Gamethread: White Sox at Cubs

Game three of four in South vs. North

The end of Spring Training is near. There are only two games left for our White Sox, both against the Cubs in Mesa, Ariz. — a fitting buildup to a season where both teams have something to prove after lackluster efforts in 2022.

The Sox are looking for a win today after losing, 4-2, to the Colorado Rockies yesterday — and doing so would put the club back at 13-13. Expect nothing more, nothing less, folks.

The Cubs have had a pretty good spring, sitting at 16-12, and are coming off of a 5-0 win yesterday against the Cactus League-leading Kansas City Royals. Today, they will send righthander Jameson Taillon to the mound. The former New York Yankee was the No. 2 pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2010 draft and signed a four-year, $68 million deal with the Cubs during the 2022 Winter Meetings. Despite many ups and downs in his career, including a battle with testicular cancer in 2017 and Tommy John surgery in 2020, Taillon has been a durable starter overall. In his 32 starts in 2022, he went 14-5 with a 3.91 ERA, 151 strikeouts, 168 hits, and a 1.13 WHIP in 177 1⁄3 innings. Taillon looks to settle into the middle of the Cubs rotation, which includes Marcus Stroman, Kyle Hendricks, Drew Smyly, and Justin Steele. In four prior Cactus League outings, he’s 2-0 in 13 1⁄3 innings pitched, surrendering eight earned runs on 12 hits, striking out 18, and walking none. Known for demonstrating excellent control throughout his career, Tallion finished seventh in MLB last season with a BB/9 of 1.6.

The White Sox are sending “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” to the bump for his third Spring Training appearance. If you want more details on him, go to Google.

As mentioned above, the South Siders have had a middle-of-the-road Spring Training, currently sitting at 12-13. I hope it’s not a sign of things to come, but I’m not overly optimistic that we can expect much better during the regular season. If we are to keep the faith that we might see an above-average season, this team has to be HEALTHY, and players need to PERFORM to their capabilities. Let’s see if the new training protocols and coaching staff can help to accomplish those goals.

Here is the starting lineup today for the White Sox:

I thought maybe we’d be seeing a close-to-Opening Day lineup, but this is definitely NOT it. Clearly, a few players are still auditioning for a possible spot on this roster. It’s good to see Andrew Vaughn back out there. Hopefully, his back is now ready for the season.

Here is the starting lineup for the Cubs:

This seems to be pretty close to what the Cubs will put out there on Opening Day, minus Yan Gomes and Miles Mastrobuoni. Instead, Tucker Barnhardt and Patrick Wisdom should both be in the starting lineup.

The matchup will be televised today on the Cubs Marquee Network, ew, and broadcast on WSCR 670 at 3:05 p.m. CT.