Friday, February 29, 2008 - Posts

Second game leftovers

More video and photos will be on the way, but three hours in 85-degree heat, nine holes of golf and a couple of beers later, I'm pretty tired.  Here's the rundown of who did what in the second spring training game of the season:

PITCHING

*Jose Contreras looked sharp, throwing a lot of strikes and getting hitters on their heels.  The only run came after Marcus Giles hit a weak single, stole second and advanced to third when Paul Phillips' throw skipped away, then scored on a sac fly.  The only oddity was that he seemed to induce a heaping helping of fly balls, but it's a great start for the Count either way.

*Scott Linebrink didn't have much today, giving up three straight singles at one point before getting a grounder to Alexei Ramirez, which he turned into a 6-3 double play.

*Adam Russell has the stuff, but he also has control issues.  He started his outing off by walking Giles after getting ahead in the count 0-2.  Fortunately, he made a great pickoff move, and Giles' attempted dive back to first left him well short of the bag.

*Carlos Vasquez's fastball has plenty of pop, and the only blemish on his scoreless inning was a pitch that grazed Seth Smith's jersey.

*Oneli Perez gave up three straight singles to start his innin, then retired the next three he faced.

HITTING

*Check out highlights for Alexei Ramirez and Nick Swisher with video.

*Brian Anderson had another solid day at the park, with two singles and two RBI.  He's still highly susceptible to that low and outside slider, though.

*Paul Konerko likes using right field right now

*Jeff Liefer showed he still has power, blasting a shot over the fence that was first ruled fair before an ump overruled the call, then flying out to the warning track in right-center, some 400 feet away.

FIELDING

*Joe Crede only had one play come his way -- a chopper -- and his throw to first sailed on him.  Konerko made a nice play to leap and placed a tag on Garrett Atkins' helmet to end the inning.

*Pablo Ozuna made a couple nice plays behind second base: a soft liner that he tracked down, and a grounder that he snagged and threw to first pretty quickly, although it just barely wasn't in time.

*Ramirez had a great day with the glove, which you can read about here.

UPDATE:  Photos are up.
posted Friday, February 29, 2008 4:05 AM by Jim with 2 Comments

A better look at Alexei Ramirez (more video)

If you failed to be enthralled by Alexei Ramirez during his first appearance Wednesday, in which he walked and that was about it, Thursday provided a little more action:



Not included is his defense, which included a terrific backhanded stab and throw from deep in the hole.  His arm, while not as strong as Juan Uribe's or anything, is plenty good for the position.  He also made a play ranging across second base (he was shaded heavily toward the bag, but he could go to his left), and also turned a 6-3 double play with the help of a nice Paul Konerko pick. 

In short, there is a lot to like about this guy.  To name a few:

No. 1:  Versatility.  He's a natural at short, which means he should be able to handle second once he gets enough reps at the position.  From what I've read, people seem more certain about his abilities in center field than second, which seems promising.

No. 2:  Speed.  He won't be a part in station-to-station ball.  He hasn't shown what he's capable of in the basestealing department, so we will have to wait for that.  My dad thinks Jeff Cox gave him an earful for sliding into third base headfirst on the sacrifice bunt.

No. 3:  Contact.  On his last hit, he pretty much raised his hands to chest level to get the barrel on it.  The result was a soft liner single to center.  For somebody with a long swing, he manages to get the bat on the ball.  I think it's more enhanced by Tadahito Iguchi Syndrome -- when he misses, he looks awful doing it.

That long swing probably has a hole it in somewhere, and once pitchers figure out how to exploit it, we'll see how sturdy Ramirez's hitting skills are.  In the meantime, Kenny Williams' four-year, $4.5 million investment looks pretty smart at this juncture.
posted Friday, February 29, 2008 4:00 AM by Jim with 4 Comments

Swisher sweet leading off in debut

Nick Swisher hit at the top of the order in his spring training debut with the White Sox today, which turned out to be a rare 12-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Ozzie put him there likely because he wanted to get Swisher as many at-bats as possible, but maybe Swisher's performance today gave him some ideas, writes Mark Gonzalez:

Manager Ozzie Guillen, however, is serious about examining Swisher as a leadoff batter because he would rather leave Orlando Cabrera in the second spot, regardless of whether the Sox are facing a tough left-handed pitcher.

Of course, Gonzalez also writes that Guillen needs Orlando Cabrera in the second spot, and Pablo Ozuna isn't out of the running either, so let's not jump to any conclusions.

If Swisher needs an endorsement from a third party he trusts before making up his mind, maybe Cabrera should be the one to suggest it.  It was only earlier this week that he told Gonzalez:

"Hitting first is kind of tough because you can't swing at the first pitch, you have to work the count and help the rest of the team see the pitcher in the first at-bat," Cabrera said.

That's precisely what Swisher did at the top of the order today, and it's because he's not uncomfortable with two strikes on him.



Twice today, he fell behind in the count 0-2.  On the first occasion, he ended up drawing a walk; the second time, he fouled off two pitches before striking out swinging.

He's going to crack triple digits in strikeouts because he's that willing to take two strikes if they're not to his liking.  Hopefully that one stat column doesn't dissuade Ozzie from going in this direction, because when opposing pitchers have to face Swisher and Thome in their first inning of work, they'll know they have a challenge from the get-go.

In the field, Swisher looked OK.  He's not as smooth as Jerry Owens, as he showed when he made an awkward sliding catch against his stomach in the first inning.  But he doesn't have Rob Mackowiak's nervous feet, either.  Outfielders have far more ground to cover at Hi Corbett Field than at U.S. Cellular Field, so hopefully by the end of spring training, the whole thing will seem easier to him.
posted Friday, February 29, 2008 1:00 AM by Jim with 0 Comments