2007 State of the Sox

May 19: Cubs 11, White Sox 6

I hate Boone Logan.

I hate Boone Logan, because he puts up great numbers in Class AAA, but when he pitches in the big leagues, he locks up like a Pentium 386 trying to run Windows Vista. I haven't watched Logan pitch for the Charlotte Knights, so it's difficult for me to say what the difference is. Maybe he's afraid of the strike zone. Maybe it's that Class AAA hitters chase his breaking balls out of the zone while major league hitters, such as Derek Lee on Saturday, don't. Maybe it's just that I'm still ticked off that I forgot to take the seat off my bike when I parked it this morning, and it was stolen. I guess the thieves in Logan Square are as opportunistic as major league hitters.

That's not to say that Logan was solely at fault for the eighth-inning meltdown that led to Saturday's 11-6 loss to the Cubs. David Aardsma had a poor outing, failing to locate his pitches and paying the price for it (as my fantasy team did). But Logan has no business being on the roster, just as last year. Logan was overpromoted last year, both when he was placed on the Opening Day 25-man roster and when he was demoted to Charlotte. I don't just think it's the leap in general from the minors to the big leagues that plagues Logan. This is a pitcher who spent three years in rookie ball, with only a brief stop in high Class A Winston-Salem, before going right to the big leagues last season. Should we be surprised that he lacks poise? Should we be surprised that he is afriad to challenge big league hitters? Should we be surprised that he allows inherited runners to score as if that were the point of relief pitching? Matt Thornton and Mike MacDougal (Since when did he become a junkballer? I fear that he is injured.) are worse, actually, but at least I've seen them strand some runners before. It's probably just my perception, but it sure feels like Logan never strands an inherited runner.

I thought Javier Vázquez threw well. Michael Barrett's home run was a high fly to right that had the benefit of the wind blowing out. Jason Marquis's home run, while embarassing because it's a pitcher, was wind-aided, too, although Marquis hit his ball a lot harder than Barrett did.

The White Sox continue to be largely impotent on offense. It took them four innings to figure out Marquis, whom they flogged last season when he pitched for the Cardinals. We'll have to hope that the home runs by Joe Crede and Paul Konerko turn out to be signs of a turnaround for the two of them. Jermaine Dye and Tadahito Iguchi are showing even more signs that they've turned the corner. Both had doubles Saturday, and Iguchi went 3-for-4 on the day to go along with four hits in his previous three games. Putting Juan Uribe in the No. 2 hole has long been a solution in search of a problem. Manager Ozzie Guillén continues to say that he likes Iguchi batting farther down in the order so that he doesn't have to give up at-bats. A more elegant way to avoid that problem is to stop giving up at-bats and outs, such as the one Guillén gave up in the seventh inning. He had Uribe bunt with Darin Erstad at first on a gift infield single thanks to poor defense from Cubs pitcher Will Ohman. With the wind blowing out at Wrigley Field, playing for one run was even sillier than usual. But I suppose that Guillén feels like he has to "do something" with the Sox not hitting much these days. I'd rather have him arguing with Mike North.

Record: 20-19 | Box score | Play-by-play