What about those White Sox?

What about them?

Since the Cubs are off let’s take a look at the White Sox who are playing MIN tonight.  Here’s what the Ouija Board says

DATE 05_11 8:10_PM May_11_16:17 MIN CHA
LINEAWAY MIN [ 0.439 ] < 0.469 >
STARTAWAY 0.15 Phil_Hughes_MIN
LINEHOME CHA [ 0.580 ] < 0.552 >
STARTHOME 2.02 Derek_Holland_CHA

The Ouija Board is only giving the Sox  home field advantage even though their best pitcher so far this season is starting.  Here are team statuses for the two teams:

BAT PITCH Rs Ra W L UR LR TeamID
-21.9 29.2 123 119 15 16 -1.2 -2.0 CHA
-5.4 8.0 140 143 16 14 -5.2 -1.5 MIN

The win loss records are pretty close.  CHA has a W-L=15-16=-1  while MIN is WAA=+2.  The White Sox have terrific PITCH and terrible BAT.  MIN is hovering around average in both BAT and PITCH.  Here are the two lineups:

WAA Naem_TeamID Pos PA
-0.69 Melky_Cabrera_CHA LF 122
-1.60 Tyler_Saladino_CHA 2B 101
0.08 Jose_Abreu_CHA 1B 125
1.24 Avisail_Garcia_CHA RF 121
-0.06 Todd_Frazier_CHA DH 94
0.76 Matt_Davidson_CHA 3B 71
-1.24 Tim_Anderson_CHA SS 123
-0.69 Omar_Narvaez_CHA C 58
-0.59 Leury_Garcia_CHA CF 90
TOTAL WAA=-2.79 PA=905 WinPct=0.441

As expected, the White Sox are fielding a below average lineup and above is how it all breaks down amongst their players. Unfortunately for MIN we have to see their last game lineup.

WAA Naem_TeamID Pos PA
-0.06 Joe_Mauer_MIN 1B 105
-0.29 Jorge_Polanco_MIN SS 110
-0.15 Max_Kepler_MIN RF 108
0.53 Kennys_Vargas_MIN DH 37
-0.36 Eddie_Rosario_MIN LF 108
0.17 Eduardo_Escobar_MIN 3B 59
-0.34 Jason_Castro_MIN C 87
0.00 Ehire_Adrianza_MIN 2B 4
-1.07 Byron_Buxton_MIN CF 91
TOTAL WAA=-1.57 PA=709 WinPct=0.457

So both lineups are sub average and the White Sox have a better starter going today and they have better relievers.  CHA relief staff WAA=+4.5, MIN relief staff WAA=-0.67.  How relief staff is calculated will be explained later.  Until then….