Your 2012 Chicago White Sox

Hello again to all my fellow South Siders, it's been a while and we're coming off a particularly disappointing 2011 season. I want to first apologize for discontinuing this blog towards the end of last season and offer an explanation. We all saw how much our White Sox were underachieving last season, especially towards the end, which was extremely frustrating (especially for a diehard like myself). I decided it was probably better to not post at all rather than posting negative articles every day only to expose the sad truth that we were all already aware of.


Now that we've gotten that out of the way, lets talk 2012 White Sox baseball. Everyone seems to be down on this team because we didn't make any huge offseason moves..... but I got news for each and every one of you: we didn't really need to make any huge moves. The team that we have coming back has the potential to be a winning team. Before you go out and give Detroit the division, lets break things down and look at the numbers and the potential associated with this years team.

First things first.... I want to compare this years team with last years White Sox. Lets start in the outfield, seeing as how thats where most of our changes took place this off-season. Carlos Quentin is gone, not a big deal in my opinion, he was a very streaky hitter and an average outfielder. Sure he had the ability to get hot and carry a team for a week or 2, but he was usually more cold than hot. Not to mention his lack of intelligence in the batters box. Carlos will be replaced by Dayan Viciedo (who I am particularly excited about). Heres a kid who has put up monster numbers in the minor leagues the last two years and has posted a .282 batting average in 206 at bats at the major league level. He has something to prove and he knows it, this is one hungry kid who wants to show the south side of Chicago that he belongs in the show. Alex Rios is the only outfielder from the 2011 season who will be starting in the same place come April. All I can say about him is hopefully he starts showing a little pride in his play. He has great potential to be an integral part of this team, historically he has a good season every other year, hopefully that trend continues. We did not offer Juan Pierre his arbitration and he recently signed a minor league deal with the Phillies, so he's gone. Pierre had an interesting year last year, struggling early to get on, play left field and steal bases. He came on a little bit late in the season, posted some respectable numbers.  Juan Pierre is in no way irreplaceable, Alejandro De Aza is someone who I am excited to watch this season and who will be replacing pierre in left and at the top of the lineup. De Aza is another young guy looking to prove himself, he came up last year and showed that he wants to play, he was a spark plug at the top of the lineup who played his rear end off every day he touched the field.  To sum it up, the outfield is loaded with talent and potential, its all going to come down to which Alex Rios shows up and how the two young guys adjust to playing everyday at the major league level.

The infield is the exact same as last season. Starting at the hot corner with Brent Morel. His glove has always been there, his offensive production has pretty much always struggled. Hopefully his bat will be able to contribute more consistently now that he has another year under his belt. Over to Ramirez at short stop. A solid fielder, needs to work on his positioning before the pitch (based on the situation/location of the pitch). If he can learn how to put himself in a better position before the play begins to develop he could become one of the best fielding short stops in the game. As frustrating as it is to watch his plate approach, he still produces at a consistent level with the bat. Beckham at second had the highest fielding percentage in the game last year at second base. His bat will come around this season, he has been working hard this offseason and has gotten back to his basics. Hes been talking about how last season he got away from his fundamentals and the things that made him successful. He will be ready this season. Konerko at first, need I say more? The man is a force, great first basemen, one of the best pure fastball hitters in baseball, with the ability to adjust to any off speed pitch and dump it into right. Hes a leader in the club house and has a very high baseball IQ.


As far as the DH role. Look for Adam Dunn to have a normal season this year. Hes been working out this off season, hitting, and mentally preparing himself. He was kind of screwed from the get go last year and I'm expecting a huge year out of him. Hes going to prove a lot of people wrong and a lot of you are going to owe him an apology come september.

The pitching staff will play a vital role in our success this season. We lost Buehrle this offseason, which opened up a spot in the rotation for a young Chris Sale, who's stuff is absolutely filthy. Peavy is healthy for now and at soxfest this weekend Kenny Williams said he expects 200+ innings out of Jake this year (we'll see how that plays out). Danks is still with us despite the rumors this season claiming that Kenny was looking to dish him. Look for Danks to lead the team in wins, he is easily our best pitcher. Gavin Floyd has not gone anywhere and will stay in a White Sox uniform this year, he has great potential, hopefully he's worked on spotting his breaking ball more consistently, giving him more flexibility in setting up his other pitches. And finally Phillip Humber anchors the rotation this year, he proved himself last year, coming out of nowhere to arguably be our best pitcher. Hopefully he can follow up that performance this year. The bullpen lost Santos (not a big deal in my opinion, the guy had good stuff, wasn't exactly a lights out closer, not the smartest pitcher, control issues). Addison Reed was a nice pickup and is a name that comes up when talking about a potential closer. From what I gathered at Soxfest and through certain articles I've been reading, The closer role is going to be between Thornton and Reed. We'll see how that plays out, Williams needs to pickup at least one more guy to solidify our bullpen. But in terms of our pitching staff overall, its strong, the potential is through the roof.

We have AJ and Flowers available to handle the pitching staff again this year, look for them to split time, possibly as much as 60/40 with AJ being the 60 (obviously). Flowers certainly made a splash last season, taking full advantage of the opportunities presented to him. AJ will be AJ, leading in the clubhouse and hopefully putting up similar offensive numbers this season.

Don't worry about the fact that Detroit picked up Fielder this offseason, they've had injury problems these past few years and are already having injury issues this year. Just because they look like theyre the best on paper, doesn't mean they still don't have to show up and play all 162 games.

What I've been telling everyone this off season is this: The 2011 White Sox did not play anywhere near their potential and they still contended for 85% of the season. If Adam Dunn, Gordon Beckham, and Alex Rios come to the plate with a pulse this season, this team could easily contend for and win the AL Central. Not to mention that more and more guys are coming out and saying that they really didn't like playing under Ozzie last season. We have new blood in the clubhouse and young, eager guys on the field. The potential of this club is unreal. Lets also remember that most people have written this team off already, the last time we had expectations this low, we won the world series. Maybe flying under the radar this year is exactly what we need. Keep your minds open to the possibility of success. Don't write this team off just yet. Lets see what these kids can do along side our veterans. We're in a weak division with a talented team, anything can happen.

Look for my 2012 Soxfest recap coming in a few days. As always, feel free to comment, vote in my poll, email me questions or comments. Please feel free to help pass the word along and share this blog on facebook, twitter, ect. Thanks and go Sox.

Crosstown Classic and Other Concerns

Alright folks, the Sox and cubs are tied at 1 game a piece right now. Last night after a vicious rain delay the Sox came out and were able to post a 1 run lead and hold on for the win. Tonight is the rubber match of the series and the most important part about it has nothing to do with the fact that its against the Cubs. The Sox are still lingering a few games under .500. It is disappointing because they are a better team than what their record shows.

The problem is this team plays to their competition. They are 5 games over .500 when facing teams who are above the .500 mark. But are an astonishing 8 games under .500 when playing teams who are under the .500 mark. That is a huge problem people. Those are the teams you have to beat if you expect to win a division. Now the Sox are still only 4.5 games back, which is a minor miracle considering how inconsistently they have played this season. The offense has been sluggish at best lately and really just looks dead, most of the guys in the lineup do not have productive at bats. I would like to give a hearty tip of the cap to Paul Konerko who has homered in his last 5 straight games and is hitting right around .330. The man is on fire, the reason his average has been so stellar lately (last year and this year) is because he has figured out how to turn good pitchers pitches into base hits. He dumps the ball into right field when he needs to and he drives pitches that are on the inner portion of the plate. What I mean to say is, he has figured out how to hit in all situations. Even when hes down in the count, he fights off good pitches and turns them into gold. Paulie, this buds for you, you are a legitimate contender for AL MVP as of right now. Anyone who wants to argue that, look at his numbers.

From what I can see, this offense needs to make some changes if we expect to make a pennant push. We need an offensive spark plug, because really its basically been the Paul Konerko show, featuring AJ Pierzynski lately.  The rest of the lineup just goes up there and looks like they don't wanna be there to be quite honest. They'll scatter a few hits here and there, but they just don't look hungry, they never get clutch hits and when its going like that, it spreads to everyone else in the lineup, a lineup with low confidence is not going to produce. So here is what I suggest (just in case Kenny or Ozzie are reading this lol)

1) Problem:  Juan Pierre does not deserve to be starting for this team, especially in the lead-off spot, since he never gets on base. Since a lead-off man has one job (getting on base) and Pierre doesn't do it, there is no reason to keep running him out there. Not to mention he is a liability in left field.

Solution: Brent Lillibridge has earned the chance to start. He has made countless great plays in the field and has been that spark plug when he has had the chance to hit in the lineup. Its no coincidence that we usually win when he gets his hacks. I don't know how he would fare as an every day lead off-man because he hasn't ever had that opportunity in his career, but I think its worth a shot, what are we going to lose? Someone who cannot get on base or run down a ball in left field? Come on now, Brent is fast, he hits, he busts his butt every time he's given a chance,  he is spectacular in the field and he has something to prove. Give him the nod Oz.

2) Problem: The DH, Adam Dunn is having the worst season of his life. He is basically a waste of an at-bat folks. He is hitting .178 (which I don't wanna dwell too much on his average since that is not what we picked him up for) But he only has 7 homers, which is the reason we picked him up. The problem here is, he is making so much money, they won't bench him.

Solution: I would say bench him and bring up Dyan Viciedo from the minors, he's hitting .330 down there and has tremendous power, he isn't a great fielder which is why DH would be perfect for him. But that won't happen because they are paying Dunn so much money, I hate to say it folks, but we're gonna be stuck with Dunn in the DH because of the big bucks we're giving him. We better just pray he figures it out, because I'll tell you this, it is all mental at this point, he is pressing so hard right now, he just needs to relax and go up there swinging.

3) Problem: Offensive production has been down and basically Rios hasn't done anything and Morel hasn't done much and Mark Teahan is just a waste of space on this roster. I do like Morel at 3rd though as he has a great glove, not to mention his bat is coming around.

Solution: I really want to see Dayan Viciedo get a shot in this lineup. I mean think about it, a young guy who is hungry and has something to prove. You bring him up and plug him in for someone like Rios or Teahan, he is going to spark this offense.

Overall Solution: Here is exactly what I would do. Move Quentin to left, replace Pierre with Lillibridge and put Lillibridge in Center and then plug in Viciedo in right. Either that or put him in at third and sit Morel, either way your sacrificing a little defense for a potential offensive explosion. But I think plugging in guys like Lillibridge and Dayan would spark this offense and that is what we need right now people. Unfortunately, money controls everything and they aren't going to bench Rios and probably not Pierre because of the big contracts they have. Which is sad, that we are going to sacrifice winning for money.

Anyway, hopefully we can start a winning streak as we are playing a few bad teams these next few series. We'll just have to weather the storm and hope these guys (who are going to keep getting the starting nod) will start turning things around and start playing to their potentials.

Game is at 7:10 tonight, Jake Peavy returns to the starting rotation, lets hope he looks as good as he did in his rehab start and lets hope this offense wakes up. I've said it all year and I'll say it again, this team has too much talent to have the record they have. The Cubs are just a bad team this year as they are 13 games under .500, this is a team we should beat.

By the way, I went to the first game of the crosstown classic the other day, what a joke. I'm not just talking about the way the Sox played. I'm talking about the type of "fan" that invaded the Cell. I've never seen so many plaid shorts, dress shirts, man earrings, and drunks at a game than I saw on Monday night. Talk about binge drinking, Cub fans left and right stumbling around, trying to walk the stairs to their seats, starting fights, bragging about their 13 games under .500 team. It really was pathetic to watch. If I can make time for it, I will be posting that video, explaining Cub fans and the differences between us and them, since if I typed everything I wanted to say, it would be wayyyy to long.

Go Sox.

Sox Finish Road Trip on High Note

Again, I apologize for not posting in a couple games. I have been really really busy, not to mention the Sox didn't give me much to post about at the beginning of this past road trip, but I digress. Ok, I'm going to make this post quick so we can move on to previewing the crosstown classic (amongst other Sox/cub things).

Alrighty then, The Sox just took 2 of 3 from the Diamondbacks in AZ, as Danks picked up an impressive win on Saturday. What made it even more impressive, was that Johnny took a line shot off the side of his head in the early goings of that game, only to stay in and pitch 7 strong innings giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. I mean the man laughed on the field after taking a laser to the side of the head. He didn't ask for a doctor, he asked for the ball and that is what makes John Danks the competitor that he is. He's a bulldog as Hawk would say. Johnny, this buds for you. Anyway the offense would come alive in that game on Saturday late. As the Sox broke a 2-2 tie with a Konerko solo job in the 6th (picking up his 2nd RBI of the day and 2nd home run in as many days) making it a 3-2 Sox lead. But the finishing blow came in the 8th, with 2 on and 1 out Alex Rios, your neighborhood insurance agent, blasted a 3 run homer to give the Sox a 4 run cushion. They would hold on to win that one 6-2.

Yesterday, on Fathers Day, the Sox received another excellent pitching performance from Phil Humber. He went 7.2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. The bats stumbled out of the gate but came alive late (again) plating 2 runs in the 7th and a 5 spot in the 8th. The Sox won that one 8-2 to take the series and pull (yet again) to within 3 games of .500. Konerko homered for his 3rd straight game and Rios homered for the second day in a row as well.

The Sox need to take this momentum and have a tremendous home stand this week. We play the Scrubs..... Chumps.... Chubs... sorry CUBS starting today (Monday) in the "Crosstown-Classic" Or as it will be known in about 2 weeks, the "Crosstown-Beat Down." Then we get the Nationals at home starting Friday. So we really really need to take care of business against 2 lesser National League teams.

Just would like to take this last opportunity to say thank you to my Dad. A hard working man who taught me everything I know about the White Sox. Always set a great example for me growing up on how to be a man and act like an adult, work hard for what I have, love the Sox and hate the Cubs. Thanks Dad! Happy Fathers Day (again).

Look for a post very soon previewing the crosstown classic (there might even be a video in there where I de-bunk Cub fans top 3 crosstown arguments as well as separate the two fan bases by demographic). Go Sox.

Twins Continue to Make Life Hell For Us

We are 0 for 4 against the Twins this season.
The Twins have 8 starters on the DL and we still lost both games to them
Thank God for the rain out or we would have dropped 3 games
In 36 innings against the Twins this season, we've scored 3 runs...........
I literally cannot watch this team sometimes, they are so frustrating
We hit into 6 double plays in 2 games against the Twins. Should have been 7 double plays, but the Twins committed an error.
The mediocracy of this team right now is really overwhelming.
They have so much talent in the lineup and are underachieving so much, I almost can't stand it.
Our only chance is if inter league play bails us out..... yet again.

We're in Arizona tomorrow. First pitch is at 8:40pm on Comcast Sportsnet.

Rain, Rain Go Away So the Sox Can Win Today

Alright Sox fans, I'm just sitting here, waiting out the rain delay, flipping around stations (because God knows as soon as WCIU put "Meet the Browns" on as their rain delay programming, I turned the station). Anyways, I just wanted to take this time to preview this upcoming series in Minnesota.

We come into this 3 game set with an overall record of 33 and 35, 4 games out of first place, we're 6 and 4 in our last 10 games. The Twins come in with an overall record of 26 and 39, 9.5 games out of first, however, they've been playing good baseball lately sporting an 8 and 2 record in their last 10 games. This is going to be a big series for our White Sox. We have battled back over this past month to bring it within 2 games of .500. The Twins are a team you can never count out and have been charging as of late. We need to cool this team off and come away with at least a series win. 

My keys to this series:

1. Get it Dunn

What I mean by this is, Adam Dunn needs to have a break out series. He has slowly begun to hit and when he starts to hit, our lineup becomes 10X more dangerous as he not only provides offensive production but protection for the hitters around him. He is a big key to our offensive success. 

2. Clutch Hitting (By the way, they just cancelled the game for tonight) 

Our offense is still leaving way to many men on base, the only way we are going to play to our potential is by knocking in runs when we have them out on the base paths. Obviously, we can't drive in every runner we put on base, but leaving 15 men on base in a game is unforgivable. If we are going to cool off the Twins, we need to start cashing the checks that are runners in scoring position.

3. Twin Throwings

Now that we're only playing 2 games in this series because of the cancelation today, we need our pitching staff to come out in both of our games and shut it down. We cannot have a let up, and that goes for our bullpen too. Santos especially needs to come out and absolutely shut it down (for his confidence and for the teams momentum)

This is a big one for our Sox folks. Lets hope they can come out and shut down a weak Twins team. Reason I say they're weak is because of the massive amount of injuries and big name players they have on the DL right now. They have been playing better than the team that they actually are. Its also a big one for us because after this series we go into Arizona to play a hot Diamondbacks team which kicks off inter league play for us, which is traditionally where the Sox make up a ton of ground. 

By the way, I also just started a new poll, located on the right side of this page, let me know who you think has been the biggest surprise of the 2011 season so far. Also, like the perspective on facebook!

So lets come back tomorrow and get that first win in Minnesota, the game starts at 7:10 and thats going to be over on WCIU. Big series. Lets get it done Sox. 

Sox Get it Dunn in Finale

Adam Dunn has been struggling mightily these first 2 months of this 2011 season. But lately it seems he has started to turn the corner, belting two home runs in this last series against the A's, driving in 6 in the series while walking 3 times and scoring 3 runs. One of his two series home runs was a game changer in the series finale on Sunday.

The White Sox offense struggled early, unable to get anything going until the 4th when Konerko started things off with a single, followed by an hit batsmen to AJ, which eventually set Dunn up with 2 on and 2 out to take a hanging curveball and absolutely park it deep in the right field bleachers.

                                           You can't leave the breaking ball there.....

That was a big moment for a few reasons, first of all it gave the Sox the lead and put a struggling offense right back in the game. But possibly more important (because this is more long term) it gave Adam Dunn more confidence and right now, that is what he needs. Nothing helps break a ball player out of a huge slump more than production. He said in a post game interview that he is finally starting to feel better up there at the plate, which is huge for the White Sox.

After 2 A's runs (which tied the game at 3 in the 7th) the White Sox would catch a break and take full advantage of it in the bottom half of the 7th. With men on 1st and 2nd Carlos Quentin would hit a slow roller to A's third basemen Scott Sizemore who would rush his throw to second (as a speedy Alexi was trucking into second) and throw the ball into left field, allowing Teahan to round 3rd and score and Alexi to get up and make 3rd. Konerko would follow with a solid single into left to plate an insurance run in Ramirez to give the Sox the 5-3 lead. Santos would come in for the save, he looked shaky again giving up 2 hits, a walk, and a run. The game ended on a ground ball to third and a close (and questionable) play at first, but none the less the White Sox got the much needed win to close out the A's and take 3 of 4 for the series.

Lets talk pitching real quick. Phillip Humber was absolutely solid yet again, he has yet to give up more than 4 runs in a game for this entire season. He went 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits. Phil had a rocky first inning but after that he was lights out, striking out 7 and only walking 2. He has been our most reliable starter all season and quite the pleasant surprise I might add. Humber was done in the 7th, giving way for Matt Thornton in the 8th who pitched an inning, giving up no hits and walking one. Cue Sergio Santos in the 9th, coming off a horrendous blown save on Friday Sergio looked shaky again. As I said earlier he gave up 2 hits, a walk, and a run. But he did record the save, giving the Sox the win.

Where does this win put us? 3.5 games out of first and 2 under .500. We go on the road to Minnesota to face off with a red hot Twins team who have been charging as of late. They are 8 and 2 in their last 10, hopefully we can cool them down and get back to .500. I don't mean to pat myself on the back prematurely but I do believe I set the date at June 15th for the Sox to be back to .500. Well they're 2 games under with 2 games to play until June 15th..... (not to mention that game on Friday night, if they hang on to that, they're an even .500 right now, oh well). But we need to keep this momentum going and we need to just dominate in Minnesota to propel this team into inter league play (which is where we always make up ground).

I wanna talk about one player right now who has been an absolute force lately. Paul "The Captain" Konerko. He is currently on a 13 game hitting streak, hitting an unreal .460 (23 for 50) with 9 doubles, 6 homers, 15 RBIs, 6 walks, and 10 runs scored during this streak. That is unbelievable. The man has been on a mission. That is why he is our captain people, he has single handedly ignited this offense. Numbers don't lie. As of right now, his numbers on the season are as follows:

Average: .322
Home Runs: 16
RBI: 52
Doubles: 11
OBP: .390
SLG: .563
Walks: 28

The man has literally gotten better with age. Paulie, this buds for you.

Anyway, today (Monday) is a much needed off day for the club as they travel to Minnesota. Lets hope we can cool the Twins down and get back to .500. We are right back in this pennant race folks (just as this White Sox fanatic predicted we would be). This team is too good to not be in it. Enjoy the off day and lets go out and get those pesky Twins tomorrow. Go Sox!

Brent Lillibridge Saves the Day

As I posted yesterday, I apologize for not posting this past week, I was in Cooperstown NY. The Sox had a decent week while I was gone and are slowly climbing the ladder. That being said, lets get started.

The White Sox came into US Cellular field on Saturday needing to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss on Friday. We have been slowly crawling back towards a .500 record and the top of this division. On a night where the bats weren't really there, the Sox needed all the help they could get from their pitching and defense. Brent Lillibridge and John Danks certainly rose the the occasion.

John Danks who recently made a minor change in his mound mechanics has been lights out his last 2 starts (including last night). He went 7.2 innings only giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. He was stellar. John Danks obviously is a better pitcher than his 2-8 record reflects. But it is nice to see him still going out there and absolutely battling every time he has as start. Look for him to start stacking up the wins, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he ended the season with a winning record (Mark my words right now). Anyways, Danks goes 7 and 2 thirds innings and gives way for Jesse Crain who finished off the final inning and a third to nail it down and get the save to give the Sox a 3-2 victory.

Lets talk about the defense real quick. Not the strongest outing all around as the Sox committed two errors, one by Ramirez at short and one by Castro behind the plate. But those errors were erased from our minds when Brent Lillibridge made a game saving, home run robbing snag, going over the wall and bringing a Coco Crisp shot back into the park.

From this angle you can really see what a great catch (especially given the circumstances) this really was.

With a man on base for the A's, that ball would have taken the lead away from our Sox and a win away from John Danks. Brent Lillibridge has been playing his way into a starting position. He hustles all the time, he throws the leather, and boy for a little guy, he can really swing. Last night was no different, making a huge play in the field as well as on the base paths, stealing second and advancing to third in the 6th, only to score what turned out to be the winning run on the next play. Brent Lillibridge, this buds for you.

As I stated earlier, the offense struggled a little bit scoring 3 runs on only 6 hits. Out of our 3 runs 2 of them were the results of throwing errors. Ramon Castro led off the 4th inning with a solo home run and that was really it for the offensive fireworks. But we took advantage of mistakes by the other team and thats what great teams do. They find a way to win, which is exactly what the Sox did last night.

We need to keep stacking up wins people, there has been a changing of the guard in the AL Central as the Tigers moved into a first place tie with the Indians last night. I don't mean to say "I told you so" but just as I stated many times earlier this season, the Indians have finally come down to earth and are fading fast. They are 2 and 8 in their last 10 and I suspect they will continue to fade. This race is between 2 teams folks, the White Sox and the Tigers. We need to keep winning, we're almost back to .500 and when that happens this race will really heat up. First things first, we need to take care of business today against Oakland and take 3 of 4 from the A's at home. The key for us to winning this division is going to be to win games at home, our home record going into today (Sunday) is 15 and 17. Thats not good folks, we need to win at home. Its as simple as that, if we can start winning big at home, this team is really going to take off. They have been playing better and better and continue to climb, lets get this one today and go from there.

Today (Sunday) we have Phil Humber on the mound who has been our best starter, first pitch is going to be at 1:10 over on Comcast Sportsnet. Go Sox.