Ozzie Guillen worried with Gordon Beckham’s strikeouts

Merkin @ CWS:

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen decided to give Omar Vizquel a start at second on Thursday, riding Vizquel’s six-game hitting streak, but didn’t seem to be too concerned about Beckham’s ongoing battle at the plate.”The only thing I worry about with Gordon, he strikes out a lot,” said Guillen.

Beckham’s 36 strikeouts in 143 at-bats were second on the team to Adam Dunn’s 49 strikeouts in 129 at-bats before Thursday’s game.

“He went through a lot of tough times last year and overcame it, came back and was the player we thought he was going to be,” Guillen continued. “But right now, he’s striking out quite a few times and that worries me. Besides that, nothing, nothing at all. That’s part of the game. Vizquel [is playing] because I need to use him, the way he’s swinging the bat.”

Other White Sox links: J.J. looks for the most memorable HR in Sox history while Brett Ballantini compiles a Top-10, and FutureSox thinks it might be time to move Sox pitching prospect Nevin Griffith to the bullpen.

THT’s Jeffrey Gross on Alex Rios

Gross @ THT:

Alex Rios is a conundrum of turbulence. A five-tool prospect of the early-to-mid naughts, Rios really didn’t do much with his bat over his first two seasons in the majors, posting a combined .273/.315/.390 (.705 OPS) triple-slash line with 11 home runs, 29 stolen bases, 126 runs scored and 87 runs batted in over 257 games played (979 plate appearances). His glove was slick (+23.0 fielding runs above average (FRAR)), but defense is irrelevant in all but the most intricate fantasy formats.

The 2006 season was a breakout year for Rios, however. Over a mere 128 games played (he was slowed down after the All-Star Break due to a ball he fouled off his foot that led to his hospitalization), Rios slashed .302/.349/.516 (.865 OPS) with elite defense (+9.6 FRAR).

Though still somewhat allergic to walks (7.0 percent walk rate), Rios batted in 82 men, while showing a good balance of power (17 HR, .213 ISO) and speed (15 SB, 6.2 speed score). Before his foul-ball injury, Rios’ season looked even brighter, batting .359 with 43 RBI and most of his homers (11) through his first 60 games played. …