Slight delay in the session with our expert from 538.
The Sharing Sox special edition with 538 sportswriter, editor and general stats expert Neil Paine has been delayed a week because Neil was at a game that ran long (and was a big Braves win over the Mets and he’s from Georgia, so probably had no voice left), so for this week, it’s just SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, doing their usual schtick.
Well, not usual — with the White Sox on a two-game winning streak, it’s exuberant schtick, albeit more in recognition of pitching success than batting accomplishments. The cast was recorded after the first game against That Other Team in Town, the one played in conditions reminiscent of a polar expedition from which no one returned.
Will and Leigh get into the excellent performances of Vince Velásquez and Dylan Cease, the horrible failure of hitters — White Sox and otherwise (except for Tim Anderson) — to adjust to the reality of ball and weather challenges, just how much the bad start has altered projections for the Sox for the season, and what possible difficulties the team has coming up.
And, of course, there’s a report on how absolutely dominating the White Sox are in Will’s video game season, led, of course, by pitchers with the initials D.K. and V.V..
Next week, shameless plug
Neil should be with us to explain how 538 comes up with its team values, season analyses and game-by-game predictions.
Listen below, on our built-in Megaphone player:
or follow along with every episode at Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or wherever you consume your podcasts. Or, you can watch the podcast on the South Side Hit Pen YouTube channel.
