Looking at Alex Rios' splits, I was surprised to see that his he'sonly had one month with an OPS above .800. That's unusual, consideringhe has an OPS of .830 right now. His sterling May (.344/.406/.700) hasdone wonders for his overall season.
But I originally looked athis splits to see what he's done in the second half, and it isn'tpretty. He's hitting .270/.298/.360, and his recent slump -- combinedwith one huge month skewing his overall production -- has caused somealarm. James Fegan of White Sox Observer pulls out all the stops:
Butthere are also holes. Deep, dark, horrifying holes. He averaged 41doubles per year during his three-year prime stretch, and barely hashalf that at present (21). His stolen bases are high because Ozzie runshim all the time, but his success rate has dipped toward theunjustifiable side (68.5%), and he's already set a career-high in timescaught stealing...by 3. His UZR is even the worst it has ever beensavefor last season when he was clouded by sadness. 29 is not thatyoungapparently.
All of these points are true and valid, but there are a few reasons to hold off on getting truly concerned.
Rios has a history of having at least one horrible month. Last year, he had a lot of terrible months, but in the past, it's been August, September, and May. I've been anticipating it since April, and it looks like it's here.
He certainly doesn't look comfortable, as judged by his hand position, which has varied over the past few weeks.
It could be bad habits set in, or maybe he's trying to take stress off a sore wrist. But it looks like he's trying to feel things out, and it's not going well. That's happened before.
He's cushioned the slump some by hitting .276 with runners in scoring position since the break, and it seems like he's good for the kind of RBI singles he hit on Saturday and Sunday.
The defense is a justifiable criticism, and it seems like he's been a step slower in his reads at times. But I don't think you can carry over any speed theories to his stolen-base percentage. A lot of the blame for his success rate goes to Ozzie Guillen. It's not just Rios -- the Sox, on the whole, have been caught 55 times, which is 14 more times than the next-least-successful team.
Rios should be fine. There's a reason why track records exist, and his says that he's an outfielder who's good for an OPS a couple ticks below .800 with good defense. He's on pace to meet expectations, and in his traditional way. He might've teased with his huge May, but I'd rather his slump take place later. He had plenty of baggage on Opening Day. If he started the season hitting like this, he might still be hitting like this.
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Juan Pierre is the opposite of Rios in many ways. You can include recent performance, as Pierre is riding a 15-game hitting streak and a .367 OBP since the All-Star break.
But there's one thing that hasn't changed about his game all season: Whenever he catches the third out, he never gives the ball to a fan. Instead, he usually tosses it to Rios, or maybe the third baseman/shortstop if he's catching the ball in foul territory.
It's not a big deal, and wasn't worth a mention until he went out of his way to fake out a fan who thought he was getting an easy souvenir following a catch at the warning track. I was more surprised by the first part than the second, because usually nothing about his body language even suggests he's thinking about throwing it into the stands.
(Update: sobosox presents a very valid reason why Pierre may keep his balls to himself.)
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Christian Marrero Reading Room:
*Mark Teahen will probably stay in Charlotte the full 20 days as the team rotates him through the positions he's likely to play upon his return.
*Gordon Beckham will miss tonight's game against Baltimore due to a moderate groin strain, and probably the opener against Minnesota. Doug Padilla sets up that series.
*Paul Konerko issued a warning about the trials of August.
*Oral Sox has a new podcast up.
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Minor league roundup:
- Charlotte 3, Toledo 2
- Carlos Torres cruised through seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out four. He threw just 92 pitches.
- Mark Teahen (3B) went 0-for-3 with a sac fly and a strikeout.
- Brent Morel (3B) was also hitless, striking out twice.
- Jordan Danks also struck out twice, but singled in his other AB.
- Mississippi 8, Birmingham 1
- Kyle Bellamy struck out three over two scoreless innings, allowing a pair of hits and a pair of walks.
- Christian Marrero walked once and struck out twice.
- Eduardo Escobar was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
- Frederick 8, Winston-Salem 6
- Brandon Short went 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Jon Gilmore wore the collar, striking out once.
- Jose Martinez went 1-for-4.
- Nathan Jones allowed three runs on five hits and three walks over five innings, striking out six.
- Kannapolis 5, Hagerstown 4 (Game 1, 7 innings)
- Kyle Colligan went 0-for-3; Nick Ciolli went 0-for-2 with a walk and a K.
- Brady Shoemaker went 1-for-3 with a strikeout.
- Hagerstown 9, Kannapolis 4 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Tyler Saladino went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Brady Shoemaker walked once and struck out twice.
- Nick Ciolli went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a strikeout.
- Miguel Gonzalez also went 1-for-3.
- Pulaski 8, Bristol 1
- Daniel Black went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a strikeout.
- Great Falls 9, Helena 4
- Ross Wilson went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.
- Andy Wilkins was hitless with a strikeout.
