CSF Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sox Notebook Should Wright falter, Cotts waiting in wings Wednesday, April 14, 2004 By Joe Cowley Staff writer -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dan Wright need not look over his shoulder ... yet. The White Sox pitcher is coming off a less than stellar 2004 debut at New York on Sunday, in which he lasted just 4 2/3 innings and allowed five runs (four earned). The Sox have left-hander Neal Cotts — who has worked out of the bullpen — as an insurance policy, but pitching coach Don Cooper said Wright's job security is in his own hands. "Neal has done well. He's a guy that down the road, everyone knows can be a top-line starter," Cooper said. "But things are going well for him right now. I wouldn't want to rock that boat. "It's nice to know that if something arises, we've got another guy right here on hand that can step right in there." In two appearances this season, Cotts has allowed just two hits in three innings. In six Cactus League games, he was 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA. While Cooper said Wright is not on a short leash, the Sox expect improvement. Wright put in some extra work in the bullpen before Tuesday's game. "The big thing with Danny is to command his fastball," Cooper said. "He gets his off-speed pitches over, but the fastball was a pitch he was trying to do a little too much with. We addressed that, so I don't expect that to be something that's going to linger." Wright, originally scheduled to pitch Saturday at Tampa Bay, has been moved up to Friday. The Sox didn't want lefties Mark Buehrle (Thursday) and Scott Schoeneweis (Saturday) pitching in back-to-back games. The gun doesn't lie Esteban Loaiza wasn't fooling many Kansas City hitters Tuesday, and the radar gun told the story. "My first start in Kansas City (April 7), I threw a lot more fastballs than cutters in the game," Loaiza said. "I was 94-95 (mph) on my fastball and had my cutter at 88 mph. "(Tuesday), I think my fastball was 88 and my cutter was 81 to 85. I really don't know what was going on. I was just battling and trying to throw strikes. Two days from now, I'll throw (in the) bullpen and try to correct myself." Loaiza has allowed five homers in his first two starts. He allowed 17 all last season. Quality over quantity Loaiza (2-0) went six innings, allowing five runs on seven hits — and threw 106 pitches. It was the fifth time a Sox starter has thrown more than 100 pitches in a game this season. General manager Ken Williams has no problem with a high pitch count early on, but ... "We want to see quality starts," Williams said. "The conventional thought behind that is six innings, three runs ... but that's also a 4.50 ERA. I'm still a little old-school in thinking that your top-end pitchers should be in the threes ERA-wise. But if you throw quality start after quality start up, you're going to win in the 60 percentile of your games." Getting closer Frank Thomas went 1-for-3 Tuesday, raising his average to .208. "I'm fine," Thomas said. "Teams know what I did last year. They're not going to say, 'Here, hit it.' They're going to make it tough. "When I bust out, I bust out. As long as we're winning I can't worry about that right now." Sigh of relief Williams said results from an MRI on pitching prospect Kris Honel were negative. Honel, the Sox's first-round pick in 2001 out of Providence Catholic, left his debut with Double-A Birmingham last week after four innings with soreness in his right elbow. "This particular issue was a fear of some bone spurs," Williams said. "The MRI was negative on any structural damage at all. "He's going throw on the side and get back out there in a week, and hopefully he can resume his season." Touch 'em all The Sox are 54-51 all-time in home openers, and have won five of their last seven. ... Jose Valentin went 2-for-5, extending his hitting streak to five games. Five of his eight hits in that span have gone for extra bases — two doubles, two homers and a triple. ... Catcher Miguel Olivo is hitting .413 (19-of-46) career vs. Kansas City. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSoxShuf Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 Few thoughts: Love the idea of Cotts Lefty, Right,Lefty,Righty,Lefty. 2. Miguel is looking like a stud this year, the swing is great. 3. Imagine this team with Frank hitting the ball. GO SOX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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