Consistently Inconsistent

So we had a great run.

During those eight games I didn't want to post anything, because I was too afraid to change the team's luck flow.  Try as I may, I can never shake myself of the inkling-- if not the wishful thought-- that my behavior somehow affects how the White Sox play.  I imagine most fans feel that way, at least every now and then.

So I do what I can.  I change from my grey Sox hat to my green one, then stop wearing the hat altogether.  I wear a White Sox shirt under my jersey when I watch the games, I wear a plain shirt, I wear no under shirt, I wear no shirt at all.  When I go to the games I always play the Split, because once they won when I did that.  I don't watch that little home run derby they have at the Fundamentals Deck, I get a brat in the third inning-- in short, as I said, I do all that I can.  But, alas, my actions don't mean a thing.

Well, let's not be too hasty.  After all, I did single-handedly ensure their World Series win in 2005 by wearing the same hat and jersey combination to every game, no matter how many players signed them.  No one can take that away from me.  But there's a problem here that goes deeper than my mojo can reach.  And that problem is our inconsistency.

Particularly, we are inconsistent at the plate.  You can blame pitching if you want, but you'd have to be crazy.  Sure, our relief pitchers let up a run every now and then, but who doesn't?  If we expect any of our pitchers to win games for us, well, we're only patronizing ourselves.  What I mean, of course, is that this isn't football.  Try as they may, our defense will never score a single run.  Our starting pitchers are outstanding.  I'll say it again.  They're outstanding.  They're already doing all they have to do in order to produce wins.  It's our offense that is so lacking.

Let's look at our pitching.  They're looking good across the board in terms of stats.  Our team ERA remains a phenomenal 3.42, placing us at #2 in all of Major League Baseball.  Only Oakland has a better ERA (3.27).  We've given up just 394 hits.  Only the Diamondbacks, A's, and Braves have given up fewer (respectively: 393, 390, 389).  For comparison, the Pirates have given up 524; the Twins, 496; the Tigers, 453; the Royals, 441; and the Indians, 432.  By any measure, the Sox are excellent in this category.  And that trend extends even further, as you might imagine it should.  Our pitchers have allowed a total of just 182 runs.  Again, only the A's have done better, allowing 181.  But wrap your head around this: we've given up just 26 home runs.  That's it.  26!  That's good enough for the best in MLB.  The next-best A's have allowed 32 HR, while the worst-in-this-category Astros have allowed 73.  And yet, the Astros are 29-23, while the White Sox are 26-22.  The difference, of course, is that the Astros have scored 253 runs (fourth in the National League), while the Sox have scored just 218 (ninth in the American League).  

Ok, ok.  So these stats aren't the best for real sabermetric analysis.  I confess I'm only listing these because of their shock value-- but this is a blog, and I think I'm entitled to be excited about not letting up runs, and upset about not scoring them.

The bottom line is that our pitchers are great.  Other than Ehren Wassermann (I'll get to him in a sec), our pitcher with the highest ERA is still Mark Buehrle (who at 4.82 is doing slightly better than before).  Our other veteran starters have so far posted ERAs of 3.43 (Vazquez) and 3.17 (Contreras), while the young starters are blowing our minds-- Danks with 3.00 and Gavin Floyd with an astonishing 2.93.  Our relievers are doing more than pulling their weight.  Scott Linebrink (1-0, 1.27 ERA, 21.0 IP) is doing exactly what we need a reliable setup man to do.  Bobby Jenks (2-0, 1.77, 20.1 IP) is once again doing all he can at the Closer spot, that is to say, he can't save games without the opportunity to do so.  As it is, he has 12 saves in 14 opportunities.  Octavio Dotel (2-2, 3.79, 19.0 IP) is doing a pretty good job getting us out of late-inning jams (an impressive 31 Ks), while Nick Masset (0-0, 3.47, 23.1 IP) has become a very dependable-- not to mention young-- long reliever.  And Boone Logan (1-1, 2.87, 15.2 IP) is going an excellent job, in spite of his goatee.

Ehren Wassermann I don't understand, though.  I don't know anyone who is excited about him as a prospect, and I certainly haven't heard anyone cheer him when he comes into a game.  In fact, all I've heard people say when Ozzie puts him in is, "Why?"  There must be something about this guy I don't know.  Granted, he posted a 2.74 ERA over 23.0 innings pitched last season for the White Sox, but I am just not impressed.  His ERA right now is 27.00, which of course is inflated, as he's only thrown 3.2 innings.  But in those 3.2 innings, that means he's given up 11 runs (all earned).  And this on just 13 hits.  Whatever-- I'm no baseball scout.  I just don't like the way he jumps off the mound.  It means he's useless as a fielding pitcher.

But it's not Wassermann that has me worried.  No one in our pitching staff has me worried (with the possible exception of Buehrle).  It's our hitters.  Or, rather, our players-- because whatever they're doing, they're not hitting.  Jermaine Dye is leading our everyday players with a more than respectable .297 average, followed by AJ Pierzynski with .290.  Boith of them were hitting over .300 not three days ago.  Carlos Qunetin has been starting to slip the last couple days, so he's down to .288, though he still leads our team with 12 HR and 40 RBI.  He's currently tied for most homers in the AL with Rangers OF Josh Hamilton.  

And what about everyone else?  Paul Konerko is at .212, down from .220 (but who's counting?), Thome is still hovering just above the Mendoza Line, while Swish is midway between them at .209.  Any way you look at it, this is not the way our team should be hitting.  Our team average is still a squalid .244, and it doesn't show any signs of improving.  Even when we were winning last week, it was, as I heard one disgruntled fan say on the radio, "all smoke an mirrors."  He was right.  It was all pitching, and a little bit of deceptive hitting.  Even when we beat Cleveland 7-2 on Wednesday (May 21), it was a terrible game until the sixth inning.  Trust me-- I was there.  We didn't have a hit until Nick Swisher's single with two outs in the fifth.  

You can't be fooled by eight wins in a row.  Sweeping Cleveland was great for us, there's no doubt about it.  But if we can't hit, it doesn't make a difference.  It'll be the same as last season if our hitting doesn't pick up.  In the last two games we have a total of seven hits.  On Friday our pitching held the Angels to just three hits (we had four), and we STILL lost!

Guys, this is bad.  It needs to pick up.

Meanwhile, I also have a lot to say about Alexei Ramirez, DeWayne Wise, and even Jerry Owens.  But there's a game on now, and I have to go watch.  Because I believe.  But just in case, I'm going to make some voodoo dolls too.