Easy to overreact
A Spring Training opener like the one the White Sox had on Wednesday could make even the most level-headed fan uneasy. The Rockies beat the Sox 12-4 in the first game for both teams, but that wasn't what was so worrisome. Sox closer Bobby Jenks
left the game after just nine pitches because of stiffness in his shoulder. The big right-hander apparently did not feel any pain, but could not loosen his shoulder up, either. Starter Mark Buehrle picked up right where he left off in 2006, which is unfortunate, and Jon Garland fared even worse (
box score). And Darin Erstad was allowed to bat lead-off.
Jenks's situation is the most troubling. He said that he has had trouble getting his shoulder loose since he arrived at Spring Training. Former Sox starter Freddy García spoke of his trouble getting loose for much of last season, when he lost a lot of velocity and pitched horribly for the first five months of the season. It's not how I wanted the first game for the White Sox in five months to go, that's for sure.