PITTSBURGH -- Defense continues to be a problem for the White Sox.
As expected, defensive metrics haven’t been kind to the White Sox, who are only two above the league average with 39 errors this season. But errors don’t tell the entire story.
Baseball-reference.com ranks the White Sox last in the majors in Defensive Efficiency while Fangraphs.com has them 29th of 30 in Defensive Runs Saved. The White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies are both nearly double the New York Yankees, who rank 28th in the majors with minus-22 Defensive Runs Saved. The White Sox are minus-43 and Phillies are minus-45. The Kansas City Royals are first overall with 42 Defensive Runs Saved.
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Poor defense haunted the White Sox on Friday and Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla. The White Sox lost all three games of a series with the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Defense is always going to be something that you need to be able to win,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “But there are also momentum swings with defense. Defense can help you help the pitchers. Teams that play good defense get momentum because you don’t need to do as much offensively to be able to cover it. When we get better at that, and we get some hits with some guys on, it looks better. When you stub your toe in one area of the game, it can cost you.”