Saturday, April 23, 2005

14-4, But 144 to Go

The Sox win again 3-2 in 10 innings, thanks to some good hustle play, luck and a 2-out hit. They've got the best record in the league, and they're beating up division rivals. That will play a factor later on in the season.

Noteworthy
A. Joe Crede looks like he finally turned a corner. He went 2-for-5 today, extending his hitting streak to 14 games - tying for the season high set by Brian Roberts of Baltimore Orioles.
B. Juan Uribe swung the bat real well, going 3-for-4 and driving in a run on Top of the 2nd with a double. He was also part of the mix on the Top of the 10th, moving AJ Pierzynski to third in a solid 2-out single that led to Rowand's game-winning RBI hit.
C. The bullpen held up, save for the unfortunate run given up in the Bottom of 8th. Politte, Cotts, Vizcaino and Marte combined for 6 2/3 IP, giving up 6 hits, 1 ER, 3 BB and 5 Ks

Concerns
A. Jose Contreras left the game in the bottom of the 4th with a strained lower hamstring. This could be leave cause some problems for the starting rotation, if the injury forces Contreras to go on the DL. Hermanson's too valuable in the bullpen to be a spot starter. Neal Cotts may be a good option, but that leaves the 'pen short of a left-handed reliever and I don't know how good an option Kevin Walker will be since he struggled during Spring Training.
The most logical option would be Brandon McCarthy, who was terrific during spring training. But the Sox have a history of rushing young pitchers out of the system that ends up setting them back (Jon Rauch, Jon Stewart), and McCarthy has been a little sluggish coming out of the gate in Charlotte - with a 4.76 ERA in 17 IP, although his K to BB ratio stands at 21:5. It would make sense to let him get at least a dozen more starts in AAA to get his bearings set and work out his changeup a little bit more.
Perhaps Jon Adkins or Josh Stewart could fill in for a couple starts, but they haven't done so well, either.
I guess the wild card is Robert Person - the 35-year-old righthander who missed all of last year because of arm surgery. I remember reading that he may be called up soon.
B. Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko are struggling, for the most part. Both of them struck out thrice today.
The one who really concerns me, though, is Dye - at least Konerko's got 7 HR and 13 RBI. Dye's hitting .180, with 3 HR and 8 RBI and has struck out 12 times. For the White Sox to sustain their success, Dye needs to come around and start hitting. For all the talk about smallball, this team still relies on power when it gets down to business. If Dye can't produce, then the Sox need Frank Thomas to step in and contribute right away. If so, then Everett will be able to move to rightfield and platoon with Dye, which will negate the lack of production from Dye.
But Dye has a good track record - until his injury with the Athletics. And I think he will come around. Just the matter of when.
C. Sox drew 3 walks in 40 at bats. It's a bit alarming, but I haven't pushed any panic buttons yet.

From the Watchtower
A. Good day for Korean starting pitchers in New York City.
In the Texas Rangers' 10-2 victory over the New York Yankees, Chan Ho Park improved to a 2-1 record, pitching 6 2/3 innings while giving up 3 hits and one run.
It's good to see the pitcher who paved the way for all the Korean players to reach the majors succeeding after years of criticisim, ridicule, injuries and disappointments. He's no longer a guy who overpowers hitters, but a pitcher who relies on location and a good sinker.
The one concern is the number of pitches he threw - 122. Only 66 of them were for strikes, and he had to work out of a lot of 3-2 counts. He struck out 6, but also walked 5. He shouldn't make it harder on himself than it already is to face major league hitters by issuing free passes.
At Shea, Jae Weong Seo was unexpectedly called up to make a start against the Washington Nationals and pitched well - going 6 innings, giving up 6 runs and 1 ER while striking out 6. He probably would have pitched longer had the Mets not given him a 10-1 lead by the Top of the 7th.
He got his opportunity as Kazuhisa Ishii became the third Mets starter to go on the disabled list - Mets just didn't have a whole lot left in the system to get past Seo. But he went out and pitched a good game - so he should get another long, hard look from the top league brass.
Unfortunately, Dae Sung Koo - who relieved Seo in the 7th - ended up giving three runs, ending his streak of 6 scoreless innings. But I guess 2 out of 3 good pitching performances is still pretty good.
It's nice to see my countrymen getting all the way here to play as well as they have. Shin Soo Choo was just recently called up by the Seattle Mariners, Hee Seop Choi's got a tenuous starting job at Los Angeles, and Byung Hyun Kim's fighting for his life in Colorado. I hope they all do well.
B. This is unrelated to the topic, but the Bears look like they made a couple solid picks in Cedric Benson and Mark Bradley. They addressed two key positions to complement Grossman at RB and WR - and they should be able to contribute right away. Hopefully Angelo can get it right the rest of the rounds and get some good players to fill out the rest of the positions. Some depth at CB and OLB would be nice, so would a backup QB.

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