Greg Walker's Mind Scores Runs

by CWSKeith on May 5, 2007 8:08 PM CDT in Recaps Comment 25 comments

...or Eric Karros' subtle sarcasm flew right over my head.

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The Sox scored a first inning run for just the fifth time this year. The Sox scored six runs -- none via the longball -- and every Sox starter had a hit except for Pablo Ozuna.

Darin Erstad keeps grinding along, going 2-for-4 with a walk on the day. His two-out RBI single in the second was particularly crucial in getting the Sox ahead early.
Ryan Sweeney hasn't been talked about a whole lot here, but I've been impressed with his approach at the plate. He's patient and is generally swinging at good pitches. I know he's only hitting .167, but I don't think he's overmatched. The Sox have continually pushed Sweeney throughout his minor league career, despite the fact that he's never really dominated any level. I wouldn't mind if they did that with him this year, letting him take his lumps with the Sox -- after all, he is going to be a third of this outfield in the next decade, if things go well -- although I'm sure the only chance of that happening is if Sweeney hits .400 until Podsednik returns.

I'm no scout or baseball expert, but I can see why scouts drool over the guy. His arm is strong and he's displayed good range in the outfield. His swing is also aesthetically pleasing.

* Garland's stuff looked better today than it has in his previous starts. His curveball continues to be a key pitch -- he doesn't use it that often, but he's locating it well. He's even getting some hitters to swing over the top of it, something I've never seen from Garland. More important than his curveball, however, is his sinker, and he had very good movement on that pitch today.

This doesn't need to be said, but Garland continues to do an excellent job fielding his position.

* It appears Toby Hall will return by the end of May. Personally, I don't care if he can't throw anybody out -- the Sox need any help they can get against southpaws, so Hall will be a welcome addition once he returns.

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Garland is steady...

Remember young J.G. who used to suffer from the meltdown/multiple run inning? I've loved this guy for the last two years because he's learned how to stop the bleeding after a run or two and get back on track. Ditto for keeping the team in the game even when he doesn't have his best stuff. He's become a real professional pitcher. And when he does have his good stuff you can expect an outstanding 9 innings (if Ozzie lets him go that far). Not a number one but a great #2 or #3.

Canada's finest

by MarkD on May 5, 2007 8:46 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Sweeney's

approach at the plate is what the sox need more of--taking pitches, making contact, hitting where the ball is pitched, not trying to do too much. You can see why the sox are higher on Sweeney than on Anderson.

And his defense and arm are above average for a corner OFer.

by cfisk72 on May 5, 2007 9:04 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

minors

jack egbert: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 3 K, 0 BB, ERA 1.46

brian anderson: 2-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
andy gonzalez: 0-3, (.311/.368/.508/.876)

cunningham: 1-4, 1 2B (.354/.424/.556/.979)
schnurstein: 1-3, 1 RBI (.310/.402/.680/1.082)

by The Wizard on May 5, 2007 9:49 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Egbert

Fifteen (!) groundouts to zero flyouts. Amazing.

by CWSKeith on May 5, 2007 10:03 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Formating Question

Why do my stars show up as bullet points on the top but as stars on the bottom? And can someone post the 'code' for posting a picture in a game recap?

by CWSKeith on May 5, 2007 10:53 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

photo code

to make the photo a link:

by The Wizard on May 5, 2007 11:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

the asterisks is something with the type of

formatting used, not really sure

ps. if you click the 'Edit Story' link you can see the code for every entry in the blog

by The Wizard on May 5, 2007 11:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I saw about 4 pitches on this game

which probably explains why the Sox won. Garland must have been cruising, I saw he was at about 80 pitches through 7 innings.

AIM: SouthSideCheat

by The Cheat on May 6, 2007 12:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

CWS Keith said:

"Personally, I don't care if he can't throw anybody out -- the Sox need any help they can get against southpaws, so Hall will be a welcome addition once he returns."

You weren't serious, were you?

by Hazymania on May 6, 2007 12:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Why wouldn't he be?

by mjthor on May 6, 2007 1:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why not?

AJ has thrown out three baserunners this year in fifteen attempts. Speed demons like Vlad Guerrero and Mike Napoli have been running on AJ, that's how bad it's gotten. When Contreras is on the mound, whoever's arm behind home plate doesn't matter. When Buehrle is on the mound, it also doesn't matter (but for the opposite reason).

Of course I don't mean it 100% literally, but if he's phyiscally strong enough to hit at this point -- meaning he's hitting like he was before the injury -- he should be on the team ASAP. Any help against lefties is welcome help on this team.

by CWSKeith on May 6, 2007 2:27 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lead off single? Sure, have second base too!

If there is ZERO chance Hall can throw a guy out and opposing base runners know this, you'd better hope the Sox have a lefty, Buehrle or to a lesser extent Danks, that has a killer to decent pick off move on the mound. That or hope to be facing the Konerko family softball team.

Granted A.J. has only thrown out a handful of base runners this season, but the THREAT at least remains.

If you owned a bank, would you rather it be guarded by someone with:
A.) A gun, regardless of whether there were any bullets in it or not. P
or
B.) No gun whatsoever and a sign around his neck clearly stating in big effin letters "I CARRY NO GUN, THE COMBINATION TO THE SAFE IS..."

Unless you want Hall to come in and DH against lefties, I personally think he needs to stay out till he can prove he can throw to second at full strength.

by Hazymania on May 6, 2007 9:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Is this one of 'the little things'?

I don't see how a guy with an unresolved shoulder problem is going to be throwing any better until after surgery, and even then he won't be at full strength. It's already been pointed out, but the Sox can keep his arm from getting exposed with two lefties (one of them being an expert pickoff artist, the other gave Phil Rogers a boner with his pickoff move) on the staff.

If you owned a bank would you be asking stupid questions about baseball?

by Paxson Jackson on May 6, 2007 10:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Stupid Question

I hardly think it's stupid to question the logic behind giving anyone on first a free pass to second because our catcher can't throw them out. I don't argue that the backup catcher situation is a joke, I just don't think an injured player is the answer.

Of course if the pitchers would just throw nothing but perfect games, this wouldn't really be a problem would it?

by Hazymania on May 6, 2007 6:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great formula.

Make AJ completely useless by the All-Star break.
Waste at-bats every time you send AJ to the plate against lefties.

This has to work!

by defensive indifference on May 6, 2007 10:57 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Have to agree

Hall can't throw, and it's not like he's an all-star at the plate. This is typical Sox -- pin your hopes on a half-assed internal solution rather than bite the bullet and bring in an actual backup catcher. My prediction is that Hall is back at the end of May, after all that wear on AJ and wasted at-bats on Molina, and opposing teams run wild and the Sox pull the plug and bring Molina back up. I think, like Thome, Hall will get stuck in there and discover he's actually still injured and can't play.

by hitlesswonder on May 6, 2007 11:32 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hall is an actual backup catcher

by Paxson Jackson on May 6, 2007 3:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

He has a torn labrum

He won't be able to throw the ball, which is a an important component of the position. I don't think he can adequately field the position, so I don't think he's n actual backup catcher at this point.

by hitlesswonder on May 6, 2007 10:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

We don't really know that,

and his arm could be adequate to good in a limited role. AJ is still going to catch a bunch of games, and no backup catcher is going to be a big enough help against lefties to warrant bullet biting.

by Paxson Jackson on May 7, 2007 9:45 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

torn labrum

I had surgery to repair a torn labrum about 6 months ago. Hall can throw with it now if he can deal with the pain. Eventually, he'll have to have it fixed.

His shoulder will definitely be weaker than it was but he still might do fairly well and help the Sox. Atleast, I hope.

by White Sox Randy on May 7, 2007 10:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

he doesn't have

the same sort of torn labrum a pitcher gets. if the rehab has gone/will go as planned, he should be able to throw relatively well. of course, i'd run every chance i'd get on him until he shows he can throw to second on the fly.

by larry on May 7, 2007 10:36 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't you get tired

of being the expert in the "torn labrum" category?

I'd prefer to be the "ACL" expert - many more incidents to post since it is a much more common injury than the labrum thing.

Not that I'm telling you to intentionally injure yourself just to have more expertise.

by winningugly on May 7, 2007 8:09 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

ACL

is becoming too easy. you get your knee scoped and you're back in less than a year. i prefer tougher injuries with less certainty. i'm a grinder, you know.

Stay grindy, my friends.

by larry on May 8, 2007 1:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've tuned out the early part of this weekend.....

but I think I'm going to try and watch today. Let's take today, then 2 of 3 in Minn (very possible sans Johan) and then get ready for a big return home next weekend against KC.

I still don't feel very good about our chances this year, but at the same time it's almost shocking to believe we sit at 13-14 given the lack of offense, tough schedule, etc....

Anybody hear anything about how Thome is feeling? I think he'd be eligible to come off the DL for the first game of the Yankees series (May 15th)....but I could see him realistically not coming back until May 21 against Oakland because we play the Cubbies for 3 after the Yankee series.

by stanchar on May 6, 2007 12:40 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs