CHICAGO -- The White Sox record sits at .500 after their 1-0 loss to the Angels Saturday afternoon at Rate Field.
Their overall play on the field, albeit based on the smallest of sample sizes, shows clear improvements beyond the 1-1 record, and certainly away from the 2024 debacle. If nothing else, the White Sox are carrying over their positive work during Spring Training in Arizona.
¡°Certainly, defensively is the first thing that comes to mind,¡± said manager Will Venable, who suffered his first White Sox loss two days after his first White Sox victory. ¡°These guys have been working tremendously hard. Really pleased with the work they put in and showed up on the field. And then pitching, obviously, has been outstanding.¡±
¡°It¡¯s just the vibes are really good right now,¡± reliever Mike Clevinger said. ¡°I saw it in Cactus League, just playing good baseball, hard-nosed baseball. We might not have the names [the] LA [Dodgers have] but you got guys busting down the line, making plays. It¡¯s the little things. Pitching and defense is going to win baseball games and I think we have a lot of that.¡±
Clevinger pitched in his second straight game in his new relief role and suffered the loss by allowing the game¡¯s lone run in the eighth inning. Jorge Soler walked with two outs, raced all the way to third on a wild pitch and then scored on Yo¨¢n Moncada¡¯s infield single off Clevinger.
Moncada, along with Angels second baseman Tim Anderson, returned to their old home ballpark, where they were at the center of the last White Sox rebuild, which netted two playoff victories in 2020 and 2021. Anderson received standing ovations from the fans Thursday, while the response to Moncada was not quite as positive.
¡°Honestly, it doesn¡¯t bother me. There are fans that love me and fans that hate me. But I don¡¯t pay attention to it,¡± Moncada told reporters, through an interpreter. ¡°It feels wonderful coming to play here in Chicago, facing my ex-team, and [having] the opportunity to get the go-ahead hit.¡±
¡°That was a tough one,¡± added Venable of the two-base wild pitch. ¡°Obviously, that hurt us and that was the deciding factor here. But Clev pitched well. Kind of a tough one for Matty [Thaiss] to get in front of and weren't able to work around it, unfortunately.¡±
Things weren¡¯t perfect for the White Sox, aside from the deciding eighth inning shenanigans. Brooks Baldwin, who started in right field, was doubled off at first to end the sixth when he was running on the pitch and didn¡¯t pick up a spinning line drive from Luis Robert Jr. to shortstop Kevin Newman. The White Sox also had two hits overall, with Jose Soriano shutting them down over seven innings.
But the at-bats were good amid this dearth of firepower, with Baldwin fouling off three two-strike Ben Joyce pitches topping 100 mph, according to Statcast, as part of a 10-pitch at-bat before grounding out to first, stranding pinch-runner Michael A. Taylor at second to end the eighth. The defense also turned three double plays.
Then there was the pitching. Jonathan Cannon threw five scoreless innings, striking out five and walking three. He worked around a 34-pitch first inning to get through those five at 85 in total.
¡°First inning. First start of the season was a little bit amped up,¡± Cannon said. ¡°Lost my command a little bit and was able to dial it back in and throw a really good sweeper to get out of that inning. Then after that, just kept battling.¡±
¡°He made some good pitches in the first,¡± Thaiss said. ¡°That [Taylor] Ward at-bat, a long at-bat, strung along the first inning. Made some great quality pitches in the first inning, especially the 3-2 pitch to Moncada. It sucks we couldn¡¯t get him the win today. He threw outstanding.¡±
Between Cannon and Sean Burke, who won on Opening Day, White Sox starters have not allowed a run in 11 total innings. It¡¯s the second time in franchise history White Sox starters have begun the season with back-to-back scoreless efforts, following Ed Lopat and Johnny Rigney in 1947, per STATS.
Cannon, 24, and Burke, 25, could be fixtures when this team is ready to contend, so development now is bigger than wins and losses.
¡°Two young guys took the ball the first two days of the season,¡± said Thaiss of Burke and Cannon. ¡°And I don¡¯t think you could ask for much better out of those two so far.¡±