White Sox announcers beg Phillies to mercy trade Aaron Nola after pitch clock violation

The Chicago White Sox are down bad. If you're reading this while they're playing, that's almost surely the case, but it's also true in a larger sense, as the Southsiders are an MLB-worst 3-18, with no sign that things will be getting better any time soon.

The White Sox have been shut out in a third of their games. That's not easy to do, but do they at least have good pitching? Also no! Only the Rockies, who play a mile above sea level, and the Astros, whose pitchers' arms are all falling off, have a worse team ERA. Chicago's nominal ace, Garrett Crochet, is 1-3 with a 5.61 ERA in five starts.

It's no surprise then, that when White Sox fans see anyone that passes for a functional pitcher, they start dreaming of what that hurler would look like in pinstripes. It's gotten so bad that even the team's TV announcers are concocting schemes to improve the moribund rotation, and they took it to hilarious levels in Sunday's 8-2 loss to the Phillies.

No, the Phillies will not be sending Aaron Nola to the White Sox in a pity trade

Phillies starter Aaron Nola, who signed a seven-year, $172 million contract this past offseason to remain in Philadelphia, made the fairly harmless mistake of taking too long to deliver a pitch, which cost him an automatic ball in the 8th inning of yesterday's game. This ran the count full to Chicago hitter Robbie Grossman but didn't hurt Nola in the end, as he ultimately struck Grossman out looking to finish his stellar day.

Having a pitcher commit a pitch clock violation would be the least of Chicago's troubles right now, and they would gladly take someone who could give them eight strong innings, even if that quality start came against their own toothless lineup.

The Phillies are 14-8 and locked in a battle with the Braves (with the Mets not too far behind) for NL East supremacy, so there's no way they'd be interested in dealing Nola away, let alone to a team like the White Sox that doesn't have much to offer. Still, you can't blame White Sox announcers Steve Stone and John Schriffen for trying, even if their trade pitch to the Phillies is a flimsy one. After enduring 21 games of truly abhorrent baseball, it's clear that it's going to be a long season in Chicago. Gallows humor may be the only way to get through it.