May 2010
Do the White Sox Need to Shake Things Up?
Some thoughts…
* I was sure we were going to sweep the Twins. After last night’s stellar victory, I thought the momentum would carry us through. No such luck. It was back to normal for the 2010 yo-yo White Sox.
* I’m worried about Carlos Quentin. Wonder if he’ll ever return to his 2008 form.
* I’m wondering if Gordon Beckham needs to regroup in Charlotte. This would have been unheard of late last summer, but maybe it would be for the best.
* I think there needs to be some changes made–yes, just for the sake of change. How about inserting some young blood to the roster in the persons of Tyler Flowers and Jordan Danks? Sources have also indicated that Kenny Williams is shopping for a bat. The bottom line is that the inconsistency of this offense has been maddening.
* After witnessing the Twins’ hot start, I don’t know if we can ever catch them even if we go on a big run. They’re good and we have a long way to go. And I haven’t even mentioned the Tigers.
* Thank goodness for Alex Rios. I declared before the season that we needed Quentin and Rios to deliver. One of two hasn’t been close to enough.
* It’s hard to believe that Mark Teahen is going to live up to the expectations of the Sox brass. He’s been better, but nowhere near what we hoped he’d be.
After a day off, the Sox travel to KC for a weekend series. No predictions from me, I’m through trying to figure out this team.
Flowers: Is it time for a one-way ticket to Chicago?
Freddy to Twins: Gar-cia Later
I want to get excited. I want to celebrate the win in our first game at Target Field. I want to think the Sox are finally playing up to expectations. But I’m going to contain myself and wait to see what happens in this afternoon’s matinee.
Last night’s 5-2 victory over the Twins was sweet. Big Game Freddy Garcia rose to the occasion as he usually does and the Sox actually had a two-out rally in the five-run fifth highlighted by Alexei Ramirez (above) and A.J. Pierzynski two-RBI doubles. And, alas, Bobby Jenks survived the ninth for his sixth save.
All eyes will be on John Danks, so far the staff ace, as he faces Carl Pavano this afternoon in an attempt to give the Sox a much-needed sweep of the short two-game series.
Was It Really The Metrodome? We’re Gonna Find Out
I said I wasn’t going to return until I could revisit the White Sox fortunes the morning after without feeling ill. Ill was certainly the case after Sunday’s Bobby Jenks‘ meltdown and nothing’s changed. But as a Sox fan, how can I sit out the two-game series with the Twins on our first trip to Target Field?
We’ll be relying on Freddy Garcia and John Danks to stop the freefall. It’s early, but if we get swept we’ll be 10 games out, if we split it will remain at eight. Still not good.
Let’s hope for the best and, remember, we won’t have the Metrodome to blame.
I Shall Return
Like Gordon Beckham, I’ve been pressing. It could be that I’ve just been trying too hard to root the Sox on to something resembling a winning streak. Between you and me it’s gotten to the point where I’d actually kill for two in a row.
So, while I’ll still be watching virtually every game as I have my whole life, I’m going to take a mental break, a la GBeck, from the blog–especially after last night’s 12-inning heartbreaking loss to Toronto. I’ll return when I feel I can avoid repeating myself on what feels like a daily basis about the woeful offense and inconsistent pitching. It’s wearing me out. I care too much to revisit the Sox failures when it happens so often.
It’s not disloyalty, it’s self preservation.
Dana Eveland (Who?) Does His Sandy Koufax Imitation
Dana Eveland, who is with his fourth organization since 2005, might as well be Sandy Koufax when he faces the White Sox. He’s now 3-1 in six starts this season with two of the victories against the South Siders.
He beat them on April 15 in Toronto, allowing only two runs and three hits in six innings. Last night, in the 2-0 Blue Jay win, he hurled seven innings of shutout ball, surrendering a mere two hits. It’s either that Eveland has turned the corner since failing to stick with the Brewers, Diamondbacks and A’s or he’s simply taken advantage of our season-long offensive doldrums.
It’s reached the point in the Sox season where nobody really knows if this is a .500 team or a contender. John Danks has been the only consistent starter and aside from Paul Konerko, Alex Rios and Andruw Jones, the offense, in the words of a fellow Sox fan, has been revolting. And the bullpen has suffered from the starters’ inconsistency.
We have no other choice but to wait it out and hope that a winning streak is right around the corner.
It’s Time for Some Consistency
Like most White Sox fans I’m looking for signs. Signs that the Sox will bust out of their inconsistent play, go on a run and enjoy a lot more post-game celebrations.Winning their second series of the season this week–the first against a division opponent–is a start. Jake Peavy‘s performance on Monday and Freddy Garcia‘s outing last night were encouraging, as was the nine-run outburst led by Andruw Jones and Alex Rios on Wednesday. But the inconsistency reared its ugly head on Tuesday in the 7-2 drubbing at the hands of the Royals, forcing Sox Nation to scratch their heads in confusion.
This weekend’s series should be telling. The Sox face the Blue Jays in a four-game set. Toronto is holding its own in the AL East and boasts a talented starting staff. One of the questions here is if the Sox staff, so highly touted entering the season, can match up with them. It’s almost been as baffling as the sometimes non-existent offense
“On paper, we were one of the best, and now when you look at that paper, we’re one of the worst in the league,” Mark Buehrle told the Sun-Times. “We haven’t done our job, and us going out there and lasting four, five innings messes up the bullpen. I think you point fingers at us on why they’ve had some problems in the bullpen.”
Tonight it’s John Danks (3-0, 1.85 ERA), the lone consistent performer on the Sox staff, vs. Dana Eveland (2-1, 4.76) who was impressive against us in Toronto. Tomorrow night it’s Buehrle (2-4, 5.30) vs. Shaun Marcum (1-1, 3.12). It’ll be Peavy (1-2, 6.31) vs. Brett Cecil (2-1, 2.61) on Saturday night and Gavin Floyd (1-3, 6.89) vs. Ricky Romero (3-1, 3.00) on Sunday afternoon.
“Everything in life is about consistency,” our Ozzie told reporters. “When you’re not consistent doing something, you’re always going to fail. I think that happened here.”
At Least Somebody’s Happy
Royals club White Sox 7-2…not good
The REAL Jake Peavy Hurls Gem at the Cell
Normally a win over the Royals in May doesn’t mean much. But to the struggling White Sox, who came into the game tied with KC for last place in the AL Central, the 5-1 victory was filled with some much-needed positive moments.
First and foremost, Jake Peavy (above) was the Jake Peavy we’ve been expecting all along. Seven innings, no runs, four hits. nine strikeouts in a dominant performance. Andruw Jones and Alex Rios continued to hit. The former went 2 for 4 with two RBI and the latter went 3 for 4 with two ribbies. A.J. Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez, both on the road back from batting average oblivion, each had two hits and although Gordon Beckham was hitless he walked twice and scored a run.
Williams: No time to panic
Kenny Williams tried to convince reporters before last night’s game that it’s premature to press the panic button for the 2010 Sox. He’s on the record as saying that it takes 60 games to evaluate the dynamics of a team. That said, he did admit there might be a time where he has to face reality. But, according to KW, it’s not now.
10 Reasons Why I’m Not a Happy Camper
It’s days like these that make me cranky. A 12-3 drubbing by the Yankees will do that to a guy. To make matters worse, after the gritty comeback yesterday the Sox looked like they were more interested in heading back to Chicago than winning the series in New York.
I’ve been hearing from Sox friends and others today with various comments. Since I’m on board with many of their thoughts, I’ve incorporated them with mine in the following opinions and observations.
* I’m not happy that the Sox have won only one series so far this year as part of their miserable 10-15 start.
* I’m not happy that today’s lackluster performance has given holier-than-thou Yankee fans and others the fodder to rip us. By the way, how does Kenny Williams feel about his goal of a championship after the first 25 games?
* I’m not happy that Alexei Ramirez hasn’t taken a step forward. He’s always a slow starter at the plate, but how about his brain cramps at short? Wasn’t Omar Vizquel supposed to help?
* I’m not happy about Gordon Beckham‘s start, but I have confidence he’ll be fine before too long.
* I’m not happy with our farm system. So, where’s the help we need?
* I’m not happy about Mark Teahen. He doesn’t look like the answer. Granted, he’s not Robin Ventura or Joe Crede, but I thought he was better than this.
* I’m not happy that Juan Pierre has been demoted to the ninth spot in the order and Scott Podsednik is on fire for the Royals.
* I’m not happy that Clayton Richard is outpitching Jake Peavy.
* I’m not happy with our bullpen. Maybe it’s time for a couple of changes. No, Ramon Castro being reinstated from the DL and Donny Lucy being sent down doesn’t count
* I’m not happy that the Twins look unbeatable in the AL Central.
Yes, I’m really unhappy.
This team definitely needs a kick-start
White Sox Beat the Yankees (No, It’s Not a Misprint)
You can look at today’s 7-6 White Sox victory against the World Champs two ways. Option 1: The Sox charged to a 5-1 lead, highlighted by two Andruw Jones homers and one off the bat of Mark Kotsay, temporarily lost the four-run margin and had enough grit to come back and break their six-game Yankee Stadium (old and new) losing streak.
Option 2: The South Siders blew another lead, suffered through a nightmare inning by Scott Linebrink and were lucky to survive.
Whichever explanation you choose, the good news is that Sox won against arguably baseball’s best team at a place where they haven’t won much lately. And aside from the homers, A.J. Pierzynski broke out of a season-long slump with a 3 for 4 day and the game-winning two-RBI double (pictured above) while Bobby Jenks had a relatively calm ninth inning to earn the save.
Mark Buehrle goes in the rubber game tomorrow against Phil Hughes as the Sox attempt to win the series from the Yankees.
Sox note of note: Three former Sox pitchers saw action for the Yanks today–Javy Vazquez, Damaso Marte and Boone Logan. Javy was tagged for five runs and Marte surrendered A.J.’s key double. Logan struck out the only batter he faced.
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