The White Sox Reporter
Sunday, April 11, 2004
SOME INFO ABOUT JON ADKINS AS A STARTER:
In 2002, Adkins was 11-9 as a starter at a couple different levels, he recorded a 5.40 ERA, and he allowed 11.8 hits per nine innings pitched. In 2003 he had 19 starts at Charlotte, was 7-7 with a 4.21 ERA. In 9 relief apearances, he was 0-1 with a 2.30 ERA. Clearly, Adkins deserves consideration to be Danny Wright's successor as 5th starter.
What the Sox need to do is put Wright back in the bullpen in the long relief role that he was born to play and put either Adkins or Cotts in the 5th starter position.
Or to put it another way, if Wright kept to being a long relief pitcher, he could become a perennial All-Star, but as a starter, he's nothing but a DS: Designated Scapegoat.
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Guillen lately has been letting Sox starting pitchers stay in the game for well over 100 pitches. Folks, this is Dusty Baker stuff and the end result could be the Sox staff winding up every bit as wretched as the current Cubs staff.
Well, the Sox have been doing better lately, but its with Jerry Manuel's longball style
rather than the smallball nonsense that Ozzie Guillen promised us that he'd use. Yet, some people persist in fantasizing about how if Manuel were still manager, the Sox would not be doing as well as they are now. Nonsense. Jerry Manuel won 95 games as Sox skipper in 2000. Until Guillen at least matches that, people should stop denigrating Manuel to prop up the buffoon Guillen.
Thursday, April 08, 2004
THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX PITCHING SITUATION:
We are used to seeing huge headlines when something newsworthy comes out. However, there are times when something remarkable occurs and hardly anybody notices. Such is the case concerning some interesting remarks recently made by White Sox rookie manager Ozzie Guillen.
According to a February 21 MLB.com article, Guillen said that, "I talked to (Sox pitching coach Don) Cooper, and I want these guys ready to throw nine innings right from the get go. I don't expect that to happen all of the time, but that's what I want." Guillen was also quoted by MLB.com as saying that, "I won't hurt my pitchers, and I'm going to protect them. But I'm going to give the kids a chance for me not to babysit them."
In other words, Guillen wants to buck the trend in baseball where starting pitchers have been getting lighter workloads in order to reduce the number of pitching injuries. Increasing the number of innings pitched by starters reduces the workload on the bullpen which in turn makes the relief pitchers that much more proficient. However, it can also lead to injuries among the starters.
One manager whose method of handling pitchers often leads to over use and ultimately injuries is Jeff Torborg. White Sox fans may remember Torborg as the man who during the 1989-1991 seasons subjected Reliever Bobby Thigpen to a course that ultimately led to both the all-time saves record of 57 in 1990, but also to his prematurely burning out. During 2001-2002 and the start of 2003, Torborg was the manager of the Florida Marlins and his way of handling pitchers led to injuries due to overuse among several pitchers. Eventually, the Marlins dumped Torborg in favor of Jack McKeon whose superior management of the team's pitching enabled the club to overcome their 16-22 start under Torborg and go all the way to a World Championship.
During 2001-2003, Ozzie Guillen served as the Marlins 3rd Base Coach. During both this time and Torborg's earlier stint as Sox manager, Guillen had the time and place to absorb Torborg's attitudes towards pitchers and how long they should stay on the mound. It would appear that Guillen has been greatly influenced by Torborg.
This attitude on Guillen's part comes at a curious moment for the Sox. In terms of pitching, their staff is arguably the best in the AL Central, yet it is almost frighteningly shallow compared to the best of baseball. One reason for this shallowness is the three year decline of starter Mark Buehrle as evidenced by his stats from 2001, 2002 and 2003 (in order):
ERA: 3.29, 3.58, 4.14
K/BB: 2.63, 2.20, 1.95
K/9IP: 5.12, 5.05, 4.65
BAA: .230, .260, .278
Buehrle's decline is an indication that his arm is getting progressively tired. One would think that the Sox would opt to limit Buehrle to no more than 5 innings per start or to a strict pitch limit in the 75-100 range or perhaps even place him in the bullpen in order to at least lengthen out his quality service for the team. This is especially the case since Buehrle recently signed a 3-yr. $18 Mil. in guraranteed money contract with the Sox. However, the Sox have not evinced any awareness of Buehrle's decline and appear to have their problematic pitcher on course towards lengthened stays on the mound.
If the Chicago White Sox are to have any chance of winning the AL Central in 2004, the team needs to have its pitchers bright and chipper. That being the case, Sox fans have to hope and pray that while Guillen may share Torborg's philosophy of pitching, the new Sox manager has greater talent and discretion dealing with pitchers than Torborg. As any further reason is needed for concern, the recent sidelining of Cubs pitcher Mark Prior is further evidence of what ill wind comes from pitchers staying out on the mound for too long.
Well, we won the last game with KC. However, if it were not for that ignorant buffoon of a so-called manager, Ozzie Guillen, the Sox would be headed into NYC with a perfect 2-0 mark. I have the feeling that this is going to be a really looooong season.
Monday, April 05, 2004
Well, the Sox's Opening Day game was a real downer. I still can't get myself to write about it. I'll do so after I get up, rise and shine. Suffice it to say that my worst fears about the inadequacy of Ozzie Guillen for the job of Sox manager have been proven true.
Welcome to the White Sox Reporter! I started this blog due to a lack of White Sox fan presence on the Internet, at least compared to that of the stupid Cubs. Hopefully, this blog will help narrow the gap.
