Sox spring training Catch All thread

[Milkman delivers]

No.

 

Agreed.

[Chicago White Sox]

Scott Merkin ‏ @scottmerkin

Don't completely rule out Nestor Molina for a bullpen job, although he really would have to be dominant over next month

That would be f***ing stupid. No matter where Molina begins the season, which should be AA, he needs to be starting. He needs to build up arm strength and be positioned to replace Peavy in the rotation in 2013.

[flavum]

That's just Merkin being a company guy.

 

"Hey Sox fans, this guy we got for Santos might be good enough to make the team...he's that good!"

 

Bulls***. He's starting at Birmingham.

[Balta1701]

Scott Merkin ‏ @scottmerkin

Don't completely rule out Nestor Molina for a bullpen job, although he really would have to be dominant over next month

I hate the world.

[macsandz]

No Robin, just, no.

 

Is there another organization that force-feeds unnatural positions to prospects more than this braintrust?

Edited March 2, 2012 by bucket-of-suck

[southsider2k5]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,1854319.story

 

By Mark Gonzales, Chicago Tribune reporter

 

9:14 p.m. CST, March 1, 2012

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The amount of preparation is the same.

 

But the routine is different and should only help Adam Dunn change his fortunes with the White Sox.

 

After an early batting practice session Thursday, Dunn discussed one of the slight changes he has made in an attempt to regain the stroke that produced at least 38 home runs for seven consecutive seasons and 100 RBIs for four straight before last season's debacle.

 

"I'm not doing anything that I normally don't do to get ready for Opening Day," said Dunn, who is trying to raise his .159 batting average and cut down his franchise record 177 strikeouts. "But there are certain things I need to work on."

 

Specifically, performing a simple drill like hitting off a batting tee under the supervision and support of hitting coach Jeff Manto.

 

"He has taken well to it," Manto said after Thursday's workout.

 

In fact, Manto said he was so impressed that he stopped a session Wednesday after Dunn hit only 15 balls.

 

"He created the feel himself," Manto said. "He had a visual result in the back of the screen. He hit one ball, froze and said, 'I haven't had that feel in a while.' That's enough. I said, 'Let's cancel the session.' He's taken it to a pretty cool level."

 

Although the tee does nothing to help a hitter's timing, Dunn, 32, sees plenty of benefits.

 

"I try to put the trademark (of the bat) inside the ball," Dunn said. "I'm just making sure I'm hitting inside (the ball). That's the only way I can really tell each and every swing is putting it there and try to hit where the writing is inside of it."

 

Dunn said it's not uncommon for him to return to the cage after a live batting practice session, as he has done during the first three full-squad workouts. But he is pacing himself.

 

"It's kind of a muscle memory thing," Dunn said of his deliberate approach to preparing for the season. "I'm not out there swinging hard. I'm just trying to get the feel."

 

Dunn finished the season with only 11 home runs and none in his final 91 at-bats, but he is more concerned with building a foundation.

 

"It's going back to basics," he said.

[Balta1701]

Is there another organization that force-feeds unnatural positions to prospects more than this braintrust?

Did anyone catch the ESPN Magazine article with Brandon McCarthy talking about how screwed up having to pitch out of the bullpen in 2006 made him?

[southsider2k5]

http://www.csnchicago.com/blog/sox-drawer/...tm_medium=email

 

The Ventura fight story you haven't heard

March 1, 2012, 8:48 pm

 

chuck garfien headshot CHUCK GARFIEN

csnchicago.com flag

 

 

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Aug. 4, 1993, might have been just one day on the calender, but for Robin Ventura it’s a date he won’t be able to escape for the rest of his life.

 

It was on this fateful evening that a 26-year-old Ventura charged the mound in Arlington, Texas against 46-year-old Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan, who proceeded to hammer Ventura with an embarrassing array of noogie shots to his head. Even if Ventura had gone on to hit the game-winning home run in a World Series, he might not have been able to top the visuals of this chaotic and surreal melee, easily one of the greatest in baseball history.

 

“I think there might have been 500,000 people in the stadium when that happened, because everyone says they were at that game,” Ventura says about the play that has been replayed so many times, it probably belongs in the Hall of Fame along with Nolan Ryan himself.

 

That summer, the U.S. Junior Olympic baseball team spent two weeks training in Tyler, Texas. It was a squad comprised of players either going into their senior years in high school or recent draftees who had just graduated.

 

The day of the game, the team made the two-hour bus ride to Arlington to watch the Rangers play the White Sox. They arrived early to watch batting practice. Afterwards, they were led into the tunnel near the visiting clubhouse where they were introduced to the one and only Robin Ventura.

 

“We all had our USA garb on, and lo and behold Robin comes out because he was an ex-USA baseball player,” remembers a certain player on that team. “He gave us a little pep talk and said hello.”

 

This young ballplayer hoped to follow in Ventura’s footsteps. He didn’t just want to make it to the major leagues, he wanted to excel at the sport, and play the game right. Ventura was a perfect example of this type of ballplayer; a model citizen who probably drank milk and called his mother every day -- or at least that was the image of Ventura at the time.

 

Well, that was until the game started.

 

It was just a brief meeting, but Robin made an impression on the team, and specifically on that one player who would eventually fulfill his dream of baseball, later becoming one of the game’s biggest stars.

 

Who was he?

 

None other than Paul Konerko.

 

It was a chance meeting that Konerko remembers vividly. Ventura....not so much.

 

“I don’t remember it all,” Ventura says. “Apparently, I was talking to a U.S. team, an amateur team about sportsmanship. Things went a little haywire in the game.”

 

Did they ever.

 

“They probably just grabbed him and he didn’t even know what it was, and he came out said hello, said hi, good luck guys, and that kind of stuff,” says Konerko. “Two hours later there’s a riot on the field that he caused.”

 

The White Sox and Rangers hadn’t been getting along at the time. Alex Fernandez plunked Texas slugger Juan Gonzalez the inning before. If Ryan wanted to retaliate (as he often did), Ventura was the logical target because his single in the first inning gave the Sox a 1-0 lead. But even before the game began (right around the time he met with the young Olympians about “sportsmanship”), Ventura told his teammates that if he got hit, he was going to charge the mound no matter who was out there.

 

Watching the brawl unfold from the left field bleachers was a stunned Konerko.

 

Did seeing Ventura go after one of the best, most respected players in the game change his opinion of him?

 

Nope. The opposite.

 

“That made me think nothing less of him, only more because anybody who’s going to charge Nolan Ryan, you gotta have...”

 

Konerko paused for a few seconds, trying to find the right word he can use on family television. Then one popped in his head.

 

“You gotta have some guts let’s just put it that way.”

 

Ventura fighting Ryan, as crazy as it was, made him a hero to his White Sox teammates. Now a 14-year veteran himself, it’s an attitude Konerko loves to see in a clubhouse.

 

“That gives you ultimate respect in this game if you say, ‘Hey this guy throws at me a lot or he throws at our team a lot, if he hits me, I’m gone. Be ready.’ That’s ultimate respect in the fact that he followed up on his word,” Konerko says.

 

Ventura was ejected, but Ryan, for some inexplicable reason, was able to stay in the game.

 

“And I remember for every inning after that, the whole place was chanting ‘Nolan’ for what seemed like an hour long,” Konerko says. “It was an electric-type atmosphere after that happened.”

 

When the Olympic coaches thought of taking their players to a baseball game, this was not exactly the kind of experience they probably had in mind. So what kind of affect did the fight have on those young, impressionable minds?

 

“Obviously, one guy became a major leaguer so it must have been pretty good,” Ventura says laughing.

 

And now as fate would have it, where does Ventura make his White Sox managing debut on Opening Day? Texas. And who’s the president of the Rangers? Nolan Ryan.

 

Somewhere out there the person who makes out the MLB schedule is giggling profusely.

 

“They’ll get all hopped up on it, but I’m not playing,” Ventura says about what the fan reaction will likely be. “It’s not going to affect me as far as winning or losing the game. I’m more concerned about how we do in the game than about getting booed or somebody yelling at you. I mean that’s been happening for years.”

 

It follows Ventura wherever he goes.

 

“He makes a joke out of it,” Konerko says. “Whenever he’s in a public setting they have a pool going. How long is it going to take for [the Ventura/Ryan fight] to get brought up. He just knows that people are always going to say, ‘What about Nolan Ryan?’”

 

While Ventura says that 500,000 fans claim they were in attendance that night, the official number is 32,312. Paul Konerko will always be able to say that he was one of them.

 

“There have been a million fights in the game and all that, but with Nolan Ryan, it’s just a legendary moment in the game that will always be, so I’m happy and proud to say that I was there for it.”

[southsider2k5]

What do Javier Valentin, Bengie Molina, Darrin Fletcher, Benito Santiago, Michael Barrett, Mike Napoli, John Buck, Wyatt Toregas, Hank Conger have in common?

 

The catchers during each of PKs nine career stolen bases.

[NorthSideSox72]

What do Javier Valentin, Bengie Molina, Darrin Fletcher, Benito Santiago, Michael Barrett, Mike Napoli, John Buck, Wyatt Toregas, Hank Conger have in common?

 

The catchers during each of PKs nine career stolen bases.

I'll always remember being at the game when Thome and PK did a double-steal, when the pitcher was just not even bothering to look over at them.

 

[Indy_Soxer]

Somewhere out there the person who makes out the MLB schedule is giggling profusely.

 

This line alone makes me giggle.

[SoxFan1]

What do Javier Valentin, Bengie Molina, Darrin Fletcher, Benito Santiago, Michael Barrett, Mike Napoli, John Buck, Wyatt Toregas, Hank Conger have in common?

 

The catchers during each of PKs nine career stolen bases.

Where did you get this from?

[southsider2k5]

Where did you get this from?

 

Twitter.

[SoxFan1]

Twitter.

I know.

[Kyyle23]

Did anyone catch the ESPN Magazine article with Brandon McCarthy talking about how screwed up having to pitch out of the bullpen in 2006 made him?

 

There is no handbook of how to handle a pitcher, so stop trying to pigeonhole every Sox pitcher into a certain IP program. There have been plenty of pitchers that have succeeded out of the bullpen and have moved on to very successful starting careers(Johan, Wainwright, Buehrle), plenty that have gone back and forth (Papelbon, Lowe), and plenty that have been successful going from starting to bullpen(Isringhausen, Eckersley, Reardon, Gossage).

 

Every player is different. Of course there is a chance molina could fail. Sticking him in the minors and saying "that's how it is supposed to be because McCarthy got f***ed up" isn't the best way to handle every pitcher. If Coop thinks Molina can handle the transition, I won't be upset

[southsider2k5]

There is no handbook of how to handle a pitcher, so stop trying to pigeonhole every Sox pitcher into a certain IP program. There have been plenty of pitchers that have succeeded out of the bullpen and have moved on to very successful starting careers(Johan, Wainwright, Buehrle), plenty that have gone back and forth (Papelbon, Lowe), and plenty that have been successful going from starting to bullpen(Isringhausen, Eckersley, Reardon, Gossage).

 

Every player is different. Of course there is a chance molina could fail. Sticking him in the minors and saying "that's how it is supposed to be because McCarthy got f***ed up" isn't the best way to handle every pitcher. If Coop thinks Molina can handle the transition, I won't be upset

 

Because I can very simply throw back "It worked for Garland and Buehrle."

[southsider2k5]

Daryl Van Schouwen ‏ @CST_soxvan

AJ: Every time you bring in new manager everyone's on edge because you start with new people - you want to prove you’re worthy of playing

[Steve9347]

Adam Dunn's interviews lately are just freaking weird.

 

"I'm not doing anything different than I've done before" - as he talks about how he's doing things differently.

 

"Can a guy who wasn't injured win Comeback Player of the Year? If they can I'll win it. I don't really want to win it but whatever I guess I'll win it."

 

What a screwy dude.

[Princess Dye]

When he was good at baseball, he was thought of as having one of the most down-to-earth, relaxed personalities in sports

 

 

[southsider2k5]

Daryl Van Schouwen ‏ @CST_soxvan

De Aza goes hard after everything in the outfield, even during batting practice.

 

His job to lose in CF. "It makes me feel great but I come into camp like every year, hustling and playing hard to keep myself in the game."

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Adam Dunn's interviews lately are just freaking weird.

 

"I'm not doing anything different than I've done before" - as he talks about how he's doing things differently.

 

"Can a guy who wasn't injured win Comeback Player of the Year? If they can I'll win it. I don't really want to win it but whatever I guess I'll win it."

 

What a screwy dude.

 

I think he means to win the Comeback Player of the Year award and not have been injured means you were AWFUL the year before, and I think he is saying winning the CPOTY award because you were awful, and not injured, is not something he (or anyone else) would ever want to win.

 

At least, that's how I took it.

[sunofgold]

Brandon McCarthy never should have been moved to the bullpen in 2006. KW traded for Vazquez which wasn't necessary. Brandon had a looked like a decent, developing starter in 2005. Would have been our 5th starter in 2006. If we had kept him as a starter maybe he would still be starting for us.

 

From interviews in 2006 I could tell that he solely had a starter's mentality and wasn't going to adjust well to being an everyday reliever.

 

However, we did get Danks from trading Brandon McCarthy. And Danks is better than McCarthy. However, I think that switch did screw up McCarthy and might have hurt his development. But he has rebounded.,... he is now the #1 starter for the A's. haha!

 

 

 

[southsider2k5]

Brandon McCarthy never should have been moved to the bullpen in 2006. KW traded for Vazquez which wasn't necessary. Brandon had a looked like a decent, developing starter in 2005. Would have been our 5th starter in 2006. If we had kept him as a starter maybe he would still be starting for us.

 

From interviews in 2006 I could tell that he solely had a starter's mentality and wasn't going to adjust well to being an everyday reliever.

 

However, we did get Danks from trading Brandon McCarthy. And Danks is better than McCarthy. However, I think that switch did screw up McCarthy and might have hurt his development. But he has rebounded.,... he is now the #1 starter for the A's. haha!

 

The interesting twist of course is that Ozzie didn't like McCarthy (he and Brian Anderson who wanted to go out and party regularly), which might have had something to do with the trade for Javy.

[ptatc]

There is no handbook of how to handle a pitcher, so stop trying to pigeonhole every Sox pitcher into a certain IP program. There have been plenty of pitchers that have succeeded out of the bullpen and have moved on to very successful starting careers(Johan, Wainwright, Buehrle), plenty that have gone back and forth (Papelbon, Lowe), and plenty that have been successful going from starting to bullpen(Isringhausen, Eckersley, Reardon, Gossage).

 

Every player is different. Of course there is a chance molina could fail. Sticking him in the minors and saying "that's how it is supposed to be because McCarthy got f***ed up" isn't the best way to handle every pitcher. If Coop thinks Molina can handle the transition, I won't be upset

It's more mental. Some pitchers (and position players for that matter) can handle changing roles. Just like some relievers can handle closing and others can't even though sometimes the 7th or 8th innings can be more important than the 9th. Some players are just mentally tougher than others.

[Balta1701]

There is no handbook of how to handle a pitcher, so stop trying to pigeonhole every Sox pitcher into a certain IP program. There have been plenty of pitchers that have succeeded out of the bullpen and have moved on to very successful starting careers(Johan, Wainwright, Buehrle), plenty that have gone back and forth (Papelbon, Lowe), and plenty that have been successful going from starting to bullpen(Isringhausen, Eckersley, Reardon, Gossage).

 

Every player is different. Of course there is a chance molina could fail. Sticking him in the minors and saying "that's how it is supposed to be because McCarthy got f***ed up" isn't the best way to handle every pitcher. If Coop thinks Molina can handle the transition, I won't be upset

Does it help me if I add that I have zero problem if either Castro or Axelrod wind up in the bullpen this year?

 

It's not just saying that all pitchers who are starters should stay starters, I'd say it's also paying attention to what has happened to people in their careers, where they are, how they've been developed, etc.

 

Stewart and Molina...these guys need innings. They haven't had them before. You put them in the bullpen then you might as well keep them there.

 

Sale in the bullpen last year...I thought it was a mistake, but I at least get the reasoning...that's an "All in" kinda move...maybe sacrificing his career as a starter to try to win the division. We'll see what the cost was in a year or two with him.

 

Castro and Axelrod, those are guys who if they can start getting guys out in the pen, you might think that they would then be better able to translate back to getting guys out in the rotation if you need to move them there. Castro, for example, has had over 500 innings in the minors at this point and hasn't even finished a full year of AAA, and was probably signed as a pticher out of the dominican. Axelrod has had 475 innings in the minors and was probably a college pitcher before that. Those are guys whose arms are at least built up. If you move around them, then you don't necessarily worry as much about whether their arms can take it, because they've been conditioned to take it a lot longer than the recent converts.