Sox Machine: Chicago White Sox blog

Wilkommen, Wassermann (it's official)

*** UPDATE (1:06 PM):  Wassermann's up. ***

Ehren Wassermann, who was unjustly pushed out of the White Sox bullpen at the start of the season in favor of Nick Masset, looks like he's found his way back in through another door -- one left ajar by one Mike MacDougal.

The move hasn't been made official, but the Sox would be insane to take anybody else for the long haul.  Lance Broadway, who last pitched Thursday, might get a start before Wassermann books his flight to get the rotation back on track following the doubleheader.  Ozzie Guillen was going to start Nick Masset in Game 2 before Mark Buehrle talked/texted his way back into the job.

(Charlie Haeger is also available, but Broadway has outpitched him handily and A.J. Pierzynski won't need a special mitt to catch him.)

Wassermann has a chance to firmly cement his fan favoriteness, because his resume is already impressive.  Consider:

• He doesn't look like an athlete.
  
• He needed a tryout to make it on a minor-league team.
• He sold knives between failed tryouts.
  
• He has an unusual name.
• He has an unusual throwing style.
• He got results when more heralded relievers failed.
• He handled an unfair demotion with grace.

If he was at all frustrated with the unfortunate set of circumstances, then he took it out on Triple-A hitters.

2008	PA	H	BB	K
vs. LHP	14	0	2	5
vs. RHP	12	0	1	5
Total	26	0	3	10

Down in Charlotte, he was 1 1/3 innings from throwing a no hitter in relief, even though he faced more lefties than righties.  He capped it off by striking out all three hitters he faced Friday night.

Presumably, he'll take the kind of situations in the seventh and eighth innings that Octavio Dotel has blown, and Boone Logan has proven himself incapable of handling.  Dotel could probably use the break, because he's firmly cementing himself in the scapegoat role -- when he's not throwing hittable pitches, his defense isn't helping him out.

If Wassermann picks up where he left off against major-league hitters in late 2007 and this past spring, Wassermann has a chance to crack the top 5 of beloved Sox relievers this decade.  A quick list:

1. Bobby Jenks
2. Shingo Takatsu
3. Tom Gordon
4. Keith Foulke
5. Dustin Hermanson
   [...]

     324. Dewon Day
     325. Jose Paniagua
     326. Billy Koch

At this point, Wassermann's probably behind Kelly Wunsch.and his 83 appearances for the 2000 pennant winner.  Wunsch actually finished fifth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting, and yes, it was a really weak crop.  However, give Wassermann a big year on top of all the points he earned last year, and he could crack the top 10.

(At right is his suggested facial hair style.  Proposed nickname: Baron von Wassermann.  In his prime, Hawk Harrelson would have figured out a way to work the knife-selling nickname for a moniker, like he did for Herb Perry and his off-season interest.)

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As for the guy Wassermann will replace, this could very well be the end of the line for MacDougal for all intents and purposes.

The problem with MacDougal -- or at least the one that's most applicable from here on out -- is that even if he dominates in Charlotte, it won't mean anything.  He pitched well there last year, and considering he tried to pitch through an injury before his demotion and said Juan Nieves helped him a lot, there were reasons to believe he'd rebound.

There's no injury this time and he's hung around Nieves plenty now that he's the bullpen coach in Chicago, so outside of channeling Steve Nebraska or an MRSA outbreak in the Sox bullpen, anything he does in Charlotte will be immaterial.

Fortunately, the Sox can store him in Triple-A for the time being.  Next year will present a difficult decision for the Sox, because the Toby Hall situation is nearly identical in terms of the problems it presents and the money involved, and he's still here.

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Minor league roundup:

• Durham 3, Charlotte 2
• Tomo Ohka was the hard-luck loser, allowing two runs (one earned) over seven innings, striking out seven.
• Adam Russell allowed a walk and a hit in his inning of work, but he struck out the side.
• Jerry Owens went 2-for-4 with an RBI, but was caught stealing.
• Chris Getz hit his first homer of the year, a solo shot.
• Birmingham 4, Montgomery 2
• Justin Cassell threw six shutout innings, allowing four hits and three walks while striking out four.
• Thomas Collaro went 3-for-3 with a double, walk and two RBI.
• Cole Armstrong had a pair of doubles and a pair of RBI; Micah Schnurstein went 2-for-4.
• Wilmington 4, Winston-Salem 1
• Aaron Poreda threw a quality start in defeat, allowing three runs on six hits over six innings.  He had zero walks and three strikeouts.
• C.J. Retherford provided the only run with a solo homer, one of two hits on the night.
• Paulo Orlando went 2-for-4.
• Kannapolis 0, Lake County 0 (Susp., 5th inning)
• Anthony Carter threw five shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out four.
• Christian Marrero and Greg Paiml had Kanny's only hits.