They say good hitting is contagious. Well, for the White Sox, bad hitting is a plague, an epidemic.

The Sox closed out a road trip that saw them score just 9 runs in 6 games, with Sox hitters going 4-37 with runners in scoring position.

I've been sitting up waiting for more definitive news on the state of the Sox roster, because all I know right now is that changes appear imminent. Adam Russell is gone without appearing in a game, and it looks like Alexei Ramirez is your new starting 2B. Why? I have no idea.

Juan Uribe's presence in the lineup is tough to defend, but he still seems to give the Sox a better chance to win than any of the other options at second base.

Perhaps the turkey leg that fully blocked the fat man's artery came in the third inning when Uribe found himself in an unfamiliar place, third base, with nobody out. Orlando Cabrera grounded to the rag-armed David Eckstein, who was playing what Hawk would call "half way" at short, but Uribe didn't come home. The next batter, Carlos Quentin, lifted a shallow fly ball to right field where the strong arm of Alex Rios made a running a dubious decision. Uribe held again.

Uribe's mistake was amplified by the Sox 14 inning scoring drought and Javier Vazquez' magnificent performance. Vazquez. who was throwing in the mid-90's in his last inning of work, would have finished out the 8th if not for a poor play by Pablo Ozuna. He narrowly missed becoming the third White Sox starter to grab a complete game loss while north of the border.

For his part, Ozuna had an opportunity to take Vazquez off the hook for the loss when he came to the plate in the 9th with the bases loaded and nobody out. -- I don't need to go on about Ozuna. If there's anyone who deserves to be gone (aside from Ramirez) it's Ozuna. -- With the Sox needing just a deep fly ball, and Joe Crede unavailable because of a migraine, Ozuna grounded into the game ending 1-2-3 double play.

I wish I knew the direction the Sox were thinking about taking so that I could make a preemptive post about it tonight while I have the opportunity. All I know for sure is there are no quick fixes available, and all of the conceivable solutions are hardly solutions at all.

This one had all the makings of the White Sox first 3-game losing streak of the season. Gavin Floyd had a third inning that evoked images of Javy's second inning earlier this week. He didn't seem to want anything to do with the strike zone, and would stake the Yankees to an early 3-0 lead. And then the rains came.

Thank god they came. For the series the White Sox seemed unable to push runs across against the Yankees starter, or the two aces at the end of the Yankees pen. But the rain knocked Yanks starter Phil Hughes out of the game, and gave the Sox offense a crack at the ass end of their bullpen.

Sure enough, the Sox rolled up another big inning, 5 runs in the 4th off Ross Ohlendorf (pronounced Nick Masset). It would have been 6 if not for a would-be Alexei Ramirez triple finding the right field seats resulting in a ground rule double and Carlos Quentin on 3rd base. The Gentleman Masher later added a Walloped Tater to finish the Sox scoring against the spare parts of the Yankee pen.

Floyd would take his lead and generally pitch well. But much like Javy on Wednesday, the Yankees mounted a lightning quick 2-out rally to cut the lead to one and make it a battle of the bullpens for the remaining 3 innings.

You can tell that Ozzie is still trying to get used to his new bullpen. I've yet to criticize Ozzie's bullpen usage this season in part for the same reason.

• Bobby Jenks is the closer
• Boone Logan is the top lefty
• Scott Linebrink is the top set-up man

All other roles are up for grabs, and any move to call on the remaining 4 members can be called into question in a tight game. With the Yankees running out a predominantly left-handed lineup, Ozzie tried to steal an inning with Matt Thornton, but a 2-out single and a walk forced Ozzie to call on Linebrink with the right-handed Morgan Ensberg due up. You know how that worked out.

Ozzie then tried to get multiple innings out of Logan, in part because he breezed through his first inning of work and, as is becoming quite redundant, because the Yankees lineup is littered with lefties. But when Logan had trouble getting his second out in the 9th, Ozzie made the call for the big man, a move we've begged for constantly on this blog. Even DJ tried to convince Hawk why it's in the Sox best interest to have their best reliever on the mound in the highest leverage situation. He didn't put it like that, but at least he's trying.

Jenks coaxed a double play out of Jorge Posada, and looked like he would be available to go in the 10th. The two resident ManCrushes of this site had other ideas.

With one out and Joba Chamberlain locked on cruise control, Quentin, who was in the midst of a terrible night at the plate, battled to get a bit a hanger, which he was able to rope for a double off the left field wall. Four pitches later, Joe Crede, who you might have heard is clutch, buckled his knees and poked a flat 1-2 slider into center field for the game winning single.

I don't want to overstate the importance of a single game, but if that game ends in a loss the last week plus would have had a very 2007-like feel to it. Avoiding the sweep, putting up a fight even when the bullpen blows a lead; this is a different team. I can't say they're a great team, or even a team that will stick around for the rest of the season in the AL Central, but at least they're better, more entertaining, than last season.

Hours before game time, upon hearing the news that Alexei Ramirez and Toby Hall would be in the starting lineup in place of Jermaine Dye and AJ Pierzynski, I wondered aloud where the White Sox offense would come from on Saturday.

I absolutely understand the need for both of them to have off-days. The bottom 3rd of the lineup just looks a whole lot uglier with them out.

The game is essentially shortened to 6 innings with three consecutive below replacement level hitters placed back-to-back-to-back. There's not much room for error.

Needless to say, the Sox did not play error-free baseball. The key gaffe came early, the second inning, after Mark Buehrle hit Jonny Gomes and subsequently appeared to have him picked off first base. The infielders -- I'm not going to assign blame, though Hawk and DJ seemed to agree that it was Juan Uribe's fault -- botched their second rundown in as many days, setting up what would prove to be the game-winning, 2-out rally. Three singles and 19 pitches (alot for a Buehrle meltdown) later, the Sox were down 3 runs, from which they would never recover.

Andy Sonnanstine had himself a resume builder, tossing 9 3-hit shutout innings, facing just 2 over the minimum. He just went right at the Sox and they couldn't do anything to stop him. They couldn't work their way on base; he was always ahead in the count. And more importantly, they couldn't do anything with the balls in the strike zone. Almost everything was hit softly, and generally on the ground. Heck, their first hit of the game was a bunt single by Orlando Cabrera. It was almost a 2-hitter.

Elephant in the Room

After being limited to just 3 hits, one of which was a bunt, by Sonnanstine on Saturday, the White Sox now rank 13th in the AL in batting average at .239, lower than they hit during the dismal '07 season, fractions of a percentage point away from the cellar (Cleveland at .239, or .2389). It has gone largely unnoticed thanks to good plate discipline and timely homeruns, but the Sox still aren't hitting.

The starting lineup today featured two batters with an average above .250, Nick Swisher and Joe Crede. That's not going to cut it, no matter how many walks they draw or how many homers they crank.

When you pick up your morning paper later today, you'll probably be greeted with stories crafted around the idea that the White Sox needed to bounce back from the brutal loss Thursday at the hands of the Orioles. I'm wasn't exactly concerned about how they bounced back.

This team is playing very well right now. Since last Saturday, they've lost two games, each by a run. The first came at the hands of a lefty making his second career start, and the second being the aforementioned bullpen meltdown in Baltimore. During that stretch they've also shutout Detroit, twice, and allowed more than 2 runs just once.

There's a feeling about this club that they can -- nay, should -- win every time they take the field. And when you've got a team going like that, you don't worry about how you'll respond to a tough loss; you can't wait to get back on the field and get back in the W column.

I was not at all surprised to see Javier Vazquez and the offense right back at it, doing exactly what they've been doing all season. Vazquez was able to pitch over a terrible HBP call and a poor defensive decision by Pablo Ozuna in the second and was quickly rewarded. The offense put together two big innings on the strength of back-to-back Jim Thome and Paul Konerko homers in the 3rd inning and took advantage of an Evan Longoria throwing error to get things started in the 4th. It was a laugher before the game even reached the half-way mark, giving Ozzie the opportunity to play the back-end of the bench.

* * * * *

Jerry Owens officially came off the DL and was promptly optioned to Charlotte, where he was on rehab assignment. This is a clear sign that the Sox are happy with their current 25-man roster. Who can blame them when they're leading the AL Central with a 10-6 record, and playing this well? But I'd actually like to see Owens on the roster.

Owens is never going to be anything more than a 4th or 5th outfielder on a good team, while Alexei Ramirez might be able to hold down a starting role on a good team in the near future. I could see keeping Alexei around if he was getting some starts on the infield, but Juan Uribe has started all but one game at second, and Ozuna appears to be the primary backup on the infield. With the emergence of Carlos Quentin, who has been the left field starter every game since game 2, there just aren't enough at-bats to go around. I'd rather those at-bats not be given to Owens than Ramirez, who could clearly use some more development time.

Gavin Floyd overcame some early-game shakiness to put together a nice outing Saturday, making a run at a no-hitter and eclipsing his 2007 win total in the process.

It looked like it was going to be a rough one for Floyd in the first inning. He walked The Unsinkable Clete Thomas after AJ Pierzynski dropped a 3-2 foul tip. Thomas would immediately steal second, and move into third on Placido Polanco's flyout. A nice pick and throw home from Joe Crede when Thomas went home on the contact play saved a run from blemishing Floyd's line. Carlos Quentin crashed into the outfield wall to catch a near-homer from Magglio Ordonez to close an eventful, unscored upon first.

The hard outs and walks would keep on coming through the first few innings. Nick Swisher made what is becoming his trademark defensive play, a basket catch on the warning track in the third, and Jermaine Dye had to run one down in the gap in the second. Floyd used double plays to wipe out walks in the third and fourth, so it's little wonder I hadn't realized he had a no-hitter working up to that point.

Floyd might not have known either.

He must have gotten a glimpse of the scoreboard as he took the mound in the fifth, because he started to put hitters away the rest of the game. There was one good drive by Pudge in the 5th, but other than that, the Tigers didn't mount much of anything against Floyd until Edgar Renteria's bloop single broke up the no-hitter in the 8th.

Floyd is now 3-0, with a 2.43 ERA in 37 innings against the Tigers. His two quality starts to begin the season give him 7 in his last 8 starts dating back to last season.

Scott Linebrink needed just two pitches to erase Renteria's single, recording the White Sox third double play turned of the game. Unofficially, as in I'm not sure this stat is 100% accurate, that gives them 19 on the year in 10 games. I tried querying Baseball-Reference's Play Index in every way I know how to find the Sox season record for DP's turned, but came up empty. Though I do agree with Larry, I remember it being from the 2000 team (189 is my guess). [Update by The Cheat, 04/12/08 6:21 PM CDT ]: Larry found the answer, 190 double plays turned in 2000.

Orlando Cabrera's solo homerun was the offense for most of game. But when Justin Verlander provided some free bases in the form of a walk and two HBPs in the 8th, the Sox demonstrated their renewed ability to break a game open. Pierzynski, Quentin, and Juan Uribe provided the two-out damage to turn a nail-biting pitcher's duel into a laugher, and the third time the Tigers have been shut out this season.

* * * * *

Jerry Owens is scheduled to begin his rehab stint tonight in Charlotte. I'm taking this as good news because Alexei Ramirez hasn't received a start since game 2 -- not that I'm complaining, but I'd rather see him getting regular work in Charlotte. And the quickest way to accomplish that feat is to have Owens taking his spot on the bench.

When the White Sox opened last season with a series against the Indians, it quickly became apparent to me that they were vastly out-manned. And if they weren't out-manned (they most definitely were), at the very least, they were out-optimized. The '07 Indians knew exactly who was would play against righties, who would play against lefties, and who would enter in relief in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. To steal a tired campaign slogan, they were Ready From Day 1.

The Sox, by contrast, started three lefties at the top of the lineup and seemed unsure how to reconcile the issues which arose from those batters collective platoon splits. They had a bullpen full of high powered arms and hoped some of them would stake claim to high-leverage innings. Instead of a solid core and sound roster construction, they were counting on hope.

This season it appears to be more of the same for the two teams. The Indians might be the least changed team in baseball from '07. They know what they have, a very good team, and see no reason to change it. The Sox have changed, but not nearly enough, nor in the right spots.

And as the two teams seem largely the same, so do the results. Those Sox opened '07 with 2 losses to the Indians, getting outscored 20-12 in the process. These Sox have opened the season with 2 losses to the Indians, getting outscored 17-10 in the process. There are more similarities, like the opening day starter failing to get out of the second inning, but this is supposed to be a game recap...

0-2

As for the game itself, both Fausto Carmona and Javier Vazquez struggled with control early. Vazquez was the only one to pay the price, however, as the Indians worked up his pitch count and and scored 2 in the second after Vazquez loaded the bases without allowing a hit. Meanwhile the Sox let Carmona off the hook for his wildness by grounding into double plays at nearly every opportunity.

Carmona's sinker was obviously working on Wednesday. The Sox only hit 3 balls in the air, two of which fell for hits, off him in 7 innings. But with as wild as Carmona was in the early going, the Sox needed to capitalize with some runs.

Alexei Ramirez recorded his first major league hit off of mediocre, homer-prone reliever Jorge Julio. The broken bat hit, which is something I witnessed Ramirez do at least three times (including a double) during spring training, is part of the reason I have very low expectations for Ramirez right now. They only televised 13 of the Sox spring games, and I saw 3 broken bat hits for Ramirez. That tells me two things:

1. He's not making solid contact. All of the broken bat hits I've witnessed have been on off-speed pitches off the end of the bat.

2. Those broken bat hits aren't something you can count on to keep falling. And I'm left to wonder; did the Sox evaluate Ramirez on his ability to hit major league pitching, or did they evaluate on spring performance (read: numbers)? If you remove those 3 hits (4 TB) from Ramirez' spring, he suddenly has a spring OBP of just .330. Do the Sox carry him north with a .300 spring OBP. Do they make him their starting CFer?

* * * * *

The good news is that the Sox won game three against the Indians last season, sending a lefty to the mound. The bad news is the Sox are counting on John Danks this season, compared to Mark Buehrle last year. And, according to our simulations, the direction of the Sox season is largely determined by these first two weeks.

• Mark Buehrle is quite ordinary against good teams -- Bull Pain pointed it out in the gamethread; Buehrle has markedly worse numbers both last year and in his career against "good" teams. This is obviously true of all pitchers in general, but it seems more pronounced with respect to Buehrle.

  Buehrle didn't look bad at all until the runs started coming. But when he starts to look bad, you almost have to wonder how he gets guys out at all.

  A common refrain around these parts in the second half of '06 was that Buehrle really needed to slow down when he started getting hit around. It's almost as if one of his greatest assets, his quick to the plate style, starts to work against him as he pounds the zone with hittable pitch after hittable pitch. I'd like to see him take a walk around the mound a little bit during one of these blowups. If nothing else just to try something new, when nothing else seems to be working

• Orlando Cabrera will find many different ways to cost the Sox runs -- Cabrera drew a walk and scored on Jim Thome's HR in the first, but it was all down hill after that. He got a slow read on a groundball back up the middle to start Buehrle's implosion, then failed to even pick up a routine double play ball by the next hitter. Buehrle induced another near double play from the next batter, recording one out, before the wheels came off.

  Cabrera didn't just cost the Sox runs with his glove. He had a pair of gaffes in the 8th to help the Indians get out of a bases loaded, nobody out situation. I was not aware of it until I saw CSN display the stats, but Cabrera has a terrible record with the bases loaded (.209/.233/.278 entering the game). That's not something you expect from someone who is described as "a gamer" or an "adept handler of the bat."

  Cabrera's grounder to short, which allowed Jhonny Peralta to throw out a clearly safe Joe Crede at home, would have been bad enough, but Cabrera immediately followed it up with another mistake that cost the Sox. His overzealous takeout slide at second resulted in a double play that erased the Sox threat in the 8th. It was a debatable call, one that I initially called brutal, but it was probably the right one, or at least it's defensible. Those two calls in the 8th might have decided the game, and certainly should have elicited more of a reaction out of Ozzie Guillen.

• Guillen is too kind, too gentle -- Guillen vowed to be more fiery this season, but given two golden opportunities to lay into an umpire in the 8th inning, he chose to have a civil conversation instead. I know Guillen's fiery reputation is a bit undeserved, but sometimes I think he takes special care to avoid falling into the stereotype, even if the situation calls for it.

• Jim Thome can hit lefties -- Sometime this off-season I honestly thought about suggesting Thome leadoff against lefthanders. It was only after I took a better look at the numbers (.209/.325/.344, 14 HR since 2005) that I realized he didn't even get on base enough in those situations to justify the unorthodox move.

  It was a pleasant surprise to see Thome go deep twice off of a pitcher as tough as Sabathia, but I still feel like it will be the exception to the rule. It took him until July 2nd last season for him to hit his second HR of the year off a lefty.

• Nick Masset is major league pitcher. Against Cleveland. In the first two weeks of the season -- Masset began last season with 9.2 innings of solid work against the Indians before he faced another club. He then posted an ERA over 8 in his next 29 innings before closing out his major league tour with another scoreless outing against the Indians. It's almost as if the Indians are making him look good when they have these big leads just to ensure that Masset is on the roster for the rest of the season.

  In all seriousness, Masset pitched well today, allowing just 2 baserunners in 4+ innings. He helped make what could have been a disaster of a game into an exciting game with a terrible outcome.

• Alexei Ramirez is not ready for prime time -- Ramirez was the lone Sox hitter who failed to record a hit on Monday, and struck out 3 times. Two of those strikeouts were on just three pitches. Alexei also had an interesting day in the field, bumping into Jermaine Dye on a pretty routine ball in the gap to start the bottom of the first, and making a diving play on a misread of a shallow fly ball to center later in the game.

  It would be hypocritical of me to suggest that one game is enough evidence against to call for Ramirez' demotion after doing almost exactly the opposite in the previous two bullet points. But it does indeed look like Ramirez will have a significant adjustment period at the big leagues. Thankfully, if his final plate appearance against Sabathia is any indication, he does appear to be a quick study.

• You guys really have a lot to say -- We had something like 800 comments during the game even though things really got shaky after 6th inning. I know our tech team is working hard on the performance issues, and we'll be running like a well oiled machine soon. For the most part, however, the new features have made the gamethreads a whole lot better.

I was going to sit down and write a top 10 list -- Top 10 reasons to watch the White Sox this season, or something like that -- but it looks like Jim beat me to the punch with his 10 post-spring training concerns.

As I noted in the comments section over there, I would have added Bobby Jenks to the list. We spent much of our time prior to the '06 and '07 seasons discussing Jenks' lack of spring velocity and conditioning, only to have him come through with solid seasons even without the 100 MPH heater that he swears he still has. It's almost all superstition that has me wanting to add Jenks to the list, but there's a little bit of me who's worried about those poor spring peripherals.

Anyway, no Top 10 list for me. I'll just do some 14-hours until first pitch rambling and call it a post.

Ramblin' time

• Let's start with optimism... With the exception of his penultimate spring outing, John Danks has taken a step forward. The cutter seems to have added the groundball to his skillset, and if he can throw strikes, he'll have a surprisingly good year. Surprising in that he beats all projections and ends up as an average or better pitcher.
• The same goes for Jose Contreras. He's got more velocity than he's had since May '06. He's coming over the top more. His fastball seems to have more movement than it did last season. It just looks like he's returned to being an asset instead of a liability. I expect either he or Danks is going to have a very good year, a solid #3 type year, with the other falling into the solid #4 category of average innings eater.
• With Buehrle and Vazquez as known quantities atop the rotation, that leaves Floyd, whose spring has caused me to lose some of my optimism. He had a much better spring than last year, and he doesn't seem to be afraid of the zone. But that still doesn't seem like enough to be anything more than below average starter who gets hit too much and gives up too many HRs. Of the three question marks in the rotation, Floyd seems the most likely disappoint.
• Nick Swisher is leading off and playing left field (unless Ozzie changes his mind, again) against Cleveland Monday. Last year it was Pablo Ozuna. I'd say that's an upgrade.
• I've got a bad feeling that Alexei Ramirez will have a .270 OBP after 120 at-bats before the Sox start to question their decision to bring him north.
• I've got a worse feeling that those at-bats are going to come at the expense of Brian Anderson and Carlos Quentin, each of whom seem on the cusp of reaching their once highly regarded potential.
• Charlotte has too many major league caliber players, which wouldn't be a problem if Chicago didn't have too few.
• This post contained no mention of Nick Masset.

I could go on. And I probably will later. But we're a little more than 13 hours from first pitch, and I need some sleep. Go Sox!

It would be easy to say that Gavin Floyd got rocked in his final spring training start of the year. I don't know what my reaction would have been had I been able to watch the game in a form other than MLB's Gameday. But I can say this for certain, if Gavin Floyd is going to have a successful season, he'll need a selective memory to forget the poor results of a day like Wednesday. Because, judging completely on box score alone -- a dangerous proposition, I know -- Floyd had the right approach against the Brewers; he threw strikes (0 BB), missed some bats (7 K), but found himself getting hit around as well (9 hits, 2HR).

I'd rather see a game in which Floyd gives up 6 runs while pounding the zone, than one in which he gives up the same 6 runs but does so by by falling behind, nibbling, and walking guys. I know there's no way the latter version has a chance to succeed for long at the major league level, while the former at least stands a puncher's chance.

* * * * *

As spring training opened, I wrote a piece entitled The 5 things I'm looking forward to this spring training. Looking back on that piece, it was a disappointing spring on a personal level. Of the 5 things I mentioned, two of them, the Joe Crede trade and "the 6th starter battle," were complete non-starters, while two others were mildly disappointing.

The Crede non-trade was the biggest cock tease of the spring. I went from calling it the most obvious trade ever to a sort of resigned apathy about him being on the roster over Josh Fields. The best thing I can say about it is that it at least we've been able to see the non-move coming. Jack Egbert's sore elbow to start the spring and Lance Broadway's general ineffectiveness made the 6th starter competition nonexistent unless you count Nick Masset who gets the start Thursday and inexplicably has yet to be put out to pasture.

I no longer even remember the first televised game of the spring, even though I listed that at #1. I was starved for baseball. But spring baseball, when everything is distorted and nothing counts, quickly became mundane. Carlos Quentin, who entered spring competing for the LF job, at least in my mind, nursed his sore shoulder for first couple of weeks, all but handing the job to Jerry Owens. While it's now Owens headed to the DL and Quentin has performed well since being proclaimed healthy, it still appears like he's behind at least one of Brian Anderson and Alexei Ramirez. I should be happy that he's going to be on the roster. But for a player who I once called the key to the Sox season, being on the roster just isn't enough.

The saving grace of the spring has been Ramirez, who took Ben Sheets deep for a grand slam and his second homer of the spring. However, Sheets was not exactly having a good day, also surrendering two homers to Jim Thome and another to AJ Pierzynski. And I'm still not sure that I would go north with Ramirez were I making the decisions.

Poll

Our Community Projection ERA for Gavin Floyd was 4.98. After Spring Training, revise your projection: over or under 4.98?

• Over
• Under

  293 votes | Results

Well, now that we've got a solid 23 hours into the new platform -- We've had about 160 relatively painless sign-ups in the since going live late last night. We've uncovered a bug or two, but for the most part things have been pretty smooth. -- It's time to sit back and actually talk about the White Sox.

For the third consecutive year, the Sox have hit an extended mid-spring funk. They've won twice in the last 14 days, none in the last 9. Business as usual for the Sox, who I seem to recall having the same type of streak in each of the last two season, but I don't know where to go to check spring training records. I'm actually glad I don't know where to go, if I did, it might be a sign I need more clinical help than I'm currently receiving.

Part of the problem is that the Sox have been facing an inordinate amount of left-handed pitching lately. This sinister issue needs to be resolved if they hope to be anything more than mediocre this year. The addition of Josh Fields and Nick Swisher to the lineup would have been a step in the right direction, but Fields looks like he'll end up in Charlotte, and it's unclear how Ozzie will utilize Swisher. One thing is certain, Pablo Ozuna will continue to start and leadoff against most lefties.

Supposedly, the decision-making staff will have an extended meeting on Tuesday to discuss the final roster. Among the discussion topics:

• What will Alexei Ramirez' role be?
• Can Juan Uribe be traded to make room for Alexei?
• Who is the 4th outfielder behind, ugh, Jerry Owens?
• Can (or should) Brian Anderson be traded to make that decision an easy one?
• Will Nick Masset clear waivers?
• If no, are they prepared to let him go for nothing in order to put the best team on the field in the form of Ehren Wasserman?
• What is the medium term-plan at 3B?
• How long do they stick with Crede at 3B if he continues his lackluster play of the spring?

And I'm sure there are a host of others.

I'd probably send Ramirez to Charlotte, even though he's impressed me this spring. He's still got some work to do, and I'm not sure that playing sporadically and mostly against lefties is the best way to develop his talents. I just have this gut feeling like we've been seeing Alexei play a bit over his head, and the results are clouding our view of what he'll do when the lights come on for real.