Depending on how you look at it, today marks the arrival of either the future of the White Sox, or a last-ditch effort to reinforce a pretty rickety boat.
Edwin Jackson, choosing the black jersey, will make his debut, and he'll likely be backed by Chris Sale, for whom a roster spot came over when the world's timeliest turf toe befell Erick Threets. His toe will join Bartolo Colon's strained left knee in the White Sox Phantom Injury Hall of Fame.
Jackson's merits have been discussed here in great detail, but it's pretty clear that he needs to make a first strong impression, as Daniel Hudson upped the ante in his Arizona debut. Larry had it pegged right in a comment the other day -- despite the vastly different contract situations, this is a challenge trade on Kenny Williams' side. He's betting heavily that the guy he got can outpitch the guy he had for this two-month period.
Sale will be interesting to watch because who knows when we'll be able to watch him. While Ozzie Guillen requires two left-handed relievers on a roster at all times (with the exception of days like Tuesday), he's rarely had a need for the guy behind Matt Thornton. Randy Williams appeared once every three games, but only one of his last 16 outings could be classified as "high leverage." The same can be said for Threets, who only pitched in one tight situation himself.
I think Sale has the stuff to succeed -- he's struck out 15 of the 26 batters he faced at Charlotte with a 57.1 percent groundball rate. But he's also walked six batters over 10 1/3 innings, so there are some concerns.
Ultimately though, I don't think it's going to accomplish much or harm much. Based on what we've seen so far, I'm going to venture he'll be largely irrelevant.
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One point about Threets: I wonder if he gets a tattoo every time he hates something he's done. The guy makes Carlos Quentin seem self-assured:
"Things happened where I could have been better," said Threets, who seems to be his own worst critic. "In the back of my mind, I believe I've been semi-successful, showing I can be around the strike zone and be competitive and get people out.
"But I could have done little things better, got key ground balls when needed with inherited runners. Execute pitches better, with more intensity.
"I've been in a little funk, not being sure about my position and being nervous about my status," Threets said. "I just want to be myself and go out with more of a chance to prove myself and show I can get job done for them. I want to be confident with who I am and what I'm doing."
"Stupid!" Threets continued, slamming his head into the locker divider. "Stupid!" Stupid!" Stupid!"
Seriously, he had walked 12 batters in his 12 1/3 major-league innings entering this season, and he improved upon that track record dramatically to say the least.
Threets has allowed 10 baserunners total over 9 1/3 innings this season. He threw strikes the way Williams didn't, he pitched his best in the only time the game was in his hands, and his biggest mistake wasn't pitching-related -- it was the errant pickoff throw that allowed Coco Crisp to score from first.
Given the way he was able to bust righties inside, I would've liked to see him pitch a little more. And that's about the best compliment you can give a second lefty.
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Carlos Torres didn't impress, but he did the next best thing by saving face:
“I never see that before -- first inning, [three] walks and the next inning five hits with [one intentional] walk,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “It was kind of a weird combination, but after that he turned and threw the ball very well. The first inning he looked like a minor-league pitcher, and then after that he threw the ball good and gave us what we needed him to give us.”
Watching him pitch again, I'm still left with the impression that he could be a D.J. Carrasco type. He has three pitches when he's on -- which a lot of guys can't say -- but when he's off, he's a disaster.
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Minor league roundup:
- Rochester 12, Charlotte 10
- Playing third, Mark Teahen walked and struck out before being lifted for Brent Morel.
- Morel hit a grand slam, added a single and also struck out.
- Alejandro De Aza went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
- Jordan Danks went 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Jacksonville 5, Birmingham 0
- Christian Marrero wore the collar, striking out once.
- C.J. Retherford did the same with two K's, and is now at the Mendoza Line.
- John Shelby went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Eduardo Escobar singled and sacrificed over four PAs.
- Winston-Salem 8, Wilmington 5
- Brandon Short hit a solo shot, but was lifted in the fourth.
- Jon Gilmore went 1-for-3 with a walk. But he also committed error No. 31.
- Jose Martinez went 1-for-4 with his first error.
- Josh Phegley was held hitless over four ABs, striking out twice.
- Kannapolis 6, Greensboro 4
- Kyle Colligan went 1-for-4 with a K; Brady Shoemaker 1-for-3 with a double, walk and K.
- Nick Ciolli struck out three times and hit a sac fly in his other trip to the plate.
- Miguel Gonzalez went 0-for-3, and is mired in a 2-for-36 slump that has dragged his average down to .205.
- Bristol 3, Burlington 0
- Matthew Heidenreich threw seven quality innings, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out four.
- Daniel Black went 0-for-3 with a sac fly.
- Missoula 6, Great Falls 5
- Ross Wilson (double, K, sac) and Andy Wilkins (walk) each went 2-for-5.
