Jabroni Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 "Notes: Keeping Hermanson fresh White Sox closer has 16 saves in 27 appearances" http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...t=.jsp&c_id=cws CHICAGO -- The recent weeklong break for Dustin Hermanson was brought to the closer courtesy of the White Sox starting rotation, with an assist going to the offense. Unable to convert a save for the first time in 16 opportunities last Saturday night in San Diego, Hermanson didn't really have a chance to get into a game. All three contests in the Arizona series were blowouts in one direction or another. Mark Buehrle took care of Friday's victory single-handedly and A.J. Pierzynski's walk-off home run brought in Saturday's winning decision. Hermanson returned to the mound with the game on the line on Sunday, and despite allowing a leadoff walk and a two-out single, picked up save No. 16. With Hermanson already having appeared in 27 games, manager Ozzie Guillen mentioned after Sunday's victory that his closer would be pitching solely with a victory at stake. That line of thinking makes perfect sense to Hermanson. "They want to keep me healthy for the second half," said Hermanson, whose career ERA is almost a point lower after the All-Star break (3.84 vs. 4.81). "It's a long season and you don't want to sit there and be overused. "I'm trying to make sure I don't pitch too much in the first half and blow out in the second half," Hermanson added. During the inactivity, Hermanson threw side sessions and worked in the bullpen. But the savvy 11-year-veteran, of six separate teams, knows there's a big difference between pitching on the side and in a game situation. That disparity was evident when he first came into the game on Sunday. According to Pierzynski, Hermanson was up a little bit to Jason Repko to start the inning but quickly settled down. The feel of the game has a lot to do with the performance level for any Major Leaguer, pitcher or hitter. But with Hermanson's work now coming in just tight situations, he doesn't have very long to find that feel after a stretch of inactivity. "You can't do it as a closer, or the game is over," Hermanson said. "It's tough, but you deal with it. You do everything you can to be ready and keep yourself sharp, plain and simple." "It had been a week, so he was a little excited and fired up," Pierzynski added. "Once he settled down and got it under control, he was fine." Still in the picture: One day after general manager Ken Williams showed a great deal of frustration and more than a little anger over Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez's quick change in terms of his ability to pitch through tightness in his shoulder, Guillen put a calming and eloquent spin on the situation Monday. Hernandez remains part of the team's plans, but not at the expense of overall organizational success. "I want him to understand our situation," said Guillen of Hernandez. "As management and the manager's and the pitching coach's situation, we want the best for him and we want the best for this team. But we are not here to rehab. We are not here to see what's going to happen. We are here to win games every day. "In that situation right now, we have to count on everyone on this team. We can't go and gamble or guess and hope something happens." When asked if he really expected Hernandez to make 30 starts this season, after making 37 combined over the past three seasons, Guillen pointed out that all the medical tests show Hernandez to be healthy. He also stated with great conviction that Hernandez will do what's best for the team and, that if Hernandez says that he feels something, he knows "100 percent that he feels something." There's a chance that Guillen could skip a start or two with Hernandez once he returns, keeping him fresh down the stretch. He also mentioned splitting Jose Contreras and El Duque with Jon Garland. Guillen understood Williams' frustration, but used El Duque to focus instead on the key for the team's future. "In the middle of the season, we have to think about what we are doing in August and September," Guillen said. "You win pennant races if the players stay in good shape and are physically and mentally ready to go every day." View from above: Not only have the White Sox had a stranglehold on first place in the American League Central for all 77 days this season, just 17 less than their combined total from 2001 to 2004, but their lead has grown from four games on June 14 to 7 1/2 games entering Monday night's contest. Even with the sizable advantage over Minnesota and the hard-charging Indians (8 1/2 back), Guillen doesn't spend much time looking at the standings. "I'm watching the game," Guillen said. "The standings, I wish I could watch the standings in September. Then, I'll watch them." Guillen gets plenty of daily reports concerning the state of the Twins and Indians from his "four boys" who are fixated on baseball. They would be Ozzie Jr., Oney, Ozney, his three sons, and third base coach Joey Cora. A day of honor: "Nothing but Nancy Day," a tribute to longtime White Sox organist Nancy Faust, will take place this Wednesday afternoon, during the series finale against the Royals. Faust will provide all of the day's in-game music in celebration of her 35th anniversary with the South Side organization. The 10th annual Seniors Stroll the Bases Day follows Wednesday's game, with veteran White Sox fans having a chance to go from first to home. Down on the farm: The Triple-A Charlotte Knights are mired in last place, with a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Syracuse on Sunday dropping them to 21-47 overall. But that record is not the fault of reliever Jeff Bajenaru or outfielder Brian Anderson. Bajenaru struck out three in two scoreless innings, dropping his ERA to 0.99 in 31 games. He has fanned 41 over 36 1/3 innings, allowing 21 hits. Anderson had four hits and three runs scored during the two losses, and is now hitting .277 with 46 runs scored and a team-high 35 RBIs. Kris Honel gave up four runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings, walking five and fanning two, during Double-A Birmingham's 5-2 loss to Mobile. Daniel Haigwood improved to 8-2, striking out 11 over six innings of two-hit pitching, leading Class A Winston-Salem to a 6-3 victory over Wilmington. Coming up: Jon Garland (11-2, 3.61 ERA) can match his single-season best 12 victories on Tuesday night, in just his 14th start of 2005. The right-hander, who leads the American League in victories, also aims to become the first Major League hurler to compile 12 wins. He is 10-4 with a 4.30 ERA lifetime vs. Kansas City. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseysox Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 i thought he had been too rested lately. he looked a little rusty from the padres series forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalapse Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 He got his 90 MPH fastball over on the first pitch and had good movement on his breaking balls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseysox Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 12:00 AM) He got his 90 MPH fastball over on the first pitch and had good movement on his breaking balls. the work has been getting regular recently. i think it's key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 QUOTE(jerseysox @ Jun 20, 2005 -> 11:59 PM) i thought he had been too rested lately. he looked a little rusty from the padres series forward. How could he look rusty over that stretch? He didn't pitch till Sunday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Be Good Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 I am not worried about Hermy's durabilty, becuase he has been a middle reliever and starter before. And he has 150 IP many times in his carrer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 One thing I did notice. He started to struggle when we went and had all of the series against the NL west teams, where he pitched for years as a starter. I wonder if that was a part of the problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabroni Posted June 21, 2005 Author Share Posted June 21, 2005 One thing I did notice. He started to struggle when we went and had all of the series against the NL west teams, where he pitched for years as a starter. I wonder if that was a part of the problem? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's what I kept saying in the chat room. Those N.L. teams have seen him a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YASNY Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 09:32 AM) One thing I did notice. He started to struggle when we went and had all of the series against the NL west teams, where he pitched for years as a starter. I wonder if that was a part of the problem? That's something I have considered as well. It's not beyond the realm of possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 I really think his problem before the Padres series was that he was overworked...the weekend before that series he pitched in something like 4 straight games, and ended up giving up his first run in the last one of them. I think the week off is just what Hermie ordered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayitaintso Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 09:50 AM) I really think his problem before the Padres series was that he was overworked...the weekend before that series he pitched in something like 4 straight games, and ended up giving up his first run in the last one of them. I think the week off is just what Hermie ordered. He seems to be fine now, so I could see the possibility of him being overworked was a cause to why he had some trouble with the NL west interleague series' on the west coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseysox Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 10:50 AM) I really think his problem before the Padres series was that he was overworked...the weekend before that series he pitched in something like 4 straight games, and ended up giving up his first run in the last one of them. I think the week off is just what Hermie ordered. he gave up his first run at the end of that home series with the angels, two days after the whole jeff brantley thing. starting then, his work was sort of sporadic. he'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 On a related note... I picked up a copy of USA Today Sports Weekly this week. I know that they regionalize the cover, but, Hermy was on it! "Dusting off the hitters" On his glove were the words, "Herm Dogg". I guess that is his nickname to himself. Pretty cool article as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 If anyone is interested in reading the article, the magazine is available til tomorrow. After tomorrow, I will post the article here. It is quite long, so, it might take awhile... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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