7/25 Game Thread

GoRowand33 · July 25, 2006

only my second game thread but my first was the Joe Crede walk-off game vs. Cleveland last year, so I'm hoping for the same type of luck

c'mon Jose, we need you tonight :gosox1:

kapkomet · July 25, 2006

Tonight *should* be a classic. Let's hope the real Sox show up tonight.

chisox72 · July 25, 2006

Win, Dammit!

:gosox4:

Gregory Pratt · July 25, 2006

You know, I'm really growing tired of losing, and I'm sick of our pitching. Freddy Garcia either needs to start taking steroids again or visit a doctor, because he's either got worms in his brain to make such a stupid choice as "stop throwing hard" or his shoulder is injured. Javier Vazquez is crazy in the coconut, which only leaves us three pitchers to rely on to win games. Buehrle, Garland and Contreras (yeah, I think we all know that Buehrle'll turn it around, and I think he's about there).

What I'm saying is, we've got Contreras going today. Let's take advantage of it, especially considering who we're going up against. Just thank God it isn't Vazquez facing Johan.

Hanger · July 25, 2006

First post-long time reader.

With Johan pitching, should be the first time we see Sandy this year. Lets just hope everyone here remembers who we did have, if Sandy happens to go 0-3 tonight. Still a much better backup than Widger.

Here is to a good game for Pablo and Sandy!

:gosoxretro:

Gregory Pratt · July 25, 2006

QUOTE(Hanger @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 08:07 AM)

First post-long time reader.

With Johan pitching, should be the first time we see Sandy this year. Lets just hope everyone here remembers who we did have, if Sandy happens to go 0-3 tonight. Still a much better backup than Widger.

Here is to a good game for Pablo and Sandy!

:gosoxretro:

You know, I don't think he's much of an upgrade over Widger.

A Widger by any other name

For a trade that attempts to shore up the second least glamorous spot on any major-league roster (with only second LOOGY beating it out), the acquisition of Sandy Alomar Jr. sure brings up a lot of interesting issues. At least interesting enough to me that it's sparked a three-part series.

Kenny Williams needed to bring in a catcher who would 1) hit left-handed pitching, 2) diminish the threat of stolen bases and 3) handle pitchers better. I'm afraid he just might've acquired Widger again, except this one's six years older and born in Puerto Rico.

No. 1: Hitting left-handed pitchers.

So far this season, Alomar has done exactly that. He's 9-for-18 with three doubles, and righties haven't crippled him either. For the season, Alomar is .323/.323/.403, superior to Widger's .184/.264/.263. I'm with this move so far.

The problem is that for 62 at-bats last year, Widger looked pretty good, too. His line up to that point -- .303/.353/.476 -- exceeded Alomar's, and Widger, the softball/independent-league player was a credible big leaguer once again. The feel-good hit of the summer didn't last long, though. If you look it up, Widger has been this bad since June 23, 2005.

That's not to say the wheels will surely fall off Alomar's game like it did Widger's, but the guy is 40 freakin' years old.

No. 2: Throwing out baserunners.

Widger's throwing issues reached a soaring climax when he spiked a throw to second off a pitchout against Detroit. Once a guy who could throw out 1 out of every 3 potential basestealers, Widge finished his White Sox career only throwing out 5 of 46...

...and yet he's still better than Alomar, who in the same period of time is 1-for-31 in that department. One. For. Thirty-one. Team him up with Freddy Garcia, and you might see a guy go from first-to-third by himself ... on one pitch.

No. 3: Calling a game.

Remember the big deal I made about Widger's ERA being over 5.00? Alomar's is over 6.00 -- it's like he's catching Jaime Navarro every day! Going through his game logs, here are the starting pitchers he's caught this season:

Derek Lowe (7-7, 4.19 ERA)

Odalis Perez (4-4, 6.83) -- two times

Brad Penny (10-4, 3.24) -- three times

Brett Tomko (6-6, 5.12) -- three times

Aaron Sele (6-4, 3.77) -- two times

Jae Seo (2-8, 5.44)

Perez is a fairly apt comparison to Navarro, so there's part of the reason. But he's also caught the starting pitcher for the National League All-Stars three times, and yet his record as a starting catcher is 1-12. By my count, the Sox went 9-11 in games Widger started.

For some context, L.A.'s starting catcher Russell Martin has a catcher's ERA of 4.11 this season; Dioner Navarro, who was the backup before being traded to Tampa a couple weeks ago, had a 3.88 CERA in 23 starts. All these numbers don't necessarily mean anything, but it's just interesting to note.

**********************

What perhaps is the most puzzling about this move is what Alomar has been worth the last two times he was traded.

When the Sox traded him to the Colorado Rockies in 2002, they received 23-year-old Enemencio Pacheco, who had been a pro for four years but hadn't progressed above advanced A-ball. Pacheco didn't appear to be anything special with the Rockies, with a mediocre strikeout rate combined with control issues, but he actually turned in a nice season with Birmingham and appeared to be a fifth starter candidate before injuries took their toll.

To re-re-acquire Alomar, the Sox dealt B.J. LaMura, who is having his finest season in the minors to date. He owns a 1.69 ERA in 53 innings scattered over 34 appearances, and has struck out 67 batters against 31 walks -- still a high walk rate, but better than it has been. He's 24, and is in his second year of Double-A.

Neither of the two pitchers is a hot prospect, but LaMura definitely seems to own more exciting stuff. Somehow, Alomar brought in a bigger return at age 40 than when he was 36 and coming off a similar first half offensively.

I credited Kenny Williams for picking up Javier Lopez off the scrap heap and using him to bring in a credible right-handed reliever. This time, Kenny was on the other end. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti was the only one who'd offer Alomar a job, and after Alomar becomes the third-stringer, he spins him off for a minor-leaguer who stands a greater chance of being useful.

At least Widger didn't cost us anybody.

I hope he can do well, but I'm not holding out.

LosMediasBlancas · July 25, 2006

I'm hoping for a washout. This team needs another day off.

Hanger · July 25, 2006

Gregory Pratt-

Good points, but I thought that Sandy did a decent job of calling games on his last go round with the Sox. I definately agree with alot said in that article, but I feel looking at rotations, I think he should be able to do better with the Sox, than Dodgers-

But I am not going to go into detail in the game thread....Just looking for a solid return for Sandy, I have always thought he was a classy player that seems to know the game of baseball.

We need to get some runs off of Johan early, and hopefully Jose will settle down and rock this game.

SnB · July 25, 2006

I wanna say that this is going to be the game that turns everything around for this team, but........

BigSqwert · July 25, 2006

This team will be fine. Lots of good teams go through slumps. Once the offense starts getting locked in we will go on a tear. (trying to remain positive but it's really difficult)

GoSox05 · July 25, 2006

you can pretty much tell Contreras that if he dosen't throw a shut out were gonna lose.

ecoyne · July 25, 2006

I don't really understand why a lot of posters are considering this a lost cause before these guys have even played the game.

For one thing, Santana has been far from unhittable recently. This is his record over his past 3 starts:

Against Tampa Bay at home: 3 runs 6 hits in 6 innings, 7 SO Minn wins

Against Cleveland at Jacobs field: 2 runs 5 hits in 7 innings, 7 SO Minn wins

Against Texas at Ameriquest field: 5 runs 7 hits in 7 innings, 7 SO Minn loses

The White Sox have shown that they can have success against Santana at home this season. Remember in April when Sanatana allowed 2 runs in 7 innings and was only able to strike out 6? Thome was even able to hit a HR off of Santana. The White Sox went on to win 7-1. Sure, Santana and the Minnesota bullpen were struggling at the beginning of the season, but the point is is that Santana isn't the shutout-game over force people think he is.

Secondly, Contreras has had success against Minnesota this season, albeit post injury. In April, Contreras was able to pitch 8 innings, allowing only 2 runs against the Twins at the Cell. The White Sox went on to win the game 7-3.

The only caveat to those statistics is that neither team is what it was in April. Minnesota has stepped up in both the offensive and pitching departments, while the White Sox have faltered. I personally am not too concerned that Ozzie will be placing Alomar in the game this evening, this series is much too important to rest the starting line-up. Tonight's game is going to come down to whether the cliched statement of when the real White Sox will present themselves, especially against an injured Twins team.

southsideirish71 · July 25, 2006

QUOTE(soxunited @ Jul 25, 2006 -> 10:39 AM)