Tagged: pregame

White Sox Acquire Jake Peavy for Clayton Richard and Minor Leaguers (Russell, Poreda, Carter)

Wow! Kenny Williams comes from under the radar again and gets Jake Peavy [again]. This time he accepts! Just after the Twins and Tigers make big moves and the White Sox act like everything’s quiet…

I personally think this could be a steal. The only issue is Peavy’s injury, but he is making good progress and could be starting as soon as late August/early September. The Sox will need to use the likes of Torres, Colon, or Freddy Garcia to make up the time until then. D.J. Carrasco will start against the Yankees in place of Clayton Richard tonight (maybe the trade deadline should be a day off for all teams??). Podsednik-8, Beckham-6, Thome-DH, Konerko-1B, AJ-C, Quentin-LF, Kotsay-RF, Nix-SS, Getz-2B are starting against Mitre tonight. As you can see, Ozzie seems to really like Kotsay, and Ramirez is out after his injury in Minnesota. The real story tonight will be the Sox pitching against the Yankees’ hitters since it will be a complete bullpen effort tonight.
Back to the trade…Because of the injury, this has the potential to hurt the Sox in the short-term. If the Sox can hang tough until September, it may be brilliant. For the next couple years, the projected rotation looks great (Buehrle, Peavy, Floyd, Danks as the first 4). Richard has looked good recently but he probably wasn’t the answer. Considering the Sox could be getting an ace back, I think Kenny Williams may have really stolen this one.
(Note: I haven’t been blogging as much recently. I had some events and less times recently so I haven’t been doing post and pregame thoughts for every game, but will try to post when I have time and/or any big events happen)

July 28th Pregame – Sox vs Twins

Tonight, Mark Buerhle makes his first start since the perfect game. 

The Sox will face Scott Baker with this lineup (from Scott Reifert): 
Podsednik – LF
Ramirez – SS
Dye – RF
Konerko – 1B
Pierzynski – C
Quentin – DH
Getz – 2B
Beckham – 3B
Wise – CF
According to Sun-Times beat writer Joe Cowley, Jim Thome is out with a sore back and the Sox have decided to move Clayton Richard to the bullpen. Does this mean the Sox are entrusting Bartolo Colon and/or Freddy Garcia with the 5th starter spot? We’ll see with the trade deadline days away.
We’ll also see how the Sox recover from last night’s game. If you didn’t see it, A.J. and Alexei had some words after that terrible 2nd inning. I’m sure this happens all the time on teams, but can this type of stuff have an effect? Hopefully it gives the Sox a kick in the butt to get over the player’s mental hump of playing in the dome. 

July 27th Pregame – Sox back in Minnesota

This place again? The Sox return in Minnesota for another series in the little dome of horrors tonight. 

Mark Gonzales confirms that Matt Thonrton has left the team to be with his wife, who is having a baby. This means there are no lefties in the bullpen.
The Sox lineup, per ESPN:
Podsednik – CF
Ramirez – SS
Dye – RF
Konerko – 1B
Pierzynski – C
Quentin – LF
Beckham – 3B
Nix – 2B
Fields – DH
Danks – SP
Again, Ozzie sits many of the lefties, even though lefties are hitting over .350 against tonight’s starter, Glen Perkins. 
John Danks is back after missing a start. He had a very rough first inning when he last pitched in Minnesota, but he then came back and did very well. He needs to avoid all mental obstacles and keep himself out of trouble tonight.

July 26th Pregame – Sox in Detroit (on ESPN)

Tonight the Sox get to see Rick Porcello. Porcello is more of a groundball pitcher, but he will give up the home run. Detroit seems to be careful with the rookie, who has not thrown 100 pitches once this season. Lefties have done a good job against Porcello, so they could play a big role for the Sox tonight.

Tonight’s lineup, per Scott Reifert’s Twitter account ( http://twitter.com/InsideTheSox/status/2858627085 ):
Podsednik – CF
Ramirez – SS
Dye – RF
Thome – DH
Konerko – 1B
Pierzynski – C
Quentin – LF
Getz – 2B
Beckham – 3B
Clayton Richard – SP
This is another huge start for Richard. He was up for the challenge against Tampa Bay, but the Sox really need a quality start or better in this big game. 

Sox Lose Game 1 of Double-Header, Look To Colon In Game 2

Game 1 Postgame

Verlander takes care of the Sox with a complete game today. He was on the ropes a few times during the game but got himself out of it. The Sox did not have a very good approach this afternoon. There were way too many quick innings by the offense. Verlander is very good at home and the Sox should’ve been a little more patient later in the game to get to the bullpen (Rodney has been good but the rest of the bullpen has 17 blown saves). Verlander is a freak, however, and again showed he can get stronger late in the game (with the gun coming in over 100 m.p.h. in one of the last pitches of the game). On the other side, it was a positive outing for Contreras. He stayed long enough in the game to rest the bullpen in case it is needed tonight.

Game 2 Pregame

The Sox lineup for Game 2, per Mark Gonzales’ Twitter account ( http://twitter.com/MDGonzales/status/2825311919 ):
Podsednik – LF
Ramirez – SS
Dye – RF
Thome – DH
Konerko – 1B
Beckham – 3B
Wise – CF
Castro – C
Colon – SP
Castro catches Colon in game 2. Quentin gets a break as well. The lineup should be okay tonight with Detroit starting Eddie Bonine. This is Eddie’s first start of the season (and 6th in his career). Bonine pitched out of the bullpen in April and did not fare that well. The question mark is Bartolo Colon. I really have no idea what to expect from him and the Sox are hoping for a quality start to salvage the double-header.

July 24 Pregame – Sox in Detroit – Game 1

The Sox have a quick turnaround from their dramatic afternoon as they fly to Detroit to take on the Tigers. The timing on this series is great from a baseball fan’s perspective since the Tigers and White Sox are now tied for first place. Including the doubleheader today, neither team wants any worse than a split in the 4 game series. 

The White Sox lineup for game 1 from Scott Reifert’s Twitter account ( http://twitter.com/InsideTheSox/status/2818991502 ): 
Wise – CF
Ramirez – SS
Dye – RF
Thome – DH
Konerko – 1B
Pierzynski – C
Quentin – LF
Getz – 2B
Beckham – 3B
Contreras – SP
The big surprise in this lineup is Wise leading off. Wise was one of the hottest topics in baseball after his amazing catch yesterday; we’ll see if he can ride that momentum into today. I am also  surprised that Castro is not catching Contreras. Castro, who caught Buehrle’s perfect game yesterday, has been Jose’s personal catcher since Contreras returned from the minors. For the most part, Jose has found success with Castro, but was roughed up last time out against Baltimore. You figure Castro will play in Game 2 (it could also be possible that Colon requested him), but I’m also surprised since Ozzie is picking the lefty against Verlander. A.J. is hitting over .300 against Verlander, so it’s nice to see Ozzie straying from an obsession with playing the percentages. 
Sox fans know Verlander well. Justin has a stellar 1.34 E.R.A. with a 6-0 record at home this year. He doesn’t give up a lot of home runs or walks, and figures to be a tough customer for the Sox today. The Sox should have some hope going into this game. In the past the Sox have given Verlander a tough time, even when the rest of the league has trouble with him. Verlander has a 3-9 career record and 5.44 E.R.A. against the Sox. That is Verlander’s worst career E.R.A. for any team he has faced over 3 times.
One quick note for Game 2, Bartolo Colon will be making the start, and to make room for Colon, the Sox sent rookie Carlos Torres back down to AAA. Torres had a quality start in his major league debut against the Rays.

July 23rd Pregame – Sox face Rays this afternoon in series finale

Very quickly, the lineup (Scott Reifert Twitter update http://twitter.com/InsideTheSox/status/2801850600 ) :

Podsednik – LF
Ramirez – SS
Dye – RF
Konerko – DH
Quentin – LF
Beckham – 3B
Nix – 2B
Castro – C
Fields – 1B
Buehrle – SP
A bit of a diluted lineup today. Thome gets the day off and Fields seems to be getting a little more of a chance lately. Piezynski gets the day off after the night game, which was expected. It’s good to see Quentin in the lineup today. He had a nice sliding catch last night, and it’s good to see that an ailment is not keeping him out of the lineup. Other than Podsednik, every hitter is right handed, which feeds into Guillen’s matchup obssesion (even though, again, the opposing pitcher, a lefty, gives up hits at a higher rate against lefties). 
Today the Sox face Scott Kazmir who is having a rough season (and battling injuries), though he has been much better on the road this year. He is coming off a good outing in KC. Tampa Bay also has its second highest winning percentage when Kazmir starts games.
So, we end this great series with a rematch of Game 2 of the 08 ALDS, let’s hope for a different result!

July 22 Pregame – White Sox look to recover against Rays; Torres makes debut, Poreda sent down

As we learned yesterday, John Danks is missing his start tonight. Luckily it doesn’t seem to be anything serious and this should be the only missed start. The Sox have called up Carlos Torres to face the Rays tonight. Torres has nice numbers in AAA, going 8-4 with a 2.20 ERA. It’s only AAA, but those are solid numbers considering he pitches in a hitter’s park in Charlotte. He will have a tough test against the Rays lineup. Hopefully he can have some sort of edge by this being a last minute change and the Rays not knowing much about Torres. 

The Sox sent down Aaron Poreda to make room for Torres. I thought Poreda should have gotten a shot at the 5th starter spot, but he was taken away from pitching regularly and was being used too sparingly. For this reason, I like the move of him going back down and starting again. 
Tonight the Sox face James Shields, who is starting to rack up multiple good years in the majors. Shields will throw strikes and he doesn’t give up a ton of walks, so the Sox will have to be able to put a few hits together and play smart to score tonight. The same lineup as last night per beat writer Mark Gonzales’ blog on the Tribune website: 
Podsednik – CF
Ramirez – SS
Dye – RF
Thome – DH
Konerko – 1B
Pierzynski – C
Quentin – LF
Getz – 2B
Beckham – 3B

July 21 Pregame – Sox and Rays back at it again

Has everyone recovered from last night’s game? Well, it doesn’t matter, because baseball has a short turnaround and players better be ready to go the next day. Tonight’s lineup, per Mark Gonzales’ Twitter update ( http://twitter.com/MDGonzales/status/2762568463 ):

Podsednik – CF
Ramirez – SS
Dye – RF
Thome – DH
Konerko – 1B
Pierzynski – C
Quentin – LF
Getz – 2B
Beckham – 3B

Clayton Richard – SP

With the exception of any injuries, trades, a 2nd base platoon and maybe a few spots in the order, this is the Sox lineup for the rest of the year, and I have to say, it looks pretty damn solid. Today the offense has a tough test in Jeff Niemann. Niemann is coming off a complete game shutout against Oakland. The Sox may be lucky to score 3-4 runs tonight. The Rays clearly have the edge tonight, as they face Clayton Richard. Richard wasn’t bad against the Rays in the playoffs last year, but he is starting to show he is not a reliable starting pitcher. Richard last started on July 9th against Cleveland, and couldn’t register more than one inning. The Sox really need to hope for the unexpected tonight.

Back to last night…who happened to see the Oakland-Twins game? The Twins blew a huge lead and ended up losing on a questionable call at the plate. Former Sox prospect Gio Gonzalez gives up 11 earned runs and comes away with a no decision. Check out the box score:

So, a wild Sox win and a crazy game blown by the Twins leads to great night for the Palehose, who are now 1 game back of Detroit. Let’s hope the Sox can ride some sort of momentum wave into tonight’s game.


July 20th Pregame – White Sox bring up Quentin, send down Anderson; Rays come to town

The Carlos Quentin is back…and it comes at the expense of Brian Anderson. Let’s start off with Quentin. Obviously, sticking Quentin in the middle of the order is going to help both the entire lineup and the bottom of the order. It’ll be interesting to see how Carlos does. The general belief is that he is still banged up, but the only way he’ll be able to play is to tough it out and play through pain. Because of this, Sox fans probably shouldn’t expect the MVP performance of last year, but he is still a welcome addition. 

Mark Gonzales, White Sox beat writer, has the lineup today per his Twitter account (http://twitter.com/MDGonzales/status/2743867038): 

Podsednik – LF
Ramirez – SS
Dye – RF
Konerko – 1B
Pierzynski – C
Quentin – LF
Beckham – 3B
Getz – 2B Nix – 2B (Update: Not sure if Getz was scratched or if Mark just had it wrong)
Fields – DH
Floyd – SP
Quentin starts off hitting 6th, which is a nice move since the Sox offense has been doing well recently and too much pressure isn’t thrown onto Carlos. I am a little surprised he isn’t a DH tonight. Thome is sitting against a lefty (even though he is red hot. Ozzie loves those %s…). Tonight the Sox face the talented David Price, who showed everyone what he had during last year’s playoff run. Price hasn’t won a game on the road this year, and has been roughed up in a few of his starts, but is coming off a good start. 
Let’s face it, the Sox offense has been fine recently. If the Sox want to win games, the pitching has to step it up. Floyd beat the Rays in Tampa this year, but has had his share of struggles. He has been good at home, and his great June showed hope of a return to last season’s form, but he has been average in his two starts in July (though his last start in Minnesota was better than his stats lead on). 
Now, back to Quentin…there has been speculation these past weeks about who would be the roster casualty, and it’s Brian. For many Sox fans, this is a tough pill to swallow. The move makes me wonder about Ozzie playing favorites and having some personal problem with Anderson. Since Anderson, a great defender, was slated to be the CF heir in 2006, he has battled Rob Mackowiak, Darin Erstad, and an older Ken Griffey Jr. for playing time. The problem with Anderson has always been his offense, but he has never really gotten a chance to prove himself. He had a tough start at the plate, just like Gordon Beckham when he came up, but Beckham got time and came out of his hitting woes in a fury. Now if you compare Dewayne Wise to Brian Anderson, you start to really wonder why this decision was made. Here are their stats this year:
Career numbers tell the same story. Anderson is also a good base runner and a much better defender. In fact, he has been used as a late game defensive replacement many times since 2005. Remember, Quentin in LF also moves Podsednik, who is not the strongest defender, to CF. Wouldn’t it be smarter to keep a guy like Anderson on the team…? Something’s not right here…