CHICAGO WHITE SOX NOTES:
WHITE SOX AT A GLANCE
• The Chicago White Sox continue the 2023 season tonight against the defending World Series champion Houston Astros.
• RHP Lance Lynn, who ranked fifth in the American League last season with a 2.52 ERA (24 ER/85.2 IP) after the All-Star Break, is scheduled to start for the White Sox … Lynn will be followed by RHP Lucas Giolito and Mike Clevinger in the series finale.
• The Sox opened the season last night with a 3-2 victory over the Astros, their first Opening Day win over a defending World Series champion since 1984 at Baltimore.
• Following this four-game series, the White Sox return to Chicago for a three-game, four-day homestand vs. the Giants (4/3, 4/5-6) before taking a six-game trip to Pittsburgh (4/7-9) and Minnesota (4/10-12).
• The White Sox play just three games vs. AL Central teams in April (4/10-12 at the Twins) … from 4/14-30, the Sox play 16 straight games vs. AL/National League East clubs.
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
• The White Sox are looking for their first 2-0 start since 2018 when they won their first two games at Kansas City.
• Lance Lynn went 7-4 with a 2.52 ERA (24 ER/85.2 IP) in 14 starts after the All-Star Break in 2022, compared to 1-3 with a 7.50 ERA (30 ER/36.0 IP) over seven starts in the first half.
• Lynn has lost seven straight starts at Houston, including the postseason, recording a 6.80 ERA (32 ER/42.1 IP).
• Elvis Andrus needs two hits for 2,000 career.
• Rookie Oscar Colás, who collected his first MLB hit last night, is scheduled to make his first start.
LAST NIGHT’S RECAP
• Andrew Vaughn hit a go-ahead, two-run double off Ryan Pressly in the ninth inning, and the White Sox held on to defeat Houston, 3-2, in Pedro Grifol’s managerial debut.
• With one out in the ninth, Tim Anderson walked and Luis Robert Jr. singled to set up Vaughn’s game-winning hit, which ended Chicago’s four-game losing streak on Opening Day.
• After the Astros took a 1-0 lead in the seventh on Aaron Bummer’s wild pitch, Yasmani Grandal tied the game in the eighth with a solo homer off Rafael Montero.
• Kendall Graveman pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the win, and Reynaldo López overcame a Yordan Alvarez solo homer in the ninth to earn his first MLB save.
• Dylan Cease posted a ND despite allowing one run on two hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts over 6.1 IP (see notes below) … Cease retired 19 straight batters after allowing a leadoff single to Jeremy Peña, tied for the third-longest streak in MLB on Opening Day since at least 1974 (STATS).
• Anderson and Robert Jr. each went 2-4 with a run scored … Andrew Benintendi went 1-4 in his Sox debut, and Oscar Colás collected a pinch-hit single off Hector Neris in his MLB debut.
• The White Sox outhit the Astros, 11-4, but went 1-10 with RISP and left 11 runners on base.
OPENING DAY LEFTOVERS
• Pedro Grifol became the first White Sox manager to win his debut since Jerry Manuel in 1998.
• Dylan Cease became the fourth pitcher in American League history with no walks and 10-plus strikeouts on Opening Day, joining Hall-of Famers Walter Johnson (1916) and Mike Mussina (1998) and Jered Weaver (2012) … source: ESPN Stats.
• Cease recorded his 14th career double-digit strikeout game, tied with teammate Lucas Giolito for the fourth-highest total in White Sox history … his 10 strikeouts tied Jack McDowell (1991) for the most by a Sox pitcher on Opening Day.
• Elvis Andrus made his first MLB appearance at a position other than shortstop.
• Oscar Colás became the first White Sox player since Joe Hall in 1994 to record his first MLB hit as a pinch-hitter.
AT THE HELM
• Pedro Grifol was named the 42nd different manager in White Sox history on 11/3/22, replacing Hall-of-Famer Tony La Russa … Grifol joins the Sox after a 10-year stint in Kansas City (2013- 22), including the last three as the Royals bench coach.
• He is one of four current Latino managers in MLB, joining Boston’s Alex Cora, St. Louis’ Oliver Marmol and Washington’s Dave Martinez.
• Grifol has 23 years of professional baseball experience as a bench coach, hitting coach, winter ball and minor league manager, director of player development and scout … he has more than 600 career games of managerial experience.
WHITE SOX VS. HOUSTON ASTROS
• The White Sox lead the season series, 1-0.
• The Astros won the 2022 season series, 4-3, taking two of three games in Houston from 6/17-19 and splitting a four-game set in Chicago from 8/15-18.
• Including the postseason, the Sox have lost eight of their last 10 games at Minute Maid Park and are 5-16 since 2017.
• Houston defeated the White Sox in four games in the 2021 ALDS, while the Sox recorded a sweep in the 2005 World Series.
FAMILIAR FACE
• 1B José Abreu spent his fi rst nine MLB seasons with the White Sox before signing with Houston in the off season.
• Abreu batted .292/.354/.506 (1,445-4,954) with 303 doubles, 243 home runs, 863 RBI and 697 runs scored in 1,270 games with the Sox … he ranks third in franchise history in homers and fi fth in RBI and extra-base hits (562).
• Abreu was the 2014 American League Rookie of the Year and the 2020 AL Most Valuable Player.
WHITE SOX ROSTER BREAKDOWN
• The White Sox 26-man roster includes 13 pitchers (two LHP), two catchers, seven infielders and four outfielders.
• INF Elvis Andrus (14.0000) has the most service time, and SS Tim Anderson (2016-) is the longest tenured.
• LHP Garrett Crochet (Tommy John recovery) and RHPs Matt Foster (right flexor strain) and RHP Liam Hendriks (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma treatment) are on the 15-day injured list.
• INF Hanser Alberto, OF Andrew Benintendi, RHPs Mike Clevinger and Gregory Santos are new to the organization.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
• The White Sox went 44-37 (.543) on the road in 2022, tied with Seattle for the fourth-best winning percentage in the American League and their best mark since going 52-29 in 2005.
• The Sox posted a 3.46 ERA away from home, the second-best mark in the AL and their best since 2005 (3.39).
BEST ABILITY IS AVAILABILITY
• RHP Lance Lynn (21 starts), All-Star SS Tim Anderson (79 games), 3B Yoán Moncada (104) and OFs Eloy Jiménez (84) and Luis Robert Jr. (98) all missed signifi cant time in 2022.
• The White Sox projected Opening Day lineup was together for just one game last season, a 3-2 loss on 8/4 at Texas.
BY THE NUMBERS
• The White Sox went 21-32 in the fi rst game of a series in 2022 and 32-19 in the second game … 75 of Chicago’s 162 games (46.3 percent) were decided by one or two runs … the Sox went 27-16 in one-run games and 19-13 in games decided by two runs.
33 STARTER LANCE LYNN RHP
LYNN AT A GLANCE
• Is scheduled to make his 2023 season debut … marks his 13th season in the major leagues and third with the White Sox.
• Went 6-2 with a 2.18 ERA (15 ER/62.0 IP), .225 (53-236) opponents average and 62 strikeouts over his last 10 starts of the 2022 season.
• Ranks among MLB active pitchers in HR/9.0 IP (4th, 0.90), SO/9.0 IP (7th, 9.05), opponents average (8th, .241), opponents SLG (8th, .380), wins (9th, 123), opponents OPS (10th, .691), ERA (11th, 3.52), IP (11th, 1,705.1), WHIP (11th, 1.26), opponents OBP (11th, .311), starts (T11th, 285) and strikeouts (13th, 1,715).
• Signed a two-year contract extension with a club option with the White Sox on 7/17/21 … under terms of the extension, he will receive $18.5 million in both 2022 and 2023, with the Sox holding an $18-million option for 2024 with a $1-million buyout.
• Is a two-time All-Star (2012 and 2021) … has finished fifth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 2019, sixth in 2020 and third in 2021.
• Was a member of the 2011 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
• Was acquired from Texas in exchange for RHP Dane Dunning and LHP Avery Weems on 12/8/20.
2022 SEASON RECAP
• Was limited to 21 starts after missing the first two-plus months of the season with a knee injury sustained in spring training.
• Ranked among the American League leaders in numerous categories in the second half, including walks per 9.0 IP (2nd, 1.05), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2nd, 8.90), WHIP (3rd, 0.97) and ERA (5th) … limited opponents to a .222/.257/.374 (46-152) slash line in the second half, compared to .303/.355/.480 (73-329) before the break.
• Struck out 9.17 batters per 9.0 IP (124 SO/121.2 IP), his fifth straight season averaging 9.0 or better … set career bests with a 6.53 strikeout-to-walk ratio (19 BB) and an average of 1.41 walks per 9.0 IP … his 6.53 SO/BB ratio would have ranked third in the AL behind Toronto’s Kevin Gausman (7.32) and Tampa Bay’s Corey Kluber (6.62) with the required IP, and his 1.41 BB/9.0 IP would have ranked second behind Kluber (1.15).
• Went 1-3 with a 7.50 ERA (30 ER/36.0 IP) and 35 strikeouts over seven starts in the first half, compared to 7-4 with a 2.52 ERA (24 ER/85.2 IP) and 89 strikeouts over 14 starts after the All-Star Break.
• Went 4-1 with a 1.88 ERA (9 ER/43.0 IP) and .215 (35-163) opponents average in his final seven road starts … his 1.88 ERA during that span ranked fifth in the AL.
AMERICA’S ACE
• Pitched for Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic … went 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA (3 ER/9.0 IP), .188 (6-32) opp. average and eight strikeouts in two starts.
• Started on 3/13 against Canada in pool play, earning the win after allowing one run over 5.0 IP.
• Was the starting pitcher for USA’s quarterfinal contest vs. Venezuela … received a no decision after allowing two runs in 4.0 IP … USA would go on to win, 9-7.
ROAD TRIPPIN’
• Is 4-1 with a 1.88 ERA (9 ER/43.0 IP) and .215 (35-163) opponents average in his last seven road starts.
• Has gone 8-7 with a 3.45 ERA (50 ER/130.1 IP), .245 (126-514) opponents average and 131 strikeouts over 23 starts on the road since the start of 2021 … has allowed two runs or less in 16 of those starts and one run or less in nine.
• His 3.45 ERA on the road since 2021 is the sixth-lowest among American League leaders (min. 130.0 IP).
WORK HORSE
• Ranks 11th in MLB with 1,705.1 IP since 2011 … is one of 11 active pitchers in MLB with 1,700.0-plus career IP.
• Has thrown 100-plus pitches 63 times since 2019, tied with the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole for the most in the majors during that span.
• Has thrown 29,103 pitches since 2011, seventh-most during that span, and the most among MLB pitchers with less than 1,700.0 IP during that span.
VS. HOUSTON ASTROS || A.L. WEST
• Is scheduled to make his 14th career start (15th appearance) vs. the Astros and 10th at Minute Maid Park.
• Has gone 0-5 with an 8.80 ERA (29 ER/29.2 IP) and .323 (42-130) opponents average over his last five starts against Houston and 0-6 with a 6.28 ERA (27 ER/38.2 IP) and .261 (41-157) opponents average in his last six at Minute Maid Park.
• Is 14-13 with a 3.65 ERA (91 ER/224.1 IP), .245 (213-869) opponents average in 38 career starts vs. the American League West.
HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
GAME 2: The Houston Astros, the reigning World Series champions, will play Game 2 of their 162-game season tonight with a Friday night matchup against the White Sox…it’s another strong pitching matchup tonight with RHP Cristian Javier starting for the Astros opposite RHP Lance Lynn.
RING DAY: The Astros will continue to celebrate Champions Weekend tonight with a pregame Player Ring Ceremony, in which Astros Owner & Chairman Jim Crane will present the players and staff their 2022 World Series Championship rings… the ceremony is scheduled to begin at approximately 6:25 p.m.
GOLD RUSH: The Astros will adorn their gold accented jerseys tonight for the final time in this season…after tonight, the Astros will return to wear their standard home and road jerseys, while mixing in their orange tops (Friday home games), blue tops (Sunday games) and Space City uniforms (Mondays at home).
RUN OF SUCCESS: In addition to capturing the 2022 World Championship, Houston has played in three of the last four and four of the last six World Series, earning two championships along the way (2017, 2022)…the Astros have also advanced to the ALCS an MLB-record six consecutive seasons (2017-22).
TONIGHT’S PROMOTIONS: Another night of ceremonies and special activations is upon us with country music legend and Houston native Lyle Lovett singing the National Anthem, former Astros great and member of the 2022 World Series team Jason Castro throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, and Houston legendary rapper Paul Wall calling Play Ball…additionally, all fans in attendance will receive a replica World Series Trophy.
AT THE HELM: Last night marked the 26th Opening Day as a manager for Astros skipper Dusty Baker and his fourth at the helm in Houston…Baker, who ranks ninth all-time in mana- gerial wins, enters the season with 2,093 wins, and has an outside shot of moving up to sixth all time by seasons end… en route, he’d have to surpass Joe McCarthy (8th, 2,125), Bucky Harris (7th, 2,158) and Sparky Anderson (6th 2,194).
IN THE BOX: Last night marked the first Opening Day for the Astros under General Manager Dana Brown, who was named the 14th GM in club history in January of 2023…it was also the 12th Opening Day for Astros Owner & Chairman Jim Crane since he purchased the club in November of 2011.
OPENING DAY STREAK SNAPPED: The Astros entered last night’s game with a 10-game winning streak on Opening Day, which is a modern Major League record…that streak was snapped with their 3-2 loss.
LONGEST OPENING DAY STREAKS (MLB HISTORY)
Boston Beaneaters 10 straight (1887-96)
Houston Astros 10 straight (2013-22)
Seattle Mariners 9 straight (2007-15)
Cincinnati Reds 9 straight (1983-91)
New York Mets 9 straight (1975-83)
St. Louis Browns 9 straight (1937-45)
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Astros lost their Opening Day game against the White Sox last night by a score of 3-2…LHP Framber Valdez started for Houston, tossing 5.0 scoreless innings in what was his second consecutive Opening Day start…LF Yordan Alvarez accounted for the Astros only RBI on the night by hammering a 9th-inning solo homer into the second deck.
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP CRISTIAN JAVIER
LAST SPRING START finished his spring with 5.2 scoreless innings pitched in a start against the Nationals on 3/25…struck out 2 batters and did not allow a walk.
• appeared with Team Dominican Republic in the 2023 World Baseball Classic…made 1 appearance, tossing 4 scoreless IP and allowing 2 hits to go with 4 strikeouts in a 6-1 for Team Dominican Republic over Team Nicaragua
LAST START – 2022 World Series Game 4 vs. PHI: delivered one of the most historic starts in MLB postseason history, throwing six hitless innings to begin Astros combined no-hitter in 5-0 win…also struck out nine batters to just two walks in start…was the second no-hitter in World Series history and first combined no-hitter.
• Became the 10th pitcher in W.S. history with a no-hit bid of 6+ innings and was first to do so since Jerry Koosman (NYM) (6 IP) in Gm 2 of the 1969 W.S. at BAL…was followed by RHP Bryan Abreu, RHP Rafael Montero and RHP Ryan Pressly to complete the no-hitter, with each pitcher contributing one inning.
WITH THE ‘STROS: 26-year old Dominican hurler settled into near-full-time starter role with a career-high 25 starts in ‘22 after working as a swingman within the Astros pitching staff in his first two seasons.
• originally signed with the Astros as an international free agent from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in March 2015…signed a five-year contract on 2/10/23 that will keep him with the Astros through ‘27
‘22 CAMPAIGN: was one of the most effective pitchers in the AL in ‘22….among pitchers with 140+ innings pitched, posted the lowest opponent batting average in the AL (.170), which was 16 points lower than 2nd-place finisher RHP Justin Verlander, who won the AL Cy Young RHP Justin Verlander (.186)… also ranked 2nd in K’s per 9.0 (11.74) and 4th in WHIP (0.95) this season…his 11.74 K’s per 9.0 ratio trailed only RHP Shohei Ohtani (11.87) (min. 140IP)…dating back to last postseason, Javier has not surrendered a run in his last six starts, spanning 34.1 IP…Javier’s streak of four consecutive scoreless regular-season starts is the longest active such streak among traditional starters.
POSTSEASON HEROICS: has recorded a 2.20 ERA (8ER/32.2IP) 14 postseason games (2 GS) in his postseason career, dating back to ‘20…it’s the 2nd-lowest ERA of any postseason pitcher (min. 30 IP) since the beginning of the ‘20 postseason, trailing only Braves RHP Ian Anderson (1.26 ERA)…has held opponents to a .127 average (14×110) in his postseason career…is the lowest postseason opponent’s batting average of any MLB pitcher (min. 30 IP) since ‘20…the Astros are 11-3 in postseason games Javier has appeared in.
‘INVISABALL’: has held opponents to a .178 average (192×1077) throughout his MLB career…it is the lowest opponent’s batting average (min. 300 IP) of any MLB pitcher since entering the league in ‘20…the next-closest player during that stretch is Brewers RHP Corbin Burnes (.195).
NO-NO: contributed seven innings to a combined no-hitter vs. the Yankees on June 25 at Yankee Stadium…it was the 14th no-hitter in Astros history and the third combined no-hitter…Javier struck out a then-career high 13 batters…it was just the 2nd no-hitter tossed against the Yankees since 1959, with the Astros also delivering the other one (2003).
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: finished 3rd in the 2020 AL Rookie of the Year voting after leading all AL rookies in ERA (3.48)…marked the highest finish by an Astros rookie pitcher since Roy Oswalt finished second in the 2001 National League Rookie of the Year voting. • was named the Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2019…recorded a 1.74 ERA (22ER/113.2IP) with a career-high 170 strikeouts between three levels in the Astros system.
KNOW YOUR OPPONENT: will be making his third career appearance against the White Sox and his second in the regular season…made his first regular-season appearance against them on June 19 of last season at Minute Maid Park, allowing a run on two hits through five innings to pick up a win…also faced the White Sox in a relief outing in Game 3 of the 2021 ALDS, striking out six batters without surrendering a hit.
