Tim Anderson Is Back But Rick Renteria Is Still Torturing White Sox Fans With Cleanup Spot

Great news for the White Sox, who won two games against the Royals on Tuesday. Shortstop Tim Anderson is back in the lineup after getting drilled on the wrist last Friday against the Twins. He was out of the lineup for four straight games, but he's back, hitting seventh and starting at short.

One problem though, Rick Renteria is still torturing White Sox fans by batting Yonder Alonso in the cleanup spot.

Let's check in and see how Alonso's been performing in his first season with the White Sox.

So far in 2019, Alonso is slashing .176/.284/.307, with six home runs and 23 RBIs. His -0.7 fWAR is tied with Starlin Castro for the worst fWAR in MLB. His .176 batting average is the second lowest in MLB among qualified hitters. His .284 OBP is tied for eighth worst in MLB and the .307 slugging % is seventh worst.

But hey, maybe Alonso is getting better in the month of May and that's why Renteria keeps batting him fourth?

Nope.

In 104 plate appearances during May, Alonso is slashing .163/.250/.217, with a 28 wRC+. Maybe you're not into the nerdy stats, but just know that 100 is average and Alonso is at 28. That means he's 72% worse on offense than the average hitter in May.

Alonso only has three extra base hits in May (2 doubles, 1 HR) and he's still getting most of the starts batting cleanup.

This has to stop.

Let's not pretend the White Sox traded for Alonso because they wanted him to be another veteran in the clubhouse. He was brought in to recruit Manny Machado. That blew up in their face and now he just keeps hurting the White Sox and it's because Renteria won't move him out of that cleanup spot, or just out of the lineup completely.