2006 State of the Sox

Week in a Box: May 7-13

Jose Contreras visited the DL, the Sox started a rookie knuckleballer, a game was rained out, the bullpen tried out another reliever, Johan Santana mauled us once again, the umpires screwed the Sox over and both Ozzie Guillen and Don Cooper were ejected, leaving Tim Raines to make his managerial debut…

…yup, this week had it all.  

On to the awards:  

Player of the Week:  Joe Crede.  I was tempted to give this one to Scott Podsednik because he had his two best games of the year this week – but Crede has just been so clutch with the bat and glove that he can’t be denied.

Player of the Weak:  Tadahito Iguchi.  He had some atypically ugly swings this week with more strikeouts (7) than hits (3).

Pitcher of the Week:  Freddy Garcia.  The Chief returned to what made him an ace pitcher at one point his career – he threw more fastballs against the Angels than he did in any other start this year, and the result was eight innings of one-run ball.

Pitcher of the Weak:  Jon Garland.  Sure, he wouldn’t have had much of a chance against Johan Santana anyway, but he barely pitched better than Charlie Haeger did in his start – and when the nicest thing that can be said about your performance is that it edged out a rookie knuckleballer’s debut, then you get to sit in the corner.

Fireman of the Week:  Brandon McCarthy.  Prepped to be the tandem starter with Haeger, McCarthy pitched beautifully out of the bullpen to keep the Sox in the game against the Angels, as the Sox cut the Anaheim lead from 6-0 to 6-5.  Had Ozzie kept Cotts in, his final line would’ve looked better.

Gas Can of the Week:  Boone Logan.  Why is Logan’s ERA only 3.27?  Because other pitchers pick up his inherited runners and he doesn’t return the favor.  Cliff Politte kept it from escalating Saturday night – and of course Matt Thornton didn’t pick him up on the tail end.

Super sub:  Pablo Ozuna.  His pinch-hit appearance against the Twins brought his batting average below .500.  He had a huge two-run triple against the Royals, stole a key base against the Angels and racked up two hits against Santana in his first two at-bats.    

Super scrub:  Nobody.  Rob Mackowiak had the weakest week of any Sox reserve, but even he didn’t have any sort of real negative impact.

Gold Glove:  Joe Crede.  The guy continues to make big plays.

Hands of Stone:  Brian Anderson.  Not his finest week – he misplayed a ball against the Angels and struggled with the Metrodome lights against the Twins, while the guy he replaced made national headlines with a catch in Philadelphia.

The Hokey Pokey:  The Sox front office.  You bring Chuck Haeger in, you take Chuck Haeger out, you bring Agustin in…will Jeff Nelson be next?