Jim Thome's two Opening Day homers
drew plenty of attention, but the batting order itself flew under the radar. To me, that's a bit surprising considering the amount of attention hitting a non-speedster first received.
Only
Joe Cowley touched on it:
One game won't determine that, but it wasn't a bad debut for a
new-look top of the lineup. Leadoff hitter Nick Swisher was 2-for-4
with two runs scored, and Orlando Cabrera was 1-for-4 with two runs and
a stolen base.
Mix in a middle of the order looking to bounce back from a dismal
2007, and all of a sudden, the Sox might be back to their
Sunday-morning-softball-team persona.
I don't know if we can go that far, but what Opening Day did confirm is that it's an extremely smart idea to get runners on base when Thome comes to the plate. Swisher had two singles (both with two strikes), and Orlando Cabrera made a fine first impression from an on-base standpoint -- although he's not going to see many more four-pitch walks as long as The Gentleman Masher keeps hitting.
Hopefully they'll build on their debuts and make Ozzie Guillen make a difficult decision when he returns. Having
Alexei Ramirez struggle in the sixth spot probably doesn't help, as
that's where Swisher would probably end up next if Ozzie feels Owens needs to lead off.
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Of course, if Ramirez keeps swinging balls-out at every single pitch, Carlos Quentin might get a couple games under his belt before Owens returns. Greg Walker likes what he sees:
"He has big-time power," hitting coach Greg Walker said.
"Physically, this guy is talented. This is a guy who will have to keep
his brain from getting in the way, but he showed [his ability] at the
end of spring." [...]
Said Walker: "At the end of spring he became low maintenance for me. …
Even though at times he thinks too much, you can tell he's talented and
he battles."
Maybe Kenny Williams meant to say that Quentin was "
Chicago tough... on himself." But if nothing else, the fact that Quentin is raring to go on the bench indicates that the Sox are in a far better position now than they were at this time last year.