Sharing Sox Podcast 67 — What the hell, HOFBP? Edition — 2022-04-22

SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, go full-out frustrated fan this week, cringing at the many-sided debacle of the Cleveland series, from disastrous defense, to TOOTBLANs galore, to an offense only capable of more than one run if handed to them, to pitchers forgetting it’s not just batting practice, to absolutely inexplicable decisions by the (JA)HOFBP. That last is the lead feature, as virtually every Sox fan would like to know what the hell Leury García, hitting .043 going into the games and owning a .660 career OPS, was doing batting third — not just once, but twice in a row. Sure, the first time was the second game of a doubleheader, with mostly subs in the lineup, but even then there were much better choices. And there were eight better choices on Thursday. Which leads to the question of playing mostly subs in the first place, and then not pinch-hitting for them when the White Sox were lucky enough to be within a run late in the game. But, then, the HOFBP is a HOFBP, as he is very happy to let everyone know, and we are just ignorant fans. Which brings us to other issues. Take Dallas Keuchel. Please. The advice here is to save him for situations where a double play is desperately needed so a ground ball is a necessity. Preferably, when either eight runs ahead or behind. As for other pitchers, they’re mostly hanging in there as best they can (but is Liam Hendriks tipping pitches?). Lucas Giolito is due back Sunday and Johnny Cueto not long after that, so things could get better on that front. Not that it will make much difference if the team can’t score more than three runs. And that, only when two are handed to them. And as for flipping off opposing fans because you’re having an absolutely awful day? A totally classless act by a usually classy guy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices