Heads22 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 http://www.suntimes.com/output/sox/cst-spt-sox04.html Gload, Borchard like reserve judgment March 4, 2006 BY JOE COWLEY Staff Reporter Advertisement TUCSON, Ariz. -- Good news came for outfielders Joe Borchard and Ross Gload on Friday. After several organizational meetings over the last week, the White Sox staff is planning to break camp with 11 pitchers on the 25-man roster, rather than the 12 originally talked about throughout the offseason and the first few weeks of spring training. That means that Borchard and Gload, who are out of options, can make the roster as reserves. At the start of camp, manager Ozzie Guillen indicated that Gload and Borchard would be battling for one final roster spot. ''I do think that at some point or another this season, we're going to need 12 pitchers, but we're leaning toward 11 right now,'' pitching coach Don Cooper said. ''That's probably going to happen.'' The underlying reason behind the latest decision is the regular-season schedule in April. Not only are there five days off in April, but they are spread out. The Sox had a similar situation last season, and couldn't find enough work for 11 pitchers, let alone 12. Borchard would give Guillen a fourth outfielder as well as some power off the bench, while Gload can play the outfield as well as be a defensive replacement at first base. That still doesn't change the fact that Cooper still has some serious evaluating to do in finding a candidate to fill the left-handed vacancy in the bullpen. Eight left-handers were brought into camp to battle for that one spot, and Cooper was less than thrilled after the first round. The Sox were outscored 23-4 in their first three spring games. ''They all had one outing,'' Cooper said. ''No decision for or against is going to be made yet. There's more information to be gathered. The best thing for them to make an impression on Ozzie is to go out there, be confident, aggressive. ''Obviously, [Thursday] a few of them didn't have that, but we're not going to be making any harsh judgments on that. The fact of the matter is the opportunity will continue for all those guys if they throw it over. If they don't throw it over, which we saw on Thursday -- that was the thing that was probably the most disappointing. They all know what they have to do. We've talked to them about it. They all have to throw strikes. Now the first one is out of the way. Maybe the jitters, the anxiety, the desire to show people what they can do made them go overboard.'' It hasn't been all bad for the eight candidates. Arnie Munoz and Javier Lopez each pitched well in Wednesday's Cactus League opener against Colorado. Chad Bentz pitched a scoreless inning against the Rockies on Thursday, allowing a walk and recording a strikeout, and Rusty Tucker was solid in his one inning of work. However, Armando Almanza, Stephen Randolph, Corwin Malone and Paulino Reynoso each had forgettable spring debuts. ''We can't leave here wondering, 'Will he or won't he?''' Cooper said. ''With that said, you'd like to think that with eight or nine guys in the mix, three or four will show something. They will get opportunities, but at the same time we can't just be handing out opportunities. My hope is that guys continue to climb from where they are at. It's got to get better because [Thursday] was an ugly day.'' The problem that Cooper is coming across is an even playing field in which to judge the group. What he's seeing in spring-training games is the opposing lineup changing so much that he can't get the right matchup. ''As far as I'm concerned, this role for me is a lefty specialist,'' Cooper said. ''Whoever it is, I don't think they're going to see a lot of righties during the season. The first responsibility is to get lefties out. That's difficult to do in spring-training games.'' That's why starting next week, Cooper may pull all eight of the lefties out of Cactus League games, and put them in B games with lineups made up of mostly left-handers. ''I'd really like to see what they can do against a bunch of lefty hitters,'' Cooper said. ''To me, that's a fair way to handle it at this point.'' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iWiN4PreP Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Sounds good to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Tizzle Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Can you blame them? It's a simple decision, since nearly everyone of the candidates are pure crap. Lopez may be the lone pitcher with consideration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 4, 2006 -> 03:23 PM) We still have ALOT more time.... ^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman delivers Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 4, 2006 -> 04:15 PM) Can you blame them? It's a simple decision, since nearly everyone of the candidates are pure crap. Lopez may be the lone pitcher with consideration. That, and don't forget that, barring an unusual injury, all of our starters are 200+ inning guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rventura23 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 hawk and DJ talking about it during game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Mar 4, 2006 -> 01:29 PM) That, and don't forget that, barring an unusual injury, all of our starters are 200+ inning guys. And they've said they're hoping to get BMac 100+ innings. That doesn't leave a ton left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSH2005 Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 No righty stands a chance now, IMO. They have all looked bad and Ozzie wants a second lefty. Borchard, Gload, lefty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 4, 2006 -> 04:44 PM) No righty stands a chance now, IMO. They have all looked bad and Ozzie wants a second lefty. Borchard, Gload, lefty. Hasn't Redding looked good so far? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 5, 2006 -> 07:53 PM) Hasn't Redding looked good so far? Before today I don't think he did IIRC, but the 2 and 1/3 innings of scoreless relief he worked today he really needed to stay in the race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Randolph/Malone = GAWN by the end of next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RME JICO Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 (edited) The Top 10 is locked in with: M Buehrle J Vazquez J Garland J Contreras F Garcia B McCarthy N Cotts C Politte D Hermanson B Jenks So is the 11th going to be a Lefty (Lopez, Munoz, Reynoso, Tucker) or someone like Baj or Redding? I do like the fact that the Sox can keep both Gload and Borch. Edited March 5, 2006 by RME JICO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSH2005 Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 This is what I think the opening day 25-man roster will look like... Buehrle Contreras Garcia Garland Vazquez Cotts Hermanson Jenks McCarthy Politte Second lefty (Right now, Munoz or Lopez would be my guess) Pierzynski Widger Crede Gload Iguchi Konerko Mackowiak Ozuna Thome Uribe Anderson Borchard Dye Podsednik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RME JICO Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 The new Bench players definitely solidify the team compared to last year's group: 2006 Mackowiak Gload Borchard 2005 Harris Blum Perez and the pitching is better as well: 2006 Vazquez McCarthy Lopez/Munoz - 2nd Lefty 2005 El Duque Vizcaino Marte Now the Sox just need to win an ST game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 This probably seals Jeff Bajenaru's fate back to Charlotte. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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