whitesoxfan101 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/ar...b&fext=.jsp Thomas Collaro is a slugger who has made a name for himself in the Minor Leagues as a player who can find the favorable side of the fence with some measure of consistency. But the last time the Birmingham bopper found himself in a Home Run Derby he fizzled, falling short of the expectations he placed upon himself. So while the atmosphere at Trustmark Park during the Home Run Derby, which was held prior to Monday night's Southern League All-Star game, was festive, what Collaro did two years ago at the Carolina League/California League All-Star Derby was in the back of his mind. "I choked then," Collaro remembered with a smile about his experience with Winston-Salem. "I was leading the league in home runs and I choked." Well, Collaro isn't leading the Southern League in the home runs but he did enter the festivities with 17, which is good enough for second-place tie, one behind Montgomery's Evan Longoria. And though Longoria may be in the lead, Collaro can lay claim to Derby titlist after bashing 11, including six in the final round. He edged Huntsville's Brendan Katin for the crown. "Now I can go back to my team and tell them what I did," said Collaro, who also earned $500 for his effort. "It took a couple of pitches to get going, but in the last round I got into a groove." Collaro advanced to the finals after besting South teammates Javier Brito (Mobile) and Mississippi's Matt Esquivel in the opening round, but he needed a tiebreaker to do it. He connected for five homers after having one disallowed when it was ruled to have gone foul. But after he and Brito each went homerless in the first tiebreaking round, he hit the only homer of the second round to earn his finals berth. Katin, who accounted for 12 of the 38 homers hit, also needed a tiebreaking round to advance after he and Tennessee's Jake Fox each hit four homers in the first round. They also went homerless in the first tiebreaker, but Katin hit three homers in the second round to move on to the finals. While Katin had the length in the finals, he smoked several out of the stadium including a shot over the batter's eye in center field, it was Collaro who had the momentum. He curled his sixth and Derby-winning homer just inside the left-field foul pole for the winner. "He had the length on me but I took my time," Collaro said. "Me and Esquivel are buddies so we've been talking about this for a long time. I just had to get my composure and get in a groove." Changing it up: There were many who figured Gio Gonzalez would someday be a Southern League All-Star. And the same pundits who predicted an All-Star berth for the young southpaw all assumed that the selection would have come in 2006. But the White Sox traded him to Philadelphia in December 2005, and he proceeded to struggle in the Double-A Eastern League after going 13-6 in 2005 at Kannapolis of the South Atlantic League and Winston-Salem of the Carolina League. The White Sox reacquired Gonzalez this past winter and once again consider him one of their better pitching prospects. But after being one of baseball's more highly touted youngsters for years, Gonzalez has had to spend much of this season rebuilding expectations after going 7-12 with a 4.66 ERA for Reading last year. As evidenced by his inclusion in the festivities Monday night, he's been successful or at the very least well on his way to achieving that goal. Gonzalez is 6-4 with a 3.10 ERA in 18 starts for Birmingham. While he doesn't lead the league in victories or ERA, he has made great strides from this point last season. He credits a great deal of his success with an improved off-speed pitch. "I've been working on my changeup like crazy," Gonzalez said. "Now it's something I'm pretty confident with. The change is coming along and I'm trying to be comfortable throwing it at every point in the count. I'm trying to show hitters and the coaching staff that I have one and can be a three-pitch guy." Gonzalez added that he's just concerning himself with working on improving his pitches and not worrying about whether he should be at Triple-A Charlotte. "Thinking about that is not something I should be doing," he said. "There are a lot of guys on this team [birmingham] who are deserving of that shot, so I won't be the one to say that I deserve it." Gonzalez was not scheduled to pitch Monday night per Chicago's request. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Good stuff. It is also interesting or at least intriguing that Gio was requested not to pitch. He last threw on Friday IIRC (same time as Floyd's start) so it isn't as if he were tired and not ready. I wonder if a promotion of some sorts is near or if some other type of move is close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHarris1 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 I believe Gio would have only been on 2-3 days rest, or am I wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 9, 2007 -> 11:08 PM) I believe Gio would have only been on 2-3 days rest, or am I wrong? He pitched on Friday...which means today would have not pitch on Sat or Sunday and typically this would be the standard time for a bullpen session so I find it funny that he couldn't pitch for an inning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHarris1 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 (edited) QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 10, 2007 -> 01:10 AM) He pitched on Friday...which means today would have not pitch on Sat or Sunday and typically this would be the standard time for a bullpen session so I find it funny that he couldn't pitch for an inning. Yeah, good point. Could be anything, but still very interesting. Edited July 10, 2007 by WHarris1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearSox Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 hopefully a promotion. I'd also like to see Eggy promoted even though it seems like he got knocked around a bit today. Same goes with Collaro if we finally call up Sweeney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan101 Posted July 10, 2007 Author Share Posted July 10, 2007 Offensively, Collaro reminds me a lot of Pedro Feliz, and taking a quick glance at Feliz's minor league numbers I am starting to think maybe that comparison holds some water. I wouldn't mind that, Feliz is nothing special but a guy like that can be a dangerous power bat off the bench as a spot player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easyw Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Some people don't even consider Collaro a prospect. His numbers are hard to ignore. But if he is to make an appearance in the big leagues, he will have to have better plate discipline. The guy strikes out waaaaay too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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