greasywheels121 Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Notes: Guillen pleading for fifth Manager in search of final starter to fill out staff By Chris Hester / Special to MLB.com SEATTLE -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has to start thinking about who will fill the role as his fifth starter. The club needs one Saturday at home against Atlanta and right now the Chicago manager doesn't know who will fill the spot in the rotation. "That's our biggest challenge," Guillen said. "Hopefully, when I get to Chicago, I can get some ideas as to what we want to do. I'm getting kind of frustrated to bring somebody up for a couple of innings. I never thought, with so many pitchers in baseball, it would be that tough to find one." So far this season, the top four guys in the rotation -- Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Esteban Loaiza and Scott Schoeneweis -- have been terrific. The quartet has combined to go 21-9 with a 3.69 ERA in 45 starts this year. Chicago is 29-16 in games started by the top four starters. The fifth spot in the rotation has been a bit trickier for the South Siders. The White Sox have tried Dan Wright (four starts), Felix Diaz (two starts), Neil Cotts (one start) and Jon Rauch (one start) in the rotation's fifth spot and they have combined to post a 0-7 record and an ERA of 10.02. One option may be reliever Jon Atkins. The right-hander has been solid out of the bullpen with a 2-2 record and a 3.32 ERA in 13 games. He was primarily a starter last season at Triple-A Charlotte where he was 7-8 with a 3.96 ERA in 26 games, 19 of which were starts. "If Atkins gets the call, hopefully it will be the last call we have to make because I think this kid is pretty good out of the bullpen," Guillen said. "(General manager) Kenny (Williams) is still working real hard (to find a fifth starter)," he added. "A lot of names have come up, a lot of rumors, but we've never come up with the right guy." Effort's there, wins not: The West Coast hasn't been kind to the Chicago White Sox in recent years and so far this season that pattern has held true as the Sox have dropped three of their first four games played out West. Still, Guillen is happy about the way his club is playing. "We played real good on the West Coast," Guillen said prior to the rubber game of the Chicago series in Seattle on Sunday night. "I'm really happy with the way we played. It's not the result we want, but if we keep playing like that and keep fighting like that, there's a lot of good things that will happen with this team." Since 2001, the White Sox are a combined 8-36 on the road against the Angels (2-11), the Athletics (1-13) and 5-12 at Safeco Field versus the Mariners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsideirish Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Atkins? Is he referring to the no carbs guy or the White Sox pitcher Jon Adkins? Chris Hester should get his s*** straight or ask his proff readers to do a better job. A baseball expert shouldn't be getting this stuff wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1549 Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Where's Gary Glover when you need him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 I wonder what else Ozzie is pleading for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonkeyKongerko Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 A bullpen that can do better than 2 blown saves and 3 losses in one week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Hudler Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Where's Gary Glover when you need him now with the Twins....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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