The hits just keep coming. Apparently, Ozzie isn't as worried about having nobody on base in front of his best hitters
as he is about Rob Mackowiak. From Mark Gonzalez:
Ozzie Guillen will face a tough task finding playing time for Rob Mackowiak during the first two weeks of the regular season. The White Sox have three off days … and a crowded outfield.
Mackowiak was 7-for-20 (.350) as a pinch-hitter last season, but
Guillen doesn't want a rusty player coming off the bench to face a
formidable late-inning reliever.
Two things:
- Mack could always lead off against righties. He wouldn't be rusty then.
- Non-rusty players Alex Cintron and Scott Podsednik were a combined 2-for-25 off the bench last year.
In other words, pinch-hitting is kind of a crap shoot, but you're better off if you have some semblance of a batting eye.
But this sounds more like Ozzie priming the path for Mackowiak to be traded than actual, legitimate managerial concerns. Which would be a shame, since he's the only guy on the Sox bench with 1) double-digit home run power, and 2) a good idea of what constitutes the strike zone. He also has a nice arm, which could be useful out of left field if he weren't being pushed out by a guy he vastly outperformed last year.
It'd be a bigger shame if Mack were moved for
Brady Clark (the only possibility of a return Gonzalez names),
who would've been a great idea last year. But Clark had a down year in 2006, which could be easily overlooked if he weren't older than Darin Erstad. Not to mention he runs wild and free -- 13-for-30 stealing bases over the last two years -- so he sounds like Ozzie's kind of player.
At any rate, it's a rare pre-work post should something actually happen.