So far, the one consistent theme spanning the two showdowns between John Danks and Gavin Floyd is that no matter who starts the season in Charlotte, he should be pretty good at getting minor-league hitters out.
On the other hand, the guy who sticks on the roster may provide White Sox fans flashbacks to Fifth Starter Hell, although either one is better than Danny Wright, Felix Diaz, Arnie Munoz, et al.
Danks,
getting his first shot at starting a game this spring, posted a line nearly identical to
the one Gavin Floyd put up in his previous outing:
- Danks: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
- Floyd: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER,
2 BB, 3 K
Freaky-deaky stuff right there. And just like last time, the second man in cleaned up the mess and helped his team win a slugfest:
- Floyd: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
- Danks: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
After two starts, we remain at a standstill. Danks and Floyd each struggled to get first stringers out, but retired the Triple-A and AAAA guys with relative ease. At least their identities as pitchers are growing more evident, based on what I've seen in Tucson and heard from Ed Farmer.
Danks: He's surprising me with a higher amount of strikeouts than I thought he'd get, based on his profile. He induced plenty of check-swings today. His fastball sets up a plus curve and change, but when he leaves it up in the zone like he did in the fourth inning today, hitters don't have much of a problem sitting on it. If his fourth-inning troubles weren't due to sheer fatigue or hitters getting a second crack at him, Farmer said that sitting in the dugout for long periods of time may have been a factor, since the Sox were smacking David Wells around the park.
Floyd: He doesn't have Danks' control. Farmer suggested that Floyd didn't trust his fastball enough, because he kept throwing first-pitch sliders and getting behind in the count. The good news is that he gets a lot of ground balls, and has excelled at keeping the ball in the park despite his other troubles. He's given up only one homer in 14 innings, even while pitching in an outstanding environment for hitters.
Right now, I don't have a dog in this fight, and
it doesn't seem like Don Cooper and Ozzie Guillen do either. There's no real reason to rush Danks, even if he's slightly better than Floyd and/or Charlie Haeger, because it doesn't seem to me like the possibility of a thin edge once every five days offsets starting his arbitration clock.
Keith and RME JICO at South Side Sox saw the duel on TV and
provided some nice running commentary worth checking out.
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Other fun stuff:The Bard's Room's Jon Baskin
had this to say about the bottom of the roster situation:
The White Sox are giving Luis Terrero every opportunity to win the final roster spot, probably at the expense of Brian Anderson (based on what I heard this weekend, Eduardo Perez, despite his torrid Spring, will not break with the team, and will probably be traded before the season starts).
That
would surprise me, if only because that would mean either Jim Thome, Rob Mackowiak or Jermaine Dye would give Paul Konerko days off at first base.
Either way, Perez's trade value couldn't be much, since the Sox
were able to sign him for nothing a month ago. Just last summer, the Indians traded him to Seattle for
Asdrubal Cabrera, a 20-year-old playing shortstop at Triple-A, and I'd be thrilled for a similar return. Given the way Perez finished the year with the Mariners, though, I doubt Kenny Williams could do it again. Especially since Bill Bavasi isn't a likely trading partner.
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I like this Ozzie quote, by way of Chris De Luca:
''To me, Sparky Anderson was the greatest,'' Guillen said. ''He managed
my favorite team, the Cincinnati Reds. But Sparky Anderson lose 100,
100, 100 [games] with the Detroit Tigers. But everybody remember Sparky
Anderson with the 'Red Machine.' Jim Leyland. Jim Leyland [expletive]
quit with the Colorado Rockies. Can't handle it no more. 'I'm gone.'
Having money on the table. He said, 'I don't need the money. My health
is more important than baseball.' Is he a great baseball man? Awesome.
Is he a great manager? Hell, no.''