posted on Thursday, April 24, 2008 2:51 AM by Jim

To: White Sox hitters, CC: Greg Walker, re: opposite field

Below is a chart of all the balls put in play off the starters in Wednesday night's game, Javier Vazquez and Mike Mussina:

Yankees
White Sox
Damon
Middle
Swisher
Bunt
Jeter
Opposite
Cabrera
Pull
Abreu
Pull
Thome
Opposite
Matsui
Opposite
Konerko
Middle
Posada
Opposite
Dye
Pull
Ensberg
Middle
Pierzynski
Opposite
Cabrera
Opposite
Crede
Pop-up
Jeter
Pull
Swisher
Middle
Abreu
Middle
Cabrera
Pull
Posada
Pull
Thome
Pull
Cano
Opposite
Konerko
Pull
Giambi
Pop-up
Dye
Pull
Cabrera
Pull
Pierzynski
Opposite
Damon
Pull
Quentin
Opposite
Jeter
Middle
Crede
Pull
Abreu
Opposite
Uribe
Pull
Matsui
Opposite
Thome
Pull
Posada
Opposite
Konerko
Pull
Giambi
Pull
Dye
Pop-up
Ensberg
Pull
Pierzynski
Opposite
Cabrera
Pull
Quentin
Pull
Damon
Middle
Crede
Opposite
Jeter
Middle



The White Sox's already unimpressive tally in going to opposite field is rendered less sterling when considering two more factors:
  1. Jim Thome's opposite field venture was on a check swing.
  2. There was no chance A.J. Pierzynski was going to pull the ball with his approach.
So when it comes down to it, you can count all the legitimate attempts to go the other way against Mussina on one hand.  That isn't good, because Mussina had to live on the outside corner with a fastball couldn't crack 85 on the YES gun.

Now contrast that to the display the Yankees were putting on.  The Yankees had a primarily left-handed hitting lineup against Javy, and since Vazquez's best fastball tails away from them, they settled on targeting the left-center gap.  They went in that direction in three consecutive at-bats to stretch their lead to 3-0, and Jorge Posada, who hit the key double that inning, went back to the well against Nick Masset in the seventh, splitting Carlos Quentin and Nick Swisher once again.

That's pretty much the difference between an offense like New York's, and what the Sox are throwing at opposing pitching.  The additions of Quentin and Swisher may give the Sox a boost in OBP, and the Sox have shown the ability to knock the ball out of the park.  However, everything the Sox can do the Yankees can do better -- especially when it comes to hitting for average. 

Against Vazquez, the Yankees showed exactly how they led the AL with a .290 team average (Jim Thome led the Sox with a .275 average last year).  They roughed up Vazquez for 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings, while the Sox were good for six hits the game.  And they accomplished it by using the entire field, something the Sox have been loath to do for some time now.

It's not a good sign when the Sox can still be Sonnastined with relative ease when the lineup features three new faces and everybody else in better health.  Nobody in the organization seems to endorse blaming the hitting coach, which is understandable to a certain degree.  But outside of Juan Uribe, who won the second base job in a battle of attrition, there are no longer obvious places to upgrade.

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

Minor league roundup:
  • Charlotte 11, Durham 2
    • Josh Fields went 3-for-5 with his third homer; Jerry Owens went 2-for-3 with three walks and three runs scored.
    • But neither of them had the game Dewayne Wise did: 2-for-3, a homer, a walk, two stolen bases and an outfield assist.
    • Lance Broadway had his worst start of the season, which isn't saying much: six innings, two runs.
    • Jack Egbert struck out two in one inning of relief; Ehren Wassermann threw a perfect ninth.
  • West Tenn 8, Birmingham 4
    • Brian Omogrosso came off the DL and gave up three runs over five innings on seven hits and two walks.  He struck out three.
    • Clevelan Santeliz took the loss with five runs allowed over three innings, with four in the sixth innings.
    • Ricardo Nanita went 2-for-4 with his second homer; Javier Castillo had three hits and two RBI.
  • Winston-Salem 7, Potomac 5
    • Michael Dubee pitched six shutout innings; Israel Chirino, Matt Davis and Ryan Rote were all touched up for runs.
    • Brandon Allen hit a two-run homer, his third in four games.
    • C.J. Retherford went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI; Javier Colina went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
  • Kannapolis 3, Greensboro 1
    • Nathan Jones allowed one run over four innings, but while he struck out seven, he also walked four.
    • Levi Maxwell picked up the win with two perfect innings.
    • Joe Persichina went 2-for-4 with an RBI; Jose Martinez went 1-for-4 with two runs scored.

Comments

# re: To: White Sox hitters, CC: Greg Walker, re: opposite field

Thursday, April 24, 2008 10:43 AM by striker
I love when washed up pitchers shutdown our pull happy team.

I didn't see the game. Did Vazquez pick up on the fact that they were looking for his fastball outside and move inside? I'm betting on no.

The thing I hate about baseball is that even though I hate losing, you have to accept the fact that even the best team is going to lose about 68 games.

# re: To: White Sox hitters, CC: Greg Walker, re: opposite field

Thursday, April 24, 2008 11:15 AM by Jim Margalus
Nah, he just wasn't sharp. He got into fastball counts, and they picked their spots.

# re: To: White Sox hitters, CC: Greg Walker, re: opposite field

Thursday, April 24, 2008 12:06 PM by Orestes
Nice piece of work, Jim.

I know teams chart like crazy, so why don't the Sox work on this ? Baines was a great "all fields " hitter himself....and I believe Walk was too

# re: To: White Sox hitters, CC: Greg Walker, re: opposite field

Thursday, April 24, 2008 12:13 PM by Florida Jim
Sorry, you said it so much better than I and with stats, excuse me. I must read all your posts before responding in the future.

# The A's signed the Big Hurt

Thursday, April 24, 2008 1:10 PM by The Wizard
A's agree to terms with DH Frank Thomas

OF Travis Buck placed on 15-day disabled list; 3B Eric Chavez transferred to 60-day DL

(link at my name)

# The System is Down

Thursday, April 24, 2008 3:04 PM by The Cheat
SBN is having major issues.

The way I hear it, they migrated a bunch more blogs in the last couple days, and had to upgrade the server structure, both to handle new loads and be ready for the future (football) blogs to get migrated.

There was a problem with the RAM, however, which I'm told is about the last thing they were looking for -- Bad RAM, they say. I think it was a Swiss cake roll in the disk drive...

So they got us back up last night with the warning that they wouldn't be sure they had fixed the problem until they saw what happened under high loads. High loads = lunchtime crowd = more problems.

I can't really report on what's specifically wrong with our servers other than to say it's gonna be a while before they're fixed. They're talking hours, so I'm hoping we'll be back up by gametime.

If nothing else there should be another late-night post from me there tonight.

# it's gonna be a while before they're fixed

Thursday, April 24, 2008 3:16 PM by The Wizard
if this is the case can you post a thread where we can discuss tonight's game jim?

# correction

Thursday, April 24, 2008 3:19 PM by The Wizard
I mean if this the case this evening

meaning, if SSS is still down

ps. pods SBs and scores!

# here's the HTML code (gamethread)

Thursday, April 24, 2008 3:31 PM by The Wizard
Game 21: White Sox (11-9) vs. Yankees (12-10)

<h3>Gavin Floyd (RHP) vs. Phil Hughes (RHP)</h3>
<p>Time: 7:11 p.m. CT, TV: WGN, Radio: WSCR AM-670 (<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/previews/2008/CHA200804240.shtml">B-R preview</a>, <a href="http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2008_04_24_nyamlb_chamlb_1&amp;c_id=cws">Live Boxscore</a>; <a href="http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/y2007/gd.html?2008_04_24_nyamlb_chamlb_1&amp;brand=cws">2007 MLB Gameday</a>; <a href="http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_04_24_nyamlb_chamlb_1&brand=cws">2008 MLB Gameday</a>)</p>
<hr class="widget_boundry_marker" />
<div class="pane sports_data_widget player_stats">
<h3>Today's Starters</h3>
<table class="zebra">
<thead>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th>W-L</th>
<th>G</th>
<th>GS</th>
<th>CG</th>
<th>SHO</th>
<th>SV</th>
<th>BS</th>
<th>IP</th>
<th>H</th>
<th>R</th>
<th>ER</th>
<th>HR</th>
<th>BB</th>
<th>K</th>
<th>ERA</th>
<th>WHIP</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first">
<a href="/mlb/players/l.mlb.com-p.6809">Gavin Floyd</a>
</td>

<td>2-0</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>

<td>0</td>
<td>19.1</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>5</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>2</td>

<td>8</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>1.40</td>
<td class="td-last">.88</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="td-name td-first">
<a href="/mlb/players/l.mlb.com-p.18209">Phil Hughes</a>
</td>
<td>0-3</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>0</td>

<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>16.1</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>17</td>

<td>16</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>8.82</td>
<td class="td-last">2.14</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<hr class="widget_boundry_marker" />
<p>GO SOX!</p>

# re: To: White Sox hitters, CC: Greg Walker, re: opposite field

Thursday, April 24, 2008 3:56 PM by Jim Margalus
Thanks -- I'll see what I can do with it. This may be a good time to unleash the forums.

# re: To: White Sox hitters, CC: Greg Walker, re: opposite field

Thursday, April 24, 2008 4:04 PM by larry
we're gonna blow up your server.

# yeah

Thursday, April 24, 2008 4:53 PM by The Wizard
if we gonna blow it up, then no need to do it