Also, I got a chance to process some Jordan Danks video. I had shot footage of both Danks and Dayan Viciedo, not knowing which player would be worth the immediate attention. Viciedo just happened to make my decision for me.
In fact, Danks has been in a tailspin in August, with just four hits over 42 at-bats and a double the lone extra-base hit. His problems could stem from the wrist injury he suffered in mid-June, as his batting average and slugging percentage have dropped precipitously since.
He’s sat the last two games after going 0-for-13 with three walks over the previous three games. At least the acquisition of Alex Rios makes this development a minor matter at this point.
Most of the excitement from Saturday’s Charlotte Knights game was drained when Tyler Flowers left the game in the second inning. He took a foul tip to his throwing hand, and after visiting the mound to buy some time, the training staff took a look at him.
Tyler Flowers gets his hand checked out. (Sox Machine)
He remained in the game until the end of the half-inning, and Cole Armstrong pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the second.
Fortunately, Armstrong filled in admirably, hitting a three-run homer as the Knights rallied back from a 5-0 deficit for a 7-5 win. Josh Fields’ third homer in as many days made the difference.
(It seemed like Flowers’ hand issues weren’t serious. He warmed up pitchers in the bullpen later in the game, and he didn’t have any kind of padding/splint/bandage on his throwing hand, that I (or my camera) could see, anyway.)
A few observations from the game before I pack up to head home:
*Armstrong had a poor day throwing (two throws went into center field, including one that allowed a run to score), until catching Michael Aubrey at second on a busted hit-and-run. My dad noticed a weird hitch in his release. It’s a distinct three-step motion — he pulls his arm back, cocks his wrist downward, and then comes forward with it all. Kinda like Gavin Floyd, and people steal on him, too.
Through his first two innings on Friday night, I figured I would see how Daniel Hudson ended up with his unimpressive line in his Triple-A debut on Sunday (4 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). He fell behind hitters, and couldn’t really come back with anything besides his fastball.
And then he found his slider.
Hudson finished by retiring 16 of the last 17 Norfolk batters he faced. The only batter to reach did so on a bloop single over the head of the second baseman, and he was erased on a 5-4-3 double play.
Here’s the video of his night.
Some things I noticed (and you might, too):
*Through the first three innings, Hudson’s fastball registered between 91-93 on the radar gun. Over the last four, he was around 89-90, with an occasional 91.
Dan Hudson (Sox Machine)
However, I believe (I’m pretty sure, but didn’t keep count) that a majority of his strikeouts came on the fastball, even later in the game. The aforementioned effectiveness of the slider helped keep hitters off-balance.
He looked like he used to a two-seamer (85-87), a change (82ish) and a slider that he added to and subtracted from. The slowest one I saw clocked in at 78, the harder ones 81-82.
*He’s seen a decrease in groundoutsduring his ascension, and Friday was no exception: just three groundouts to 12 flyouts.
*When he misses, he misses down. He didn’t work up in the zone that often (although he managed to pump three fastballs above the belt past a batter later in the game). That might explain how he’s given up just four homers over 134 1/3 innings this year.
Really, there wasn’t a single ball hit hard against him all night. The Norfolk lineup produced several legitimate flies, but none that caused a heart to stop. He induced more pop-ups, flares off the end of the bat, etc., than anything resembling a well-struck ball.
*He works pretty quickly. He also does a muted Ryan Dempster-type glove waggle from the stretch.
The $64,000 question: Can he contribute to the Sox this year?
I would hesitate to say he would hit the ground running. Given his unimpressive debut and his slow start on Friday, I don’t know if we can judge Hudson’s progress for one more start. He lacks a “wow” factor — at least until he gets rolling — and most major-league lineups probably would’ve punished him for working from behind in the count and missing his best off-speed pitch. At least for more than one run, which was unearned thanks to an Andy Cannizaro error (on his first chance, to boot).
Still, Hudson definitely put on a show — one that will certainly keep his name in the conversation after another Jose Contreras meltdown, and could possibly get him penciled in to the 2010 rotation before the month is over.
At least as a hitter. Defensively, he looked raw in two of the three times he was tested. He played a grounder off his chest (but recovered in time to throw out the runner at first), and then took an awkward route on a chopper in which a fraction of a second would’ve helped. He did snag a rocket, gloving it across his body.
At the plate — the guy is a beast. You can tell Viciedo apart from the rest of the hitters on the field at Five County Stadium merely by the sound of the ball against his bat. Even his choppers have an echo, and that’s what tells me that I didn’t just see him on a good night.
He went 3-for-5, and it should’ve been 4-for-5. He roped a liner to left, but Christian Marrero couldn’t tell if it was caught. He retreated to second, but with a runner on first, it made for an easy 7-5 fielder’s choice.
Otherwise, he went to all fields: A single to right-center (preceded by an opposite-field foul ball that had home-run distance), a groundout to third, the aforementioned liner to left, a double to left-center, and a single to right that was hit too hard to go for extra bases.
You want video? Here it is!
Conveniently for me, Viciedo showcased the latest development to his game. It’s almost like he’s following a monthly schedule, because here’s how he has developed:
April: Complete hackery.
May: Improved contact.
June: More walks.
July: More power.
For a 20-year-old in Double-A who’s adjusting to a completely different professional and social culture, the progress is impressive. The power, even more so. This had to be what White Sox scouts saw to encourage Kenny Williams to give him a four-year, $11 million. The conditioning and positioning issues will present problems, but he has the ability to out-hit either, and that should be the primary focus.
Other guys:
*Jordan Danks didn’t get in on the Barons’ 18-hit attack, going 0-for-5 with a walk. He showed good strike zone recognition in his first plate appearance, falling behind 0-2 before laying off four straight pitches out of the zone, but couldn’t find middle ground between 4-3s and flyballs to left-center. The Ryan Sweeney comparisons are apt, with the pretty swing and long-striding running style.
Unfortunately, because 90 percent of Five County Stadium is screened in, the park didn’t allow for that many fantastic photos. I had to climb to the far reaches of the park to get the few unfettered shots I could grab.
