posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 2:28 AM by Jim

No complaints about new outfielders

With the Sox off, I watched a lot of the Cubs-Mets game, mainly to keep tabs on Kosuke Fukudome.  He didn't disappoint, hitting a key single in a big eighth inning in a 10-pitch at-bat, which was preceded by a nine-pitch single in his previous at-bat.

Toe-to-toe, he and Nick Swisher match up pretty well in a battle of new Chicago outfielders:

 
AB
XBH
RBI
BB
K
BA
OBP
SLG
P/PA
Fukudome
67
6
9
14
13
.328
.444
.463
4.58
Swisher
57
3
5
17
12
.246
.421
.368
4.29

Fukudome has an edge in most categories, but considering the small sample sizes and different roles they serve in the lineup, this is practically a push.

I'm rooting for Fukudome for a couple reasons:
  1. So I don't look like an idiot.
  2. So it looks like the Sox exhibited smart evaluation.
If Fukudome fell on his face, sure, it would be a lot of fun to see the media tear the Cubs' hair out for them.  But then again, the Sox wanted Fukudome just as much as the Cubs, so it wouldn't speak well for the Sox if the only thing that prevented Fukudome from playing on the South Side was the team eight miles north.

Outside of the aforementioned duo, the two outfielders I wanted the Sox to avoid are faring pretty well themselves:

Torii "The Grass Runs True" Hunter:  .319/.382/.580 over 76 PA, six doubles, four homers, five walks, 11 strikeouts.

Aaron Rowand:  .333/.365/.500 over 52 PA, five doubles, one homer, three walks, 15 strikeouts.  If you couldn't guess by the strikeout total, he's being helped out by an extremely high BABIP (.469). 

So it appears that after three weeks, every team that made a significant investment in a center fielder has to be fairly happy with the early returns.  Unless two years and $18 million counts as "significant."

***************************

To follow up on yesterday's discussion of nicknames, here's what I have for Jim Thome.  It's more than just a mustache:



I'm tempted to rejigger it for a t-shirt.

***************************

Minor league roundup:
  • Birmingham 6, West Tenn 1
    • Derek Rodriguez and Fernando Hernandez threw 4 2/3 hitless innings of relief, striking out five combined.
    • Starter Justin Cassell allowed eight hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings, but induced four double plays.  The Barons turned five on the night.
    • Miguel Negron went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI, but failed to score because he was caught stealing twice.
    • Micah Schnurstein and Javier Castillo had two hits and two RBI apiece; Schnurstein drew two walks, Castillo one.
  • Winston-Salem 2, Potomac 0
    • Jacob Rasner threw seven innings of one-hit ball, striking out six and walking three.  He lowered his ERA to an even 1.00.
    • The Warthogs struck out 10 times, but Brandon Allen homered for the second straight game, a solo shot.
    • Anderson Gomes had two hits; Sergio Miranda picked up his second RBI of the year.
    • Kanekoa Teixeira picked up his third save with a perfect ninth, striking out one.
  • Charlotte vs. Richmond PPD
  • Kannapolis OFF

Comments

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 2:38 AM by White Sox Cards
I have no complaints about Swisher. He's one of the best pick ups this off-season.

BTW, I LOVE that Jim Thome card mock up!

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 2:50 AM by MattTheRock
Jim, I think you missed your calling. Seriously, the Sox need to hire you on as their graphic designer/promotion guys. That just might be the greatest poster I've ever seen.

Andruw Jones. Quick fantasy story: I traded him for Shane Victorino a day before he went on the DL. I had plenty of time to rescind that trade, and still decided not to. When you've fallen so far as to be traded for someone on the DL who's a marginal player at this point in his career and for it not to be a bad call, you're done. They could change that headline to "Dodgers' Jones Plumbs Depths of Suck" and be right on target.

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 7:17 AM by ChicagoPete
haha - that's great, well done. Between this one and the Boone Lincoln it's safe to say you'd have given Matthew Brady all he could handle.

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 10:49 AM by striker
I think God punishes the Dodgers for overspending by making their signings suck or injurred: (Please see Kevin Brown, Darren Dreifort, Nomar Garciapara, Juan Pierre, Eric Gagne and Andruw Jones).

If God didn't punish them then they would dominate baseball because they have by far the best farm system.

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 12:57 PM by Orestes
That's good work !

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 1:25 PM by Salty Dog
As for Fukudome, I have to say that I like his swing. It's seems to be a slashing swing that is tailor-made to work pitchers hard. If he doesn't get what he likes he can easily put it into the stands down the 3rd base line. If he's not going to get on base, he's certainly going to elevate pitch counts quickly.

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 3:58 PM by Jim Margalus
Thanks. I'll see what I can do for a t-shirt.

"I think God punishes the Dodgers for overspending by making their signings suck or injurred: (Please see Kevin Brown, Darren Dreifort, Nomar Garciapara, Juan Pierre, Eric Gagne and Andruw Jones)."

Well, I don't think they upset karma for Dreifort and Gagne, because they developed both players, and the Dreifort signing was its own punishment. I think it's more punishment for impetuous ownership that can't trust its own system.

"If he doesn't get what he likes he can easily put it into the stands down the 3rd base line."

Hey -- maybe Jerry Owens has the idea backwards.

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 4:20 PM by Conor
If you can tweak that stache to look a little more stained like the rest of the photo, it will officially be the best graphic ever produced on this blog, beating out Waiting For Fukudome and Cabrera and Uribe riding their bikes. Put it on a t shirt and I'd buy it.

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 12:27 AM by El Duque's Raft
Hey Jim, just wanted to post a little something about tonight's game because I won't be able to do it at work tomorrow. I've got to say my biggest pet peeve about White Sox fans right now is definitely their reluctance to let go of 2007. It's like having a buddy that keeps talking about a girl he dated who treated him like crap and everyone hated the bitch, including your friend.

Glancing at a few of the game threads throughout the short season or some of the comments on your game recaps, every time the Sox lose a game, it's something along the lines 'This team is exactly the same, 90 losses here we come'. While I understand being jaded about going through an awful year, to channel my inner Rick Pitino 'Darin Erstad ain't walking through that door. Andy Sisco ain't coming and neither is Scott Podsednik'. Let's just let this team be who they are. They've already proven they're better offensively than anytime last year and definitely more competitive.

I've noticed that you have basically stopped talking about '07 and I want to commend you for it. While it was a terrible year and people are entitled to feel the way they want, let's try and leave that awful memory where it belongs, in the past.

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 1:52 AM by Jim Margalus
Well, I did bring up 2007 a few days ago, for which Florida Jim castigated me. And I'll still bring it up, but mainly in the context of trends -- how is Ozzie adapting, Konerko and Thome aging, etc. I don't believe in hoodoo carrying over, because there are too many new faces, and KW actually did address weaknesses unlike last season.

Basically I treat bad baseball like bad movies. I initially get frustrated, and then I try to make my own fun out of it until it's over. There's no point in staying mad.

# re: No complaints about new outfielders

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 3:12 AM by Jim Margalus
And consider that handlebar stained.