White Sox need an Elly De La Cruz. See? It’s a simple solution

You know what’s sad about baseball at Guaranteed Rate Field these days?

Well, everything.

Outside of the Oakland Coliseum, it might be the saddest place in the big leagues.

At least the smattering of fans in attendance Sunday had the decency to wait until the third inning to begin half-heartedly booing the White Sox. Or maybe they were just pacing themselves as the Reds were finishing off a weekend sweep so laughably lopsided — by a combined tally of 27-5 over three games — it was whatever sounds worse than pathetic.

It’s going to be an incredibly long season on the South Side. Unless, that is, the 2-13 Sox’ core of “stars” — Luis Robert Jr., Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez — refuses to let this team go down without a fight. What, you thought that was serious?

You know, we know and every desperately lonely vendor from the 100 level to the upper deck knows that’s not going to happen, mainly because the three Sox mentioned above are, as always, drowning in injuries. The whole scene is beyond bleak.

It’s vastly different for the young Reds, who have made only one trip to the postseason in the last 10 years but might be capable of getting there in 2024. They are a team on the upswing and one whose most talented player — 22-year-old Dominican shortstop Elly De La Cruz — manages to have his 6-5 unicorn self in the lineup and on the field every day. Must be nice.

Not to tell new Sox general manager Chris Getz how to do his job, but he probably should go out and find his own all-out sensation who runs faster than any player in the majors (De La Cruz actually shares that distinction with the Royals Bobby Witt Jr.), has the strongest non-pitching arm on the planet and hits the ball so hard, Reds great Joey Votto last year described his rookie teammate as having the best legs, arm and power of anyone he’d ever seen.

How difficult can it be to locate all that in one package? Oh, stop, that question wasn’t serious, either.

De La Cruz is less than two years removed from High-A ball and still ironing out his game — especially his defense — but his ascent into the superstar realm seems merely a matter of time. His 449-foot blast on Friday was his fourth homer in four games and came a few days after an even longer homer — as well as a wild inside-the-parker — in a win against the Brewers. And his best stat: 113 games played, each of them in the field, in 117 games total for the Reds since his call-up last June.

“That guy plays hard every single day,” veteran third baseman Jeimer Candelario said, “and he likes to play. There’s no secret about it that he wants to play every day.”

That goes for playing banged-up, too. De La Cruz spent extra time in the trainer’s room Sunday, but there was zero thought given to a day off even with a long trip to Seattle after the game for a series that starts Monday.

“To play this game the right way, you cannot be fearful,” manager David Bell said. “You have to prepare and then play all-out. As a matter of fact, I think the harder you play and the more fearless you are, it can actually be healthy. If you’re tentative or protective, it can lead to injuries. Elly plays extremely hard and has a high-revving engine, so there will be some maintenance, but it all starts with him wanting to be on the field every day no matter what it takes.”

What a concept. It’s doubtful the Sox can relate.

Three-Dot Dash

During the weekend, Getz weakly attributed fans’ “frustration” to the team’s “early-season struggles from a win-loss standpoint.”

Gee, who knew?

Also, 10 points docked for not at least acknowledging how completely done Sox fans are with chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. …

Meanwhile, Tim Anderson has zero home runs and one run batted in and his new team, the Marlins, is 3-13. Why did he bother to pack a suitcase and leave again? …

Boy, this NBA play-in tournament thing is confusing. Shouldn’t the Bulls-Hawks loser have to play the Celtics? …

Did you hear the NHL’s Coyotes are moving to Salt Lake City? They really should consider changing their name to something that screams “Utah,” like Jazz. …

It doesn’t matter how past his prime or out of contention Tiger Woods is at Masters time, CBS is going to be there to show us his every shot of every round. Someday, CBS will follow Tiger with a camera as he’s motoring in a scooter up and down the aisles of the Augusta Publix. …

DePaul men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann and athletic director DeWayne Peevy took a trip to the Masters to rub elbows with some donors. One would like to think they’ll eventually take a trip to the NCAA Tournament to rub elbows with some success. …

From the quote files, Part 1: “We didn’t lose a damn thing because of [Tony La Russa],” said ex-Sox pitcher Lance Lynn, now with the Cardinals. “There’s nobody I respect more in this game than that man. I’ll always love him.” …

Quote files, Part 2: “I’m not going to pick one,” said Astros first baseman Jose Abreu when asked if teammate Yordan Alvarez or ex-teammate Robert has a higher ceiling. “They’re both great human beings and both capable of doing a lot of things. I pray they both have health to not only reach my numbers but to surpass them.”