Black Sox Blog

According to this press release, random copies of Sunday’s Chicago Tribune will contain huge poster sized schedules for the Cubs and White Sox.  You can view pictures of the schedule by clicking this link.  These look very cool and they’d look even cooler on my wall.

The Baseball America Prospect blog recently took a look at the White Sox spring training camp as it winds down.  They talk about all of the interesting prospects who made waves this spring and they also talk about John Danks and Josh Fields in the “hot” category.  I haven’t talked about it yet, but Danks made the team as the White Sox fifth starter while Fields will get some more time at Triple A.  The disappointment was Ryan Sweeney, who fell into the “Who’s Not” section.

The White Sox lost another spring game, and outside of Tad Iguchi, the offense didn’t do too much.  Iguchi homered, tripled, and drove in both White Sox runs in the 3-2 loss while the rest of the team managed just five hits.

Javier Vazquez had another mixed outing on the mound.  He went 5 1/3 but he gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks.  He did strike out six though.  The pen did do a nice job three relievers combined for 3 2/3 innings of no hit ball.

Some bad news came out of camp though.  Toby Hall may miss the entire season with a torn labrum.  He was supposed to back up A.J. Pierzynski this year and apparantly it looks like the White Sox might pick up Javy Lopez to take his place.  Not sure if I like that move and I think it might be time to give Gustavo Molina some time behind the plate.

Scott Merkin profiled my favorite player, Joe Crede, yesterday.  This is a solid story and it goes on talk about how Joe Crede took some time to realize his potential.  He came up to the big leagues and hit like gang busters then took a couple of years off before he broke out in 2006.  While the 30 homeruns he hit were pretty impressive by itself, the fact that he only struck out 58 times in doing so was just as noteworthy.

PECOTA has him projected for another solid season.  His weighted mean average line is .268/.318/.477 with above average defense at third base.  They have him with 25 homeruns but they also see a high chance of another breakout.

MiLB.com previewed the White Sox farm system today in a column that’s full of information.  You get profiles of players at each stop in the White Sox farm system and you also get a recap of the White Sox 2006 draft.  It puts Jacob Rasner and Johnny Lujan under the radar and it predicts John Shelby and Gio Gonzalez will be the cream of the 2007 minor league crop.  Like I said, there’s a ton of stuff here so be sure to check it out.

Well, the bats were there but the pitching wasn’t.  Tad Iguchi went two for four with a grand slam and two runs to lead the way while Jim Thome singled and drove in two runs.  Most of the damage for the Sox came in the seventh when they scored five runs but they needed two in the bottom of the ninth to win it.

Javier Vazquez was bombed in five innings of work.  He gave up five runs on eleven hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Bobby Jenks was also hit hard for three runs in two innings and both of those guys now sport ERAs above 10.

Jose Contreras gets the start against the Mariners tomorrow.  And for those of you that didn’t like the Freddy Garcia trade, he left the game for the Phillies today with forearm tightness.  No diagnosis yet but he was shutdown before he even threw half the number of pitches he was supposed to throw.

Beyond the Box Score takes a look at the White Sox and you won’t like what they wrote.  They think the lack of pitching will keep the White Sox out of the mix and possibly below .500 despite the high powered offense.  It’s a solid read though, especially from a sabermetric perspective so be sure of check it out.

Tim Brown recently profiled Darin Erstad, who was signed to give the White Sox some insurance out in the outfield with the current injury to Scott Podsednik.  It talks about some his injuries as well as his time with the Angels. 

Over at the Hardball Times, Dave Studeman takes a look at the White Sox heading into the 2007 season.  It looks like a lot of people are selling the White Sox short this year and they’re not expected to do much.  It sounds a lot like what was being said as the White Sox went into the 2005 season.

He touches on everything from the aging heart of the lineup to Mark Buehrle to who the fifth starter will be.  Solid read, although he draws the line at predicting the White Sox to make the post season.

While it might have more to do with a the poor springs that Gavin Floyd and the mediocre spring that Charlie Haeger is having, John Danks has certainly made a case for a spot on the White Sox rotation this year with three solid starts.  For his troubles, Danks was recently highlighted in Kevin Goldstein’s Monday Morning Ten Pack and if he continues to throw this well all spring, you could be looking at your fifth starter.  As much as I like Brandon McCarthy, a ROY season from Danks would certainly help temper the initial anger I felt about the trade.

Happy Felsch was the White Sox slugger in 1917.  He led the team in homeruns (6), RBIs (102) and batting average (.308).  The six homeruns were good for fourth in the American League and he finished second in RBIs.   Oddly he also had his fair share of singles as well because he was sixth in the league with 144 singles. 

If you want a ton of information on Happy Felsch, I highly recommend you check out his biography at SABR’s Baseball Biography Project website.  Felsch was one of the “eight men out” and he even helped with the book.  As the biography describes, 1917 was a banner year for Felsch and he was also a great with the mitt out in centerfield as well.

Here are Felsch’s numbers in 1917:

Games 152
AB 575
Runs 75
Hits 177
Doubles 17
Triples 10
Homeruns 6
RBIs 102
Walks 33
Strikeouts 52
Stolen Bases 26
Caught Stealing ??
BA .308
OBA .352
SLG% .403
OPS .755
RC 85
RCAA 24
RCAP 5
RC/G 5.31
ISO .096

The White Sox extended the contract of Javier Vazquez today.  For the bargain basement price of $34.5 million (these days), we get Vazquez from 2008 through 2010.  I’ve always been a huge fan of Vazquez and I think this is a great deal.  For some reason, Vazquez really struggled in the later innings but he definitely had his share of quality starts in 2006.

PECOTA expects a pedestrian 1.31 WHIP with a 4.50 ERA and 148 strikeouts but they also give him a 25% breakout rate.  When Vazquez is on, he’s definitely a force on the mound I just wish he’d bring it like we know he can every time he steps out on the mound.

The White Sox took it to the Cubs today, and they did it on television as the game was shown on WGN.  Paul Konerko homered twice and scored three runs while Jermaine Dye, Rob Mackowiak and Molina all went yard as well. 

On the pitching side, Jon Garland had a much better showing then he did on Wednesday.  He threw three shutout innings with two hits a walk and a strikeout.  Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger wasn’t as sharp.  He gave up two runs in two innings of work.

Tomorrow, the White Sox will take on the Brewers.  3:05 start time if you’re in the eastern time zone.