of the outcome based 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.520 on Craig Breslo, the kind of dysfunction we've heard about, 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:11.400 especially with Alex Cora. This it doesn't seem earned based 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.839 on the kind of harmony you see from like other 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.559 front offices like the White Sox for example, kind of 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:20.200 the ideal communication between Chris gets well aventable, it's all 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.040 going great, Red Sox teem would be the opposite of that. 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:27.800 So if you want a healthy results stemming from that 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:30.640 healthy process, you would think that this is not the 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:36.079 ideal situation or anything you want to emulate as an organization. 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:40.280 But watching them play, certainly the pitching has been there 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:42.600 for a while. They have a pretty deep talented pitching 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:46.200 staff to where they're able to trade pitching for Curtis meat, 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:50.440 like they have the rare surplus to deal away from 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.520 even if it's like a controversial return with meat and 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:55.800 then meat gets hurt. So I guess, you know, Bart 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.120 is like a little bit of you know, balance in 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.520 the universe because they'd lost a guy after two games 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:02.440 because of a hit by pitch and now the White 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:07.400 Sox do as well. Deliath though, is just impressive and 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:11.720 it is like a classic Boston feel without necessarily the 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.960 marquee talent like the household names, just in terms of 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:19.760 how hard they make pitchers work, like Sean Burke. We've 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:23.480 seen Burke like in this version of him where he 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:26.840 doesn't necessarily have the best breaking ball command, but like 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:30.719 either fastball command gets them through or a curve ball 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:33.280 command gets them through. But he can get by with 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.199 one pitch leading the way and get enough from the 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:39.840 other ones to get through five to six with fairly 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:42.360 low pitch count. But this is a case where he 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:45.640 had pretty good fastball command. But even though he was 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.160 getting ahead of the counts like he was doing okay, 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:50.959 just a lot of foul balls, a lot of two 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:53.560 out hits to extend innings, to rack it up. And 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:56.880 so yeah, I think one through nine, you know, maybe 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:59.000 towards the eight and nine it gets a little bit thin. 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.200 But they just have a lineup that's in the classic 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:05.280 Red Sox since when they were you kind of moneyball 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.800 with money you know, with iobp guys and power guys 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.960 and guys who could take advantage of Fenway Parks dimensions. 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.680 Just a really tough lineup to get through. Even when 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.960 the pitch command is okay, like even guys are ex 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.760 keeping pitches, it's still twenty pitch innings and then twenty 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.760 pitch intings times two, twenty pitch inning times three, and 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:25.880 then all of a sudden you do have to go 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:27.480 with a bullpen earlier than you want. 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.760 James, what do you make of the Red Sox toward run. 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:32.960 I don't know. 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.720 It makes no sense to me. The pitching has been 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.880 good all season, like Jim said, but you know, from 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:42.880 what they're doing offensive, I thought, like William A. Brady 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:44.800 has been better than his numbers this season, so to 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:48.080 see him like, you know, kind of be unstoppable, that 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.400 makes sense. But earlier this year, if he took Wilson 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:53.560 Contrez out of this lineup, like they wouldn't do anything. 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:56.480 And now it's seeing like the White Sox just be 0:14:56.640 --> 0:15:01.960 completely unable to get Andrew Montstereo out or any Siegler 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:06.400 or Nick Soguard, you know, just being giving them like 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.480 great at bats all throughout, Like is this a team 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.800 wide heater? Like certainly they've got Caleb Durban back a 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:14.600 lot better for him than he was first in half, 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.080 or like did they really need to fire their hitting coach? 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.280 And they did the right thing by overhauling their coaching 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:23.720 staff to some degree. I don't know, but it's kind 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:25.920 of surrealed. Like Connor Wong was someone that, like the 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:27.880 whole fan base wanted to throw out of an airplane 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.120 last year because it was like how he's hitting league 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:33.280 average again, which to be fair, like Connor Wong was 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.200 like looked like a decent hitting catcher earlier in his 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.720 career and maybe last year is really the aberration. But 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:40.640 like it's a lot of like they're all their role 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.880 players just being on ten offensively in a way that 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.600 like this was supposed to be the weakness of the 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:48.640 team is like the lack of after the lineup and 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:52.080 instead you're getting guys who probably weren't in their plan A. 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:55.480 It's like they have like four Tristan Peters first Afterstan Peters, 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.800 like in their lineup right now, who guys like yeah, 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:00.760 the bones of like a decent role player in there, 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:04.280 we're maybe always in there. But why why are they 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:09.880 all like mashing to unstoppable degrees right at this moment? Obviously, 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:11.680 like the first half of the season shows that the 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:13.920 kid doesn't work all the time, and we overact those 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:15.640 small sample stuff all the time. 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:17.480 But it was really incredible just the degree to. 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.400 Like an offense that doesn't seem like they should be 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:22.240 at the height of their powers, you know, with no contrast, 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:26.520 no Roman Anthony, just the only people who can get 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:28.760 them out on the Sox staff is like Sean Berke 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:33.160 working extremely hard, Grant Taylor working extremely hard, and like 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:37.000 one pretty good Brian Hudson innings. It's been kind of freaky, 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:40.360 so right now they certainly look like and it was. 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.040 It's not an it's not a hard al to quickly 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:46.640 rise up the hierarchy of but it looked like top 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:49.880 three in the AL at the moment pretty easily. And 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.440 if you are skeptical at Aaron Judge coming back, you 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.280 could probably convince yourself or you know you worry about 0:16:56.280 --> 0:17:00.760 like the the role player bottom half of the Rais offense, 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:03.720 you can probably convince yourself to move them up a 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.080 certain spot in the archy from that top three as well. 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.159 That's a good point. James, like if to do the 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.240 power rankings, which Buster Oldney kind of went a little 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:15.199 viral on baseball social media when they were trying to 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:18.720 power rank the top five American League teams, and he 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:20.119 had Seattle in the mix. 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.520 Cleveland. I think he listed to them as number one. 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.840 It's not looking good for both Busters power rankings, but 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:30.680 I do feel like I wonder if Boston is now 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:32.880 the team to beat in the American League, even though 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:34.880 the season were to end the day they're the fifth seed, 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.600 like they would start the postseason on the road, but 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:40.959 to make up as much ground as they have. They 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:44.159 were fourteen and a half games back the Yankees before 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:47.280 this tour run. Now they're just a half game back. 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:50.000 They're definitely in the race of the American League East. 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.120 That division is now a true three team race between 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:56.720 the Rays, Yankees, and Red Sox, and whoever finished his 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.440 third is going to have to start the postseason on 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:03.040 the road. Boston has really made this American League very 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.200 interesting and it does not matter as far as the 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:09.200 quality of the team. They just destroy everyone in their path. 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:12.080 So for White Sox fans trying to find some solace 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:15.080 of what happened this week in Boston, there you go. 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:17.800 Everyone's in the same boat right now when they're going 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.359 up against the mighty Red Sox. We're going to take 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:23.560 a quick break for our word from our sponsors. But 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:26.200 after the break, we're going to be reviewing the critical 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:29.520 series this weekend in Chicago as the Cleveland Guardians visited 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:33.240 the Chicago White Sox in an American League Central showdown. 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:37.600 Next on The Sox Machine podcast. 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:39.679 Todd Father, are you hitting some games this summer? 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:44.040 What's the deal, of course, it's real simple, Scotty Brawn, 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:45.560 You know how it is. 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They also have over seventy thousand 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:20.080 events on sea gek that includes concerts, festivals, all kinds 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:21.080 of sporting events. 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:22.800 So go check it out right now. 0:19:23.000 --> 0:19:26.240 FTFAM the code is Territory ten for ten percent off 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:28.520 your next set of MLB tickets at sea Geek. That's 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:31.560 ten percent off with promo code Territory one zero. Make 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:33.480 sure you click the link in the description to download 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:36.080 the app, and then the code automatically is added to 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:37.440 your account so you can use it later. 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:40.560 I'm with Chicago Shortstop Call some Montgomery. You're known as 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:43.000 team first. Yeah, I've always worked. 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:44.640 Hard for the team rather than myself. 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:47.040 Hike, get it if you've been injured. My team is 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:50.320 here to help. Call three one two six million internal 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:52.800 on me personal that second law. 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:56.560 And like I mentioned, the Cleveland Guardians now visit Chicago. 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:59.359 The Guardians are fifty seven and fifty nine on the season. 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:01.959 They've lost their last three games, again being swept by 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:03.439 the New York Mets at home. 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:06.080 In their last ten. The Guardians are slipping. 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.440 They are three and seven away from Cleveland, though they've 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:12.240 been playing a lot better. They're twenty nine to twenty 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:16.240 eight this season in road games. You're bitching brables for 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:19.440 this series Friday night. This is a first pitch time 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:23.240 of six forty pm Central Time. Also, jaw Rule is 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.439 going to be having a postgame concert. Parker Mestik will 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:30.159 take the ball for the Guardians against Noah Schultz Saturday. 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:33.639 This is a national broadcast. It will be on Fox. 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:36.040 As will be Gavin Williams taking the ball for the 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:39.240 Guardians against Anthony k for the White Sox. Saturday is 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:44.199 also Asie Gean's jersey retirement ceremony. That retirement ceremony if 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:47.240 you are attending the game on Saturday is slated to 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.720