Blanked

by The Cheat on Jun 1, 2006 12:05 AM CDT in White Sox News

It was bound to happen sometime, but that doesn't make Wednesday's shutout at the hands of the Indians any easier to swallow. The Sox offense has gone cold, scoring three runs or less in 5 of their last 7 games. Paul Konerko has left enough men on base the last two games to field a World Cup team.

Freddy Garcia wasn't bad. In fact, his line is a little misleading thanks to 2 late runs on the hands of Rob Mackowiak and Cliff Politte. Garcia was very effective with his off-speed stuff all game. He was so effective, that it appeared the Indians were sitting on his fastball. All of the Indians extra-base hits came on fastballs. They were all smoked too. Garcia just doesn't have the fastball to blow people away now. He's got to find a way to El Duque his way by without much of a fastball, or it's going to be a long season.

As for those two extra runs... With 1 out in the 7th, Lou Merloni hit a soft infield single on a breaking ball. Then Grady Sizemore roped a line drive to center field -- when Brian Anderson is in the game, those are called outs. But Mackowiak was manning center, so it goes in the books as an RBI triple. -- Ozzie pulled Garcia in favor of Politte, who, of course, let Sizemore score before recording an out.

Ozzie should be laying into the guys as he did on Saturday once again, as they've made a number of mental and physical errors in the last couple days that are just unacceptable.

A couple of things bothered me about the lineup Ozzie used tonight.

If there is one type of pitcher that Brain Anderson has shown success against, it's sinkerballers. Felix Hernandez and Carlos Silva are the two pitchers who he's hit the hardest, and they're both known for getting the opponent to put the ball on the ground.
I couldn't believe Alex Cintron was allowed anywhere near the lineup a day after he made an inexcusable mental error in the ninth. I wonder if Ozzie even understands the advantage of a platoon. After Wednesday, Cleveland will have the second best OPS from it's first baseman thanks to the platoon system.
Ozzie has yet to start using Cintron in place of Tadahito Iguchi, who, aside from the Rich Hill game, has been brutal against left-handed pitching. He almost seems confused at how to use Cintron. There's really no reason to use him against a right-hander when Iguchi is the better play there.
Finally, our pitching staff, on the whole, is having a tough time striking guys out this season. Only the San Francisco Giants have a K/9 lower than the White Sox. That means that the Sox rely on their defense for run prevention more than any other team in the American League. Whenever possible, Ozzie needs to put his best defensive alignment on the field.

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Comments

Anderson

Does anyone know if he had a tendency to hit righties better or at least feel more comfortable against them in his professional career before the White Sox?

There is a marked difference between his H/AB ratio in right-left splits at the major league level, but we are dealing with sample sizes < 100 AB's.

AIM: i2ockbotm

by 3E8 on Jun 1, 2006 12:29 AM CDT reply actions

he's also facing tougher lefties

Some damn fine lefties have made up half of his recent starts. Kazmir, Santana, Sabathia, etc. I've generally ignored the reverse-split for that reason.

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Jun 1, 2006 12:42 AM CDT up reply actions

Garcia

Garcia had great command of his breaking stuff last night. I don't think he really had to throw a fastball in any of those situations.

The Sox had the hits but really didn't execute once they had men on base.

On BA not being in center - I'm sick of arguing how important his defence is. Why do we have to keep talking about it?

Comonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn You White Sox!

by zokmaad on Jun 1, 2006 7:17 AM CDT reply actions

Ozzie

I think Ozzie's waiting until the Sox are 7 games back in late August to start consistently fielding a major league lineup.

by the wolf on Jun 1, 2006 7:34 AM CDT reply actions

anderson staying put

sun-times' joe cowley:

Manager Ozzie Guillen called Anderson into his office before Wednesday's game and informed him that the minor leagues are not in his plans. Not all the news was good for Anderson, however, as Guillen also told him that he will be platooning with Rob Mackowiak in center field.

HEY THIS IS JI
JIM THOME
THE PEORIA POUNDER

by The Wizard on Jun 1, 2006 12:23 PM CDT reply actions

If that means BS only plays against LHP...

...then that's just dumb. They might be better off sending him to CHA so he could get at-bats (and not just against Liriano, Santana, Sabathia...). If Mack gets all the righties, he's going to be falling all over himself in CF 5 or 6 times a week.

by hitlesswonder on Jun 1, 2006 12:54 PM CDT up reply actions

yes

same article:

He talked it over with general manager Ken Williams on the phone and with his coaching staff, and rather than send Anderson down, he will go with the left-handed-hitting Mackowiak against more right-handed starters and Anderson against lefties.

HEY THIS IS JI
JIM THOME
THE PEORIA POUNDER

by The Wizard on Jun 1, 2006 1:02 PM CDT up reply actions

Ugh

Just reading this in the paper this morning pissed me off. Yesterday not included, how many days have you watched a game and thought, 'man, we really don't have enough offense'? Now how many times have you watched Ozuna & Mackowiak in misplay balls in the outfield and thought 'damnit, Anderson/Dye/Pods would have gotten that'?

I know I'm just repeating what's already been stated on this topic, but why can't Ozzie & Kenny realize that Mackowiak's barely better offense is not worth giving up Anderson's clearly superior defense?

by hiphopnerd on Jun 1, 2006 2:04 PM CDT up reply actions

BS = BA

...I really need to practice typing

by hitlesswonder on Jun 1, 2006 1:30 PM CDT up reply actions

Speaking of BS...

...enough with the platooning already!

I do believe winning the last 2 games would have put the Sox up by 1.5 games, correct?

Bah-humbug!

by tailgater on Jun 1, 2006 2:10 PM CDT up reply actions

If we're going to sacrifice defense for offense

isn't Uribe the better choice? I'm not a fan of either moves, but I can't think of a game where Cintron played short where he was particularly brutal. That's just about every game with Mack in.

Come on Ozzie, this is ridiculous. You're going to sacrifice great defense for shitty defense at one of the most important positions, all for a mediocre bat?

by chrome on Jun 1, 2006 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions

Cintron vs. Uribe

Cintron isn't much better than Juan with the bat (.596 OPS vs. .576), and even though Alex is adequate in the field, I think we can all agree that Juan is superior. Plus, since Juan is such a streaky hitter, it would pay off more long term to leave him in there until he figures it out.

Mackowiak is nearly 200 points better than BA in OPS, and I still don't think it's worth sticking him in center.

by Ryno on Jun 1, 2006 4:04 PM CDT up reply actions

Missed plays

A missed play in CF is much more costly than a similar missed play by the SS, simply becuase balls hit to the SS are generally singles while those into the outfield are for extra-bases. That being said, the SS recieves more chances than CFer.

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on Jun 1, 2006 4:21 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm not necessarily advocating this,

nor am I saying Uribe isn't clearly the better defensive SS. However, if we are going to platoon a struggling position player to generate more offense, doing this with Uribe until he looks like he's heating up would be far less costly defensively than playing Mack in center.

by chrome on Jun 1, 2006 4:28 PM CDT up reply actions

I understand the logic

of replacing Uribe instead of Anderson because the defensive downgrade would be less noticeable. My argument is that Cintron doesn't really represent much of an upgrade offensively, so it's better to let Juan get AB's and try to figure it out, as his overall ceiling is higher than Cintron's.

by Ryno on Jun 1, 2006 4:46 PM CDT up reply actions

Anderson isn't in the lineup again tonight

If he really is only going to play against lhp, I wish they would just send him down. It's pointless to have him rot on the bench for 4 out of 5 games a week. Ozzie hasn't even been putting him in there for a defensive replacement.

by the wimperoo on Jun 1, 2006 3:58 PM CDT reply actions

Agreed...

Playing BA only against LHP is just about the worst choice of all. Although sending BA down and then adding a reliever and having Ozuna as the only reserve "outfielder" would be pretty close.

Given how Ozzie is willing use BA, the Sox simply have to trade for a real CF and get Mack out of the starting lineup.

by hitlesswonder on Jun 1, 2006 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Question

For those who have seen Pods play center more than a few times (which I've heard is ugly), is his defense even worse than Mackowiak's? Same? Better? If it's no worse, and the team refused to use Anderson, it would create the opportunity for acquiring a corner outfielder (or calling up Josh Fields and seeing if he can hit and play outfield) who can actually hit, improving the offense far more than Mackowiak can and actually making up for the defensive problems playing Mack or Pods in CF creates.

Mackowiak won't even hit above .270 for long, so there's no way you can justify his long-term presence in the lineup and especially the outfield. If the organization is unwilling to let BA work out his offensive problems, something else simply must be done.

by Ryno on Jun 1, 2006 4:09 PM CDT reply actions

Mack, Pablo and even Pods

can be brutal in the outfield. If Pods was an everyday CF, his defensive shortcomings would be more visible.

If BA isn't going to be the answer (won't he face righties when he magically becomes "good" offensively?), then a team of this caliber simply must solidify that key position ASAP. The division is too tough to assume they'll walk away with it.

by tailgater on Jun 1, 2006 4:36 PM CDT up reply actions