Poreda's name comes up when talking 5th starter.

[justBLAZE]

OAKLAND -- With a much-discussed opening in the White Sox starting rotation coming up again Tuesday night at home against Seattle, Aaron Poreda's name has been thrown out in the media as a possible replacement.

 

Poreda, who turns 22 on Oct. 1, was the team's top pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. He made enough of an impression on manager Ozzie Guillen during B game performances in Spring Training that Guillen joked how he was ready to take the 6-foot-6 left-hander with him when the team broke camp.

 

That level of success continued on for Poreda during the course of the 2008 campaign. He has made 12 starts apiece for Class A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham, posting a 7-8 record with a 3.38 ERA. His performance includes 102 strikeouts, 37 walks and 133 hits allowed over 144 combined innings.

 

But is Poreda ready to compete in the Majors after a mere 36 games pitched in the Minors? According to White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper, parts of Poreda's game are there.

 

"His fastball is ready," said Cooper of Poreda. "His fastball velocity is ready, but we have to work on the command of that pitch and certainly his secondary pitches.

 

"Whether he's ready or not, that's to be determined. We are in a pennant race, and it's very difficult to dip down to the Double-A thing. But we've done it before with [Wilson] Alvarez, [Mark] Buehrle.

 

"The bottom line is we have a lot of possibilities, but to tell you the truth, nothing has been discussed in depth yet," Cooper added. "We have to play each game one at a time, as corny as that sounds. We are trying to win today's game and go from there."

 

In regard to Poreda, Cooper added that he has talked to J.R. Perdew, the pitching coach for Birmingham, and heard words of solid progress being made by Poreda with the secondary pitches. Cooper also talked to Perdew about Poreda's makeup, receiving positive reports in that category, also.

 

Ultimately, a final decision to promote Poreda, which still stands as a bit of a long shot, will deal with his mental preparedness as much as the physical side. The White Sox want a pitcher who can handle the playoff pressure, along with the pressure of playing in Chicago, even if it's in a secondary role.

 

"Let's just say you move him from high A to Double-A or from Double-A to Triple-A," Cooper explained. "If a guy is mentally tough and he goes out there and doesn't do well, it's not going to be like he thinks he stinks and you lose him forever.

 

"When a guy is mentally tough, it's a lesser risk to ever move him. I'm open to anything. We've got options and we will figure them out and go from there.

 

"He's a part of our future," added Cooper of Poreda. "We just aren't sure if the future is next Tuesday or later this year."

 

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=mlb

[Princess Dye]

Interesting. They wouldnt say anything like this publicly if they werent keeping this a possibility. The smartest move if youre not going to use him is say "he absolutely isnt ready"

 

or else you open yourself up to criticism

[JPN366]

I guess I was wrong if this is a possibility.

[greg775]

"He's a part of our future," added Cooper of Poreda. "We just aren't sure if the future is next Tuesday or later this year."

 

That's a pretty good quote from Coop. I vote to not rush him, but if the Sox deem him ready, bring him on.

[BaseballNick]

I'd like to see what he can do against a bad Seattle team. If he struggles, it's not a huge deal because he'd be the #5 starter, but if he throws well, then maybe we have that shot in the arm to carry us through September. Broadway threw pretty well the other day; I'm a little surprised he was sent packing so quickly.

[spiderman]

Why not give Broadway another start?

[kevo880]

Why not give Broadway another start?

 

Broadway can't start the next one because he was demoted after his last start and can't be called back up for 10 days i believe.

[rpay10]

we will see Poreda before the end of the season

[Balta1701]

we will see Poreda before the end of the season

Probably true but hopefully they hold out until the rosters expand.

[Jeremy]

I don't know why we don't just throw him in the pen and let him dial it up and throw one other pitch. We needs help there and he's a better option than some of the other guys we throw out there.

[Chisoxfn]

To me it all depends on his makeup. If he has a strong makeup I have no trouble calling him up and starting his timetable. If he doesn't, than I'd have more issue with it. I also wouldn't have a problem calling him up and having him pitch out of the pen this year to get his feet wet and than transitioning him to the rotation next season.

[GreatScott82]

Probably true but hopefully they hold out until the rosters expand.

I dunno, since it still says TBA for tommorows game i really believe the Sox will call up Poreda and he'll start tommorow night. If this is the case i am damn excited.

[scenario]

I'm a little concerned about expectations.

 

Realistically, this is a very talented 21 year old kid who hasn't had as good of a year in the minors as Clayton Richard.

 

He has a 3.44 ERA and .254 BAA in double-A ball. He's given up more walks and twice as many homeruns in less innings than Richard did when he was pitching for the Barons earlier this year. Poreda doesn't even have the lowest starter ERA on his current team. (Justin Cassel does.)

 

I'm with Coop. Poreda may be our future, but I'm not sure if that future is now.

 

I'd hate to see him come up, get slapped around and screw up his confidence.

 

Edited August 18, 2008 by scenario

[JohnCangelosi]

I'm a little concerned about expectations.

 

Realistically, this is a very talented 21 year old kid who hasn't had as good of a year in the minors as Clayton Richard.

 

He has a 3.44 ERA and .254 BAA in double-A ball. He's given up more walks and twice as many homeruns in less innings than Richard did when he was pitching for the Barons earlier this year. Poreda doesn't even have the lowest starter ERA on his current team. (Justin Cassel does.)

 

I'm with Coop. Poreda may be our future, but I'm not sure if that future is now.

 

I'd hate to see him come up, get slapped around and screw up his confidence.

We've been wrong before about people not being ready. Remember 1990 with Frank Thomas? We didn't call him up till Aug 1 even though he tore the cover off the ball in Spring Training. Since we cannot go with Broadway again to me giving this guy a shot tomorrow night makes sense and will be at least some type of gauge to see where he's at in his development.

 

And lastly, if he does get hit around and his pu$$y hurts afterwards then he's not mentally tough enough for this game to begin with.

[GoodAsGould]

I want Poreda up with the big league club out of the pen when rosters expand, but for the next start Id go with Egbert or Whisler.

[scenario]

I want Poreda up with the big league club out of the pen when rosters expand, but for the next start Id go with Egbert or Whisler.

 

I would have expected Egbert since he's been pitching really well the last 3 months.

 

But he started a game last night... so, he's out of the picture for tomorrow anyway.

 

Edit: And I just noticed that Charlotte is playing a day game today (Monday) and Whisler is pitching. The game is in the 2nd inning already. So... he's out too.

 

Edited August 18, 2008 by scenario

[elrockinMT]

I don't think the heat of a pennant race is where a young hurler with only AA experience should be thrust. We have a couple options. DJ Carrasco can satrt or we use Richard, who pitched only 1 inning of Sunday's game. I am not thrilled with that choice, but it is what it is and maybe getting his feet wet and his butt whipped in 3 starts makes him a little wiser and thus a better choice for Tuesday

[NorthSideSox72]

Not a good idea, IMO. He's still developing his secondary pitches and his command, so I don't think he's quite ready yet. He was only drafted in 2007.

 

Broadway would be my first choice for the 5th starter spot, followed in order by Egbert, Cassel and Whisler.

 

[Jimmywins1]

If he's facing Seattle, I'd be fine with him pitching, I see the Mariners all the time(i live in seattle), and about half of their players are from AAA anyway, they swing at s***ty pitches, the only guys that'd worry me are Ichiro and Ibanez, Beltre only hit's when you leave something over the middle of the plate, so I wouldn't be too afraid of him.

 

A team like Seattle would probably actually be the best case scenario for him to make his debut, you can talk about his confidence being hurt if he sucks it up, imagine how high it would get if he dominated a major league team.

[striker]

I don't think the heat of a pennant race is where a young hurler with only AA experience should be thrust. We have a couple options. DJ Carrasco can satrt or we use Richard, who pitched only 1 inning of Sunday's game. I am not thrilled with that choice, but it is what it is and maybe getting his feet wet and his butt whipped in 3 starts makes him a little wiser and thus a better choice for Tuesday

Joba Chamberlain seemed to do fine with the pressure.

[WhiteSoxfan1986]

If he's facing Seattle, I'd be fine with him pitching, I see the Mariners all the time(i live in seattle), and about half of their players are from AAA anyway, they swing at s***ty pitches, the only guys that'd worry me are Ichiro and Ibanez, Beltre only hit's when you leave something over the middle of the plate, so I wouldn't be too afraid of him.

 

A team like Seattle would probably actually be the best case scenario for him to make his debut, you can talk about his confidence being hurt if he sucks it up, imagine how high it would get if he dominated a major league team.

 

Not to mention that Ibanez and Suzuki are lefties, which works well for Aaron.

[scenario]

If he's facing Seattle, I'd be fine with him pitching, I see the Mariners all the time(i live in seattle), and about half of their players are from AAA anyway, they swing at s***ty pitches, the only guys that'd worry me are Ichiro and Ibanez, Beltre only hit's when you leave something over the middle of the plate, so I wouldn't be too afraid of him.

 

A team like Seattle would probably actually be the best case scenario for him to make his debut, you can talk about his confidence being hurt if he sucks it up, imagine how high it would get if he dominated a major league team.

 

Same logic applies for why we should start Richard... who has been outpitching Poreda all year.

 

[3E8]

Of course he's not ready. But we need a spot start from someone in the heat of a playoff race and Poreda is a lefty who can throw 100 mph

[elrockinMT]

Joba Chamberlain seemed to do fine with the pressure.

I don't think Stewart is a Joba at this pointy anyway and remember that Chamberlain was started slowly-more bullpen set up guy than anything

[Chisoxfn]

99% sure it will be Richard.