posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008 2:16 AM
by
Jim
Don't forget about Dye
Jermaine Dye's not one to show much emotion, but he let loose after his game-changing three-run homer off Paul Byrd
Wednesday night, slamming his bat to the ground before beginning his trot.
Maybe he didn't take kindly to being plunked with the first pitch he saw. Maybe he was happy to get something to hit after walking on four pitches in his second plate appearance.
Or maybe after picking up Carlos Quentin on his shoulda-been-a-double-play ball, he wanted people to notice that he's been hitting better than Q as of late.
After tonight's perfect performance, Dye is hitting .407/.459/.722 over his last 14 games. Paired with Quentin (.321/.403/.604), the Sox have a 1-2 punch that's among the tops in the league. It's also a far cry from 2007, when the Sox had near-zero production from their outfield in the first two months of the season.
The only difference between the two is that Dye missed time with a groin injury and took several games to get back up to speed -- which shouldn't surprise anybody who has seen him run the bases.
Fun fact: After returning to action from his injury at the end of April, Dye had one hit in 24 plate appearances. In 2007, after missing more than a week with a strained quad muscle, Dye could only muster one hit in his first 23 plate appearances.
Before and after that injury period, he's hitting .383/.437/.650. And suddenly it's not looking like such a dumb idea to extend him after all...
...as long as they take extra caution in keeping him healthy. He's showing he's an excellent hitter
when 100 percent, but when he plays at 80-85 percent, he can look quite lost at the plate quite easily.
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The Sox continue to shuffle around
the remaining leaders of the minor-league organization:
[Buddy] Bell, 56, will oversee the entire minor-league system after being hired
last October as the Sox's director of minor-league instruction, a
position he held with the Sox from 1991-93. [...]
[Alan] Regier, the former director of player development, will shift to scouting at all levels.
Those tasks once were filled by Wilder, who was fired along with two
scouts in an ongoing federal investigation to determine whether they
skimmed money from signing bonuses to Latin American players, according
to a Major League Baseball investigator.
Though details have been minimal
about Wilder's alleged skimming practices, an alleged scout in the White Sox organization posted his "inside knowledge" at SoxTalk. It looks like the post was removed, but
the Cheat saved an excerpt. He also has
a recap of the entire situation.
********************
From one anonymous source to another,
Joe Cowley thinks Chone Figgins would be a good idea:
On one hand, there has been increased speculation that [Kenny Williams'] interest in Los Angeles Angels infielder Chone Figgins has grown. On the other hand, he knows the reality of prying free a player like that in a trade right now is all but impossible.
A source close to the situation said that Williams started sending out feelers more than two weeks ago to teams that had leadoff hitters also capable of playing second base -- at least all the teams that don't have Brian Roberts on their roster, because that bridge was crossed back in the spring, and Baltimore is asking for everything that's not nailed down in return.
But the hot name? Figgins.
The only reason why I post this is because I'm disturbed by the fixation on "leadoff hitters." It might be a Sun-Times thing, as
Greg Couch's column also focused on the team's lack of speed -- while the current lineup is scoring runs and winning.
I certainly hope it's not more than that, because speed wasn't the problem -- the sheer lack of hits was, which is why I never understood the calls for perpetual solution Jerry Owens (possible nickname here).
Hits are starting to fall now. After a 10-game stretch during which they couldn't muster 10 hits once, they've now managed double-digits in that category in nine of their last 12 games.
It helps that they're using the opposite field more. Orlando Cabrera started the five-run rally off Paul Byrd with a bloop single to right. Jim Thome drilled a single to left-center and homered in the same direction. Joe Crede stuck his bat out and poked a single into center. Merely redirecting good pitches -- instead of trying to power-hook them -- has driven Sox pitchers to distraction, and it appears Sox hitters are starting to pick up on that.
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Minor league roundup:- Durham 6, Charlotte 2 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Josh Fields returned the lineup and drove in a run with a double. He also struck out twice.
- Lance Broadway gave up 11 hits over 5 1/3 innings, three of which left the yard.
- Jerry Owens went 0-for-3 with a walk, and his averaged dropped to .219; Chris Getz had two hits.
- Adam Russell pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
- Durham 3, Charlotte 1 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Jack Egbert pitched five solid innings, allowing three runs two earned) on five hits and two walks. He struck out six.
- Dewon Day struck out the side in his scoreless inning of work, and Mike MacDougal pitched a scoreless inning as well.
- Jerry Owens went 2-for-3 with his 11th stolen base.
- Birmingham 6, Huntsville 5 (10 innings)
- Dave Cook went 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBI and two walks.
- Robert Valido had three hits; Victor Mercedes, Ricardo Nanita, Javier Castillo and Stefan Gartrell had two apiece.
- Clayton Richard allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over seven innings, striking out six.
- Fernando Hernandez faced four batters and didn't retire one; Jon Link blew his second save.
- Frederick 5, Winston-Salem 0
- John Ely struck out nine over six innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and three walks.
- The Warthogs only managed three hits.off Jake Arrieta, who's allowed 27 hits over 59 2/3 innings thus far.
- Delmarva 3, Charlotte 1 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Like Ely, Nathan Jones struck out nine over six innings, but was tagged with the complete-game loss.
- Joe Persischina and Sergio Morales had two hits apiece.
- Kannapolis 3, Delmarva 2 (Game 2, 8 innings)
- Dale Mollenhauer went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer.
- Santo Luis gave up one run over five innings, allowing four hits, two walks and striking out six.