Chicago White Sox: Brent Morel Should Continue to Develop at the Hot Corner

The Chicago White Sox chose to begin the 2011 season with rookie Brent Morel at third base.  A lot of us wondered how much slack manager Ozzie Guillen would give the 24-year-old White Sox prospect in the midst of competing in the American League Central.

Would Morel get the chances to learn the ropes even when Chicago was "all in" in the division race?

Morel is not building a case for rookie of the year, but he is making progress in his first full season in the bigs.  I think he should continue to see the majority of the starts at third.

Before the season, I felt that if Morel could be a .240 hitter, the White Sox could afford to keep sending him out every day.  He has hit .253 in 54 games as we approach the halfway mark of the season.

Morel's lack of power has been a cause for fan chirping, but we knew going in that his wasn't a power bat.  Low power output from players like Adam Dunn and Alex Rios have made Morel's lack of pop a little more noticeable.

From May 1 to today, he's hit at a .283 clip and has even ventured out of the bottom of the order in Guillen's lineup.  In Chicago's 3-0 win over the Nationals Saturday, Morel collected three hits in the number two spot.

Considering his average is higher than four White Sox regulars (Juan Pierre, Gordon Beckham, Rios and Dunn), Morel has not been a total liability with his bat.  In the field, he's no Omar Vizquel, but who is?

Joe Crede had a fielding percentage of .938 in 53 games in his first extended look in 2002.  Morel is at .955 so far this year.  There's room for improvement, to be sure.  At this point, I think Morel should continue to make that happen.

If the White Sox offense was firing on all cylinders, I don't think we'd notice Morel's growing pains.  I feel that it's important to give Morel time to develop at the major league level.

Kenny Williams can't throw money at every positional need the club has.  Solid players need to be nurtured from within.  I'm all for getting Dayan Viciedo's bat in the lineup to see what transpires, but just as he is being groomed for the outfield, Morel should receive substantial playing time at third.

The problems Chicago has in its lineup weren't caused by Morel.  Climbing to the top of the division depends on better play all though the order.  Morel is progressing just as we should have expected.  Let's stay the course and give him time to learn.