James Shields was rocked by the Cleveland Indians on Saturday, marking the fourth straight start where he has struggled. His poor pitching since joining the Chicago White Sox has to leave them feeling completely unsatisfied over their trade.
Shields allowed seven hits and was charged with eight earned runs over 1.2 innings in Cleveland, failing to get out of the second inning. He allowed the first five batters of the game to reach base — three via extra-base hit — and left the first inning down 5-0. He allowed three more runners in the second and left with runners on first and second, down 6-0. He was charged with two more runs after reliever Matt Purke allowed them to score, making it 8-0 after two innings.
Shields’ stretch of poor starts goes back to his last outing with the San Diego Padres prior to his trade to Chicago. He allowed eight hits and four walks and was charged with 10 runs over 2.2 innings in a loss to the Mariners on May 31. Then he gave up seven runs over two-plus innings against the Nationals in his White Sox debut. Then he allowed nine hits and seven runs over five hits against the Tigers.
The 34-year-old has been so bad over his last four starts that his season ERA has more than doubled since May 25. He went from having a 3.06 ERA in his second-to-last start with San Diego to having a 6.28 ERA for the season, including a 21.81 ERA with the White Sox.
It’s a good thing the White Sox only gave up struggling reliever Erik Johnson and Fernando Tatis Jr. for Shields since he’s been such a bust with them so far.
