As MLB’s regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. White Sox under new management:
The White Sox spent their day off yesterday shaking up their personnel in the dugout. Manager Pedro Grifol, bench coach Charlie Montoyo, third base coach Eddie Rodriguez and assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar were all fired, and three-time All-Star outfielder Grady Sizemore, who had been serving on the major league coaching staff without a specific title this season, was appointed interim manager. The decision to fire Grifol came just days after the White Sox ended a skid of 21 consecutive losses that is now tied with the 1988 Orioles for the longest losing streak in AL history.
Sizemore and the club are both surely hoping that he can help the team to show some life down the stretch. His first assignment as interim manager will be a two-game set at home against the intracity rival Cubs. Lefty ace Garrett Crochet (3.19 ERA) will be tasked with taking on veteran right-hander Jameson Taillon (3.25 ERA) in tonight’s game, while right-hander Chris Flexen (5.53 ERA) will look to hold down the fort opposite star southpaw Justin Steele (3.33 ERA).
2. Where will Hill land?
44-year-old lefty Rich Hill isn’t done with the big leagues just yet. The veteran is reportedly set to throw for teams later today. It’s not yet clear which teams will be in attendance, although Hill has previously been linked to the Yankees and Dodgers. The southpaw has pitched in 19 big league seasons since being drafted by the Cubs back in 2002, and has long suggested he would be interested in pitching down the stretch and into the playoffs for a contender despite sitting out the first half of the season.
Uncommon as Hill’s plan for the 2024 campaign is, it’s not without merit. After all, Hill pitched to a respectable 4.23 ERA and 4.37 FIP in his first 13 starts with the Pirates last year but saw his numbers balloon down the stretch as he wore down and posted a 6.57 ERA and 5.35 FIP in his final 74 innings of work between Pittsburgh and San Diego. By sitting out the first half of the season, it’s feasible that Hill could contribute numbers akin to his 2023 first half, and that roughly league average production could provide a boost to pitching-needy teams.
3. Pirates roster move incoming:
The Pirates are reportedly set to select the contract of right-hander Domingo German prior to tonight’s game against the Dodgers, which is scheduled for 7:10pm in Los Angeles. A veteran of six MLB seasons, German has pitched to roughly league average results in his career with a 4.41 ERA and 4.50 FIP in 112 appearances (89 starts) for the Yankees since first making his MLB debut back in 2017. While German has shown considerable talent on the field, highlighted by him throwing the 24th perfect game in MLB history last June, he’s also had issues off the field — including a suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy and a restricted list placement last August that cut his 2023 season short as he underwent treatment for alcohol abuse.
Since then, German signed a pair of minor league deals with the Pirates and has made 13 starts with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. The results have left much to be desired, as he’s posted a 5.29 ERA in 68 innings, although it’s worth noting that he has a stronger 4.15 ERA with a 23.9% strikeout rate in his past nine starts. That’s enough for the Pirates to be interested in giving German another shot at the big league level, but they’ll need to make corresponding moves to clear space for the right-hander on both their 40-man and active rosters.
Like what the Sox did with the firings, not often when you see that many go at once. Good luck to Grady, hope he does well in a tough, strange scenario ⚾
Too bad that Getz, the main architect of the Pale Hosers’ demise, didn’t fire himself. The others were just scapegoats.
Typical of a franchise that’s rotten at the top.
If the Sox were smart (enter comments about how they are not), they hire a president of baseball operations, who fires Getz, and everything starts fresh in the front office.
Sheep – I think the problems lie with both the front office and field personnel.
It’s true Grifol wasn’t given a loaded team, but he also clearly mentally checked out long ago just like Cora did last year. As proof, when Jake Woodford was getting absolutely hammered on June 6th Grifol didn’t even bother to go out to the mound and give him some encouragement and advice. Grifol just didn’t care, that’s the worst possible thing a manager can do.
Lester: You are spot on. Sheep8: I like that theory. The problem is, jr isn’t interested in fielding a competitive team. He’s interested in fielding a cheap team. Getz’ sole job is to dump any salary higher than $5M a year. That leaves Robert and Benintendi, who along with Crochet, will be gone in the off-season. The next manager will be another useless, unknowlegable body in the dugout, most likely someone from the Royals, with no managerial experience and no desire to ask for better players.
Avenger: I agree with you on all that except the dig at the Royals. They seem to have a plan that is on the upswing so far, and that takes talent in the FO and coaching / scouting ranks.
Getz isn’t going to be fired anytime soon. This is his first full season as the GM. Time will tell if Getz is a fine GM.
Here we go again, repeats from the Getz apologists about his tenure.
Well, he was director of player development before he got kicked upstairs in a classic Peter Principle move by clueless Reinsdorf.
As such Getz laid the foundation for this historically awful talent deficit. And continues it with his head-scratching moves and non-moves.
But expect the Getz lovers to rinse and repeat ad nauseum.
Their issues go straight to the top. Reinsdorf is ultimately responsible for their problems.
List all the bad moves by Getz.
The Fletcher trade, signing Maldy, Clevinger, balking on the Fedde trade, PD track record, keeping Pedro, etc. But he’s also made some good moves like the Fedde, Pham, Dejong and converting Crochet to a starter. So far he’s neutral at best.
I heard when the brought in Fletcher from the Diamondbacks, the Sox were offered either McCarty or Fletcher. You know the rest of the story. Fletcher can’t hit his weight. Today McCarthy hit two homers today and is hitting close to .300.
I’m a Cubs fan, but even I wouldn’t consider Justin Steele a “star”. Sure, when he’s on, he’s an ace. But this season has been very inconsistent. He has shown to have injury tendencies, although what pitcher doesn’t these days. I get it. He’s good. But he is not a star. Cubs don’t have real”stars” anywhere on their roster. Their highest paid player is Dansby Swanson, but nobody would call him a “star”. Offensively, he’s been very disappointing this year. In short, the Cubs are a team who, at their best, is a “nice” team with good players who have largely underperformed this year. But they need improvements to contend in 2025, and with a high payroll, that improvement will have to come from their slew of young prospects playing in Iowa currently.
coop – Some of the writers here definitely tend to use hyperbole.
I have a bigger issue with Crochet being called an “ace”. He hasn’t pitched more than 4 innings since June, and he’s got a 4.24 ERA during that time. Definitely not ace material.
Fever: He has the stuff to be an ace. When he gets to his next team, which will hopefully be a contender with a manager and coaching staff that will let him pitch more innings. That’s one thing that kind of irritates me about how Skenes has been used. He was taken out of two games where he hadn’t given up a hit. Let him go 100+ pitches, then give him an extra day’s rest and limit his innings in his next start.
avenger – Agreed, but he hasn’t established himself yet. Let’s see him pitch at least 180 innings in a season before he earns that “ace” title.
Crochet goes out to the mound at every start knowing his team won’t score any runs and are the worst defense in baseball. Put him on a decent team and he’s an ace.
boxer – It’s a stamina issue, he’s thrown only 243 pitches in his last 4 starts. Hopefully he will improve.
Not gonna have a lot of quality starts when you’re averaging only 60 pitches per start.
They are purposely limiting his # of pitches. But ever since the pitch counts have started, guys are getting hurt more than ever! Obviously that isn’t working. I feel it’s because they throw max effort on every pitch. Back in the day, you’d hear of a guy “reaching back for something extra” in a key situation. Now there is nothing extra.
I’m pretty sure that Bellinger is the highest paid player for the Cubs. But, you are absolutely correct that their high-priced “stars” have underperformed this season. Not sure what Hoyer/Hawkins/Counsell can do in the offseason with so many bad contracts. Hopefully, guys like Busch, PCA and Amaya can make progress and the Cubs invest in a couple of high-leverage bullpen arms.
I meant over the course of the deal. Yes, in terms of AAV Belli has him beat by about 2.5M per. But it’s scary to think they still have another 5+ years with this guy!
The Swanson deal might be the worst contract in baseball that doesn’t get discussed among the worst contracts in baseball.
Not even remotely close.
Confused by Rich Hill being taken seriously. When Roger Clemens did it, it was taken seriously because Roger Clemens is a Top-5 Ever Pitcher.
Rich Hill?……. Pass
Troy – I agree, any potential Hill signing is going to be a disaster in the making. He will need time to ramp up, just like Snell and Monty did. I can’t imagine him pitching effectively in MLB games prior to the postseason, if at all.
Teams have fewer than 50 games left. I have to believe Hill, even if a team wants him, would have to make two starts in the minors before being placed on a roster. That cuts the number of a team’s remaining games down to less than 40. Giving Hill what? 6-8 starts? Assuming he is even a starter. Doesn’t seem worth it.
Hill is a lefty. That’s a big reason why teams are looking at him. I agree with letitbelowenstein. He’ll probably be used out of the pen, maybe a spot starter or opener.
@Troy Percival’s iPad
Now do Jamie Moyer
Syndergaard? Greinke?
I believe you misunderstood my comment or are replying to the wrong person
Just a comment from the general comments in this thread.
Unless German can drive in runs, he’s not the remedy to the Pirates’ problems
Since they don’t let pitchers bat anymore, you are out of luck.
Sarcasm, Reds. But thanks
Reds: 10 K’s in 11 official at bats.
Me: Still better than Bobby Dalbec.
The police say he can hit.
uvm,
What a foolish, insensitive comment.
I believe in second chances, but busting chops is still allowed.
Really! What I’ve seen Arizona and San Diego are better teams! Both teams advance runners,Pirates don’t. Middle relief terrible right now. Late inning guys not any better! I think we miss Gonzalez bat!! Gonna be hard to turn this around in LA!
Dice: That’s not really fair. Arizona and SD are established teams. The Pirates are coming out of a rebuild, but they’ll get there. I hope they get a WC spot.
They’re coming out of a rebuild and the foundation is full of dime store pieces. Just how are they going to “get there?” Guys like Hayes, Suwinski and fill in the blank others are magically going to discover the key to becoming hitters? Cruz is going to turn into Derek Jeter with the glove?
Yeah, the rebuild is over, but the foundation seems very shaky
I do also but?
He will probably be DFAed after this start.
or throw effectively from the shortstop position without committing an error
I fear a Rich Hill signing will retrigger my childhood trauma of watching Tommy John in pinstripes in 1989.
My guess as to who is being removed is Marco Gonzales
Pedro Grifolguy
The only surprise is that the White Sox are still considered part of MLB
Chicago White Sox vs Chicago scrubs, I can tell you one thing is that Chicago will win
“scrubs”
Another example of southside “humor”. They’re splitting their sides in Back of the Yards and Bridgeport.
Sox will probably lose both to the Cubs, but as long as they finally show some life, I’ll be happy enough.
Deeds, you are a brutal writer. “Uncommon as Hill’s plan for the 2024 campaign is” ISN’T PROPER ENGLISH. You can’t just eschew starting the sentence with “as” because you feel like it. Grammar isn’t optional, especially when you’re being paid. Do better.