CHICAGO WHITE SOX NOTES:
WHITE SOX AT A GLANCE
The Chicago White Sox have won seven of their last 12 games and 17 of 30 as they continue a six-game trip tonight with the series opener against Seattle.
RHP Michael Kopech is scheduled to start for the White Sox, who are in third place in the American League Central, 3.0 games behind Cleveland and 5.5 behind division-leading Minnesota.
The Sox opened the trip by losing two of three games at Dodger Stadium, including a 5-4 defeat in 11 innings last night after surrendering a 4-0 lead.
Following this three-game series, the White Sox return home for six games in seven days vs. Texas (6/19-21) and Boston (6/23-25).
The Sox went 1-2 on their last homestand vs. Miami from 6/9-11 and 2-1 on their last trip to New York-AL from 6/6-8.
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Michael Kopech is 2-1 with a 1.72 ERA (6 ER/31.1 IP), five walks, 44 strikeouts and a .148 (16-108) opponents average over his last five starts.
The White Sox have gone 17-13 (.567) since 5/13, the sixth-best record in the American League and best in the AL Central … during that span, they own a 3.13 ERA (93 ER/267.2 IP), the best mark in MLB (see box at right).
The Sox have hit seven home runs in the last two games.
Among players with a minimum 175 plate appearances, Jake Burger ranks second in MLB with an average of one home run every 10.31 at-bats and third with a .606 slugging percentage.
Luis Robert Jr. is hitting .333/.395/.744 (13-39) with four doubles, four home runs, six RBI and eight runs scored over his last 10 games … his 17 homers are a career high and have matched Andrew Vaughn’s team-leading total from 2022.
ROSTER MOVES
Prior to tonight’s game, Chicago placed RHP Mike Clevinger on the 15-day injured list (retro to 6/15) with right biceps inflammation and recalled RHP Jesse Scholtens from Class AAA Charlotte.
LAST NIGHT’S RECAP
Freddie Freeman hit a bases-loaded, game-ending single off Garrett Crochet with no outs in the 11th inning as the Dodgers recorded a 5-4 victory over the White Sox.
The Sox built a 4-0 lead on back-to-back home runs by Luis Robert Jr. and Eloy Jimėnez in the first inning and Jake Burger and Andrew Vaughn in the fourth … it marked the first time since 7/11/10 vs. Kansas City that the Sox have hit back-to-back homers twice in one game.
Chris Taylor tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth with a two-out grand slam off reliever Reynaldo López.
Dylan Cease posted a ND, allowing two runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts over 5.1 IP … Cease carried a two-hit shutout into the sixth and struck out 10-plus batters for the 15th time in his career, tied with Juan Pizarro for third-most in franchise history.
The Sox were limited to one hit after the fourth and went 0-8 with RISP … White Sox pitchers struck out 16 but walked eight.
ROBERT SHOOTING FOR THE STARS
CF Luis Robert Jr. is attempting to make his first career American League All-Star Team … Robert ranks among the AL leaders this season in extra-base hits (2nd, 36), slugging percentage (3rd, .539), total bases (3rd, 137), home runs (T3rd, 17), runs scored (6th, 45), OPS (6th, .859) and doubles (T6th, 19) while playing in 66 of Chicago’s 69 games.
Robert also ranks seventh in the AL and second among all center fielders with eight defensive runs saved (per Fangraphs).
ARMS RACE
The White Sox are 17-13 (.567) since 5/13, the best record in the American League Central … during that span, the Sox lead MLB with a 3.11 ERA and .206 opponents average and rank third with a 1.15 WHIP.
A breakdown of the Sox pitching through their first 40 games of the season and last 30:
Games W-L ERA QS IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG OPS WHIP
Last 30 17-13 3.13 14 267.2 201 104 93 32 106 264 .206 .647 1.15
First 40 13-27 5.66 12 351.2 366 241 221 65 167 385 .263 .817 1.52
WHITE SOX VS. SEATTLE MARINERS
The White Sox went 4-2 against the Mariners in 2023, winning two of three games at home from 4/12-14 and at T-Mobile Park from 9/5-7 for their first season series victory since 2016.
The Sox batted .206/.264/.340 (40-194) with a 2.89 ERA (17 ER/53.0 IP) … both teams scored 22 runs.
The White Sox 52-34 against the Mariners since 2010, including a 24-17 record at T-Mobile Park.
Tim Anderson is a career .395/.402/.636 (51-129) hitter with seven home runs, 18 RBI and 24 runs scored in 31 career games against the Mariners.
Eloy Jiménez owns a career .375/.419/.650 (15-40) average with three homers and seven RBI in 11 career games.
ROTATION SENSATION
White Sox starting pitchers own a 3.29 ERA (60 ER/164.90 IP) with a .217 (132-607) opponents average and 173 strikeouts in 30 games since 5/13 … during that span, they rank second in MLB in opponents average and WHIP (1.17) and third in ERA.
Sox starters have made eight scoreless outings in that stretch, have allowed one run four times and two runs six times … the rotation since 5/13:
W-L ERA WHIP QS IP H R ER HR BB SO SO/9.0 AVG OPS
10-7 3.29 1.17 14 164.0 132 65 60 22 61 173 9.5 .217 .679
RISING TO THE TOP
The White Sox are playing seven consecutive series (22 games) from 6/6-29 against teams who were at or above .500 at the beginning of that stretch (4-5 so far).
The stretch includes 13 games on the road against the Yankees (2-1), Dodgers (1-2), Seattle and Angels and nine at home vs. Miami (1-2), Texas and Boston.
BURGER KING
Jake Burger ranks second on the White Sox and sixth in the American League with 16 home runs despite recording just 179 plate appearances.
Burger hit his first career grand slam and walkoff homer on 6/4 vs. Detroit, hit a two-run homer on 6/5 at Yankee Stadium, recorded his first career multihomer game on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium and went back-to-back with Andrew Vaughn last night against the Dodgers.
BULLPEN RELIEF
The White Sox bullpen has posted a 2.86 ERA (33 ER/103.2 IP) with a .186 (69-370) opponents average and 1.10 WHIP in 30 games since 5/13 … during that stretch, the pen ranks second in MLB in opponents average and fourth in ERA and WHIP.
Kendall Graveman owns a 0.95 ERA (2 ER/19.0 IP) in 19 games since 5/3, allowing six hits (.100 opponents average) with six saves and 16 strikeouts.
Keynan Middleton has posted a 1.10 ERA (2 ER/16.1 IP) in 16 games since 5/2, with five walks, 17 strikeouts, a .143 (8-56) opponents average and 0.80 WHIP.
The White Sox bullpen since 5/13:
W-L ERA WHIP SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HR/9.0 AVG OPS
7-6 2.86 1.10 7 103.2 69 39 33 9 45 91 0.87 .186 .595
DYNAMIC DUO
Eloy Jiménez and Dylan Cease were acquired by the White Sox from the Cubs on 7/13/17 as part of a five-player deal.
Since making their debuts in 2019, Jiménez has homered in 15 of Cease’s starts (17 total HR) … the Sox are 12-3 in those games, including multi-homer efforts from Jiménez on 9/3/19 at Cleveland and 8/8/21 at the Cubs (STATS).
Jiménez hit a solo home run last night in support of Cease.
ALL-RIGHTY THEN
Tonight marks the 189th consecutive game in which a RHP has started for the White Sox … per Elias, it is longest active streak in baseball (Minnesota is second at 139), second-longest in Sox history (194 from 9/7/33-5/19/35) and longest in MLB since Cleveland (417) from 2017-21.
Dallas Keuchel (5/26/22 vs. Boston) was the last left-hander to start a game for the Sox … by comparison, from the beginning of the 2007 season until Keuchel’s start on 5/26/22, 1,021 of the White Sox 2,372 games (43.0 percent) were started by lefties.
SEARCHING FOR HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
The White Sox have won eight of their last 12 home games and are 14-8 since 4/30 following a 3-9 start to the season.
During the 22-game stretch, the Sox are hitting .263/.318/.417 (194-738) with a 3.01 ERA (68 ER/203.0 IP) … they have allowed three runs or less in 11 of their last 15 home games.
STARTING PITCHER – #34 MICHAEL KOPECH RHP
KOPECH AT A GLANCE
Is scheduled to make his 14th start of the season, sixth on the road and first against the Seattle Mariners.
Owns a 2-1 record, 1.72 ERA (6 ER/31.1 IP), 0.67 WHIP, .148 (16-108) opponents average and 44 strikeouts in his last five starts, including two 10-strikeout performances during that span.
Has recorded 5.0-plus IP in 10 of his 13 starts this season and 6.0-plus IP six times, allowing just one run in four of those outings.
Went 3-2 with a 2.75 ERA (11 ER/36.0 IP), 43 strikeouts and .148 (18-122) opponents average in six starts in May, compared to 0-3 with a 7.01 ERA (20 ER/25.2 IP), 1.71 WHIP and .280 (28-100) opponents average in five starts in April … ranked first in opponents average, second in strikeouts, tied for eighth in IP (36.0) and ranked 14th in ERA among American League leaders in May.
Is limiting left-handed hitters to a .181 (21-116) batting average this season, the second-best mark among AL right-handed starters with at least 10 starts.
Has received zero runs of support in four of his 11 starts this season and three or more just twice.
Has gone 10-15 with 3.70 ERA (91 ER/221.1 IP), .228 (166-803) opponents average and 228 strikeouts in 46 career starts … is 3-3 with 3.90 ERA (24 ER/55.1 IP), .225 (47-209) opponents average and 80 strikeouts in 40 career relief appearances.
Has recorded 100-plus strikeouts in each of his last two seasons (2021-22).
Spent his first full season in the major leagues in 2021, pitching out of the bullpen (40 games) while making four starts … opted out of the 2020 season for personal reasons … missed the entire 2019 season recovering from Tommy John surgery (performed on 9/18/18).
Was acquired by the White Sox from Boston with OF Luis Basabe, RHP Víctor Díaz and INF Yoán Moncada in exchange for LHP Chris Sale on 12/6/16.
LAST START
Received a no decision on 6/10 vs. Miami, allowing five hits with one walk, two hit batters and six strikeouts over 5.0 scoreless IP … threw 100 pitches (63 strikes).
Departed in the sixth with the White Sox leading, 1-0 … Andrew Vaughn hit a solo home run for Chicago … reliever Joe Kelly suffered a blown save and the loss after allowing five runs (two earned) in the ninth … the Sox lost, 5-1.
Owned a 54.4 first-strike percentage and 16.0 swinging-strike percentage (16 swing and misses) vs. 22 batters … threw 63 four-seam fastballs (95.5 mph avg; 98.2 mph max), 33 sliders (86.2 avg; 87.7 max) and four changeups (89.3 mph avg; 91.2 max).
AN OUTING TO REMEMBER
On 5/19 against Kansas City, Kopech became the third pitcher in franchise history to work 8.0-plus IP and allow one or zero hits with 10-plus strikeouts and zero walks.
The other two Sox to accomplish the feat are Floyd Bannister (9/13/87 at Seattle) and Gary Peters (7/15/63 vs. Baltimore).
The last MLB pitcher to record those numbers in a start was Toronto’s Alek Manoah on 9/13/21 vs. Tampa Bay.
DAMAGE CONTROL
Has limited the opposition to a career .190 (37-195) average with RISP and .210 (22-105) mark with RISP/two outs.
Opponents are batting .200 (12-60) with RISP and .306 (11-36) with RISP/two outs against him this season … in 2022, opponents hit .149 (10-67) with RISP and .125 (5-40) with RISP/two outs.
HEATER ON AND RELIABLE
His four-seam fastball has held the opposition to a .194 (77-397) batting average, the fourth-lowest in Major League Baseball among starting pitchers since 2022 (min. 1,500 fastballs thrown) … opponents own a .201 (31-154) average on his fastball this season, also the fourth-lowest in MLB (min. 500 fastballs thrown).
Has the highest four-seam fastball usage (62.9%) among MLB starting pitchers this season (min. 500 fastballs thrown) … led MLB starters with at least 2,000 pitches thrown in four-seam fastball usage (61.6%) last season.
Owns a 30.3 swing-and-miss percentage with his four-seam fastball, the seventh-highest percentage in the majors this season among starting pitcher with at least 200 fastballs thrown.
His 52 strikeouts via the four-seamer are the fourth-most in baseball this year.
VS. SEATTLE MARINERS || A.L. WEST
Is scheduled to make his second career start (third appearance) against the Seattle Mariners.
Worked 3.2 IP, allowing four runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts in his only start on 9/7/22 at T-Mobile Park.
Has gone 2-8 with a 4.50 ERA (29 ER/50.0 IP), 1.22 WHIP, 64 strikeouts and a .218 (41-188) opponents average over 17 career games (nine starts) against the American League West.
SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
No team release available.
