Spring Training Game #19: White Sox vs. Cubs -- Nick Masset vs. Rich Hill

by The Wizard on Mar 15, 2008 2:27 PM CDT in Game Threads

Time: 3:05 p.m. CT, TV: WGN, MLB.tv, Radio: WSCR AM-670, MLB.radio (Live Boxscore; MLB Gameday)

Sox: Bourgeois, CF; Cabrera, SS; Thome, DH; Konerko, 1B: Swisher, LF; Dye, RF; Pierzynski, C; Crede, 3B; Uribe, 2B

Cubs: Theriot, SS; DeRosa, 2B; Hoffpauir, 1B; Ward, DH; Fukudome, RF; Murton, LF; Soto, C; McGehee, 3B; Fuld, CF

Aaron Poreda, the team's top pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, continued to impress with three scoreless innings in relief. The big left-hander yielded two hits and fanned five, including Todd Helton looking.

***** In other news,

The Sox were among the first teams to use a ProBatter pitching machine (1999), but no longer use it. Other teams (Indians, Mets, Yankees and Red Sox) still use it. Maybe Walker deemed it unnecessary.
Dan Turkenkopf introduces Catcher Block Percentage (hat-tip Tango). BBTF discussion.

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wow

Wisconsin just stormed back and beat MSU.

MrROFL.com - now with real content!

by shaftr on Mar 15, 2008 3:08 PM CDT reply actions

Wow. MSU came close

to doubling Michigan's point total from yesterday. I'm a Badger alum, but I wonder if others find the team to be unique and fun or just plain boring.

by palehose67 on Mar 15, 2008 3:13 PM CDT up reply actions

yeah

I mean, if you grow up a big ten fan, you are impressed by the badgers. If you are an acc/pac 10 fan, you will find them boring.

According to KenPom ratings (www.kenpom.com), the Badgers are #3. The KenPom ratings take into account tempo.

MrROFL.com - now with real content!

by shaftr on Mar 15, 2008 3:41 PM CDT up reply actions

Bourgeois has looked damn good at the plate...

but you can tell that CF is definitely not his natural position.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 3:15 PM CDT reply actions

Thome swinging on 3-0...

and Konerko attempting a stolen base. Ozzie-ball!!!

Between Bourgeois, Ramirez, and Richar, we probably don't need Uribe.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 3:28 PM CDT reply actions

Hawk already yelling STRETCH on a Dye lineout.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 3:38 PM CDT reply actions

Man, Masset truly isn't what he was advertised...

91 MPH? I know he's dialing it down a bit because he is starting but where is that high 90's heat that Kenny said he had.

Crede is embarrassing himself so far at the plate.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 3:52 PM CDT reply actions

Wow...

Is Bourgeois going to make the team?

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 3:53 PM CDT reply actions

Kenny is blushing about Jerry Owens...

with Hawk and D.J. It's obvious that he is going to be our leadoff man.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 4:02 PM CDT reply actions

re

It's obvious that he is going to be our leadoff man.

stoney said the same and with confidence...

by The Wizard on Mar 15, 2008 6:00 PM CDT up reply actions

Don't worry...

He will be injured half or more of the time. Groin injury now, when he was called up in '06 he played a in a few games and was out with a spained toe (or something like that) for the rest of the call up. I really don't expect him to consistantly be playing injury free.

So instead of a big splash, there were ripples -- enough to change the tide, Williams believes

by Brush Back on Mar 15, 2008 6:06 PM CDT up reply actions

:: tumbleweed ::

by thatshortkid on Mar 15, 2008 4:15 PM CDT reply actions

Guess I should have checked the site out

before leaving for Miller's. Placed was packed with "Irish" people and the damn game wasn't even on the TV. Disaster.

How'd we score? Cubs?

by BustedFlush on Mar 15, 2008 4:19 PM CDT reply actions

sorry, BF

Carl gave the early warning, and I followed up as soon as I could. It was a joke.

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Mar 15, 2008 4:24 PM CDT up reply actions

Eh, my fault

When stone sober, mobs of drunks aren't fun to be around.

Just glad to be able to catch some of the game at home. We'll have to plan another game to meet up.

by BustedFlush on Mar 15, 2008 4:27 PM CDT up reply actions

Kenny predicts 850 runs

says its up to the pitchers for the rest.

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Mar 15, 2008 4:25 PM CDT reply actions

Dump Uribe, bench Owens...

start Bourgeois at 2B, and either Quentin or Anderson in the outfield. I wouldn't even mind it if Bourgeois was leading off.

Dis keed is impressing me, mang.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 4:28 PM CDT reply actions

you're hilarious

bourgeois leading off? nothing like consistency, eh.

by larry on Mar 15, 2008 5:06 PM CDT up reply actions

No, I was joking...

But I wouldn't mind the following lineup:

CF/LF Swisher
SS Cabrera
DH Thome
1B Konerko
RF Dye
3B Fields
C Pierzynski
LF/CF Quentin / Anderson
2B Bourgeois

Uribe's 20 HR's and 70 RBI's don't impress me like they do Joey Cora.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 5:12 PM CDT up reply actions

uribe looked good afield today

and went the other way for a double very nicely. It looks like he's earning the job.

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Mar 15, 2008 6:20 PM CDT up reply actions

We already know what we have in Uribe...

Around a .700 OPS (and possibly below that), weighted more on SLG than OBP. It's going to suck, even if he is batting ninth.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 6:31 PM CDT up reply actions

Cabrera fails to get the runner in from 3B twice.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 4:29 PM CDT reply actions

Rays "Devil" curse still lingers

You can take the Devil out of the Rays, but...

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7916076/Rays'-Kazmir-won't-start-on-opening-day

Hey man, this game is a bunch of front-runners. If you're good, they kiss your butt. If not, you're horse s---.

by winningugly on Mar 15, 2008 4:54 PM CDT reply actions

Stone really loves

Ramirez. Farmer informs us that when the Cubs are two runs down and they have a runner on base, a home run will tie.

by palehose67 on Mar 15, 2008 5:18 PM CDT reply actions

"The Sox are down by 4...

a slam will tie it."

Farmer sucks... bad.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 5:21 PM CDT up reply actions

will Sabathia take the form of

a windmill?

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Mar 15, 2008 6:24 PM CDT up reply actions

Cheat: are the animated ads

permanent? Pages load on my phone very slowly lately. I assume theyre causing that.

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Mar 15, 2008 6:22 PM CDT reply actions

poreda strikes out 5 rockies in 3 innings

[Scott Merkin]:

by The Wizard on Mar 15, 2008 6:54 PM CDT reply actions

Nice, hopefully he stays healthy.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 6:55 PM CDT up reply actions

I watched his video on whitesox.com

He seems like a good guy

by 3E8 on Mar 15, 2008 7:27 PM CDT up reply actions

No mention of the spring's STAR.

Brian Anderson.

Was that a ground out to 2nd for Owens?

by ballyb on Mar 15, 2008 9:48 PM CDT up reply actions

Kenny talked about him today

Said he's excited but: he has to show mastery of the K zone with his fast ball on BOTH sides of the plate, and down in the zone. Said he's working on a 2 seamer that should do it, and its hard to resist the temptation to rush him.

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Mar 15, 2008 7:07 PM CDT reply actions

re Wiz/Poreda

Next time, Bhoov, do some research.

by Chiburb on Mar 15, 2008 7:08 PM CDT up reply actions

gotcha

hard to resist the temptation to rush him or hard to resist the temptation to trade him?

by The Wizard on Mar 15, 2008 7:19 PM CDT up reply actions

Re: Kenny on Aaron.

This is not exactly what he said, Kenny said they will usually teach their minor leaguers a two-seamer if they don't have a fastball they can power past guys, he didn't say Aaron was learning a two-seamer. He did say, however, that Aaron has an electric slider and compared it to Ron Guidry's, I was not aware of him having any plus pitches aside from the FB before so this is extremely encouraging.

by Big Bad Bobby Jenks on Mar 15, 2008 7:58 PM CDT up reply actions

"White Sox take a pass on Takatsu"

"Reliever works out in Tucson but will not return to club"

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 7:53 PM CDT reply actions

dj carrasco getting roster consideration?

[Mark Gonzales]:

Guillen also was pleased with the work of D.J. Carrasco, a non-roster invitee who threw [two] scoreless innings to get his second save this spring.

Carrasco has a 1.29 ERA in four spring appearances and has nudged his way into consideration for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

Carrasco had a 2.04 ERA in four games for LaGuaira of the Venezuelan Winter League.

by The Wizard on Mar 15, 2008 8:12 PM CDT reply actions

Doubt it...

Kenny's golden child Nick Masset is out of options so he is guaranteed a spot. Assuming we go with 7 relievers...

Masset
Logan
Thornton
Perez
Linebrink
Jenks

I don't see Carrasco winning a spot over MacDougal or Wassermann.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 8:22 PM CDT up reply actions

Perez???

by stanchar on Mar 15, 2008 10:33 PM CDT up reply actions

LOL, sorry...

For some reason, I was thinking about Odalis Perez. I meant Dotel.

by SSH2005 on Mar 15, 2008 11:13 PM CDT up reply actions

consideration, of course

i said a few days ago i was impressed with what he'd done. we saw last year what a bit of depth in the minors can do or not do for a team. he seems like a good guy to have as a first or second guy up.

by larry on Mar 16, 2008 11:56 AM CDT up reply actions

AJ

Did anyone read that Catcher Block % article Wiz posted "in other news"? AJ is 3rd worst among 96 mlb catchers in blocking pitches in the dirt so on top of not being able to throw, he's got this going for him too. But his rapidly declining bat makes up for it, let's give him an extension - oh wait, we already did, whew good thing we got him locked up.

"We're actually doing some different things at the top of the lineup, but our key is Jerry Owens being our center fielder and our leadoff guy" - JD

by ChicagoPete on Mar 16, 2008 8:07 AM CDT reply actions

Chicago Tough.

Was that a ground out to 2nd for Owens?

by ballyb on Mar 16, 2008 8:53 AM CDT up reply actions

Well

Was there someone on the free agent market you would have preferred over A.J.?

by Winning is Fung on Mar 16, 2008 9:32 AM CDT up reply actions

let alone

someone who could help the Sox win over the Polish population?

-Jeeves Life in the Cell

by jeeves on Mar 16, 2008 12:19 PM CDT up reply actions

The Bill James Gold Mine 2008

According to this book, despite a mediocre OBP, the sox scored runs much more then the league average when Pods led off.
So why the hatred for J. Owens, OK he is not the 2nd coming of Rickey Henderson but maybe if he can have a reasonable OBP and steal some bases he could help the team. Whats wrong with a leadoff single, steal of 2nd, and good chance of a run in the first inning?

by bingodog on Mar 16, 2008 10:23 AM CDT reply actions

Yeah,

MAYBE IF he can have a reasonable OBP and steal some bases he could help the team.

Was that a ground out to 2nd for Owens?

by ballyb on Mar 16, 2008 10:45 AM CDT up reply actions

Was this just for 2007?

Because Podsednik led off less than 20 games last year. Way too small a sample size to make any substantial connection between Podsednik leading off and the White Sox' runs scored.

by 3E8 on Mar 16, 2008 10:52 AM CDT up reply actions

Bill James

It covered 2005 - 2007

by bingodog on Mar 16, 2008 11:01 AM CDT up reply actions

This is a dubious claim:

Dan Agonistes:

Clearly a large part of the difference is due to the fact that the two and three hitters in the order are guaranteed to bat when Podsednik leads off an inning from the leadoff spot in the order as opposed to when he's in the 6th or 7th hole. A little follow-up would be to see whether on average when a leadoff hitter leads off an inning it typically raises scoring by at least +0.25 runs as in the case of Podsednik in previous seasons or whether his totals actually indicate that he was a hinderance in the leadoff spot (as might be guessed by his career .338 OBP). It's also the case that lineup balance will play a role since it could be the case that the two, three, and four hitters for the White Sox were relatively more potent than the rest of the lineup when compared with other teams.

Sox Machine

by Sox Machine on Mar 16, 2008 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions

So am I getting this correctly?

Is he saying that the reason the White Sox scored so many runs with podsednik batting first is because there were more opportunities for him to basically get out of the way of the other hitters??

If he got a hit, great... if not, well the rest of the hitters in the lineup are better and can make up for it.

I'll hang up and listen to your answer.

by Hazymania on Mar 16, 2008 11:23 AM CDT up reply actions

He's saying

that the white sox scored fewer runs "in innings that podsednik led off" (not innings where he was in the "leadoff spot" at the top of the order, but innings where he was the firs to come to bat) in 2007 compared to 2006 and 2005, because pods tended to bat in the 7th or 8th spot, where weaker hitters came to bat after him, unlike in previous years, where the #3 hitter was guaranteed to come after him. It really isn't dubious, just confusing.

by Max on Mar 16, 2008 12:19 PM CDT up reply actions

white sox looking for middle infielder?

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune notes that the White Sox are looking for a middle infielder and wonders if they might get involved in the Roberts sweepstakes. However, Rogers wonders if there is anything left in the system to intrigue the Orioles.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com

by Jbasic89 on Mar 16, 2008 12:19 PM CDT reply actions

We have swagger

the orioles need that, don't they?

by Max on Mar 16, 2008 12:20 PM CDT up reply actions

We don't have enough....

at this point unless we entertained the idea of trading Poreda, but that's not going to happen.

How could we get Roberts? Maybe if we traded Konerko for some young talent we could then move something to Baltimore....

Bottom line--we won't get Roberts.

by stanchar on Mar 16, 2008 1:01 PM CDT up reply actions

Don't we have Middle infielders up the ying yang?

Was that a ground out to 2nd for Owens?

by ballyb on Mar 16, 2008 1:05 PM CDT up reply actions

also on mlbtraderumors

Juan Pierre's Days With Dodgers May Be Numbered

hmmm...

by The Wizard on Mar 16, 2008 1:17 PM CDT up reply actions

alexei meets grande jeffe

Funny story from yesterday ... I was grabbing lunch in the lunchroom (where else?). Dale Torborg and Alexi Ramirez were sitting at a table behind me eating. Jerry Reinsdorf came in and said hello to Alexi, who, you could tell, had no idea who it was.

Dale tried to explain, through a mix of English/Spanish and sign language, who Jerry was.

I turned to them and said, "Jeffe. Grand Jeffe." (Note: I know NO Spanish except what I've learned over the years in the clubhouse, most of which probably gets me slapped in mixed company).

Alexi's eyes lighted up and he walked over to Jerry to thank him.

http://whitesoxpride.mlblogs.com/inside_the_white_sox/2008/03/sunday_info.html

by larry on Mar 16, 2008 12:22 PM CDT reply actions

Hilarious

There has to be a Fidel reference in there.

by Winning is Fung on Mar 16, 2008 12:49 PM CDT up reply actions

the daily dusty

[Donovan (via BBTF)]:

Baker wouldn't mind if Phillips walked a little more, especially considering he isn't a "base clogger"; he stole 32 bases last season. But getting on base -- especially getting on base by a walk -- is clearly secondary to Baker. He wants Phillips to be aggressive. Baker wants him to swing the bat.

"If you're supposed to be up there driving in runs ... a run producer, he ain't up there to get his on-base percentage up. He's in there to drive in runs," says Baker. "If you're passing it on to the next hitter, a lot of times, he's not as good of a hitter as you. Otherwise ... he'd be hitting ahead of you."

by The Wizard on Mar 16, 2008 1:29 PM CDT reply actions