Paul Konerko
went under the microscope for the 2008 season, and I think I'm thinking a little too much like a projection system.
I projected Konerko to hit 29 homers in 2008, only to realize that ZiPS and the Bill James Handbook pegged him for the exact same total. I added PECOTA's line to give it a little variety -- Baseball Prospectus' system only had him hitting 27.
At any rate, he appears dead-set on proving the pessimists wrong, with 10 hits and two walks in his first 16 plate appearances of spring training.
It's great Konerko is in full working order, because two White Sox outfielders
aren't 100 percent. The word of the day is "sore," whether it's
Carlos Quentin...
"It’s the shoulder, but it’s not a big deal,’’ Guillen said. “It was my
concern and [GM Kenny Williams’] concern, because this kid is going to
be here for good and I think he was creating bad habits with his swing
and it led to some soreness, but he’ll be fine. If it was the start of
the season, he could play.
“But rather than have him push it and lose one more week, we are
holding him back. I think it’s the best for him. This kid is a
workaholic. We have to monitor him real close, because he’s different
than other kids. But he bounces back real well from injuries. He’s not
hurt, he’s just sore. But in the meanwhile, when you’re sore and it’s
in the back of your mind, you create bad habits. This is to protect
him.’’
...or Jerry Owens:
“Jerry Owens is going to be held back a couple of days because he’s
sore,’’ Guillen said. “I don’t like the way he was running the bases
his last time out there. J.O., the key for him is his legs and we have
to keep those legs fresh. Right now, we don’t like what we see from him
right now, and there’s no reason for him to go out there and hurt
himself again. All of a sudden a minor injury becomes a big injury. We
learned that from having [Scott] Podsednik. ‘Pods’ would go from a
little soreness to a big deal."
There are other lessons to learn from having Podsednik on the roster, in that one-tool players who need their legs shouldn't be relied upon. It doesn't appear that the Sox are going in that direction yet.
At least Brian Anderson is taking full advantage of the opportunity. He went deep off Colorado's Brandon Hynick for a two-run shot in the ninth inning of
today's game, his first homer of the spring. It's easy to make too much of a homer off a Double-A pitcher, but on the other hand, it is a reversal from his first week of spring training. He had difficulty closing out his days then, going 1-for-9 in his last three plate appearances in three games.
What does this mean? Not much. I'm just kinda saying things, biding time until Anderson proves whether he can hit in April, in Chicago.