A look back at the week that was in White Sox baseball
- Opening Day got pushed back due to snow.
- Jim Thome hit a late-inning homer to give the Sox a victory on delayed opening day
- Gavin Floyd pitched well, but Zack Greinke pitched better as the Sox got shutout for the first time this year (Note: That's not an invitation to do it again, guys.)
- The offense went 18 innings between extra-base hits and, not coincidentally, runs, dropping the series to the Royals. And I vented a little anger at the lack of offensive output
- Joe Crede graced us with his presence. The Sox gave him a warm welcome with a little bit of Air Supply and a grooved fastball.
- Bartolo Colon painted corners and put up doughnuts in his first start in a White Sox uniform in 6 years. Colon's control was excellent Saturday, but he has little room for error with his repertoire/stuff. If he can add a couple MPH to his fastball as the season gets going though, he should be a great addition... until he gets hurt.
- Mark Buerhle quieted the Johnny Conditioning crowd and retired the final 15 batters he faced to bring the Sox back to .500.
- Larry previewed the minor leagues then took a look at the first (short) week of games.
- Steve Stone sounds great in the booth. My two personal favorites; when Wise couldn't hit a hanger, "if that pitch isn't in your wheelhouse, you're selling cars for a living," and when asked by Hawk what he'd do if he was pitching and was working around a guy with the base open, "I'd hit him," arguing that it saves on your pitch count.
The main storyline from the first week--aside from the good starting pitching--had to be the men penciled into the top of Ozzie Guillen's lineup.
The leadoff hitters combined to go 1-for-the-week at plate, and caused me to go on a bit of a rant when Brent Lillibridge got a start at the top. But the fans' reaction to Dewayne Wise's terrible for 8 at-bats -- which probably had more to do with their general unhappiness with the CF/leadoff situation than anything else -- garnered the biggest headlines. Ozzie was laying the groundwork for a possible lineup shuffle before a single pitch was thrown this season, and by game 3 Chris Getz had taken the spot. Wise has remained at the bottom of the lineup ever since, but Getz hasn't produced at the top.
I've commented a number of times that Getz has a similar profile to some other second baseman who had slow starts to their major league career, so this figures to be a favorite talk radio topic for most of the season.
Also involved in Ozzies early lineup shuffling was Josh Fields, who may have found a bit of a home in the #2 spot. Fields has carried over his hot spring training hitting to the early season, and looks like a completely different player than the guy we briefly saw last year. He's still gonna have trouble with fastballs and anything above his navel, but he seems to have a better all-around approach at the plate. He might become the next in line to leadoff if Ozzie starts to get creative.