White Sox ALDS Game 1 Fish Wrap

Phil Rogers draws a parallel between the start of Mark Buehrle's career -- called up in July '00 to start, finished season in pen, came out of pen in playoffs -- and Clayton Richard's debut season with the Sox. Buehrle obviously had better numbers, and was just 21 at the time (Richard is 25), but it's an apt comparison, at least in role. I won't bring up that the swing-man who deserved a playoff start that series, Sean Lowe, didn't get a chance because the series only went three games.

Game 1 was the first time I've seen Richard use his slider effectively with the Sox. I missed his first start, remember. He also never really dialed up his fastball as we've seen him do. It was a different style than we've seen from him in a majority of his outings, and even though the Rays seemed to be getting to him as the got to see him a second time, it was a style that's more conducive to long-term major league success.

"We have to sit down and talk about it," Guillen said. "I don't want to lose faith in Javy, but it's something that's on our mind. If we get to a Game 5, I might start with [ Mark] Buehrle. I don't know yet. But you know it's going to be on my mind."

And continues to rain on Carlos Quentin's comeback parade, not that I can disagree with him.

"I don't want to hurt Carlos' feelings because I know when everybody gets to the postseason, everybody wants to be part of that," Guillen said. "I respect his work habit, the way he goes about his business, but it's not going to be easy. If he thinks he's going to take batting practice, and all of a sudden he's playing, I don't know about that one."

Even if Carlos did have his timing back, which is doubtful considering he hasn't seen live pitching in a month, it's unlikely that he'd have his power, which has been his biggest, most surprising asset in a White Sox uniform.