Game Thread: White Sox (5-10) at Royals (7-8) (late start, rain)

Needless to say, the pitching hasn’t been the problem for the White Sox as of late. The staff has a 1.27 ERA and sub-one WHIP over the last nine games … during which time the ineptitude of the offense has led them to just a 3-6 record.

The sluggishness is to be expected. We’ve seen the lineups. People seem to be reacting accordingly — perhaps last year’s Montgomery and Teel-aided second-half boost actually shocked some sanity into the White Sox fan base, because the freak-outs have been fewer and farther between than I might have anticipated.

No, I don’t think anybody really thinks that underperformance from Tristan Peters, Reese McGuire or Derek Hill has any more of a bearing on the team’s future than all of those horrific Joshua Palacios and Nick Maton at-bats did last year. On this day in particular, the recent state of the team feels particularly unbothersome, because this year’s wave of promotions is already underway. Welcome to the big leagues, Noah Schultz!

The No. 26 overall pick out of Oswego East high school on the outer fringes of the Chicagoland area, Schultz will be the second 2022 Sox draftee to make his debut this month, following Tyler Schweitzer. Schultz also will become the sixth player from the 2022 draft class to make his debut for the Sox, joining Schweitzer, Tim Elko, Brooks Baldwin, and today’s bulk pitcher, Jonathan Cannon. Second-rounder Peyton Pallette also recently made his debut for Cleveland, after being plucked away on the verge of the majors by the Guardians in December’s Rule 5 draft.

If that seems like an impressive success rate, it really isn’t. But in terms of players actually playing for the Sox, it’s already close to their most successful draft of the last 15 years. The jury is still out on the current player development operation, but it’s clearly a step up from the Flintstones who were running the place for the entirety of the 2010s.

Anyhow, while we wait for Schultz to do his thing tomorrow, here’s the lineup they’ll be running out behind Cannon today, who himself will be reserved for an inning or two while Grant Taylor handles opening duties for the fourth time in 10 days. (Cannon makes his first appearance on a major league mound this season after opening the year in Charlotte.)

I personally applaud the fact that manager Will Venable is at least willing to go outside the box and change things up a bit, but there’s also a part of me that wonders if the lack of consistency for the hitters themselves winds up being a long-term negative in the name of eking out a few extra points of win probability. Baseball is a game of habit and routine, and while it might seem immaterial to us civilians where one hits in the lineup — hitting is hitting, right? — it can have a material impact on how one approaches a game or an at-bat, and naturally, it considerably changes the types of situations a hitter is likely to find themselves in when they step up to bat.

I’m happy they’ve finally moved out of the stone age with certain conventions — can you imagine Tony La Russa hitting Miguel Vargas in the leadoff spot? — but I remain concerned that Venable is constantly switching things up simply for the sake of trying something new, to the detriment of long-term consistency and development.

Anyhow, now that I’m done prattling on, here’s the lineup that Matt Quatraro is rolling with against Cannon. The 25-year-old has had some measure of success against the Royals in the past, holding them to an even 3.00 ERA across four starts and 24 innings. Let’s hope today continues that trend, because having given up eight runs in 8 2/3 innings for the Knights this year, he could use the jolt.

First pitch was initially scheduled for at 1:10 p.m. CT, but is currently delayed indefinitely due to inclement weather in the Kansas City area. If you want to wait things out with us, broadcasts are available on CHSN (TV) and WMVP AM 1000 (radio) as per usual.