posted on Friday, April 04, 2008 3:35 AM
by
Jim
Dye-fense! (clap clap) Dye-fense! (clap clap)
Evidently,
Jerry Owens won't be returning to the lineup as quickly as originally thought:
Of greatest importance to Guillen is having Owens back for the long haul. The White Sox want to make sure he's completely healthy and not back on Tuesday but gone a week or two later.
"We don't have a set date for him to come back. I haven't even heard from him or from the trainers [in Arizona]," said Guillen of Owens. "We have to see how he's doing. He has to come back here 100 percent.
Of course, there's a reason why Ozzie needs Owens to be absolutely ready to go.
It isn't because he's entirely dependent on his legs. Or because the Sox have better options and can afford to wait.
It's because when Owens plays center for the first time this season,
Jermaine Dye is going to run right the hell into him:
At this pace, the question isn't whether we're going to have another
Willie Harris-Magglio Ordonez situation on our hands. The question will be
how many?
**************************
So it's off to minor-league rehab stints for Owens, which provides a natural segue into our first minor-league round-up of the season:
- Columbus 5, Charlotte 1
- Charlie Haeger resumed his role as hard-luck loser in Charlotte, but he's off to a much better start. He allowed only two runs over seven innings, allowing seven hits and a walk while striking out six.
- Josh Fields can't say the same -- 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and an error.
- The Knights were held to four hits; Royce Huffman had two of them and the lone RBI.
- Birmingham 3, Tennessee 0
- Lucas Harrell was dynamite in his first start in more than a year, allowing only a hit and a walk over five innings. He struck out four.
- The Barons bullpen kept it a one-hitter, as Joseph Torres, Carlos Torres (this should be fun) and Jon Link combined to throw four perfect innings with six Ks.
- Miguel Negron, Dave Cook and Robert Hudson had two hits apiece.
- Micah Schnurstein, trying Double-A for the second time after a .599 OPS in 131 games two years ago, went 0-for-4.
- Kannapolis 3, Greenville 2
- Charles Shirek, 23rd-round pick in the '07 draft, allowed only one run over five innings. He didn't strike a batter out, but he only gave up three hits and two walks.
- Hector Santiago struck out four over two scoreless innings, walking one.
- Players to watch: Jose Martinez (0-for-4), Christian Marrerro (0-for-4) and Sergio Morales (3-for-5, one double, one run, one RBI).