Judging by the number of comments in Tuesday's gamethread, many of you missed the truly boring, lackluster game kicking off the White Sox 1-5 west coast road trip in Oakland. You didn't miss much, only an infielder playing in the outfield (center field to be exact), which we know Ozzie is against, and the Sox last chance at a comeback in the hands of Darrin Erstad and Jerry Owens against a left-handed pitcher. In other words, nothing out of the ordinary.
The most interesting thing that happened Tuesday, besides Madden '08, of course, was the not-so-subtle hint that Jon Danks is almost done for the season. No he's not hurt, the Sox are just being extremely cautious with a pitcher who they see as an integral part of their next championship ball club, which coincidently features no major league outfielders and a collection of left-handed, light-hitting grinders making outs instead of driving in runs.
I actually think they're being overly cautious with Danks, who has been kept on a pretty strict pitch count over the season. At some point it will be time to take off the kid gloves with him, and frankly, I think that time is now.
Anyway, the real reason I started this entry was to post this quote from Ozzie on who he'd like to see join the rotation this September.
- Adam Russell was removed from the Birmingham rotation after his velocity was down, and just generally sucking. He's since been moved to the pen, where I've always thought he would end up, experiencing limited success.
- Lance Broadway hasn't been able to crack 90 MPH down in Charlotte, has demonstrated poor control for a "pitchability" guy, and has seen his strikeout rate fall from last season. None of which should warrant putting him on the 40-man roster anytime in the next calendar year.
- Gio Gonzalez is the best pitching prospect the Sox have, and might be the best pitching prospect in the Southern League. In Baseball America's recent best tools survey, he was rated as having the Best Changeup in the SL in addition to having the Best Curveball. That Gio's changeup, formerly his third best pitch, is now more highly thought of than Jack Egbert's, who was once rated as having the best changeup in the Sox system says that he's come along way.
- Egbert, the name not mentioned by Ozzie, is far more deserving of a call-up than the first two names in this bulleted list. He got roughed up in his last outing, (so did Gio) but he's consistently done the three things you need to do to succeed in baseball no matter your "stuff;" keeking the ball in the park/on the ground, keeping the free passes to a minimum, and missing bats (strikeouts).