You can’t call a team Ozzieball, you actually have to do it

Nice recap of yesterday night’s game by Mike DePilla:

Once again: You cannot just call a team “Smallball” or “Ozzieball.” You actually have to do it. The obsession with bunting is one thing, but this team’s defense showcases startlingly bad fundamentals. Bad communication on pop ups, OK that is a once-in-a-while occurrence. But the inability to manage a standard relay throw or hit a cut-off man is nothing new and needs to change now. …

and on Q:

Last night he swung feebly at breaking pitches low and out of the zone several times, indicating to me he’s not his normal self. When Quentin came to the Sox, he was heralded as an OBP machine who could take a walk like Big Frank and play pepper with the rightfield wall for doubles. That’s the guy I want, not the guy who is going to sacrifice 50 points of batting average or OBP for some extra homeruns and strikeouts. Hitless in his last 20 at bats, he needs to get back to that approach. …

Sergio Santos hit 97 (Pitch F/X)

Pitch F/X for Sergio Santos yesterday:

Pitch Statistics (Velocity Histogram)
Pitch Type	Avg Speed	Max Speed	Avg H-Break	Avg V-Break	Count	Strikes / %	Swinging Strikes / %	Nibbleness	Time to Plate
FF (FourSeam Fastball)	96.25	96.8	-6.08	8.43	11	7 / 63.64%	0 / 0.00%	7.88	0.392
CH (Changeup)	86.42	87.9	-10.79	1.83	5	2 / 40.00%	1 / 20.00%	8.89	0.436
SL (Slider)	86.12	87	3.67	-4.28	5	2 / 40.00%	1 / 20.00%	3.02	0.436
Pitch classifications provided by the Gameday Algorithm and may be inaccurate. Clicking individual pitch types will provide individual velocity histograms for each pitch. Nibbleness is the arithmetic mean of the distance of each pitch, in inches, from the edge of a normalized strikezone. Lower indicates “more Nibbley”. Time to Plate is the time, in seconds, that it takes an average pitch of this type to reach the plate. This is strongly correlated with velocity, but also factors in movement.

Fangraphs on Tyler Flowers

Hulet:

Chicago White Sox | Top Prospect: Tyler Flowers, Catcher (AAA)

If A.J. Pierzynski was not entrenched in Chicago, Flowers would already be the favorite of MLB headline writers everywhere. Triple-A has not kept Flowers from doing what he always does: get on base and hit for power. His current triple-slash line is .316/.447/.553. He also has 11 RBI in as many games.

Kevin Goldstein on Trayce Thompson

Goldstein:

Q: Trayce Thompson hit his second home run tonight. What’s his ceiling?

A: As big as it is risky.

Stats: .333/.417/.714/.1131 with 3 BB / 7 K in 21 ABs. .417 BABIP though. FirstInning, MILB, MinorLeagueSplits

Christina Kahrl on how to fix the White Sox problems

Kahrl:

Problem: Getting offense at DH and catcher.

Solution: It’s springtime, so plant Flowers.

Why? It’s already just a matter of time before Tyler Flowers arrives to stay in The Show. He’s already off to a decent start at Triple-A Charlotte (translated .472 slugging, .261 TAv), and the South Side needs runs, ranking 27^thin MLB in True Average at .243. A.J. Pierzynski (.145 TAv) is cold at the plate and in the walk year of his contract, while Mark Kotsay is a popular bench player, he’s not a starting DH (.127 TAv). Between the DH at-bats against right-handers and the opportunity to sit AJP to get Flowers time behind the plate, the Sox should squeeze in Flowers’ 2010 PECOTA-projected .270 TAv.

Kevin Goldstein on Bryce Harper

On his makeup:

This should not be underrated. It’s impossible to find any talent evaluator who isn’t blown away by Harper’s ability on the field, but it’s equally difficult to find one who doesn’t genuinely dislike the kid. One scout called him among the worst amateur players he’s ever seen from a makeup standpoint, with top-of-the-scale arrogance, a disturbingly large sense of entitlement, and on-field behavior that includes taunting opponents. “He’s just a bad, bad guy,” said one front-office official. “He’s basically the anti-Joe Mauer.” How this plays into the negotiation or future evaluation is yet to be determined, as history has shown us that the bigger talent a player is, the more makeup issues teams will deal with. Bench players can’t afford to be problems, but plenty of teams happily put up with difficult superstars.

UPDATE: THT has roundup of the reaction.

UPDATE #2: Deadspin.

THT’s Dan Hudson projection

Hagen:

Dan Hudson / SP / Chicago White Sox

2010 thoughts:
Hudson is Triple-A Charlotte’s best arm. It will be difficult for Chicago to keep him away from the majors. Expect them to cave in by July.

Average-year projection:
198 IP / 4.40 ERA / 1.33 WHIP / 13 W / 12 L / 163 SO / 194 H / 69 BB

Prime-year projection:
210 IP / 3.91 ERA / 1.25 WHIP / 15 W / 12 L / 181 SO / 197 H / 66 BB

Ozzie Guillen: Lineup changes are an excuse

Merkin:

“Lineup changes are an excuse for us as to why we make money as a manager. It’s a very overrated thing,” Guillen said. “That’s a powerful thing to do, but it’s overrated how you make lineups.”

White Sox name Jerry Krause head of international scouting

Levine:

The Chicago White Sox have named former Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause the head of international scouting, according to a Major League Baseball source. An announcement by the team probably will not come until next week. Krause, who was hired as a consultant by the White Sox on April 5, will be in charge of revamping the scouting system in the Dominican Republic at the outset of his new job. Among Krause’s other responsibilities will be scouting on the Pacific Rim. …

White Sox sign OF Marcus Spencer

Eddy:

Spencer signed on in the Frontier League after going undrafted last year out of Alabama A&M. He went 1-for-16 (.063) for Windy City, but his lone hit was a home run. The statistical oddities don’t end there. Spencer stole four bases in four attempts, despite not recording a hit that would have placed him in stealing position. He reached first base four times by virtue of two walks and two hit-by-pitches.

Here are Spencer’s stats:

2009: .305/.352/.573 with 34 K / 9 BB on 131 ABs
2008:.215/.277/.370 with 35 K / 9 BB on 135 ABs
2007: .259/.305/.397 with 16 K / 2 BB on 58 ABs
2006: .343/.425/.400 with 13 K / 5 BB on 35 ABs

The Sox signed C Jason Bour too.

A.J. Pierzynski: I’m the one guy that they probably can move

Levine:

“I kind of was expecting it due to the fact that pretty soon here I’ll be 10-and-five where they can’t move me [without my approval],” Pierzynski said Wednesday on “The Afternoon Saloon” on ESPN 1000. “We haven’t really had any talks about me staying here extension-wise. I’m the one guy that they probably can move. I have an expiring contract; they can’t trade [Paul] Konerko because he has a full no-trade clause.

“They don’t really have a lot of other pieces that they would want to trade that are expiring. Hopefully it doesn’t happen, but you just never know.”

UPDATE: Ozzie’s reaction:

“He’s good. He’s not going to lose his job. I’m very happy with what I’ve got and I have a lot of optimism with what I have and I think A.J. is my catcher, hopefully he doesn’t get hurt. But I believe in him. He doesn’t have to worry about anything – not with me.

But when you start making comments about your contract and how long you’re going to be, when is your first day, when is your last day, I think it’s not necessary. But I’m not going to tell my players what to say when your manager says whatever he wants. I respect that. … He’s my catcher until he gets traded or he’s not here anymore. As long as I’m here, I don’t see him why he’s not going to be my catcher.”

Savior starts ‘Out of the Park for Parkinson’s’

Reifert:

Second Baseman Officially Launches “Out of Park” CampaignWhite Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham is making a donation to the National Parkinson Foundation for every home run that he hits during the 2010 season and is asking his fans to join him. “Out of the Park for Parkinson’s” is an awareness campaign the second baseman officially launched today in partnership with the National Parkinson Foundation, to help end Parkinson’s disease.

Beckham and his family understand the challenges of Parkinson’s firsthand:  his grandfather has been living with the disease for nearly a decade.

“Living and helping my grandfather cope with Parkinson’s has given me an up-close look at the suffering it causes,” said Beckham. “I want to do something to raise awareness and funds to help eradicate the disease so future generations do not have to go through what our family countless others have been through with Parkinson’s.”

Gordon Beckham fans can visit www.outofthepark.org to make a donation and help the cause

UPDATE: Merkin has more

Ozzie Guillen’s mad with Comcast

Damn cable guy!

Kenny isn’t calling anyone

Here’s Kenny:

“I haven’t explored anything, simply because most clubs think I’m nuts when I start calling in May,” Williams said on Tuesday, when asked about the possibility of trade talk starting up. “If I start calling in April, it’s, ‘Really? Seriously?’ ”

Kenny not calling anyone? Yeah right!

Kenny also commented on his TV viewing patterns:

“Listen, this early in the season, I’m watching,” Williams added. “But to a large degree, because of all the various factors coming out of spring training, the weather issues and all the different things, it’s best at this point, and it took me a while to realize and understand it, it’s best at this point to take a step back,
“I didn’t travel with the team. You don’t like what you see, you turn to the news for five minutes and watch ABC or NBC to see what’s happening in Chicago, and turn it back and still don’t like what’s going on. Let’s turn to Growing Pains. I like it better when I got a TV in front of me. I can’t turn the channel when I’m here live. But I can always go back. You never know when your team might come back.

Trayce Thompson hits another HR

That was No. 2, He hit his first professional HR 2 nights ago