100 dingers in 2030. Book it.
h/t http://deadspin.com/5525695/meet-the-lefty+slugging-cannon+armed-3+year+old
April 27, 2010
Baseball-Intellect’s Top-100 Prospects list of 2010
29. Tyler Flowers | Chicago White Sox (1) | C | Grade – B+
87. Dan Hudson | Chicago White Sox (2) | RHP | Grade – B
And Trayce Thompson is on the “Some names you might see on next year’s list.”
Friction between Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams
Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams remain the odd couple. According to people who know both men, White Sox manager Guillen and general manager Williams are regularly engaged in heated dialogue and aren’t exactly loving each other lately. Guillen, who’s making more progress with his Twitter account than his team, and Williams, who’s smart like Guillen and can be just as feisty, do love each other when they’re winning. But not so much now that the White Sox are 5-11 and in last place in the AL Central, already six games out. It doesn’t matter; they know they are stuck with each other for better or worse, like a marriage. They are both Jerry Reinsdorf guys, and if you’re one of Reinsdorf’s guys, you’re golden. So suck it up, fellas, your pitching is the best in your division and it’s early enough to get back in it.
They both deserve blame for Juan Pierre and Mark Kotsay. And for running Jim Thome out of town.
Ex-Sox prospect John Ely to be promoted to the majors?
Will the Dodgers promote John Ely to take the place of injured Vincente Padilla in their pitching rotation?
Padilla’s spot in the rotation comes up on Wednesday for the first time since he was shelved. The Dodgers are expected to purchase the contract of right-hander John Ely, whom they acquired from the Chicago White Sox in the Juan Pierre trade last December. Ely, who is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three starts for the Isotopes, will be making his major league debut.
Ely’s stats: First Inning, Minor League Splits
Ely’s dream was to make the Sox (he developed a cutter too) . Here’s his FutureSox scouting report.
UPDATE: Quotes from Ely:
“I can’t believe it,” Ely said via phone from Omaha. “I’m going to try and zone in and not look up (when he first toes the rubber). I’m sure I’m going to be nervous. If you’re not nervous, you better find a new profession. But I’ll be able to handle it.”
and on the trade:
“The trade has worked out real well,” Ely said. “I had a solid spring. I’ve thrown the ball well at Albuquerque. I know some of the guys in the Mets lineup. I’ll figure out a way to attack them.”
Josh Phegley fighting ITP syndrome
Josh Phegley’s baseball career is on hold right now. The Wabash Valley baseball great has been out of action for a week and it looks like he will miss another month.
The former Terre Haute North baseball star is being treated for I-T-P syndrome, it’s a virus that attacks platelets in your body…
This is very serious, but not life threatening for Josh. Right now his body can’t produce the correct amount of platelets and until it can, he can’t play baseball again..
He is on a steroid to try and stabilize the platelets and get his body back to normal…
God, that sounds awful for Josh. Hopefully the treatment works.
BTW, here’s Wikipedia’s ITP entry.
April 26, 2010
Kevin Goldstein on Trayce Thompson
Talking to scout about WhiteSox outfielder Trayce Thompson. “Is this for real?” I ask. Scout: “Oh yeah, absolutely. He’s tremendous.”
A.J. Pierzynski is on-notice
Tyler Flowers has a .421 wOBA for Triple-A Charlotte and may A.J. Pierzynski be put on notice:
And Ozzie says:
“I might move (Mark) Teahen up in A.J.’s spot and move A.J. down,” he said. “If I do that, I don’t want those guys to feel I don’t have confidence in them. But when the manager changes the lineups and moves people, that’s for a reason. I have a couple days to think about it.”
BTW, A.J. has a .151 BABIP.
UPDATE: I forgot Mark Kotsay! I put him in Harrelson’s place.
Phil Rogers wants the Sox to extend Paul Konerko
… Konerko has been a bargain at $12 million a year, and the White Sox should offer him another two years guaranteed at that price with a third year that can vest depending on his performance in 2012. He’s a cornerstone piece of what has been a good team and you don’t want to make a change there before you have to. … He’s hitting .290 with a majors-leading eight homers and 14 RBIs in 18 games. His game-winner off Brandon League in the eighth inning on Sunday finished a sweep over a Seattle team that only the truly nostalgic could love. Don’t play with fire. Get him signed before he moves into the market.
Paulie will be 35 next year. I wouldn’t give him $12 million.
Fangraphs on Andruw Jones
George Romero may have never considered the possibility of smiling zombies. The walking undead Andruw Jones is infectious with smiling, and he’s spreading the condition all around the Southside of Chicago. He’s burying the rough seasons spent with the Dodgers and Rangers and crunching into opposing pitchers to the tune of a .295/.415/.750 line, or a .499 wOBA. …
Bloomberg Sports on Jake Peavy
One of the problems has been Peavy’s inability to miss bats. FanGraphs has batters whiffing at Peavy’s pitches 10% to 12% of the time throughout his career. His swinging strike rate this season is a disconcerting 6.4%. Why is that important? Because swinging strikes correlate extremely well with strikeouts. Which makes sense on a basic level — i.e. the better the stuff, the more swings and misses, and the higher likelihood of at-bats ending in strikeouts. Despite a static velocity reading on his fastball and a presumably healthy elbow, Peavy’s results — in a small sample of four starts, anyway — suggest his stuff has been subpar and extremely hittable. …
April 25, 2010
Konerko’s HR in 3rd consecutive game leads Sox to a 3-2 victory (Pitch F/X)
Danks’ goes 8, allowing 2, striking out 5, and walking 0. 74 of his 107 pitches were strikes. Paulie’s solo HR breaks the 2-2 tie and the Sox hang on for the 3-2 win.
Boxscore: Konerko 6 TBs (HR, 2B, 2 BB), Teahen 2 TBs (2B)
| Chi White Sox | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danks(W, 3-0) | 8.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1.55 |
| Jenks(S, 4) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.38 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4.45 |
Omar don’t scare
Dyck:
“I don’t feel 43, otherwise I wouldn’t be playing this game still,” Vizquel said. “I feel pretty young still. I feel I’m able to do a lot on the field. I play a position that is really demanding where you have to jump and stop and do a lot of acrobatic stuff. As long as I can still do that, I think you have a chance to play.”
In the final spring game earlier this month in Atlanta, Vizquel had four hits, four RBIs and one stolen base.
“I hope I can have one of those in the season,” he said. “It’s just one of the examples that your body is still in shape to go through 162 games plus playoffs plus the World Series.”
To explain the title:
The NY Times looks on Sergio Santos’ journey
… “The challenge is for him to start waking up in the morning like a pitcher,” said Don Cooper, the White Sox’ pitching coach. “He has to become a professional glove hitter. He’s not trying to win the kewpie doll at the fair. But I’ll say this: there’s enough to work with — he’s got three above-average pitches — so if it doesn’t work, I’m going to take it as a failure on our part.” …
April 24, 2010
Freddy Garcia to get extra rest before his next start
The extra rest before today’s start worked so it will be repeated:
“Freddy was great, wow,” manager Ozzie Guillen said after his team’s 5-4 victory. “I think those days we gave him a little rest helped him. His next start he’s going to get one more day’s rest. Hopefully that helps him.”
