posted on Thursday, August 30, 2007 2:26 AM
by
Jim
After 16 months, 'Thornswaggled' finally applies
Matt Thornton's outing tonight does a nice job of representing his season on the whole. He gave up the game-tying hit, but greater failures by the Sox offense in the eighth inning and Boone Logan in the 11th overshadow it some. Plus, the runner was inherited from Ryan Bukvich, so it doesn't dent his ERA any.
Thornton has benefited from good timing throughout the year. When he got off to a rough start in April, guys like David Aardsma, Mike MacDougal and Andy Sisco were pitching well enough to let him come along. Then, when everybody collapsed in May, Thorndog managed to have his best month, allowing only one run over 10 innings. The focus has remained on the revolving bullpen door between Chicago and Charlotte ever since, a route Thornton has yet to travel.
It would be nice to get a greater explanation for Thornton's struggles somewhere along the line, however. Since June,
his numbers have been unimpressive at best, scary at their worst, and they're tied to two issues:
- His velocity is down in the 92-94 range, after sitting 96-98 last year.
- He doesn't use his slider that much.
Both problems came into play tonight. Sammy Sosa tied the game with a double on the fifth straight fastball -- none of them topping 94 on the Texas feed's gun. Of course, why Sammy saw five straight fastballs is a mystery, but as
I mentioned in the game recap, it's not new to him or to Thornton.
(Along with
the Bobby Abreu triple on a fifth straight fastball, Thornton also
gave up a grand slam to Aaron Rowand on an 0-2 fastball, the third straight heater the Original Grinder saw.)
Basically, Thornton has the same problems as everybody else. After an excellent 2006 that surpassed all expectations, his velocity has diminished and he's lost command. In some ways, he's worse than he was in Seattle, where he'd been pegged a massive underachiever. The .861 OPS allowed is a new high, as is the 18 inherited runners allowed to score.
The one saving grace is that he's only allowed four homers over 44 innings. The propensity for big flies cut his Seattle days short, but at least that hasn't returned. Plus, he has the best posture on the team, hands-down. Standing, jogging in from the bullpen, pacing around the mound -- he stands as straight as a Marine. That has to count for something.
Still, there are some questions that need to be answered before he can be counted upon to anchor a better bullpen next year. Back in early May, Thornton
attributed his struggles to improved control, saying hitters weren't as afraid of digging in because he could find the strike zone. As far as I know, it's been quiet on the Thornton front ever since.
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Ozzie Guillen's quote at the end of Joe Cowley's Wednesday story made me edit
the Commentary of the Damned page:
''I finally have to admit it -- we're horse [expletive]. I thought we were just playing bad, but, no, we're horse
[expletive].''
Tangent No. 1: In that story, Cowley refers to Gavin Floyd as Gavin "Fraud," which makes me wonder if he's the same Sox beat writer who referred to Floyd as "she"
in a PhillyBurbs.com story.
Tangent No. 2: If so, Floyd, a Maryland native, might be
the first non-West Coaster to be repeatedly dumped on.
Tangent No. 3: It's odd that he saved that lede for an outing in which Floyd threw a quality start. He probably would've had an opportunity to use it in Floyd's next outing, since he's shelled in two out of every three outings. Similarly, Jon Garland got the short end of the whitesox.com intro blurb:
Jon Garland was credited with a "quality start" Wednesday night, but the right-hander couldn't put up zeroes after being given the lead and the White Sox eventually fell, 5-4, to the Rangers in 11 innings.
One of the three runs he allowed should've been unearned, since Josh Fields made Rob Mackowiak proud with a very, very wrong break on a line drive to left. Since Fields wasn't close enough to the ball to make contact, it was scored a double. Also, it doesn't make much sense to overlook the fact that the Sox offense couldn't manage one lousy hit off the Rangers bullpen over five innings.
All the while,
Greg Walker's job is secure for next year.
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Minor league round-up:- Norfolk 1, Charlotte 0
- Charlie Haeger didn't deserve to lose this game -- he went the distance, allowing the single earned run on only three hits and two walks. He struck out six.
- Tomas Perez had two of Charlotte's five hits, including the lone extra-base hit, a double.
- Ryan Sweeney, Jason Bourgeois and Alex Sanchez each went 1-for-4.
- Birmingham 6, Mississippi 5
- Jack Egbert was roughed up in the first inning for four runs, and only lasted three innings. He gave up five runs on seven hits and a walk, while striking out four.
- Carlos Torres, Adam Russell, John Wesley and Oneli Perez combined to throw six scoreless innings of relief.
- Birmingham came back with a four-run eighth, when the first six Barons reached. Five different Barons had an RBI apiece.
- Victor Mercedes went 3-for-4, Cory Aldridge smacked a pair of doubles and Dave Cook drew three walks.
- Kinston 4, Winston-Salem 2
- Micah Schnurstein hit his 25th homer of the year, a solo shot.
- Gary Bakker allowed only two hits over six innings, but allowed three runs thanks in part to six walks. He struck out five.
- Kannapolis OFF