''I talked to him, and I'm pretty excited,'' Guillen said. ''I talked
to him about different things, and mentally, he's fine. I was worried
his back might be bothering him, but he said he's fine.
''He watched video with [pitching coach Don] Cooper and saw he
was on the wrong part of the rubber and his legs weren't right. But the
big part was, mentally, he's fine. I trust him because whatever he
feels, he'll tell you.
''We'll find out in his next start. Coop was excited after his last bullpen session and said his velocity was coming around.''
OK, an old sports editor told to never lead with a quote unless it's Jesus saying, "I'm back," but nothing says it better than
stacking these quotes in Toni Ginnetti's story up against
Jose Conteras' performance against the New York Yankees tonight. Sox pitching allowed eight homers in all,
a franchise record for at least the last 50 years.
All we can do is cross our fingers and hope this was last-minute posturing by Ozzie to boost whatever semblance of trade value Contreras may have had, and an indefinite DL stint will follow. Watching him pitch is demoralizing to everybody.
(Unfortunately, it looks like the same can be said for Gavin Floyd. However, methinks there's an open 40-man roster spot for Jack Egbert.)
**********************
Ultimately I'm disappointed that we're looking at the same team that has wrought so much misery upon us already this season, but I can't say I blame Kenny Williams for not taking the bait to ship Jermaine Dye to Boston for what was reported to be a package of Wily Mo Pena and Craig Hansen/Manny Delcarmen.
It's easy to see why Boston floated that as a fair package. Wily Mo Pena always appears to look like a great player trying to bust out, and Hansen and Delcarmen are quality arms. Unfortunately, Delcarmen has the highest present-day value, and he's a reliever. Pena could just be another Joe Borchard, and Hansen would give the White Sox another struggling fastball-slider guy, and I'm sure they already have enough of those.
The two draft picks Jermaine Dye would bring at the end of the year are worth more than that package, even if it's the White Sox organization that would be using them. It doesn't matter how little value the Sox have received with high-round picks -- accepting a package of middling talent would signal that they give up trying to develop high-level talent on their own. To me, that would be far more troubling than the fact that Dye is sticking around for the rest of the year.
Of course, I may have to revisit this entire point if the Sox and Dye agree to a contract or decline to offer him arbitration. The latter would be insane, but as The Cheat notes,
the Sox have a history of doing just that, for better or for worse.
**********************
Don't let the 0-for-21 slump in Charlotte fool you! Darin Erstad is back and ready for action, as his soft bloop single over Robinson Cano's head proved tonight.
Sure, The Punter hit .128 in 47 at-bats with the Knights with zero extra-base hits and 14 strikeouts, but remember, stats don't paint the whole picture. Word on the street was his steely-eyed gazes and five o' clock shadow were off the charts. You know, if they could be charted. Which they can't.
**********************
Minor league round-up:- Charlotte 3, Louisville 2
- Andy Sisco threw his first quality start, going six innings and allowing two runs on six hits. His walk/strikeout totals (3/3) still aren't encouraging, though.
- Jason Bourgeois went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and two runs scored. He's hitting a cool .395 (15-for-38) over his last 10 games.
- Mike MacDougal and David Aardsma threw a scoreless inning apiece. MacDougal allowed a hit and walked only his second batter in 8 2/3 innings; Aarsdma's frame was perfect, and his ninth straight scoreless appearance.
- Montgomery 6, Birmingham 2
- Another great start for Gio Gonzalez: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K. The only run came on a solo shot.
- While the bullpen had a rough go of hit, Oneli Perez retired the only two batters he faced, stranding two and putting the finishing touches on a tremendous July: 12 G, 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 15 2/3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 21 K.
- Thomas Collaro hit a solo shot, his 19th of the year.
- Salem 8, Winston-Salem 6
- Clayton Richard allowed six runs over 5 1/3 innings, but four of them were unearned. John Lujan didn't help matters, allowing two runs over 2 2/3 IP.
- Everybody in the Warthog lineup had a hit, including three from Brandon Allen and two from Cole Armstrong, who hit .333 in July.
- Dave Cook added a solo homer, his 16th of the year.
- Kannapolis PPD
**********************
I'll be in the Bronx the next couple days, where I'll be kind of rooting for Alex Rodriguez to hit No. 500. Unless you count
Mariano Rivera's 400th save, I've never been in attendance during any sort of significant milestone. I'll be back Thursday night.