Alexei Ramirez dropped jaws with an incredible play for the penultimate out of the White Sox's 4-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. He ranged far to his right, and with all his momentum carrying him toward third, uncoiled and launched an on-target one-hop throw scooped by Paul Konerko.
What makes it all the more remarkable:
- This is the second straight night he's made that play (and the second was tougher!).
- He made it all the way on the other side of the bag in an attempt to cut down an infield single, missing out by a fraction of a step.
Throw in a versatile offensive performance -- starting with a bunt that died on the dirt just inside the chalk, and finishing with his eighth homer of the season -- and he's had a great start to this West Coast swing.
But more importantly, we might finally start to fully understand what kind of player Ramirez really is as he works his way towards completing his third full season in professional baseball.
First, it's fully apparent that April doesn't mean anything when trying to project the rest of his season. He was once again lousy in the cold, but since May 1, he's hitting .305/.347/.461, which is about in line with his previous post-may numbers:
- 2008: .302/.329/.497
- 2009: .286/.342/.405
More importantly, he's finding a middle ground between his rookie year, when he was dynamic and a bit out of control, and his more mature, and a little too subdued, sophomore season.
He's doing it while continuing to hone his approach. You may not believe it, but according to FanGraphs, he's swinging less than ever before, he's making more contact than ever before, and he's chasing only a few more pitches out of the zone.
Throw his defense on top of it -- which is Gold Glove-caliber, although a few other shortstops can also make that claim -- and he's turning into an incredible use of $1.1 million a year. That's as important a figure as his OPS and UZR, since the Sox will probably have to spend some money this offseason.
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And let's not overlook Omar Vizquel, who was overshadowed by Ramirez in the ninth inning. Vizquel just made his second difficult pick on his left side the play before, and, like Ramirez, showed an ability to go the other way by making a diving stab to his right earlier in the evening, too.
But while Ramirez might've topped Vizquel on the degree of difficulty scale, Vizquel's great defense played a part in masking another highlight of Tuesday's game...
...Vizquel's bat.
He went 2-for-4 at the plate, giving him six multi-hit games during his seven-game hitting streak. And since Mark Teahen went down, does anybody want to guess what Vizquel is hitting?
Spoiler ahead: .310/.376/.398.
In a season of unbelievable occurrences, this one has to top the list. Kenny Williams' offseason plan isn't working because Ozzie Guillen got his versatile, National League-style lineup with the rotating DH and everything's right with post-steroids baseball.
No, this team is winning in large part because they're finally getting a .370+ OBP before their big bats, Alex Rios and Paul Konerko. And it's coming from a tiny, 43-year-old, beyond-balding, high-slacked glove-first guy who is only playing because the starting third baseman broke his finger.
That's nuts. Even more so when considering that those three names -- Rios, Konerko and Vizquel -- might be the No. 1-3 spots on the White Sox MVP ballot right now. Vizquel might not have the offensive numbers or as many games logged as the rest of the lineup, but I don't think it's any coincidence that the team started its surge when Vizquel replaced Mark Teahen's paraplegic matador act at third with an above-average glove and, from completely out of nowhere, a well-above-average OBP.
I mentioned before that the schedule gods had smiled upon the Sox. It's more than that now. Williams is getting hitting from a guy who can't while the Cleveland Indians are dragging down the White Sox's top two competitors night after night. How many souls can one guy sell?
Either way, my conclusion is the same as it was when interleague play wrapped up: The Sox need to add a bat, preferably lefty, to take advantage of all this good fortune. It could very well be that the White Sox are a Team of Destiny, and Jake Peavy's latissimus dorsi fell off the bone like a boiled rib just to allow the Sox to harness the same Ewing Theory powers that have propelled the San Diego Padres to the top of the NL West.
The problem is, deploying Andruw Jones for three wholly predictable strikeouts against a righty who doesn't strike guys out is kicking dirt in the face -- or faces -- of that all-knowing, generous and benevolent force.
Luke Scott came off the DL and hit two homers for Baltimore last night. That may be a sign, too, you know.
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Minor league roundup:
- Louisville 8, Charlotte 4
- Chris Sale struck out two over an inning of work, but he allowed a homer.
- Alejandro De Aza went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
- Lucas Harrell allowing four runs on seven hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings, striking out three.
- Jacksonville 5, Birminghram 4
- Kyle Bellamy retired only one of three batters he faced, allowing a hit and a walk. One run came around to score.
- Christian Marrero was 0-for-5.
- Justin Greene singled, tripled and struck out twice.
- C.J. Retherford alo went 2-for-4, striking out once.
- Kinston 4, Winston-Salem 2
- Brandon Short went 1-for-3 with a strikeout and an HBP.
- Jon Gilmore singled and drove in two.
- Jose Martinez was 0-for-4.
- Terry Doyle allowed four runs (one earned) on four hits and four walks over six innings, striking out six.
- Santos Rodriguez struck out two in a perfect inning, his first outing since July 9.
- Kannapolis 5, Greenville 4
- Ryan Buch threw five shutout ininngs, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out four.
- Tyler Saladino went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI.
- Miguel Gonzalez (sac bunt) and Brady Shoemaker (one walk) both went 0-for-3.
- Kyle Colligan went 0-for-4 with an RBI, strikeout and sac bunt.
- Bristol 5, Greeneville 2
- Daniel Black was perfect, hitting two homers, singling and drawing two walks.
- Screamin' Kevin Moran struck out three over two scoreless innings, allowing just a hit.
- Great Falls 7, Idaho Falls 6
- Rough going for Steven Upchurch: 4 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR.
- Andy Wilkins singled, doubled, drew two walks and struck out.
- Ross Wilson went 1-f0r-4 with an RBI and a strikeout.
