They cheated and kept their title so who gives a shit if they catch some grief. It's not why they beat the Sox but it's well earned.
Analytics are important but you seem obsessed. We could have packed the stands with nerds crunching numbers and it wouldn't have mattered a bit. They got smoked in the three losses, and it wasn't bc some nerd taught altuve how to slide really well. They were just a better team. If they built a better team bc of analysts, that's a fair point. But the fact that they had 20 analysts to the Sox 10 here is irrelevant. We got our asses kicked.
I would have done a few things different if I were Larussa and maybe I would have kept the losses within a half dozen runs.
The people running this team should be obsessed with having the information everyone else does and using it. Sure, Houston was better, but at least put yourself in the proper situations and give yourself a shot.
Multiple things can be true at the same time: Houston was the better team, Chicago players didn't execute, the manager made poor choices in real time not in hindsight and one team was clearly in the correct defensive positioning and the other one wasn't.
Chicago made great strides with their pitch lab. Plate discipline and defensive positioning should be next. That's how you go further.
The White Sox had at bats in this series that looked like a Sunday game in June on getaway day. Tim Anderson had 551 plate appearances and 22 walks as a leadoff hitter? If they go as he goes, that's an issue. He's 28 years old and I don't think he's going to change that approach and they must not seem to want him to. Moncada made great strides with working counts. They need to instill this in Jimenez, Robert, Vaughn, Sheets, etc. That's how you become Houston.
Fun team to watch. Some minor tweaks in how they do things and a couple of roster changes, they're right there again. Looking forward to seeing what is next.
I suggest picking up Kimbrel's option and trading him.
