Scott Linebrink out due to arm fatigue.

[justBLAZE]

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...sp&c_id=cws

 

CHICAGO -- Scott Linebrink has not pitched since the White Sox 13-inning victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium on July 8.

 

That extended break was brought about by the abundance of first-half work for the valuable setup man. It was a necessary move in the mind of the 31-year-old veteran to prevent minor physical problems from getting worse during the race to the postseason.

 

"I was getting a little tired there and they felt to give me a few days off before the [All-Star] break, plus the four days with it, that would be a really good idea," said Linebrink, speaking prior to Saturday's contest with the Royals. "That's what we did, and I seemed to respond well."

 

Linebrink's fatigue, coupled with what the right-hander called some "tendinitis creeping in there" manifested itself with the righty having trouble getting loose while warming up in the bullpen. The problem resulted in the almost unhittable reliever giving up five runs on eight hits over his last four innings.

 

Prior to that rough patch, Linebrink had featured a 1.32 ERA.

 

"It's one of those things where you have to go from past experience and see how the body responds," Linebrink said. "You just learn to see warning signs and do whatever you have to do when something comes up so it doesn't have long term, lingering effects."

 

A side session thrown by Linebrink on Friday left him optimistic and ready to return to the mound. Manager Ozzie Guillen expressed a pregame desire to hold out Linebrink for at least one more game.

 

"He said he was ready to go, but I want to give another day," Guillen said. "We're not going to use him, unless we really need him today."

 

"I'm feeling good," Linebrink added. "So, let's just pick up where we left off."

 

Entering Saturday, Linebrink had missed six straight games and closer Bobby Jenks had not pitched in a big league contest since June 29 against the Cubs. The stellar White Sox bullpen deserves credit for not only just surviving during this short-handed period, but staying atop the American League with a 2.83 ERA.

 

Those numbers might explain why Guillen and general manager Kenny Williams are not in a hurry to add another veteran arm to the bullpen before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, preferring instead to stick with what he has.

 

"Me and Kenny, when we sat down and talked, we never talked about any situation," said Guillen of his bullpen. "We talked about if Linebrink goes down, what do we do?

 

"So far, I like what I see," Guillen added. "What I have right now, I believe in my players, I believe in what they can do. I think we can resolve a lot of problems and we can compete with these people."

 

I didn't see this being posted anywhere and I know few of us wondered what was happening to him.

 

[fathom]

This bullpen is in serious need of another arm from the right side.

[greg775]

This is by no means a slam at Linebrink, but wow, pitchers today have so many problems. Are we ever gonna see a 300 winner again aside from some possible old guy close to 300 now? I say no way. I'm not implying Linebrink would win 300 as he's a reliever. It's amazing all the arm problems and pitchers like Zito hitting the brick wall. Hope he can keep the arm strength all season.

[lostfan]

This is by no means a slam at Linebrink, but wow, pitchers today have so many problems. Are we ever gonna see a 300 winner again aside from some possible old guy close to 300 now? I say no way. I'm not implying Linebrink would win 300 as he's a reliever. It's amazing all the arm problems and pitchers like Zito hitting the brick wall. Hope he can keep the arm strength all season.

In a nutshell, pitching talent is more diluted than it was 30-odd years ago and that's more or less the source of it all.

[greg775]

But why all the injuries? What ya mean? Explain more.

[lostfan]

It's hard to explain. There's more teams now so there are less pitchers to go around. When you do manage to find a solid pitcher they end up having double digit salaries because they're so valuable. Then you don't want them to get hurt since not only are you paying so much, but you can't find another one easily. So in the end, you have pitchers who otherwise wouldn't be in the majors 30 years ago pitching a lot of innings because there are more rotation spots to fill around the league, and these guys have weaker arms, and they get hurt.

 

I'm not sure if I explained that too well, somebody like Kalapse could explain it better.

[NorthSideSox72]

This bullpen is in serious need of another arm from the right side.

The bullpen already has 7 in it, which is more than a lot of teams carry. 5 of those are RHP. I don't see them adding another, unless you are saying that one needs to be replaced. If so, who? I just don't see them calling anyone up unless someone goes on the DL. And I don't think they need to until then either, unless someone really starts falling apart.

 

If you do need to call someone up, Charlotte actually has 3 decent choices: Wassermann, Childers and Rodriguez.

 

 

 

[Kyyle23]

But why all the injuries? What ya mean? Explain more.

 

The way I look at it is this: Back in the day, if you didnt pitch, you didnt have a job. Pitchers had to adjust and persevere through everything because they didnt have trainers and doctors and agents and managers babying them and coddling them, mostly because they werent the investments that they are now. Pitchers were pitching on 3 and 4 man rotations, there was no such thing as pitch counts, pitchers went the entire game into extra innnings, Complete games were a necessity for a major league pitcher.

 

The game itself is a diluted form from what it used to be. It doesnt make it bad, it just is different. There will probably be a 300 game winner some day again, but that pitcher is going to have to be dominant and healthy for a long time.

Edited July 20, 2008 by kyyle23

[fathom]

I wonder if the Linebrink stuff is more serious, but we're keeping it quiet prior to making a trade for a reliever?

[elrockinMT]

I think a trade for another pitcxher, most likely a reliever is possible, but Carrasco might be the answer too

[Dick Allen]

I think a trade for another pitcxher, most likely a reliever is possible, but Carrasco might be the answer too

If Carrasco is the answer, I will bow down and call KW a baseball genius. He had a nice outing, but his career numbers seem to indicate he will eventually get into a lot of trouble.