You can't spell "Viciedo" without "video"

Here’s some video of Dayan Viciedo taking batting practice before Saturday’s game.

If he’s not starting against John Lannan and the Washington Nationals on Sunday, I’ll be very confused.

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mechanicalturk

You also can’t spell “Dayan Viciedo” without “avoid cyanide.” Which seems like fairly sound advice. I’m not sure if it means he’ll be good or bad, but either way I plan to claim it was no coincidence.

fustercluck

I’ve been holding onto a cyanide pill for whenever the season goes tits up. Good omen.

madopal

If he doesn’t start, I’d say the reports of Kenny & Ozzie being friends again are either greatly exaggerated or about to change back to the way they were.
Either way, it doesn’t inspire confidence in management.
But hey, Omar needs to play, right?

matt

See watching a game like this makes me question his case as a Hall of Famer… Granted he’s never been much with the bat, but that glove is damn near legendary. I really don’t know where I sit on the issue, but he’s got a fair case.

danks50

Viciedo in and not surprisingly management already seeing him deserving of a higher spot in the batting order than Gordon Beckham.
Lineup for #WhiteSox at DC: pierre7, ram6, rios8, pk3, q9, castro2, viciedo5, beck4, Garcia pitching.

rmensch

Viciedo Goes Deep to the Opposite Field vs. Righty throwing slop…

I posted this a month ago on SouthSideSox for all to see, so take a look if you haven’t already seen it. Love his raw power potential. We’re talking about a serious player if he develops some plate discipline.
Also have some video of Jordan Danks and Tyler Flowers if you check my YouTube profile (rmensch).

danks50

Same here, love that raw pop, hate his extreme hacker tendencies. However if he’s not screwing himself into the ground on breaking balls and can split the gap between his righty/lefty splits I really like the potential.

knoxfire30

So the sox drafted a relief pitcher at 13, thats smart.
Oh well lets just continue dominating the NL and hopefully viciedo can be a bit of an offensive spark, certainly had some nice at bats today hitting the ball hard to the opposite field.

danks50

What gives you that impression? They’re trying to shave some money off the signing bonus by offering him a fast-track to the major leagues. He’s fairly polished and considering we have a full rotation the logical step is giving him some reps in the bullpen (while deporting Randy) if this teams needs it coming down the stretch. Just because a pitcher gains some major league development time as a reliever doesn’t mean he’s magically unable to start. Guys like David Price or even Mark Buehrle shows you can gain some reps in the pen and still eventually start.
Scouting reports that include, repeats delivery well, maintains velocity, pinpoint control and plus changeup don’t really set off too many initial red flags in regards to his ability to start games.

rmensch

Exactly. I don’t think Knox knows much of anything about Chris Sale. He just heard that he’ll be used in the bullpen. Sale was probably the best college starter in this year’s draft. Forget Drew Pomeranz.

knoxfire30

They said he is going to be fast tracked into the bullpen, I hate that approach with young pitchers if they do expect him to one day be in the rotation. I personally think it sets young arms well back as opposed to just letting them be starters from the get go. Big difference with Buerhle and Price were that they both got minor league innings in as starters then entered the bigs as relievers, they didnt immediately go to the minors to be prepped as short relievers. It completely backfired with guys like Arron Poreda and Andrew Miller of the tigers/marlins.

knoxfire30

Not to mention how is this kid suppose to build arm strenght and hone in his delivery out of the pen. Kid has major arm slot issues and looks anerexic not exactly the right formula for a starting pitcher…. hopefully it works out and god knows im sick of seeing randy williams i just disagree with this approach from the sox.

rmensch

I guess you also have to remember that the rotation is set up for a couple of years. Without doing any research to check exact years, Buehrle is signed through 2011, Peavy through 2012, Floyd through ’13 or so, Danks through ’11. Maybe Freddy sticks around, but I doubt it since Dan Hudson looks like the real deal and a top of the rotation starter. The Sox want Sale to make an impact a.s.a.p. and it just so happens that it will probably be as a reliever unless they want to pay him a bunch of money to sit down in AAA. Maybe they can’t get Danks to sign an extension and Sale starts in a couple of years. Your points about bulk and arm slot are definitely valid. I don’t think this kid is Aaaron Poreda. He has more than one pitch to throw.
Concerning Randy Williams: I’d rather see any righty from our pen come in to face a lefty than Williams. Why is he still in Chicago?

danks50

Your contradicting yourself. Poreda started 54 games in the minor leagues and wasn’t prepped as short relief. He made his debut in the bullpen for a reason, lack of a secondary pitch. As for Andruw Miller I’m really doubting his horrendous control in the major leagues (99 walks in 187 IP) and reoccurring knee tendinitis can be blamed on a brief stint as a reliever.

danks50

Oops scratch that, the last 6 starts of 09 seemed the be with the Padres AAA squad. Either way 48 starts is pretty decent sample as a starter.
As for Sale, I’ll agree that the mechanics might lead to problems but injuries for pitchers is often a very inexact science and if his delivery works for him and he’s able to repeat in cleanly there’s probably more damage to be done by tweaking his arm slot into a less comfortable delivery. & just for the record I agree with you Knox that I’m not a huge fan of jerking pitchers between the pen when they can be logging innings as starters but I’m not buying that it can destroy/hinder their chances of starting.

rmensch

Sale will be given every chance to start, but that’s not going to happen this year. He could see time in our pen this fall, but he’ll be given a chance to crack the rotation during spring training next year. If he doesn’t cut it as a starter after a couple of years, he probably makes it as a power lefty out of the pen (see Matt Thornton).