Plans shift to best use Peavy, Sale
In game of filling seats, Sox slipping
Hector Santiago will start on Wednesday for the White Sox against the Cleveland Indians, pushing Jake Peavy back one day to give him an extra day of rest.
The insertion of Santiago into the rotation was also going to give ace Chris Sale, who threw 118 pitches Monday, an extra day. But during the course of Tuesday’s 4-3 loss, the Sox changed their mind and said Sale will start on four days’ rest Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays. That would allow him to pitch in a potential American League Central tiebreaker game next Thursday.
Peavy will pitch the series opener against the Rays, followed by Gavin Floyd on Friday. Sunday has yet to be determined — likely between Jose Quintana, who pitched to two batters in relief Tuesday, or Francisco Liriano.
Too much video
Hitting coach Jeff Manto knows video can be a valuable tool for hitters, but he believes it gets overused when they overstress mechanics and undervalue feel and focusing on the ball.
Adam Dunn’s two-homer night Monday was a case where video paid off. He and Manto looked at some during the game, went to the cage and got things ironed out.
‘‘It was just a balance issue,’’ Manto said. ‘‘He was just rushing out on his legs, and we got him back underneath himself.’’
On Tuesday, Dunn looked to be off-balance again. He walked and struck out three times.
‘‘It’s one of those fine lines where you have to really police and make sure these guys aren’t going into the video room just to watch themselves hit,’’ Manto said. ‘‘Some guys, they reinforce bad thoughts and stuff like that. So it’s a pretty delicate balance.’’
After drawing a crowd of 13,797 for a rare Tuesday afternoon game, the White Sox are on pace for a season-total home attendance of 1,970,082, falling short of their 2011 total of 2,001,117.
According to White Sox fan and historian Mark Liptak, such a drop would mark the sixth consecutive season in which Sox home attendance has dipped from the previous season. Liptak notes that has happened just two other times in team history — from 1926 to 1932 and from 1965 to 1970.
‘‘The explanations for the first two are pretty obvious,’’ Liptak said. ‘‘The Great Depression, along with some bad teams, and then the second time, the social unrest/race riots that gave the perception Comiskey Park was a ‘ dangerous’ place and some of the worst teams in history.’’
The reasons behind the current drop are harder to figure out for a team that has spent most of the season in first place.
Entering play Tuesday, the Sox were averaging 24,462 fans for each home game, putting them 24th among Major League Baseball’s 30 teams.
For comparison, the Cubs were 10th, averaging 35,766 fans. (The Philadelphia Phillies were tops in the majors, averaging 44,075, and the Tampa Bay Rays were at the bottom, averaging 19,418.)