Rotation Problems Continue for White Sox

After Friday’s dramatic walk-off win, the Chicago White Sox got shutout last night and will attempt to get back on track this afternoon.

Rotation Issues

To fill the hole in the rotation, the White Sox purchased the contract of journeyman Scott Carroll. The 29-year-old right hander owned a 1.57 ERA over four starts in Charlotte, and he will make his major league debut today. It remains to be seen how long Carroll will stay in the rotation, but he has a chance to stick if he throws well given the White Sox uncertainty in the starting rotation.

In a separate move, the White Sox also optioned Erik Johnson to Triple-A Charlotte to refine is mechanics. Johnson has walked 15 batters in 23.2 innings of work, so the White Sox want him to work on commanding his pitchers better. I would expect to see Johnson again in a month or so after he shows that he can throw strikes more consistently.

Chris Sale is scheduled to throw a bullpen session today, and he hopes to return when he is eligible to come off the disabled list on May 3^rd. Obviously, the White Sox desperately need Sale back to help sure up the rotation.

John Danks has had a solid April, but last night was another example of why he needs to cut down on his walks. Danks has issued 17 walks in 31 innings pitched and only he only has 18 strikeouts. A 1:1 strikeout to walk ratio does not equate to long term success, so Danks’ 3.48 ERA will start to climb if he doesn’t correct that problem. Fortunately, Danks has been able to pitch out of jams, but that likely won’t last all season long.

It goes without saying that the White Sox rotation is a mess. Right now the starting rotation is Jose Quintana, John Danks, Andre Rienzo, and Scott Carroll. The White Sox aren’t sure who will start on Wednesday when they need a fifth starter, so that will be another situation to monitor. With Chris Sale coming back, and hopefully a more effective Erik Johnson in a month or so, the White Sox could be in better shape. But for now, it is looking pretty ugly.

Offense Stays Hot

The White Sox hitters have cooled off a bit, but they still have carried this team through April. The White Sox lead the American League in runs scored (134), are third in average (.269), second in home runs (30), and third in OPS (.763). This is a pleasant change after last year’s dismal offensive performance, but it is also needed with how bad the pitching has been.

Jose Abreu continues to lead the offense and he snapped out of a 1-for-25 slump this week. Abreu has 12 hits in his last 34 at-bats, including five home runs and 13 RBI. After Friday night’s two homer, six RBI performance, my man crush for Abreu has reached an unhealthy level. It was great to see him make adjustments to bust out of that slump, and he will likely have to do that a few more times this season.

Remarkably, Dayan Viciedo (.368) is leading the league in hitting, while Alexei Ramirez (.343) is fourth. Tyler Flowers is hitting .388, but he does not have enough at-bats to qualify in the rankings. All three of these averages will start to come down as the season progresses, but it is refreshing to see for now.

Injury Moves

Gordon Beckham was reinstated from the disabled list on Friday and immediately inserted into the starting lineup at second base. Beckham will need to perform much better offensively if he wants to stay in the lineup.

Conor Gillaspie was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 22^nd with a left-hand contusion below his thumb. The move might be precautionary, but it also allows the White Sox more time to figure out what to do with their infield situation. Marcus Semien now shifts over to third base with Beckham back, but he could either move to the utility role or even the minor leagues when Gillaspie returns. Either Semien or Leury Garcia will have to be sent down, and the White Sox could decide to keep Garcia to let Semien get every day at-bats in the minors.

-Eric Tichelbaut

Twitter: @etichel07

Bullpen Struggles Continues to Haunt White Sox

The Chicago White Sox dropped the final two games of a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox to lower their record to 8-8 after 16 games. Over the past two days, White Sox fans have witnessed arguably the most boring and most exciting games of the season. Wednesday night’s 5-hour, 14 inning marathon was brutally painful to watch as the White Sox issued 15 walks on the night. Last night’s game featured one of the best pitching duels of the young season with Chris Sale and Jon Lester both carrying no hitters into the sixth inning.

What else has happened in the past week?

The most talked about issue with this team continues to be the problems in the bullpen. As mentioned, Wednesday’s performance was one to forget, but unfortunately it hasn’t been the only one. After 16 games, the White Sox bullpen owns a staggering 6.48 ERA and alarming 1.82 WHIP in 50 innings pitched. Relievers Scott Downs (10.80 ERA), Ronald Belisario (12.91 ERA), and Donnie Veal (7.50 ERA) have been the main culprits of the disastrous start. Veal has been since sent down and Zach Putnam has been recalled from the minors, so hopefully he can add something to the group. But, in order for this bullpen to be effective, Downs, Belisario, and even Matt Lindstrom need to perform better to provide veteran stability. The good news is that youngsters Daniel Webb, Jake Petricka, and Maikel Cleto have been reliable for the most part. In addition to that, Webb has emerged as the most effective option in the bullpen, and I believe it is just a matter of time before he ascends into the closer’s role. Lastly, the absence of Nate Jones has had a tremendous negative effect to the bullpen. Whether Jones is pitching in the 7^th, 8^th, or 9^th inning, the White Sox expected him to be one of their best relievers. Robin Ventura said today that Jones’ back injury might now be worse than what they had originally thought and offered no timetable for his return. Hopefully, Jones will be back in a few weeks and he can help everyone settle into their roles. If not, this is going to continue to be a problem all year long.

After all that negative talk, it is time for some encouraging news and that comes from the performance that starting pitcher Erik Johnson delivered on Tuesday versus the Boston Red Sox. The young right-hander was brilliant during his 6.2 innings of work by allowing just one run and striking out nine batters. After two dismal efforts to start the season, Johnson’s outing was a pleasant surprise. With Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, and John Danks all pitching well, the White Sox would have a formidable starting rotation if Johnson can improve on each start.

With one half of the pair of struggling hurlers finding his rhythm, the pressure is now on Felipe Paulino to follow suit. Paulino will take the mound tonight versus the Texas Rangers in Arlington, and he will have to be at the top of his game to hold a potent Rangers’ lineup intact. I have my doubts that he will be able to do so this evening, but I am not ready to write him off just yet. I would imagine the White Sox will give Paulino every chance there is to get going, and I wouldn’t expect a move to replace him for at least another month.

As good as Jose Abreu was to start the season, the first baseman is really struggling over his last several games. The Cuban slugger is in the midst of 1-for-21 slump and has seen his average fall to .213.  Even with the red-hot start, we all knew that Abreu would face some hard times as soon as pitchers figured out a weakness to his approach. Opposing pitchers have had their way with Abreu by getting him to swing and miss at low off-speed stuff. As a result, his strikeout totals have increased and obviously his production has suffered. Having said that, I fully expect Abreu to make the proper adjustments in the coming days and end this slump. In my opinion, Abreu is taking too many fastballs early in the count and falling behind, allowing pitchers to throw him junk. Since the beginning of spring training, Abreu has made a conscientious effort to work counts and see as many pitches as possible in order to learn the style of pitching in the major leagues. While that is a great approach to start with, I think Abreu needs to start being more aggressive early in the counts and drive the ball into the gaps. Let’s see if he can get back on track in the hitters’ friendly ballpark this weekend.

With Abreu facing some struggles, the White Sox offense has slowed down a bit, but the hot starts by Alexei Ramirez and Tyler Flowers have continued to this point. Ramirez is batting .381 with four home runs and 14 RBI, while Flowers is hitting at a .395 clip with a homer and six runs batted in. Having these two players at the bottom of the order has really helped the lineup turnover, and it has allowed leadoff man Adam Eaton to rack up 10 RBI in 16 games. While I don’t expect either player to continue their torrid pace, it is worth noting that Tyler Flowers really looks like a different hitter this season. Flowers talked about how he tweaked his batting stance late last year and he said he has never felt more comfortable at the dish. I’m curious to see if this is really the case, because it will be a huge for the future of this club if Flowers is an option at catcher going forward.

Lastly, Gordon Beckman appears ready to return to the club sometime next week. I’d imagine that Beckham will be reinserted as the starting second baseman, but it will be interesting to see how his return impacts the roster. Leury Garcia will likely be the odd-man out and get sent back to Triple-A Charlotte, and Marcus Semien will take over as the utility infielder. Even though Beckham will have his job back, he won’t have much room for error with Semien breathing down his neck.

-Eric Tichelbaut

Twitter: @etichel07

Notre Dame Spring Game Recap

Notre Dame held their annual Blue-Gold spring scrimmage game yesterday afternoon which provided a glimpse of what the Fighting Irish will look like next fall. While there is plenty to talk about with what occurred on the field, the biggest news of the day was delivered by Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick when he announced that FieldTurf will be installed prior to the 2014 regular season. Swarbrick said that the process will begin after graduation in mid-May and is scheduled to be completed by August 15^th. I know that there will be some Notre Dame fans that are upset over the decision based on “tradition”, but I couldn’t be any happier with the switch. For the past several years, the playing surface at Notre Dame Stadium has been an embarrassment. I had grown tired of watching players routinely slip when trying to make a cut or plant their feet. It would be one thing if Notre Dame didn’t play in a cold weather city, but since they do, having FieldTurf is a must. Honestly, there is no excuse for any major college program or professional team residing in a cold whether city to not have FieldTurf installed. They owe it to their players and fans to have the best playing surface possible. But, enough of that…now let’s focus on what happened on the field.

Obviously, the biggest point of interest yesterday was the quarterback play of both Everett Golson and Malik Zaire. Because of Golson’s suspension in 2013, Brian Kelly has stated that he would have to earn his starting job back. At the time, I thought that was just “coach-speak” and Golson was all but guaranteed to be the starter for the season opener versus Rice. Having said that, the quarterback competition might be a little closer than originally thought. While I still expect Everett Golson to ultimately be under-center this season, Malik Zaire is certainly in the discussion. As a matter of fact, Zaire actually out-performed Golson yesterday, but both quarterbacks played well.

I thought that Golson was a little bit hesitant and rusty to start the game, but he made some really nice throws on the run, as well as in the pocket. In particular, Golson’s throw on a deep route to Corey Robinson was perfectly placed. Golson threw the ball high enough and with enough arch that Robinson was the only one that had a play on the ball. That catch was one of several that Robinson made on the afternoon, and he looks like he’ll be huge mismatch for teams with his size and strength. On the other hand, Golson also had some poor throws. Most notably, Golson severely overthrew Amir Carlisle on a skinny post that would have been an easy touchdown. Carlisle had his man beat and there was no safety help in the middle of the field. Since that play came during Golson’s first drive, I think nerves and rust had a big impact on the errant throw. The biggest negative out of Golson’s performance was that he was looking to run way too soon on many occasions. Even though the defense was vanilla and didn’t blitz, Golson faced a lot of pressure and took off running whenever he was pressured. We all know that Golson can run, so it would have been nice to see him try to keep his eyes downfield and find an open receiver without the fear of getting hit. All things considered, it was a pretty impressive day for Golson. He showed his tremendous arm strength and athleticism throughout the day, and he definitely looks more mature physically and mentally.

As mentioned above, if the quarterback competition was based solely on the performance yesterday, then Malik Zaire would be the starter. Zaire started off on fire by hitting C.J. Prosise while rolling out to open the game. Later that drive, Zaire also hit Will Fuller on a deep ball, but the play could have resulted in a touchdown if it wasn’t slightly underthrown. But, the good news is that he gave Fuller a chance to make a play. I’d much rather have a quarterback underthrow a receiver as opposed to overthrowing him. The most exciting play of the game might have occurred during Zaire’s second drive when he threw a strike to Prosise on a curl route, who then proceeded to make a few nice moves and sprint to the end zone. Prosise looks like a nice fit in the slot this season, and should be able to make a lot of plays in space with DaVaris Daniels and Corey Robinson on the outside. Zaire’s second touchdown pass of the day came on a short quick slant to Amir Carlisle. Carlisle had just enough separation from the defender and Zaire threw a bullet for the score. That play was just one of several throws where Zaire showed off his strong arm. Zaire later hit Durham Smythe while rolling to his left by zipping the ball right past the defender’s arm. While watching the play develop, I thought the pass was going to either get knocked down or intercepted (by the way, Smythe looks like he’ll be the next solid option at tight end for Notre Dame). Like Golson, Zaire performed very well and has made this a legitimate competition. We’ll see what happens this summer, but it looks as though the Irish will be in good shape regardless of who is the starting quarterback.

Outside of the quarterback play, I was also interested to watch the running back situation. The Irish will primarily use a trio of backs this season with Cam McDaniel, Tarean Folston, and Greg Bryant all figuring to see plenty of action. The three backs all have different running styles, so the offense will be able to be diverse with their running attack. Brian Kelly has also stated that he expects the running backs to be more involved in the passing game this season, and that was evident with McDaniel and Folston each making some nice catches out of the backfield. Bryant stole the show late in the game when he broke off a 51-yard run, showcasing some great moves and lateral quickness. Bryant only had three carries last season and missed most of the year with a knee injury, but it appears he will have a much larger role this season. I’m excited to see what these three can do with the ball in their hands. With having Golson or Zaire to go along with the running backs, Notre Dame should be one of the better rushing teams in the country this season.

While it is hard to evaluate the defense in a game where they don’t blitz or hit the quarterback, there were some nice plays made. Despite not being able to blitz, I was really surprised by how much pressure the defensive line was able to get on the quarterbacks. Since they couldn’t hit the quarterback it is hard to tell how many sacks they would have had, but I counted at least three instances where the whistle should have been blown to signal a sack. Add those to the number of “sacks” they did have, and the total would have been over double digits. I’m really excited to see what the defense will look like this season. Brian Kelly has stated that defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder will be more aggressive with his play calling than Bob Diaco. As much as a respect the job Diaco did, the “bend but don’t break defense” was frustrating to watch at times. Of course, the defense excelled at tightening up near the red zone to limit the amount of touchdowns scored, but the defense was on the field a lot with extended drives. VanGorder’s style of play might result in the defense giving up some quicker scores due to the blitz being beat, but I expect plenty of more sacks and turnovers with the aggressive style. One thing that I do like is that VanGorder has said that Jaylon Smith will be used in various roles. Smith is without doubt the best defender the Irish have, and it makes a ton of sense to have him playing all over the place. This will allow Smith to make more impact plays by utilizing his speed and athleticism in certain situations. The last thing I would like to mention is that I was impressed with some plays in the secondary. Cole Luke, Elijah Shumate, and Max Redfield all made their presence felt by each having a spectacular pass breakup. The secondary should be vastly improved over recent years, and thus will allow the Irish to be more aggressive with their pass rushing schemes.

-Eric Tichelbaut

Twitter: @etichel07

White Sox Lose Garcia for the Season

After taking the opening contest of a four-game set with Cleveland Indians, the Chicago White Sox now sit at 5-5; tied with the Indians for second place in the division. The up-and-down season continues tonight as the White Sox look to win consecutive games for the first time since winning the first two games of the season.

It has been a week since my last update and a lot has happened on and off the field since then.

Let’s start with the bad…

The White Sox and outfielder Avisail Garcia got terrible news yesterday when a MRI revealed a torn labrum in Garcia’s left shoulder. Due to the extent of the injury that involves part of the labrum being torn off the bone, surgery is required to repair it fully. Garcia will likely undergo surgery early next week and will be out for the remainder of the season. General manager Rick Hahn indicated that the White Sox expect Garcia to be ready to go for spring training in 2015. This news is very disheartening for all parties involved, but it is not the end of the world. Garcia will be just 24 years old next season and is still a huge part of the future with the White Sox having control of him for five seasons. Assuming Garcia fully recovers from the injury, the worst part of this situation is him missing a full season of at-bats in the major leagues. The 2014 season was supposed to be big developmental year for many White Sox players and Garcia was no exception. Now because of the season-ending injury, Garcia won’t be able to progress with the rest of the building blocks this summer, and he will be season behind his projected development.

Despite the devastating news, the White Sox must move on this season. Although the Garcia injury is a major blow to his development, it should not affect the White Sox too much in 2014 in terms of wins and losses. With or without Garcia, I don’t view the White Sox as a playoff team, much less even a .500 team. To replace Garcia, the White Sox called up Jordan Danks and he figures to see some more playing time along with Alejandro De Aza and Dayan Viciedo. Between the three outfielders, I expect the White Sox offense to withstand the loss of Avisail Garcia in 2014.

Besides the injury, the White Sox have experienced some problems within their pitching staff. After two turns through the starting rotation, the left-handers have looked good, but the righties have struggled to get going. Rookie Erik Johnson and veteran Felipe Paulino have combined to allow 18 earned runs in 20 innings (It is worth noting that two of those starts came at Coors Field). I wouldn’t worry about either Johnson or Paulino just yet, but both pitchers need to start performing better. Outside of the struggles in the rotation, the bullpen has had a tough time as well. Youngsters Daniel Webb, Maikel Cleto, and Donnie Veal have pitched well, but veterans Ronald Belisario, Scott Downs, and Matt Lindstrom haven’t been impressive. Lindstrom did enjoy a nice 1-2-3 inning last night, so hopefully that is a sign of things to come. If Lindstrom doesn’t get his act together quickly, then Webb, Cleto, or Nate Jones (when healthy) will take over his duties as closer. The other two, Belisario and Downs, have been brutal (10 earned runs in 5.2 innings), but their track record suggests that they should at least be major-league average pitchers moving forward.

Now the good…

As bad as the White Sox pitching has been at times this season, the offense is on quite a roll. After ten games, the White Sox lead the American League in batting average, home runs, runs scored, on-base percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage. I’m doubtful that the White Sox will lead all those categories even a month from now, but it is certainly a vastly improved offense over last season. Leading the offensive surge have been Jose Abreu, Adam Eaton, Alexei Ramirez, and Tyler Flowers. Abreu’s start to the season couldn’t be going any better as the slugger is hitting .310 with 4 home runs and 14 RBI. This pace certainly won’t last and Abreu will likely face some slumps as pitchers begin to adjust to his swing. The key to Abreu’s success will be how quickly he is able to make his own adjustments at the plate. Eaton continues to be the igniter at the top of the order, and surprisingly has seven RBI to go along with his terrific on-base skills. Ramirez is off to the hottest start of his career with two home runs and nine RBI to go along with a .421 average, and he could be in for a career-year. If that still proves to be the case in July, then the White Sox will have an extremely valuable trade chip in Ramirez. Just as we were all ready to dismiss Tyler Flowers as an option at catcher going forward, he starts the season on an absolute tear with a .444 average, one homer, and five RBI. Despite the hot start, Flowers will have to continue to show that he has changed his approach and show some sustained success.

Injury News

Gordon Beckham had a slight setback in his rehab assignment and has been shut-down until he no longer feels pain in his oblique. The timetable is unclear at the moment, but I wouldn’t expect Beckham to be back with the White Sox until the end of the month at the earliest.

Nate Jones’ injury status has changed slightly as doctors determined that his injury is actually related to his lower back and not his hip or glute. Jones received an epidural the other day, and the White Sox are now hoping to have him back a little sooner than originally thought.

-Eric Tichelbaut

Twitter: @etichel07

Roller-coaster Start for White Sox

The Chicago White Sox dropped the opening game of a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals by a score of 7-5, falling to 2-2 on the young season. Although it has only been four games, the White Sox have been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride to start the season.

Given that, there is plenty to talk about as the first week of action comes to a close.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Jose Abreu will be worth every penny of his 6-year $68 million contract. All of the reports from spring training indicated that the free agent first baseman had tremendous work ethic and displayed professionalism with his approach to the game. Not only that, but the guy can flat out hit! Abreu went 0-for-4 this afternoon, but he did pick up his 6^th RBI of the season and is still hitting .313 with two doubles and a triple. Probably the most impressive aspect of Abreu’s hot start has been the power that he has shown to both right and center field. The ball seems to jump off Abreu’s bat, so if he continues to drive the ball to all fields, he will put up some serious numbers when the weather warms up.

Alejandro De Aza is doing everything he can to prove that he deserves everyday at-bats in left field by hitting three home runs versus the Minnesota Twins. I have been pretty adamant about my preference of Dayan Viciedo for the long-term, but I have to give credit when it is due. Despite the hot start, De Aza will have to prove that he can play better defensively and improve on his base running skills before I start to campaign for him. Last season, I saw way too many instances where either he wasn’t paying attention or lacked the fundamentals necessary to be an everyday player. Regardless of what happens, De Aza will find his way into the lineup or another team’s lineup via trade if he continues to hit.

Don’t look now, but Tyler Flowers has seven hits in his last eight at-bats to give him a .571 average. Obviously, this won’t last, but it is nice to see some production offensively from the catching position. I doubt that Flowers has “figured it out” and will be a .280 hitter, but the lineup will be a lot stronger if he can hit just .230-.240 with 15-plus home runs. We’ll see what happens as the season progress, but for now just enjoy it.

Chris Sale’s Opening Day victory was one of the best performances I have ever seen from him. The final line may not look as glamorous as his other stellar outings (7.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), but the way he pitched impressed me the most. Early on in the game, it was apparent that Sale did not have his best stuff (particularly his devastating slider), but he battled through it. After giving up two runs on two hits and a walk in the third inning, Sale settled down and relied primarily on his fastball and changeup to get through the Twins’ lineup. Sale retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced, fanning four of the last five before departing with one out in the eighth inning.

Newly acquired Adam Eaton is also off to a fast start in a White Sox uniform. The leadoff man has done a great job getting on-base (.421 OBP) with five hits, two walks, and an HBP during his first 19 plate appearances. Eaton has definitely been the sparkplug that he was labeled as, and it is refreshing to see after watching an offense that looked dead for the better part of 2013. Not only has he done well at the plate, Eaton also made a fine running catch before slamming into the wall to rob Oswaldo Arcia of a game tying extra-base hit during yesterday’s contest.

While there have been plenty of bright spots, there have been some troubling issues as well.

Most notably, the bullpen has been brutal to start the season. Before the opener on Monday, manager Robin Ventura named Matt Lindstrom as the team’s closer going forward. I was really surprise by the move at the time, but it sort of makes sense now. Nate Jones was the favorite to land the closing gig in spring training, but he missed some time due to a strained glute. It appears that the injury is still an issue as Jones was placed on the 15-day disabled list this morning. It is possible that Ventura was still worried about Jones’ health heading into the season, and thus went with Lindstrom instead. Lindstrom figures to serve as team’s closer for now, but I have almost no confidence in his ability to hold the job for the entire season. While Lindstrom is a quality reliever, he doesn’t possess the career strikeout rate (7.2 K/9), walk rate (3.3 BB/9), or WHIP (1.42) that would project long-term sustainability in the role. It will be interesting to see who emerges from the pack, but I’m starting to like my Daniel Webb dark-horse call a little bit more each day.

Other than the on-field play, there are two things that Robin Ventura has done that I have to question.

First, I am not a fan of Conor Gillaspie hitting third. Nothing against Conor, but he is not a three-hole hitter. I understand that he had a great spring and Ventura might be playing the hot hand, but I hope this doesn’t continue. I am a big believer in having your best hitter hit third, and the best hitter on this team is Jose Abreu.

I can’t believe I’m about to say this but, why did Ventura have Paul Konerko hit for Tyler Flowers with the game on the line on Thursday? Yes, Konerko is the better hitter, but Flowers was for 4-for-4 and Konerko had been sitting on the bench for three hours. Thankfully it doesn’t seem as though that move fazed Flowers since he had a three-hit game today, but I wouldn’t be too happy about being pulled after getting four hits in a game. Having said that, it is important to point out that Ventura pushed all the right buttons during Wednesday’s comeback win by having Paul Konerko pinch-hit for Alejandro De Aza and then Dayan Viciedo for Tyler Flowers. Both of those moves were instrumental to the outcome of the game.

After four games I feel pretty much the same as I did before the season started. This White Sox team will be vastly improved over last year’s team. With a little luck, this team should be right around .500 at the end of the year.

-Eric Tichelbaut

Twitter: @etichel07