Maybe Hiring Tony La Russa Wasn’t a Good Idea…
Toward the end of last season for the Chicago White Sox, one thing was fairly clear. Rick Renteria’s time as the manager on the South Side was coming to an end.
He had a knack for doing odd things like batting Nicky Delmonico 4th in a line up that also included Jose Abreu, Yasmani Grandal, Yoan Moncada, and Eloy Jimenez. There was also enough questionable bullpen management that his performance during Game 3 of their Wild Card Series against the A’s was just the coup de grâce on a season long performance that ended with the Sox backing their way into the postseason.
When the move was made, Rick Hahn got up in front of a fan base and promised a new manager with “recent” World Series experience! White Sox fans who just saw the most exciting season for their team in over a decade rejoiced. Names like AJ Hinch and Alex Cora were bandied about, and for once weren’t just pipe dreams.
Then the news broke. The Sox were hiring Tony La Russa. Fans (including me) were pissed.
I spent a good chunk of the off-season going through all of the stages of grief and finally got my self to bargaining and acceptance.
“There’s a reason he’s a Hall of Famer!” I said…
“He can coach a young fun team, he lead guys like Rickey Henderson and Jose Canseco to championships!” I said…
“He speaks fluent Spanish! He can connect with these guys!” I said…
“If nothing else, he’ll be a better manager than Ricky, right?” I said…
By opening day, I felt pretty good about things. This team was LOADED right? Sure we should have signed another veteran in that RF/DH spot that could get some run, but we had Andrew Vaughn to come up and take those swings.
Then Eloy got hurt. Then TA got hurt. Now we are 11 games in, and I’m not so sure about the fourth statement I made above. Things feel awfully similar to when Rick Renteria was filling out the lineup card every day.
Why has Nick Williams started 3 of the last 4 games? More importantly why in the hell was he batting in the bottom of the 10th tonight when the Sox were down 2? Williams is now 0 for 10 this season and hasn’t looked close. Vaughn and Zack Collins were left waiting on the bench as Williams predictably made an out.
I don’t understand either end of the math here. Nick Williams should not be seeing this much of the field even if you are looking to keep Vaughn out of left on certain days.
Danny Mendick has been great in his return to the team. He can line up capably at SS with Madrigal at 2B and Leury Garcia holding down LF. I’d feel much better about this if they are keeping Vaughn off the field.
The other end of this is… why are they keeping Vaughn off the field?? He is not going to get any better by sitting on the bench and having a great seat for these games.
Vaughn has been at least Eloy Jimenez level on defense, and despite a tough start at the plate, he has a .400 OBP, and has started to come around when it comes to hitting.
My other major gripe so far has been bullpen management. It doesn’t make any more sense than when Renteria was making the calls.
Two situations that immediately come to mind are Matt Foster being left out on the mound to die as a game against Seattle got away from him, and Liam Hendriks not being brought in for the 9th in a tie game against the Angels.
La Russa brought it Hendriks for the 9th in a tie game tonight to extend the game another inning against Cleveland’s 3–4–5 hitters and it worked! So maybe Tony has learned his lesson on this one, but I feel like the way he’s handled this bullpen so far is akin to handing a Ferrari’s keys to someone who doesn’t know how to drive stick.
I know it’s only April. I know only 11 games have been played. I know that moves can still be made, and that this team is different when Tim Anderson is healthy.
I’m just starting to think that maybe hiring a 76 year old manager who hasn’t been in the dugout on a day to day basis in almost a decade just because he is friends with the owner was a bad idea.
We could have kept Rick Renteria around, and it wouldn’t look any different so far.
