Ricky Speaks: Oh, to clinch against the Cubs

Sure, they're just another opponent, but wouldn't it be fun to clinch against them?

Ricky Renteria, again with mask (and this time thanked for it in the end), continued with Summer Camp of Good Feeling with some additional positivity on Tuesday afternoon.

The manager is duly impressed by Reynaldo López's transformation in 2020, ramping up his mental focus.

"He had to address how he was approaching things," Renteria says. "He's an individual who continues to mature and grow."

A number of schedule questions were lobbed, with the 2020 slate finally revealed a day earlier. But Ricky wasn't really indulging too much of it.

"Whatever the schedule, our expectations are so high it really doesn't matter," he says. 

And when I hit him up on the possibility of clinching the playoffs agains the Cubs, given that a crosstown series ends the season, there was almost a touch of wistfulness.

"Let's look forward to that," he says with a smile through his mask. "Most of the town would like to see a crosstown World Series one day."

The manager was full of praise for Dallas Keuchel ("this guy is really, really good") and had a fun anecdote about starting the season in warm weather (his entire bench said YEAH!).

Also, there's an interesting nugget about playing the percentages, and reliance on data. Ricky set up a scenario where an All-Star hitter came into town, slumping. Would Ricky still pitch to him, knowing that slump could break at any time? Hell yes: "I'm not making decisions based on what I think the criticism will be."  

Here's the full Renteria session on Tuesday, courtesy of the Chicago White Sox: