Sox Populi - A Chicago White Sox podcast

Fresh off a sweep dealt by the first-place Yankees, the White Sox hope to recover in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Both the Sox and Jays sit at the bottom of their divisions, and will likely be sellers at the trade deadline. The teams are similar, with All-Star players in contract years, and inconsistent offense. Thankfully for my wonderful guest, Ruth Kapelus, Toronto’s pitching rotation and team in general might have a little more fight in them. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: Toronto Centre updates Grading the offseason Contract years and dark times as a fan It’s a good year to get to Oakland Confidence going into 2024 Pitching matchups Using our voices to call out abuse Mickey Mouse Cy-Young winner Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series The up-and-down Astros Ruth takes on Chicago soon You can follow Ruth on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox head to the Bronx to face off against a good Yankees team. Nick Stellini joined the podcast to discuss the first-place team and the red-hot Aaron Judge. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in the Bronx? Does anyone know about Juan Soto? Gerrit Cole’s timeline, and how hilarious he is Grading the offseason How to stay in first place Are Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson freaks of nature? Confidence going into 2024 Pitching matchups, and Carlos Rodón Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Thoughts for the 2024 season The downfall of the Astros It’s time for Jerry Reinsdorf to pay some therapy bills You can follow Nick on Twitter and check out his work at SportsLine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s Brett Ballantini’s favorite week of the month, when he gets to again call on president and GM of the first-place Birmingham Barons, Jonathan Nelson. Even after a tightly-fought series in Pensacola didn’t go Birmingham’s way, the club is still tops in the Southern League. Despite losing five of six to the Blue Wahoos, the Barons have won five of their last 10 and remain a half-game better than their fellow division-leading counterparts, Pensacola How manager Sergio Santos has handled the first tough turn of the season Inside baseball: How Jonathan works hand-in-hand with this field manager A preview of this week’s home series hosting the Chattanooga Lookouts, worst in the Southern League Bryan Ramos’ call-up and delightful character Will Brooks Baldwin ever stop hitting The phenom, Wilfred Veras The most terrifying offensive weapon in Birmingham? It could very well be a healthy Duke Ellis and his speed demonry How is catcher Edgar Quero shaping up as a leader and game-caller? Three quick speed-round questions with Jonathan off-the-field Is Mason Adams the surprise ace of the Barons? Eric Adler arrives in town to give Birmingham another late-inning killer The southpaw starting pair of Jake Eder and Ky Bush How the Barons brass on the ground in Birmingham plays into any promotion/demotion decisions Do these podcasts provide the good luck for the team, meaning that soon Brett may need to be packing his bags for Birmingham? Follow Jonathan Nelson on Twitter @JonathanN_Bham, the Barons @BhamBarons, and find tickets to an upcoming Barons game by clicking this link. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time ever, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan has missed an episode of Sharing Sox. But his son and west coast correspondent, Will, took to the microphone in what amounted to a The Big Blurt reunion, with Rob Colletti and Bill Meincke. And the timing was pretty good, given they trio talked on the heels of the only good week of baseball we’ve enjoyed with the White Sox this season. Naturally, such sunshine was not quite reflected in the podcast itself. The podcast kicks off with general introductions, plus the traditional singing hello from Rob to Bill Is it better to be historically bad, or to see good performances/wins that will yield improvements to the system and improve the next wave of White Sox talent? As it comes up in the podcast, Rob wrote a very popular piece on South Side Sox last month, addressing the horribleness of the organization Rob, and the rest of the crew, are hyped about ... the Double-A Birmingham Barons A sober assessment of Andrew Vaughn and his future in Chicago Loss predictions for the 2024 season A broader assessment of the MLB season will play out Weighing in on John Schriffen as our new play-by-play guy, and seeing it turn into a rough assessment of Hawk Harrelson Will has the only proper read on generosity toward the Cubs and Cubs fans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox will see the Nationals again this year thanks to the balanced MLB schedule, so I have another chance to chat with the brilliant Davy Andrews. In a fun episode, we discussed the sister teams and their desire to pick up Some Guys from MLB’s clearance rack. Both teams seem to be proceeding with a “don’t call it a rebuild” rebuild by firing the front office and acquiring veteran players on one-year contracts in hopes of trade bait, but one team is at least winning games. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in the nation’s capital? If we stop the season right now Grading the offseason Hockey? Confidence going into 2024 Commonalities and old friends Black Friday bargain bin shopping Pitching matchups Trevor Williams, CJ Abrams, and other likable guys Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Thoughts for the 2024 season You can follow Davy on Twitter and check out his work at Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the fourth episode of the Ladies’ Night podcast Hannah LaMotta, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach and Allie Wesel discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about all things baseball, including: Our favorite City Connect jerseys and most-anticipated new reveals. Plus, if we each had a gift card to buy just one, which one we would choose Who’s hot and who’s not around the league covering teams and players — and lament and celebrate the success of Dylan Cease with the San Diego Padres White Sux moments over the last few weeks. There is still plenty to complain about despite a few recent wins The trade of Robbie Grossman to the Texas Rangers for right-handed minor leaguer Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa The podcast will air bi-weekly, with the next episode dropping in late May. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeff Ellis is back again this season to talk all things Cleveland Guardians. The division rivals face off in Chicago after a quick road trip down south. Cleveland sits in first place at the moment, while the White Sox sit comfortably at the bottom. The previous games against Cleveland were close, so perhaps the Sox can muster up the same energy they had against the Cardinals and Rays. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in Cleveland? Injury woes Grading the offseason How to lead the division Confidence going into 2024 Pitching matchups Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Thoughts for the 2024 season Really bad owners How to make baseball fun again You can follow Jeff on Twitter, and follow along at Locked On Guardians. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, took to the microphones on May 3, the White Sox were 6-25, on pace for a modern-era, MLB-record 131 losses. So, naturally, we took a moment at the onset to shamelessly plug the Jerry Seinfeld movie Unfrosted, because Will is in it (both face and handwriting) and it opens on Netflix on that very day. The movie is more or less about the origin of Pop Tarts, which is a much more tasty subject than the White Sox, no matter how you feel about breakfast foods that fit in a toaster. But, unfortunately, it becomes necessary to return to the subject the podcast is supposed to be about, and to delve into the psychology of whether we fans now want the Sox to win games, or to keep up the bad work so we can all say we were there and watching when the record of the 1962 Mets was crushed. This naturally led to discussion of whether it’s better to play aged veterans who will be gone or of no use by the time the White Sox have a chance to be good (check the longevity charts for 88-year-olds named Jerry to see when that might be), or to flood the field with young players who are lousy now but have a chance to be better some day. Oh, sure, we also look at a bunch of statistics that confirm what we already know about how terrible this team is in every aspect of the game (hint: that light at the end of the tunnel is definitely a train). And there’s even a bit of chat about TV announcers, which isn’t nearly as harsh as you’d expect. Or, just a normal White Sox podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Friend of the pod Taylor Streiff of Redbird Rants joins again to chat about the Cardinals ahead of the series against the White Sox. St. Louis made a lot of moves during the offseason, especially on the pitching side, resulting in an outstanding pitching rotation and bullpen. You thought the Royals-to-White Sox pipeline was bad? Just wait! We spent a lot of time chatting about the connections between the Sox and the Cards, with the likes of Lance Lynn, Tommy Pham, Dominic Leone, and many more. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in St. Louis? Taylor’s hit tweet Grading the offseason Confidence going into 2024 Animal cameos Pitching matchups Cardinals to White Sox pipeline Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Predictions for 2024 Will Marmol be fired? You can follow Taylor on Twitter, read his work at Redbird Rants, and check out Ben’s Friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

April is over, so it’s time for us to award, and talk about, our South Side Sox MiLB Players of the Month at each level. Joe Resis, writer of our story and deciding vote on the awards, occupies the expert’s chair as we summarize the April notables: An overview of the four affiliates, playing around .500 ball collectively and with one club (Birmingham) already pointed toward the postseason We spontaneously determined that 60 at-bats is enough to earn this award, so congratulations, Danny Mendick, you are Charlotte’s winner! Kudos to him, against all odds FORCING HIS WAY back onto the White Sox roster — leaving the team no other option, really Drew Thorpe wins a nail-biter in Birmingham, where any one of three starting pitchers could have earned the honors. We speculate a bit on possible call-up or MLB debut dates for Drew An award with an actual reward comes for Eric Adler, who was gem-perfect in Winston-Salem and got his call-up to Double-A at the end of the month In Kannapolis, it was more of a runaway choice, with Aldrin Batista crushing Low-A batters to earn April plaudits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A month in, it’s our first Winston-Salem Dash podcast, and Joe Resis occupies the expert’s chair as we summarize the April notables: An introduction for Joe, taking on a bigger minors role than ever for South Side Sox Noah Schultz: Please with his first month, or no? A review of Dash Players of the Week on the pitching side, Juan Carela and Manuel Veloz Everyone’s favorite LHS Wildcat, Riley Gowens A closer already promoted to Birmingham, Eric Adler Glue guy José Ramírez The Dash hitting has been weaker, although Jacob Gonzalez has been performing as expected Wes Kath: resurgent Zavala superfan Joe explains hot prospect Samuel’s flat first month DJ Gladney’s struggles and frustrations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No, you’re not experiencing déjà vu. The White Sox are again facing the Twins this soon into the season. Last week the Twins executed a four-game sweep against the White Sox, each game feeling more devastating than the last. The wonderful Brandon Warne of Locked On Twins and Access Twins joined me to chat about the bottom-dwelling White Sox and the low-on-the-list but still way-better Twins. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: The Bucks are in the playoffs Grading the offseason Confidence going into 2024 A rundown of Twins’ pitching Pedro Grifol, sigh Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Are ballparks trying to give us diabetes? Predictions for 2024 The O’s are scary Lance Lynn on Father’s Day You can find Brandon on Twitter, and follow his work at Locked On Twins and Access Twins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a live YouTube/Twitter/Facebook event as the game got underway last night, a group of us (Dante Jones, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, Joe Resis, Malachi Hayes, Hannah LaMotta, Brett Ballantini) went watched the start of the game to see whether the White Sox start would end up even worse than that of the worst-ever Cleveland Spiders. Spoiler alert: It did. Watch as the game turns from a scoreless tie to an eventual loss immediately after we begin Impressions of the first month The inability to commit to a rebuild is not wearing well in the early going, with the major league club or the organization as a whole Pedro Grifol’s hand in all of the mess What are you looking forward to in the season’s final five months? Predictions you’re regretting (or, crowing over?) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s an early check-in with our friend and Charlotte mainstay Jonathan Lee on all things Knights, including intriguing bats and the predictable breakdown of the Triple-A rotation: Jonathan’s take on the 8-12 Charlotte start: .400 ball, he’ll take it! Danny Mendick’s amazing power stroke that forced him back onto the White Sox active roster Conversely, the jerking around of Lenyn Sosa and Oscar Colás, never truly able to settle in a spot or role Colson Montgomery’s bat has been flaccid, but his shortstop defense stout. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Carlos Pérez, Chuckie Robinson, and the curious catching conundrum with the Knights until Edgar Quero arrives A rotation in shambles, but with brighter days (returns from injury, promotions from Birmingham) ahead Justin Jirschele: Next White Sox manager? (he learned a lot from losing in 2023!) How Nick Nastrini and Jonathan Cannon rank as valuable Charlotte starters and future MLB rotation arms Follow Jonathan Lee on Twitter @followmefor3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The delightful Ben Jones of our sister site Twinkie Town joins the show to discuss the Minnesota Twins. Sitting just above the White Sox, the Twins are also riddled with injury and only rearranged their roster, aside from parting ways with Sonny Gray and Jorge Polanco in the offseason. But with heartthrobs like Joe Ryan pitching and a healthy Byron Buxton, the team might be able to contend this season. Here’s what we talked about in this episode: What’s new in Minnesota? The Twinkies are second-to-last, in front of the White Sox Everyone is injured and bats are cold (wait, that sounds familiar) Grading the offseason Confidence going into 2024 Pitching matchups Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Byron Buxton is pain-free and feeling good Predictions for 2024 Hot Twins takes You can find Ben on Twitter and follow his writing on Twinkie Town or podcast Twins Talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, it’s been many months for our most, er, “exclusive” Sox Populi podcast. But Dugout Metrics is back, with a couple of pitching-themed programs ahead. First, it’s a deeper dive into the six players who are arguably (unquestionably) the future of the staff and rotation on the South Side. The upside is pretty phenomenal, and the down side is ... undecided? For a Chicago White Sox podcast, that is GLOWING positivity! Garrett Crochet: The source of his mysteriously-appearing cutter, his surprising dominance (yes, we recorded before last Friday’s challenging start) and his realistic workload going forward Malachi admits a change in philosophy when it comes to handling pitchers Michael Kopech is now in the pen, as de facto closer — is it the right move? For all the similarities, one key difference between Nick Nastrini and Jonathan Cannon Stepping down a level to the utterly dominant Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte, who’s more quickly ticketed for the South Side? A bonus seventh pitcher: Noah Schultz, and his possible timeline to the South Side could be Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[Er, uh, um, this was recorded before Friday’s night’s slaughter in Philadelphia, so the lavish praise for Garrett Crochet may need a tiny dab of correction. Nah, what the heck, he’s one of the only decent things to happen with this team, so let’s plow on.] This edition, SSS duty geezer Leigh Allan and his son and west coast correspondent, Will, disagree as to whether Garrett Crochet will have a higher WAR than number of wins. It’s close call either way, so here’s your chance to make a guess (hint: as of recording, his bWAR is 0.8, record 1-2): Since Sharing Sox was recorded on the same day The Athletic raised serious doubts the White Sox will have fewer losses than the 1962 Mets, who went 40-120 and inspired the famous Casey Stengel quote, “Can’t anyone here play this game?” So, what the heck, here’s another chance to vote. As for other matters, the duo discuss how the pitching is better than expected (though not great) and the two newbies did well, how the promise of defensive improvement was apparently meant as humor, and how the Mendoza Line is so far above the majority of the White Sox lineup that it’s barely visible up there. Of course, the billionaires seeking billions in handouts gets some discussion. Then there’s Tim Anderson coming to Chicago to play the Cubs and being quoted about Sox players not really caring about winning. We’d noticed, Tim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White Sox head to Philadelphia to face the Phillies. Sitting dead last, the White Sox will deal with the pesky bats of multiple home run hitters, with a top three consisting of Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper. This series can also push the Phillies to first place in the National League East as they are just two games back (at the time of this episode being recorded) from Atlanta. Thankfully we won’t see Ranger Suárez in this series, who just tossed a complete game shutout. It was against the Rockies — but it still counts. This will be a tough series, and Nick Nastrini’s first real test as an MLB pitcher. Here’s what we talked about in this short but fun episode: What’s new in Philly? Grading the offseason So many home run hitters That one time we thought Bryce Harper to the White Sox was confirmed Deaths, national disasters, and drive into deep left field by Castellanos Confidence going into 2024 The new City Connect jerseys Pitching matchups Threats, fears, and keys to winning a series Predictions for 2024 John Schriffen, a man of the people You can find Brett on Twitter and follow his writing at Sox on 35th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To keep the Sox Pop on the Farm Podcast canon taut, we went back in time to fill in the phantom podcast 49, and in doing so created a doozy of a look at the jewel of the system, the Birmingham Barons. And in doing so, Brett Ballantini again called on president and GM of the club, Jonathan Nelson, to get us up to date on this promising club: Congratulations to recent Barons grad Jonathan Cannon on his pending MLB debut! Birmingham paying tribute to the Negro Leagues with the No. 42 uniform honors The amazing pitching duo of San Diego acquisitions Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte A peek at a player still finding his footing, starter-to-relief arm Jared Kelley Catcher Edgar Quero: Not only mashing to start the season, but commanding the field with his leadership and game-calling The bittersweet nature of sending players up to Charlotte or Chicago, never to see them again The (somewhat) surprise of Brooks Baldwin’s assignment to Double-A and the energy he brings to the club Extremely different players, but similar three-outcome mashers, Terrell Tatum and Wilfred Veras, and what makes them both so special as prospects The game-changing speed of Duke Ellis, back to health and out the gate hot Impressions of Sergio Santos in his first games managing at Double-A How to deal with an ump show (Or: Making sure the pregame food spread is delicious and fluffing those couch cushions in the umpire’s room) Follow Jonathan Nelson on Twitter @JonathanN_Bham, the Barons @BhamBarons, and find tickets to an upcoming Barons game by clicking this link. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the third episode of the Ladies’ Night podcast, Delia Ritchie, Melissa Sage-Bollenbach, and Allie Wesel discuss several topics related to our beloved — or despised, depending on the day — South Siders. Whether you’re a die-hard White Sox fan or not, there’s something for everyone. So, sit back, relax, and grab your favorite beverage because the girls hit a home run chatting about all things baseball, including: The most recent chatter around the possible, but unlikely, new White Sox stadium deal — big Jerry getting told by Springfield AND Chicago where he can stick it The impending expiration of the NBC Sports Chicago contract and what might be around the corner by moving the broadcast to Stadium The good, bad, and ugly of the club’s historically terrible 2-14 start. Highlighting the impressive pitching, including Nick Nastrini’s MLB debut, and ripping on the anemic and absent offense The team’s signing of Tommy Pham and what, if anything, does it mean for the direction of the franchise The podcast will air bi-monthly, with the next episode dropping in May. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices