Chicago White Sox: How Long Can Ozzie Stick with Brent Morel?

The Chicago White Sox are mired in a miserable 4-17 slump and are quickly being left behind in the AL Central standings.

Minnesota, who has trouble with the rest of the league, leapfrogged Chicago with a two game sweep.  The White Sox sport the worst record in major league baseball as they head West for a nine-game road trip.  Manager Ozzie Guillen hopes to get things turned around by the time they return.

To do that, there may need to be some lineup changes.  Does one of those changes involve rookie Brent Morel?

Morel has started at third base in 21 of Chicago's 32 games.  He is currently batting .187.  As expected, there hasn't been a lot of pop in his bat.  His glove work has been unspectacular thus far.

Morel is a rookie infielder going through the process of learning the way of the major leagues.  Most of us believed he would be able to develop under the cover of a hard-hitting lineup.

So far, that hard-hitting lineup has been anything but.  Morel's struggles are on display for all to see.

Guillen has a couple of options (Mark Teahen and Omar Vizquel) who could provide more offensive production to a struggling club.  Does he phase Morel out of the starting lineup much like Guillen did Teahen a year ago?

It appears that both Teahen and Vizquel are getting increased time at third already.  So where does that leave Morel?

Guillen may be trying to take some pressure off his rookie third baseman by letting him sit out some games, but if Morel and the team continue to struggle, it will be hard to remain patient.

Morel won't learn a lot sitting on the White Sox bench, so if he loses the starting job I would expect him to be in Charlotte soon after.

If the White Sox were playing winning baseball, I think Morel gets the benefit of the doubt.  His struggles are certainly not unexpected at this stage of his career.  However, the slow start experienced by Chicago may spell an early exit from the White Sox lineup for Morel.