Jerry Owens' complete lack of power and weak throwing arm may remind people of a Scott Podsednik with barely any major-league experience. On the other hand, he could be a Scott Podsednik who is $2.5 million cheaper.
Owens' promotion in the wake of Darin Erstad's injury paid dividends today. He was thrust into the leadoff spot, and he responded by going 2-for-4 with a stolen base and scoring two of the Sox's three runs
in tonight's skid-snapping victory. His potential may not excite people, but his improvement in commanding the strike zone and his speed could give the Sox a shot of two things they need. We've seen a habit of Sox players only having one skill and hoping others will be able to pick up the slack.
That said, the Sox will likely have an abundance of others to work into a major-league roster as they figure out how to best allocate their funds. For starters:
- Josh Fields -- as a left fielder. The Knights are close to having a full infield without Fields' help with the recent additions of Tomas Perez and Jason Bourgeois, who played his first Triple-A game today at second base. Once Kenny Perez returns from injury, it may give Fields a shot at tracking fly balls in the minors before he's possibly promoted to place that has confused Scott Podsednik, Pablo Ozuna and Rob Mackowiak often. An outfield spot in Charlotte would open up...
- ...if Craig Wilson were promoted. Wilson hit his first homer in the Sox organization today, and has rebounded after striking out in five of his first eight at-bats. If he can keep it going, there is a spot on the 25-man roster if/when Alex Cintron is able to play two games in a row, because Andy Gonzalez would be the team's third option at each infield spot. There's not a lot of use for Gonzalez at this time. Wilson isn't a youngster by any means, but he could help boost the bench next year if he finds a way to stick this year.
- Ryan Sweeney looks like another September call-up. His return to the minors was followed by a brief resurgence that included a five-hit game. Since then, he has cooled off, and at the end of May, his numbers look like they did at the end of April.
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Two things:
- Remember what I was saying about beat writers and their opinions? Well, I have no idea what to make of Joe Cowley's column.
- Today's dugout brawl prompted me to dig up the Crosstown Crossfire blog.
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Minor league round-up:
- Charlotte 7, Indianapolis 5
- Jason Bourgeois got the call to head up to Charlotte, and he went 1-for-4 with a walk and scored two runs in his debut at second.
- Josh Fields went 2-for-5 with two doubles, an RBI and two strikeouts; Craig Wilson hit his first homer since joining the Sox organization.
- Lance Broadway pitched six solid innings for the win, although the four walks and five hits are a bit disconcerting.
- Ehren Wassermann faced three batters -- he walked two of them and hit the other. All three came around to score.
- Birmingham 7, Jacksonville 2
- Wes Whisler picked up the win by allowing two runs over six innings; he allowed seven hits and a walk while striking out two.
- Victor Mercedes hit a solo homer, while Jeremy Frost and Michael Myers had two RBI each.
- Carlos Torres, making his Birmingham debut, pitched three scoreless innings for the save. He allowed three hits and a walk and struck out three.
- Winston-Salem 6, Lynchburg 4
- 2-3-4-5 hitters Aaron Cunningham, Micah Schnurstein, Cole Armstrong and Daron Roberts went 9-for-16 with five runs scored; Armstrong hit his ninth homer.
- Clayton Richard pitched seven strong innings, and John Wesley struck out four over two scoreless innings for the save.
- West Virginia 11, Kannapolis 6
- Maurice Gartrell went 3-for-5 with three RBI; Chris Carter went 1-for-3 and drew two walks -- now he has 14 over his last 10 games.
- Faustino De Los Santos gave up three runs over five innings -- he only allowed three hits and a walk while striking out six, but one of the hits was a two-run homer.
- Ryan Rote and Clevelan Santeliz both struggled in relief; Santeliz picked up his fourth loss of the season.