The White Sox finally made some changes to their lineup, and it paid in spades over the weekend in Kansas City and so far this week in Cleveland. They led in the game on Sunday before blowing it. One big change was they called up veteran outfielder Robbie Grossman and put him the leadoff spot. Another big change was moving someone from the top to lower in the lineup.
It was not the suggestion of moving Yoan Moncada to 5th from the second spot, but moving LF Andrew Benintendi from the leadoff spot to 5th. Benintendi has collected six hits in the last three games. Also, in Luis Robert’s absence OF Dominic Fletcher has had four hits since then. Other big changes have been utilizing C Korey Lee’s flexibility more often as a catcher, DH or using him as a pinch hitter a lot earlier in the game.
2B Lenyn Sosa was called up to play in the infield as well, and he has a solid bat that has come up clutch so far. When you collect twelve hits in two out of three games, that means the offense is starting to click better. In game two vs. Cleveland they actually came out with a five run first inning to take the early lead – which they haven’t done all season. Most importantly, they finally won their second game of the season, ending their five-game losing streak with the last win being on April 2nd.
The biggest issue is that they keep losing guys to injuries running the bases, e.g. this time Moncada. Robert has a grade two hip flexor strain that could mean he is out for six to eight weeks. DH Eloy Jimenez is out with a left adductor strain (which happened in the third game of the season) which has had him sidelined still. Moncada also has an abductor strain which happened in today’s victory. They won the war today but lost the battle when it really matters, because they are now out with their three best players. That might put the damper on the win and on the offense potentially being on the right foot.
They might need to look into the training staff if the key players keep getting hurt constantly every season, since all three debuted for the Sox. Another issue is the bullpen blowing a few games in the past week. Michael Soroka seems to have an issue with not giving up early runs which makes it harder to keep leads or to come back from. They also decided to do a bullpen game in game 1 vs. Cleveland which is always a bad idea. That is like putting up the white flag before the game even starts. Their bullpen hasn’t been that great to rely on them to pitch a whole game. That is where a starter comes in. So with Sosa batting third, Lee batting fifth, Benintendi batting fifth or sixth with Fletcher batting seventh seems to be working out for this team. Now it will be next man up with Sosa probably playing third in Moncada’s absence with Nicky Lopez or Braden Shewmake playing second base going forward.
