Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

LFT2: Danks for a good show

While the Sox dropped to 0-5 in the four days I've been here today, today's loss actually had two quite pleasant developments -- namely John Danks and Gio Gonzalez.

Danks became the first Sox pitcher I've seen throw three scoreless innings, and he did it quickly.  He reminded me of Mark Buehrle, the way he basically returned to the rubber immediately.  There isn't a lot of wasted motion or mechanics at play there. 

He made it faster by facing the minimum of nine batters, even though he allowed a couple solid singles.  He erased them with two double plays, and was also aided by a 5-6-4 putout when Joe Crede flopped and knocked the ball to Juan Uribe, who threw it to Pedro Lopez for a putout.  The second DP featured a nifty flip by Lopez, so the defense made Danks look great.  Which is maybe another similarity to Buehrle.

Gonzalez relieved him, and like Danks, Gio didn't strike anybody out.  That's where the similarity ends, because Gonzalez has a vastly different delivery.

His leg kick is higher, and because of his smaller frame, it looks like he uncoils and explodes towards home plate.  Given the more complicated delivery, I wasn't surprised that his control wasn't nearly as sharp as Danks', walking two in two innings, but nobody made great contact off him either.

(For a breakdown of Gonzalez's mechanics, this is the best I could do with my camera.)

Gio could use some refining, but Danks looks like he has a decent shot at the fifth starter job.  Today could be a great start towards that end, and it wouldn't be a bad idea if he does all he can in the spring.  If Buehrle and the Sox grow further apart with regards to contract talks, then it might be good to let Danks take some big-league shots with another similar lefty around.  Remember, mentoring Buehrle was the only purpose David Wells served in a Sox uniform.

The man Danks relieved, Jon Garland, didn't look much different than the other Sox starters I've seen.  After two scoreless innings to start, he hit a wall in the third when Chris Young (ugh) and Alberto Callaspo started the inning hitting the first pitches they saw well over the fence.  After retiring the next two batters, the Diamondbacks collected four two-out hits, three for extra bases, and two of those down the lines.

Also similar to other games I've seen, the Sox offense struggled as a cohesive unit.  They had the bases loaded on Micah Owings in the third inning with no outs after a single and two walks, and Matt and I guessed how many runs would cross -- Matt guessed two, I guessed one.

I won.  Toby Hall hit a sacrifice fly, and then Brian Anderson grounded into a tough double play to end the inning.  It was a rocket shot that deflected off Owings, and then the shortstop Callaspo made a great diving stop and flip to start the 1-6-4-3 double play.  Anderson did hit his first homer of the season, and drew a walk as well.

Pictures and video later.

LFT2: Day 3 photos and video

Lots of YouTube videos this time around -- 16 in all.

• Photo gallery
• YouTube gallery

Off to the Sox-Diamondbacks game.

LFT2: Fun at the old 'B' game

While I've never been to SoxFest, I'm pretty sure there's no way to get closer to the players than to attend a "B" game during Spring Training.  And by close, I mean so close that Ryan Sweeney tells you who's starting, Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams set up folding chairs next to you and Jim Thome squeezes by you twice en route to a port-a-potty.

Matt and I hit a Rockies-Sox exhibition at a Hi Corbett practice field this morning, only to discover that the "B" game was played on a true practice field.  There were no bleachers or seats of any kind outside of the dugouts, which were not fenced in.  There was nothing between the players and the fans except for the understanding that the Sox were working.

Also, the field was one foot deeper to dead center (401 feet) than it was down the lines (400), so it's really not meant for regulation play.

We were leaning up against the fence by home plate when Kenny came by with a chair and sat down.  Ozzie wasn't far behind.  They were no more than five feet away, and we'd assumed that we were somewhere we weren't supposed to be.  We asked Ozzie whether we needed to move, and he said we were cool.

So I spent the next 2 1/2 hours watching the game next to Ozzie and Kenny, keeping score, taking pictures, and trying my best to be a fly on the wall.  I did do a lot of laughing, because Ozzie really doesn't shut up.  Some things overheard:

• After Alex Cintron dropped a second ball on the day, Ozzie said something loudly in Spanish, and the Latin players on both sides started laughing.  Clint Hurdle told him, "Now, I can't say that."  Ozzie asked him if he understood, and Hurdle said, "Yes, and I can't say that."  Ozzie asked again, and Hurdle said, "I can't get away with calling that glove a piece of sh-t!"  Laughter ensued.
  
• Ozzie repeatedly directing media types to non-existant beer.
• Ozzie saying "holy sh-t" a couple of times to himself when Sean Tracey hit the backstop, though more in amazement since Tracey was effectively wild that inning.
  
• Ozzie getting on Hurdle's case, calling him a baby when Hurdle disputed the ump's count, saying that the ump forgot a ball when a Rockie thought he walked.  Hurdle got revenge when the player doubled on the next pitch.
• Ozzie pleading with the ump a couple times that a 450-foot shot over dead center was foul.
• Ozzie offering encouragement to Brian Anderson both at the plate and on the field after Anderson made a nice running catch.
• Kenny talking to Bruce Levine (pictured right) and saying that he's trying to be as political as possible when talking about contracts.
• Kenny saying that Anderson and Luis Terrero have an advantage over the rest of the field for an outfielder spot, presumably because of their right-handedness and ability to cover ground (it was shortly after Anderson's catch, I believe). 
  

I did ask them who No. 92 was, since he was an outfielder I didn't recognize.  Ozzie took a second, mumbled and then came up with the name "Pedro Jest."  I didn't write it down, and Kenny followed up politely by saying, "It's a guy we brought up from the minors named Daron Roberts."  Ozzie laughed.

Roberts played at the end of both the "B" game and the "A" game, but I'm not sure what that means since he hasn't really done anything in the minors.  I will be calling him "Pedro" if he manages to make the big leagues at any point.

Other observations:

• Whatever "veteran presence" is, Eduardo Perez has.  He was arguably the most vocal and supportive player out there today.
• Thome turned down a couple autograph requests from adults during the game, or at least said he would get to them later.  He did, however, sign one in-game for a little girl.
• That little girl had a heck of a day -- she also had a picture taken of her on Ozzie's lap.
• Anderson looked a lot better at the plate, and he was facing major-league pitchers (Aaron Cook and LaTroy Hawkins, to name two).
  
• Charlie Haeger had a hard time finding the strike zone, and I'd be surprised if he were anywhere else but Charlotte at the start of the season.

LFT2: Formalities

It's kind of funny that the "A" Game takes a backseat to the "B" game, but it was definitely anticlimactic after the morning session.  Some notes:

• Gavin Floyd:  Like every other starter I've seen so far, Floyd looked erratic, although a grounder ate up Joe Crede on what should've been the last out of the third inning, leading to four unearned runs.  He was doing a nice job of throwing strikes, and was getting plenty of ground balls until the game got away from thim.
• Mike MacDougal:  Most dominating relief outing I've seen so far.  Matt Thornton gave up an early hit that scored, and Bobby Jenks gave up a couple of decently hit fly balls.  MacDougal, on the other hand, wasted no time with his inning.
• I'm not sure where "slowing the running game" stands on Sox pitchers' priority lists at this time, but the Rockies were getting huge jumps off the lefties.  Neither A.J. Pierzynski nor Gustavo Molina had any chance to throw anybody out, as Colorado went 4-for-4 stealing second.
  
• Error aside, Joe Crede had himself a nice game, cranking out his first homer over the left-center wall.
• Darin Erstad, on the other hand, didn't do much good.  He drew one of four walks by Danny Graves in an inning, but was picked off when he left early stealing second with runners on the corners and two outs.  Juan Uribe was actually tagged out heading home to try to make something out of nothing.
  
• On the other hand, Erstad improved his grinder rating with an ill-fated dive on the warning track.