Believe it or not...Scott Podsednik hasn't played in a live game since March 6th because of shoulder inflammation, and Dustin Hermanson is shell of his 2005 self with a bum back. Both injured players had MRIs done on Tuesday, though we are still in the dark as to the results of those tests.
I think we can all agree that Hermanson is done. He has nothing on his pitches, and is clearly in a lot of pain. Sox head Trainer Herm Schneider seems to think he can work Hermanson back to health, but it sounds to me like they're going to push for him to have surgery.
Podsednik's injury is a little more of a mystery. From what I heard on ESPN 1000, it was the White Sox who decided to have Pods go for a second MRI. But in Scott Merkin's article, he seems to indicate that Pods was the one who initiated the process. That's not an insignificant discrepancy. If Pods is the one asking for an MRI, I don't think we should count on him being ready for the start of the season.
You can tell Ozzie is just as frustrated as we are at the prospect of a bullpen that could include Javier Lopez and Tim Redding.
One target who is still on the free agent market, and currently pitching well in WBC action (2IP 0H 3K), is former White Sox Antonio Osuna. He missed all of last season due to injury, but reportedly was throwing well in the Mexican Leagues this winter also.
If you missed the Venezuela - Dominican Republic game tonight in WBC action, you missed a great game. Freddy Garcia pitched very well, but wasn't at his sharpest for the first few batters. (What else is new, right?) The DR threw Daniel Cabrera and Francisco Liriano at Venezuela, holding them to just one hit all game, and that was against a partially drawn-in infield.
Venezuela's loss eliminates them from the Classic, sending Freddy back to the Sox. Garcia's total line during the WBC was impressive.
7.1IP 5H 2BB 11K
In the Sox - D'Backs game, Brandon McCarthy looked alright. He was spotting his fastball better than in any of his previous outings, and was getting his curveball over more consistently, but he still was making his fair share of mistake pitches. 4 runs in 4 innings was probably a generous stat line, as he hung a couple of phat curveballs to Stephen Drew, but drew came up with just one single out of it.
Brian Anderson looked comfortable in his second AB of the day. He smashed one of Luis Vizcaino's trademark hanging sliders high off the wall in deep center field. It easily would have been a HR in USCF. Ross Gload was 2-2 with 2 RBI against Viz, but for the most part, our hitters look very rusty against anything higher than a rookie league pitcher. If they're still not hitting in a couple of weeks, it wont matter what our bullpen situation looks like.