If there's one guy who can officially put the idea of Chicago Toughness Uber Alles to rest, it's Alex Rios.
Rios came to the Sox after underachieving for an extended period of time in a non-intense baseball market, where he had fallen out of favor. He crossed the point of no return when he overreacted to a rather unimpressive heckler.
When he came to a city where baseball was priority No. 1 in the summer, he hit .199 and looked every bit of it. He was compared to Javier Vazquez for his (too) laid-back demeanor, and caught some criticism for not showing up to SoxFest.
The only way he could be more Chicago Soft is if he enjoyed crossword puzzles.
And here he is, making a run at being the most complete player to ever wear a White Sox uniform, at least for a single season.
After his perfect day at the plate against the Cubs, here's where Rios ranks among American League outfielders:
- .410 wOBA (1st)
- .322 BA (2nd)
- 13 HR (t-3rd)
- 19 SB (5th)
- .588 SLG (2nd)
- .379 OBP (9th)
Combine those offense stats with the best UZR among center fielders, and Rios is first among American League in Wins Above Replacement.
The "on pace for" game always leads to disappointment, but Rios is on a 36-homer, 53-steal pace. Magglio Ordonez is the only 25-25 player in White Sox history, when he hit 31 homers and swiped 25 bags in 2001, and we can safely say he didn't cover nearly as much ground.
And while Rios has never had a season that good, he might have if not for some awful luck.
In the first half of 2006, Rios tore up American League pitching to the tune of an awesome first half, as he hit .330/.383/.585 with 15 homers for the Blue Jays. But toward the end of June, Rios suffered a staph infection in his leg that sidelined him until late July.
He hadn't approached that level of play since, and many had written him off as somebody who just couldn't take the final step toward stardom. In fact, he was getting further away, with his triple-slash lines declining in every year following that breakout first half.
Now? He's making Kenny Williams look like a genius for taking on Rios and his supposed albatross of a contract.
There's no doubt that Williams and the Sox are lucky Rios is playing out of his mind. I doubt even Rios thought he'd be leading all outfielders in overall production at this point of the season.
Still, there's a lot to learn from the Rios acquisition, and it goes back to what I said about Mark Teahen in January. Guys like Teahen and Mark Kotsay were acquired because of a "fit," but when you tried to put their skills down in a ledger, it became hard to identify anything they could be relied upon to do well.
Rios, meanwhile, had such skills. Even when he was hitting .199, he was playing a mean center field and running the bases well. Give him at least an average bat -- a good bet, given his track record -- and he would earn his money.
Give him an All-Star bat, and the South Side is pitching so many tents that you could call it "Hooverville."
This is what happens when you pursue tangibles ahead of intangibles and base projections off past performance instead of wishcasting. Rios had clearly defined strengths that fit a team need, making his potentially unprecedented season at the plate gravy.
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Minor league roundup:
- Charlotte 9, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 5
- Jordan Danks went 2-for-4 with a walk, two strikeouts and his 13th stolen base.
- Dayan Viciedo went 2-for-5; Brent Morel went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
- Jeff Marquez: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
- Jhonny Nunez threw two scoreless innings, striking out two while allowing just two hits.
- Montgomery 6, Birmingham 5 (11 innings)
- C.J. Retherford went 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and two strikeouts.
- Christian Marrero went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Justin Edwards allowed just two runs despite five hits and four walks over five innings.
- Winston-Salem 4, Wilmington 3
- Eduardo Escobar went 2-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Brandon Short tripled, struck out twice and drove in three.
- Justin Greene went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
- Stephen Sauer allowed three runs on nine hits over seven innings, striking out two. He got 14 groundouts and didn't walk a soul.
- Santos Rodriguez struck out two over his scoreless inning, allowing a hit.
- Asheville 5, Kannapolis 3
- Andre Rienzo struck out eight over six innings. He allowed three runs on six hits and two walks, but all runs were unearned.
- Brady Shoemaker singled, walked and struck out over four PAs.
- Miguel Gonzalez went 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Kyle Colligan singled in his only at-bat, and was replaced mid-game.
