posted on Friday, June 13, 2008 2:51 AM
by
Jim
Extolling the virtues of the six-man bullpen
Per Scott Merkin, Esteban Loaiza's second stint with the White Sox is coming to a close after nine whole days and
several sub-80 m.p.h. fastballs thrown.
Taking his place?
Adam Russell. And it irks me. Boy, does this irk me.
It's not because Russell's a bad pitcher. Nobody can say that for sure. He's done a nice job limiting hits in Charlotte (20 in 31 innings) and runs (1.74 ERA), although his walk-to-strikeout rate is worrisome (15 BB, 24 K).
It's because he'll probably be of more use as the tallest guy on the team than he will as somebody who could potentially help the Sox win ballgames. And at 6'6", Matt Thornton can probably handle the tall guy duties just as well, duties which mostly consist of hiding sandwiches above the ceiling tiles in the locker room.
The timing of this move highlights precisely what is flawed with the decision-making, as it comes on the heels of
a day in which Mark Buehrle threw eight innings for the second consecutive start, and the Sox could only manage five hits off Detroit pitching.
Ozzie Guillen used only Octavio Dotel, and Dotel threw only one-third of an inning. That one out will be enough to give the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the title of "fewest innings thrown by a bullpen," since they had an off day and
they and the Sox were tied at 173 innings apiece. But when considering Sox relievers have allowed 37 fewer hits, they have the "fewest batters faced" title won handily at this point.
Also, Nick Masset has appeared in one more game than Buehrle, so it's clear that Ozzie Guillen has had enough trouble finding work for his worst reliever as it is.
Meanwhile, Sox hitters have only scored
10 runs in their last six road games, and outside of the perfect homestand, haven't been a lock to score runs on a consistent basis at home, either. So what exactly Adam Russell is going to bring to this team except the ability to post up Thornton in pickup hoops games and play janitor in the increasingly rare mop-up opportunities is beyond me.
That's why it seems to me that the time is right to call up
Josh Fields. Three reasons:
No. 1: The schedule. The Sox have the next two Mondays off. If
they were able to survive 15 innings against the Royals with no off days in sight for the next week and a half afterward, it seems like they should be OK with this stretch. The Cubs will surely test Sox pitching, but in between the crosstown series, the Sox will face the Rockies, Pirates and Dodgers --
all of whom are in the bottom half of baseball in terms of OPS.
No. 2: There are enough at-bats. Fields is an automatic platoon partner for Jim Thome, and even Joe Crede. Crede's single off Kenny Rogers Thursday was only his fifth hit off left-handed pitching over 46 at-bats. At least he's now batting over .100 against southpaws.
No. 3: What's the harm? If Fields comes up and doesn't hit over the next two weeks, the Sox can send him back down and bring up another reliever when the off days disappear after the All-Star break. If he does hit, Ozzie Guillen suddenly has a lot more flexibility in making lineups.
Fields' current numbers aren't all that impressive, as he's down 35 points on his batting average and 50 points on his OBP compared to his Charlotte numbers last year, but he's the best shot the Sox have at instant improvement offensively. He certainly stands a much better chance of getting the Sox back on track over a pitcher whose sole purpose will be to pitch in games he can't affect.
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Minor league roundup:- Charlotte 3, Norfolk 2
- Clayton Richard had a successful Triple-A debut, allowing two runs on five hits over seven innings, with no walks and five strikeouts.
- Ehren Wassermann worked two innings for his save, striking out four to one hit and one walk.
- Jerry Owens went 3-for-5 with a run scored, though he was caught stealing. He is hitting .395 in June.
- Danny Richar went 1-for-4 with his fifth steal, first unsuccessful attempt and sixth error.
- Jason Bourgeois went 2-for-3 with his sixth stolen base; Paul Phillips also had two hits.
- Carolina 3, Birmingham 2
- Justin Cassell allowed two runs over six innings, scattering nine hits, walking nobody and striking out five.
- Brian Omogrosso took the loss with one run allowed over 2 2/3 innings.
- Javier Castillo collected a pair of doubles; Victor Mercedes went 2-for-4.
- Winston-Salem 1, Wilmington 0
- John Ely allowed one hit over seven innings, retiring 21 of the 22 batters he faced including the last nineteen, striking out eight (including five of the last nine).
- Kanekoa Teixeira worked two innings for his 11th save.
- Adam Ricks' solo homer provided the game's only run, and he had a single as well.
- Lexington 2, Kannapolis 1
- Santo Luis struck out nine over five innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits and no walks.
- Logan Johnson went 2-for-4, including a double.