Despite their win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, the early part of the season has been a struggle for the Boston Red Sox. Boston needed Thursday’s win to avoid a four-game sweep and overall, the team has struggled to find consistency in the early weeks of the season, sitting at 7-7. Fortunately for the Red Sox and their fans, announcers Dave O’Brien and Will Middlebrooks see light at the end of the tunnel — a weekend series against the Chicago White Sox.
The conversation began with O’Brien looking ahead to Boston’s next opponent.
“Cleveland has already beaten the White Sox 6-1,” O’Brien said. “So that’s eight straight losses for the White Sox.”
O’Brien and Middlebrooks then discussed Chicago’s loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday. With the White Sox trailing 3-1, Miguel Vargas came to the plate with runners on second and third and two out in the top of the ninth inning. It looked as though Chicago would tie the game, when Vargas singled. But Mike Tauchman, who was on second base, injured his hamstring after he rounded third. Cleveland easily retired the hobbled Tauchman, ending the game.
“The White Sox invent ways to lose games,” O’Brien said.
“Oh, man,” Middlebrooks replied. “The trip to Chicago could be coming at the perfect time.”
The White Sox are indeed ice cold. As O’Brien, Thursday’s loss was Chicago’s eight straight. It also moved the White Sox to 2-10. For reference, they were 2-10 through 12 games during 2024’s 121-loss season.
And while we don’t want to put too much weight on a three-game series in April, these comments will surely make a poor series for the Red Sox look worse.
Interestingly, during one of Chicago’s lengthy long losing streaks in 2024, announcer John Schriffen floated another opposite of O’Brien and Middlebrooks, suggesting that the team’s struggles were exacerbated by catching opponents on hot streaks.
It’s a modern-day chicken or egg argument.