Looking back on the first half of the season, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was wrong.
After watching starting pitchers Jose Contreras and Jon Garland take back-to-back beatings from the Cleveland Indians as the Sox lost the first two games of the season, Guillen already was pointing a sharp finger at his rotation.
?I?ve been waiting for our pitching staff the last month to step it up,?? Guillen said April 4. ?It?s just the second game, but we just scored 7 runs and, with the pitching staff we have, we should win the game, we should. I know it?s early in the season, but it?s late and old what I see every day.
?It?s not easy to bring the relievers in the second inning, the fifth inning. It?s not easy because if we continue to do that it?s going to be a long season. It?s just two games in and it doesn?t mean anything, but I?ve been seeing this since the beginning of spring training.
?It gets to the point where you don?t want to put doubts in your pitching staff, but in the meanwhile, seeing this every day, well it?s my job to doubt these people.??
Most of Guillen?s frustration with his rotation in early April stemmed from spring training, during which rookie John Danks was the White Sox? only starter who appeared to have a clue.
Just over three months later, the rotation has emerged as the Sox? lone strength.
Newly signed Mark Buehrle and Javier Vazquez are two of the better starters in either league, and Garland could make the same statement before he was lit up by the Minnesota Twins on Friday. Danks is holding his own, and only Contreras has failed to put an extended string of quality starts together.
So why did the White Sox pull into the all-star break at 39-47 ? 13 games behind the first-place Tigers in the AL Central and only 2 ahead of the last-place Royals?
Let?s take a peek back:
Swing and a mess
Last season, the Sox batted .280 as a team, which tied them for fourth in the AL. They also led the major leagues with 236 home runs and were third in the league with 868 runs scored.
In the first half this year, the White Sox are last in the majors with a .241 batting average and last in the majors with 685 hits. In the AL, they rank last with 354 runs scored, and the Sox also are at the bottom with a .314 on-base percentage.
The offense, particularly first baseman Paul Konerko, finally got it going over the last 15 games, but that doesn?t mean embattled hitting coach Greg Walker is sleeping any better.
Walking wounded
Scott Podsednik and Darin Erstad were expected to give the Sox a potent 1-2 punch at the top of the batting order, but the veteran outfielders might need to be introduced should they actually take the field together in the second half.
Both accurately were viewed as medical risks coming into the season, and their inability to stay healthy has crippled the White Sox? offense more than anything else.
How bad has it been for the duo?
Podsednik went down with a strained adductor just two weeks into the season. When he finally returned, on June 23, Podsednik lasted just eight games before going back on the disabled list with a strained rib-cage muscle.
?That?s the way we roll right now,?? Guillen said after Podsednik went back on the DL on July 2.
Erstad went down with a sprained left ankle on May 31. When he returned on June 22, the gritty outfielder re-injured the ankle making a diving catch against the Cubs in the top of the first inning. He has been back on the DL ever since.
In addition to Podsednik and Erstad, third baseman Joe Crede (back surgery) and super sub Pablo Ozuna (broken leg) are out for the season, and Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome also have missed time with nagging injuries.
Bull @#*&
Guillen was correct when identifying the main reason the defending World Series champions failed to make the playoffs last season.
The bullpen.
Neal Cotts and Cliff Politte, a lethal duo in 2005, were nowhere near as effective. Brandon McCarthy never adjusted to going from starting to relieving, and unproven arms ranging from Boone Logan to Agustin Montero were just plain bad.
General manager Kenny Williams thought he brought the Sox? bullpen back up to code over the off-season. But newcomers David Aardsma, Nick Masset, Ryan Bukvich and Andrew Sisco flopped, as have holdovers Mike MacDougal and Matt Thornton.
After watching starting pitchers Jose Contreras and Jon Garland take back-to-back beatings from the Cleveland Indians as the Sox lost the first two games of the season, Guillen already was pointing a sharp finger at his rotation.
?I?ve been waiting for our pitching staff the last month to step it up,?? Guillen said April 4. ?It?s just the second game, but we just scored 7 runs and, with the pitching staff we have, we should win the game, we should. I know it?s early in the season, but it?s late and old what I see every day.
?It?s not easy to bring the relievers in the second inning, the fifth inning. It?s not easy because if we continue to do that it?s going to be a long season. It?s just two games in and it doesn?t mean anything, but I?ve been seeing this since the beginning of spring training.
?It gets to the point where you don?t want to put doubts in your pitching staff, but in the meanwhile, seeing this every day, well it?s my job to doubt these people.??
Most of Guillen?s frustration with his rotation in early April stemmed from spring training, during which rookie John Danks was the White Sox? only starter who appeared to have a clue.
Just over three months later, the rotation has emerged as the Sox? lone strength.
Newly signed Mark Buehrle and Javier Vazquez are two of the better starters in either league, and Garland could make the same statement before he was lit up by the Minnesota Twins on Friday. Danks is holding his own, and only Contreras has failed to put an extended string of quality starts together.
So why did the White Sox pull into the all-star break at 39-47 ? 13 games behind the first-place Tigers in the AL Central and only 2 ahead of the last-place Royals?
Let?s take a peek back:
Swing and a mess
Last season, the Sox batted .280 as a team, which tied them for fourth in the AL. They also led the major leagues with 236 home runs and were third in the league with 868 runs scored.
In the first half this year, the White Sox are last in the majors with a .241 batting average and last in the majors with 685 hits. In the AL, they rank last with 354 runs scored, and the Sox also are at the bottom with a .314 on-base percentage.
The offense, particularly first baseman Paul Konerko, finally got it going over the last 15 games, but that doesn?t mean embattled hitting coach Greg Walker is sleeping any better.
Walking wounded
Scott Podsednik and Darin Erstad were expected to give the Sox a potent 1-2 punch at the top of the batting order, but the veteran outfielders might need to be introduced should they actually take the field together in the second half.
Both accurately were viewed as medical risks coming into the season, and their inability to stay healthy has crippled the White Sox? offense more than anything else.
How bad has it been for the duo?
Podsednik went down with a strained adductor just two weeks into the season. When he finally returned, on June 23, Podsednik lasted just eight games before going back on the disabled list with a strained rib-cage muscle.
?That?s the way we roll right now,?? Guillen said after Podsednik went back on the DL on July 2.
Erstad went down with a sprained left ankle on May 31. When he returned on June 22, the gritty outfielder re-injured the ankle making a diving catch against the Cubs in the top of the first inning. He has been back on the DL ever since.
In addition to Podsednik and Erstad, third baseman Joe Crede (back surgery) and super sub Pablo Ozuna (broken leg) are out for the season, and Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome also have missed time with nagging injuries.
Bull @#*&
Guillen was correct when identifying the main reason the defending World Series champions failed to make the playoffs last season.
The bullpen.
Neal Cotts and Cliff Politte, a lethal duo in 2005, were nowhere near as effective. Brandon McCarthy never adjusted to going from starting to relieving, and unproven arms ranging from Boone Logan to Agustin Montero were just plain bad.
General manager Kenny Williams thought he brought the Sox? bullpen back up to code over the off-season. But newcomers David Aardsma, Nick Masset, Ryan Bukvich and Andrew Sisco flopped, as have holdovers Mike MacDougal and Matt Thornton.
