Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Latos Gets Axed

That Conjuring movie looks pretty terrifying but I can think of something scarier … how about losing Internet when you’re supposed to be covering an MLB news shift? The horror!

Not to bore you with the mundane details of my day-to-day existence, but I just moved to a new apartment and the Internet is sketchy upstairs. After the usual 15-minute panic period, I solved the problem in the most anticlimactic way possible—by flipping an on/off switch. Yup, the Geek Squad at Best Buy was invented for idiots like me.

I bet the White Sox wish they could flip a switch to end their month-long slump. Instead, they’ve resorted to some rather drastic measures. The first domino fell Saturday when the White Sox acquired “Big Game” James Shields in a trade with the rebuilding Padres. Shields delivered an embarrassing effort in his White Sox debut, surrendering seven runs on eight hits in a two-inning meltdown against Washington. After Wednesday’s train wreck, it’s easy to see why the Padres were willing to pick up $30 million of Shields’ remaining salary just to make him go away.

But GM Kenny Williams had a couple more tricks up his sleeve. Thursday the White Sox designated Mat Latos for assignment while signing former American League MVP Justin Morneau to a one-year, $1 million contract.

The decision to DFA Latos was a bit shocking considering he was one of the team’s best starters early in the season. The right-hander went 4-0 in five April starts with a jaw-dropping 1.84 ERA. Since then, he’s gone 2-2 with a 7.26 ERA. Over that span, opponents have hit .317 against him with seven homers in 123 at-bats.

It’s not often you see a team so willingly wave goodbye to a pitcher with a 6-2 record but the White Sox are desperate. Even after winning Thursday against the Nationals, the White Sox have lost 12-of-15 while dropping to fourth in the AL Central. With the way things have been going for the Pale Hose, Charlie Brown’s team from Peanuts might be able to go into U.S. Cellular Field and win two out of three.

Chicago’s recent free-fall has been a collaborative effort. Closer David Robertson imploded in Kansas City at the end of last month (2/3 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 2 BB) and turned in another rough outing Wednesday against Washington (1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER). Promising young starter Carlos Rodon is on the shelf with neck discomfort and Chris Sale hasn’t been as sharp over his last three games (0-2, 6.48 ERA). Todd Frazier is the new Adam Dunn (19 HR, .213 AVG) while aging shortstop Jimmy Rollins (.221 AVG in 41 contests) is getting whooped by Father Time.

The White Sox aren’t out of it by any means. Thursday’s win brought them back to .500 and they’re still just three games behind the division-leading Indians. The White Sox could easily right the ship and sneak into the postseason. And from the looks of it, Williams and the front office are willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.

Morneau is the ultimate wild card. There’s really no risk here—his $1 million salary is chump change. Morneau has hit .316 over his last two seasons and won the NL batting title in 2014. Take those accomplishments with a grain of salt—he hit .342 at Coors Field and .290 everywhere else—but Morneau can still be a productive hitter when healthy.

Of course, that’s hardly a guarantee. In fact, Morneau isn’t even healthy right now. He’s still recovering from elbow surgery and won’t be ready to make his White Sox debut until mid-July. With perennial All-Star Jose Abreu handling first base, Morneau is probably headed for a bench role or at best a platoon with Avisail Garcia at DH.

Even without an obvious role, Morneau’s mere presence might be the kick in the pants the White Sox need to turn their season around. Nobody wants to lose their job and the threat of Morneau taking it should give the White Sox plenty of motivation.

The fun and games are over. As Mat Latos proved Thursday, one prolonged slump can get you canned. That might actually be scarier than not having Internet.

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Ventura Takes His Medicine

Yordano Ventura isn’t here to make friends. He’s made that pretty clear.

Ventura was involved in three separate bench-clearing incidents last season and hasn’t dialed it back much in 2016. To his credit, Ventura waited until June to start his first brawl this year. I’m sure the Royals appreciated his restraint.

But now Ventura has hurt the team once again by earning a nine-game suspension for throwing at Manny Machado in Tuesday night’s game against Baltimore. Even without knowing his reputation, Ventura’s intention was pretty clear. He threw inside to Machado in his second at-bat and decided to go all the way in his next at-bat by beaning him with a 99 mph fastball. Machado gave Ventura a piece of his mind by charging the mound and setting off a melee that ended with both players getting ejected. Machado (four-game ban) and Ventura are both appealing their suspensions.

Maybe Ventura is taking the Pedro Martinez comparisons a little too seriously. A smallish (6’0/180) right-hander with a high 90s fastball, Ventura looks, throws and often acts like Pedro on the mound. Pedro’s intensity is part of what made him such a dominant competitor but he rarely lost his composure. At the end of the day, Pedro knew he had a job to do. Ventura has a habit of getting in his own head, which might explain why he’s never taken the next step to become an All-Star.

I get the feeling Ventura’s teammates are tired of the whole tough guy act. When asked if he sensed any frustration in the locker room after Ventura’s antics Tuesday night, manager Ned Yost admitted, “Probably.” Yost later came to Ventura’s defense but none of it was very convincing, particularly after a report surfaced that Ventura might be available in a trade.

Will a nine-game suspension, which is really only one start, get Ventura to change his behavior? I doubt it. And that’s fine. Ventura can be the villain. Roger Clemens threw a bat at Mike Piazza. Nolan Ryan put Robin Ventura in a headlock. The surly pitcher is one of baseball’s oldest clichés.

But Ventura needs to back it up. Right now he’s not doing that. The 25-year-old is 4-4 this year with a 5.32 ERA. That ranks 94th out of 106 qualified starting pitchers. Ventura needs to put his Napoleonic complex aside and get back to basics.

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Quick Hits: The Phillies selected high school outfielder Mickey Moniak with the No. 1 pick in Thursday night’s draft. He’s the first outfielder to go first overall since Bryce Harper in 2010 … Draft night was full of familiar names. Gary Sheffield’s nephew, Jordan Sheffield, was selected by the Dodgers with the No. 36 pick while Bo Bichette, son of Dante Bichette, went to the Blue Jays at 66th overall. Paul Quantril’s son, Cal, was taken by San Diego with the eighth overall pick … The Yankees can’t seem to catch a break this year, at least when it comes to first basemen. Chris Parmelee, who was filling in for Mark Teixeira (knee), injured his hamstring stretching out for a throw at first base Thursday against the Angels. With Greg Bird (shoulder) and Dustin Ackley (shoulder) both out for the year, Rob Refsnyder might be the team’s best in-house option at first base … Carlos Beltran beefed up his All-Star resume by providing a double and two RBI in Thursday’s win over the Angels. The 39-year-old has plated 12 runs over his last seven games … Johnny Giavotella ended an 0-for-19 drought with a seventh-inning double Thursday against the Yankees. He hit .348 in May but his average the rest of the year is just .159 … Andrelton Simmons moved his rehab assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake on Thursday. Simmons was expected to miss 6-8 weeks after undergoing thumb surgery but only needed about a month to recover. He could be back with the Angels as early as Saturday … Carlos Correa sprained his left ankle running to first base Thursday against the Rangers. Jose Altuve finished out the game at shortstop. It was Altuve’s first time playing shortstop at the major league level … Here’s some advice: don’t text when Prince Fielder is up to bat. One fan learned that the hard way when Fielder smashed an iPhone with a 414-foot blast to right field Thursday against Houston. It was Fielder’s fourth home run of the year and easily his most destructive … Adrian Beltre begged manager Jeff Banister to let him pinch-hit on Thursday but Banister wasn’t having it. Beltre left Wednesday’s game with a strained left hamstring … Billy Hamilton has entered the league’s concussion protocol. He injured himself sliding into third base Wednesday against the Cardinals. Hamilton was just starting to get hot with 10 hits in 24 at-bats this month (.417 AVG) … Chris Davis returned to the Orioles’ lineup Thursday after missing Wednesday’s game with thumb discomfort. All he did was go 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI … Zach Britton shut the door for his 19th save Thursday against Toronto. He’s the first closer in Orioles history to open the year with 19 straight saves … Yovani Gallardo will make one more rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk before joining the Orioles’ rotation June 18 against Toronto. Gallardo has been out with shoulder tendinitis since late April … Jose Bautista exited Thursday’s game with tightness in his right thigh. Even in only six innings of baseball, he still managed to reach base four times (single, double and two walks) … Curtis Granderson bashed his 40th career leadoff homer in Thursday’s win over the Brewers. Nine of his 11 home runs this year have been solo shots … Matt Carpenter left Thursday’s game against Cincinnati with a jammed finger. Greg Garcia replaced him at second base … Kolten Wong contributed two homers including a walk-off grand slam Thursday in his season debut for Triple-A Memphis. The Cardinals demoted him earlier this week to make room for veteran Jhonny Peralta … Ichiro Suzuki ripped two hits Thursday, bringing his career total to 2,973. The 42-year-old will soon become the 30th member of MLB’s 3,000-hit club. Including his time in Japan, Ichiro has 4,251 hits, five behind Pete Rose’s all-time record of 4,256 … The Athletics traded Chris Coghlan back to the Cubs Thursday in exchange for second baseman Arismendy Alcantara. Coghlan blasted 16 home runs in 148 games for Chicago last season.

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