White Sox Riding With Pencil Thin Bench

 

 

 

Although the Chicago White Sox made history, according to the Ellis Sports Bureau, when they secured a spot in the post season by defeating three different teams in their final three games, they enter the playoffs without the services of key players who are unavailable due to injury.   Assessing the bench strength of the White Sox is made difficult by the fact that the team has had to replace two starting position players and one member of the rotation. It is safe to say that the Chicago White Sox enter the playoffs with a bench so thin it would be prohibited from modeling on a Spanish runway.  They have their best back-ups in the starting lineup.

 

 In the weeks leading up to winning the “must win” final three games Ozzie Guillen went to a four man rotation and used Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd and John Danks on three days rest.  The injury to Jose Contreras, who seemed, early in the year, to have regained all-star form, has left a hole in the rotation.  It remains to be seen whether Guillen stays with a four man rotation during the post season or whether he turns to either Clayton Richards or Adam Russell as a fifth starter.  A former 6^th round pick, Russell, who stands 6’8”, weighs 250, and possesses a 95+ mile-an-hour fast ball, can be an intimating presence. However, the 2004 draft pick has less than 30 innings of major league experience; so, expect to see Russell coming out of the pen when right handed long relief is needed. Richards, a former University of Michigan quarterback, is a gifted athlete who was unable to hold on to a spot in the rotation after Contreras went down.

My guess is that Richards will supply left-handed long relief.  If the Sox have to go to either of them very often, it means that the team is getting into early inning trouble.  Guillen may be stuck with his four-man rotation by default.

 

If Burle, Floyd, Danks and Jose Vasquez can pitch into the 6^th or 7^th inning, the rest of the bullpen appears relatively solid.  Early in the year Joe Morgan called this year’s White Sox bullpen the best that he had ever seen.  I’m certain, in his long association with baseball as a player and as an announcer, Joe, upon reflection, would admit that he has seen better relief staffs; there are better relief staffs on other teams in this year’s playoffs. There are also worst relief staffs in this year’s playoff field. Left-handed Matt Thornton (5-1, 2.67) and righty Dan Carrasco (1-0, 396) are the early (6^th or 7^th inning) set-up men. Ideally Thornton and Carrasco will be asked to record no more than 3 or 4 outs before handing the ball to either Octavio Dotel (4-4, 3.76) or Scott Linebrink (2-2, 3.69).  Dotel and Linebrink were GM Kenny Williams’ major off-season pitching acquisitions.  They were brought in to solidify what had been, during the previous season, baseball’s most hittable middle relief corps.  The two new acquisitions were highly effect early in the season, less effective during the middle of the season and, after brief stints on the DL, more effective as the season drew to a close.  Hand the ball to Dotel or Linebrink with a lead and, more often than not, they’ll hold that lead for Bobby Jenks (30 saves in 34 attempts) to come in and close out the ninth.

 

The White Sox position player bench is even thinner than the middle relief crew. The absence of third baseman Joe Crede and MVP candidate leftfielder Carlos Quentin necessitated elevating Dewayne Wise, with his career .214 batting average, and streak hitting Juan Uribe to positions in the starting line up. Former first round draft pick Josh Fields, at third base, is the only true infield reserve on Chicago’s playoff roster.  Fields, who bashed 24 home runs in just over 100 games when subbing for Crede in 2007, owes his spot on the roster to his bat rather than his glove. Having struggled in AAA this year working through his own injury, Fields cannot be counted on with certainty as a strong bat.  Nick Swisher, the starting centerfield when the season began, will be relegated to serving as a roving fill-in as Guillen attempts to inject some speed into a line up that lead the majors in homeruns but ranked near the bottom in stolen bases.  Switch-hitting Swisher can bat anywhere in the order, play all three outfield positions and handle first base.  Batting only .219, Swisher nonetheless sports a .332 OBP; he knows how to draw a walk.

 

The lack of infield depth is offset somewhat by the ability of starters Uribe and rookie second basemen Alexi Ramirez to play second base, shortstop, or third base as the need arises.  Ramirez, a refugee from the Cuban league and a 27 year-old rookie of the year candidate, can also handle centerfield.  Brian Anderson and Jerry Owens are both former early round draft picks that have yet to realize their promise.  Anderson, the best fielding outfielder in the organization, failed to make fans forget Aaron Rowland when he took over center for the departed Rowland in 2006.  Generally, Brian has been limited, this season, to late inning defensive assignments replacing first the slow Swisher and now the aging Ken Griffey Jr.  Jerry Owens is on the roster for his speed and base running talents.

 

At catcher, Toby Hall serves as an experienced, more than adequate back up for that catcher everyone loves to hate, A.J. Pierzynski.  Pierzynski brings a dogged determination and an in-your-face attitude that Hall certainly can’t duplicate. Additionally, Pierzynski has delivered 13 homeruns and batted .281. However Hall has playoff experience, a .260 batting average, and the ability to call a good game. Pierzynski threw out only 11 of the 107 runners attempting to steal against him.  With Carl Crawford returning to an already speedy Tampa Bay line up. Hall may be called on more frequently than usual during this first round of the playoffs.

 

This year the White Sox have live and died by the home run, better than average starting pitching, solid middle relief and a closer who is often unhittable. The bench has been a factor only so far as Uribe provided unorthodox but excellent defense and occasional punch in place of Crede and Wise displayed unexpected power and add speed to line up when Quentin fractured his wrist. In the post season I wouldn’t expect Chicago’s bench players, with the exception of Swisher who will platoon with Wise, to be asked to do anything more than pinch hit or, more likely, pinch run in a close game or shore up the defense when White Sox regulars like Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko and Ramirez have given the team a lead by sending one to the seats.