Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - Posts

A one-two punch of redundancy

It's time for MLB.com's Third Annual This Is The Year Javier Vazquez Puts It All Together Story, courtesy of Scott Merkin:

"There will come a time where he puts it together, and if he puts it together and gets on a roll, he could win a Cy Young," said White Sox general manager Ken Williams. "I don't think there's any doubt he's got some of the best stuff in the league."

"I make a prediction this is going to be one of Javy's best years," Guillen added. "This year he will prove to people how good he is."

Compare:

2006:  "However, [Vazquez] has great raw stuff, an understanding of how to pitch and is the innings-eater the White Sox covet, with the potential to win 15 to 18 games per season. Turning Vazquez back around shouldn't be much of a project at all for Cooper and the White Sox -- probably less of an effort than it was with Contreras, who brought with him a pedigree as one of Cuba's greatest pitchers but who had not achieved consistent Major League success."

2005:  "[Poor mechanics, Vazquez] said, was the reason for the struggles with location and velocity and, after working on his mechanics during the offseason, he feels his problems are a thing of the past."

I'll believe it when I see it.

Speaking of annual storylines, second prize goes to "Tadahito Iguchi's Place in the Batting Order."  I offer you a Joe Cowley-Mark Gonzalez double-team:

''It all depends on Brian and Podsednik, how their situation is,'' Guillen said. ''I would really like to have 'Igu' down in the lineup. On the days Erstad hits first and Podsednik hits second, then maybe I put Iguchi down in the lineup at seventh. But right now, we're trying to figure out a different type of lineup.''

Before that comes to a head, manager Ozzie Guillen would like to try Iguchi again in the seventh spot because of his run-producing skills--but only if he can get a better on-base percentage from those at the top of the order.

Previously, on 7th Heaven:

2006:  "For starters, manager Ozzie Guillen seems more and more set on giving Juan Uribe a solid shot to anchor the second spot in the lineup and move Iguchi down in the order to a more run-producing role at sixth or seventh. Guillen spoke to Uribe by phone on Monday night and said that the shortstop was excited by the possible change."

Despite having a full season of this storyline under my belt, I still have little concept of why this is such a hot idea.  I'm not seeing where all this excess run-producing power is hiding. 

The Emperor averaged 25 homers over his last four years of Japanese ball.  He's averaged 17 in his two seasons with the White Sox.  That seems like a fair conversion to me.

You don't even have to look at his numbers.  Just look at his swing.  He changed it from '05 to '06, making it compact and inside-out, so it's not going to generate a ton of power.  What it's good at is staying out of the double play -- he cut down his GIDPs from 16 to 7.

He improved his batting eye, and he remains one of the Sox's best baserunners, and I'd rather have him putting those skills to use before Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye come to the plate, and not after.
posted Wednesday, February 21, 2007 11:15 PM by Jim with 2 Comments

Sox Machine Season in Review: June

If you missed the first three parts:
June 1 – Harbinger of late-season doom:  Jose Contreras has bad start, Jermaine Dye bails him out, bullpen can’t hold on.

June 3 – Sox break out of funk with seven-run inning against Showalter, who left key to baseball in other jacket.

June 4 – John Rheinecker begins building his definite future Cy Young case.

June 6 – The Sox draft Lance Broadway again.

June 7 – Cliff Politte heads to the DL; Sean Tracey joins the team, his future ahead of him bright and clear, opportunities abound…

June 7 – Cintron kills Tigers for second night in a row.

June 8 – Mackowiak makes multiple errors in center field, begging Brian Anderson to take his spot.

June 9 – Anderson…

June 11 – … finally listens.

June 13 – Corey Feldman shuts down Sox.  Corey Haim still eats sewer rats.

June 14 – …and Sean Tracey is driven to (near?) tears by Ozzie Guillen after failing to hit Hank Blalock...

June 15 – …and he’s sent down to the minors the following day to make room for David Riske.

June 15 – Somebody drove in two runs with an infield single.  There’s only one possibility here.

June 17 – Ken Griffey Jr. re-ignites trade rumors involving the White Sox after playing a worse center field than Mackowiak.

June 18 – Jon Garland beats Reds by himself.

June 20 – Mark Mulder’s a lot more hittable when he doesn’t have a shoulder.
 
June 21 – Sox provide something for Cubs fans to talk themselves into by pounding Jason Marquis for 12 runs. 

June 21 – Ozzie Guillen forces Jay Mariotti to write a rare self-righteous column.

June 23 – You would figure Tony La Russa would be described as more than “a source close the Cardinals.”  And Chris Duncan tells on Ozzie to his dad.

June 24 – Sox need Joe Crede seventh-inning grand slam to win nine games in a row for the first time since 1977.

June 25 – Iguchi tries to make it 10 by making up seven-run deficit by himself, including a grand slam for the Sox in their third straight game.

June 29 – Cliff Politte picks up where he left off by helping the Pirates snap a 13-game losing streak.
posted Wednesday, February 21, 2007 10:17 PM by Jim with 0 Comments