In one day, I got a taste of what the first couple week of Spring Training has been like for the Sox:
The first-stringers looked good, the starting pitching looked solid, the defense looked inconsistent, and the bullpen looked, as a whole, crappy.
The Sox jumped out to an early lead, only to watch Charlie Haeger give them the lead, and after the Sox tied it up, Cliff Politte and Javier Lopez handed it right back to them. Given that the dreck has been ruining the results for the rest of the team, it’s only fair to grade the parts individually.
Jose Contreras: He was facing the equivalent of a Triple-A team, so the fact that he allowed only one run in four innings doesn’t mean much. But he looked solid, maintaining his control while changing arm slots. He struck out five hitters, and walked none, and made a nice play on a 3-6-1 double play. Covering first base isn't his strong suit.
First-string offense: I really like what Jim Thome brings to the offense. He didn’t put a ball in play, but he drew two walks, the second of which started a third-inning rally with two outs. He sees a lot of pitches and gives the Sox a perpetually tough out – something they didn’t have last year.
After preaching patience throughout the spring, Paul Konerko was fairly aggressive at the plate, swinging at the first pitch twice. He had a double and a came a few feet short of a homer. Nobody could beat the Widge, either, racking up a double and a walk in his two plate appearances.
Jermaine Dye went 2-for-3, and could’ve reached base the third time had he run one out. He watched a towering infield pop-up blow back into fair territory and land between home plate and the mound. Except he didn’t run, so he was thrown out at first easily.
Reserves: Chris Stewart, Robert Valido, Darren Blakely, Ryan Sweeney and Pedro Lopez went a combined 1-for-9, but they were solid defensively. Valido made all three assists in Bobby Jenks’ inning, and Casey Rogowski started and finished a clutch 3-2-3 double play to bail out Cliff Politte.
Whole-gamers: Brian Anderson, Joe Borchard and Josh Fields played all nine innings. Borchard hit an opposite-field two-run shot in the second and drew a walk, but he also misplayed a ball in left field. Overall, I’d call it a good day for him. Fields went 1-for-3 with a walk, and Anderson went 1-for-4 with a walk. After starting his day with three ground balls to short, I think Anderson should be an adequate replacement for Aaron Rowand.
Bullpen: Oy. It was like they turned a solid starting effort into a game of "Red Light, Green Light" with the San Francisco offense.
Red light: Contreras.
Green light: Charlie Haeger was first, and got beat up for five runs on five hits in one inning. The hitters weren’t exactly all over him – in a lot of cases, they managed to get enough foul tips until finding a pitch they could rip, and rip they did.
Red light: Neal Cotts looked Cotts-like.
Green light: Cliff Politte’s inning could’ve been a lot worse. A group of minor-league hitters were ripping the first pitch they liked – they had four straight hits, but a conservative Giants third-base coach kept the Giants to only one run.
Red light: Jenks brought the heat in his inning, inducing three weak grounders to short.
Green light: Javier Lopez. The LOOGY frontrunner faced four lefties in his inning, and they went 3-for-4. Righties fared all right against him, too. Put them together, and they scored four runs on five hits against him.
Matt was surprised to know Lopez was likely to make the Sox bullpen, given what he saw Lopez do in Colorado. “He got cut from the Rockies’ bullpen last year, and that should’ve been a telltale sign for any major-league team,” he says.
“The biggest problem with Javy Lopez is with his stuff, he should not get himself into as much trouble as he does. I just wouldn’t suggest him as your second left-hander under any circumstances.”