Some teams may need a bat, while others need pitching, causing a specific player to change from the NL to AL and vice versa.These changes may not affect your team in any extreme way, baseball, like other sports, is a game of inches. 

There are roughly 60 games left for each team which leaves about 9-10 weeks of the regular season left.Now the heat is on, literally.

In this post, I look past this weekend and into next week to give you a head start on the hitters you should be targeting on waivers and starting/sitting in your lineups.

Catcher

Joe Mauer receives our attention again this week but it’s not because of his 6 for 8 day against Cleveland.Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire is doing all he can to get Mauer playing time at 1^st base and as he continues to do so, his eligibility for the position should open up. 

The number one man behind the plate this week is Matt Wieters thanks to a couple of multi-hit games against Cleveland and Boston.That luck may run out with 7 straight away games in 6 days. 

Humberto Quintero should see extending playing time do to a roster shuffle in Houston.He was been filling the role nicely, with .400 plus average along with an increasing number of RBIs and homeruns. 

Big time players should step up in big games but this isn’t necessarily the case for Russell Martin as he has seemed to disappear in meaningful series. 

Two players having a down week who should be avoided are Kurt Suzuki and Jonathan Lucroy.

First Base

Wow.That’s the only way I can describe Blue Jays’ hitting at this time and they are getting big contributions from Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind. 

Good times continue to roll along for Freddie Freeman as he inches closer to the 100% owned mark.There are no signs of him slowing down so it would be best to ride the hot streak. 

Going up against the Tigers’ Verlander and Scherzer followed up with series against the Red Sox and Yankees could put Paul Konerko into a 9-10 game slump that is going to leave a lot of managers unhappy. 

There is a lot to like about what Mark Teixeira does in the power department but everyone knows that his average is on the low side which leaves you with a decision to make.  If the power isn’t present for a few games, he presents little to no value due to his current limitations at the plate.

Second Base

Jemile Weeks is dealing with a couple nagging injuries but he should be ready to go by the time the new scoring period hits so there is no reason to fret as he should be back in action soon.

It looks like Dan Uggla has the same issues as some other hitters throughout the league: great power but poor average.His average is up 90 points this month alone, and if it can stay up there he very well may be the best player at the position. 

Here are some surprise players who look to have a big week ahead of them: Orlando Hudson, Gordon Beckham and Aaron Hill continue to be some of the best options at the position since the break. 

At the beginning of the year, Darwin Barney looked like the best fantasy 2^nd basemen in the game.Now that we are 100 games in, that doesn’t seem to be the case so if your team is looking for more scoring, this may be the position you look for some help.

Third Base

Aramis Ramirez is on the radar for a lot of different teams who want his services.He doesn’t want to go anywhere though and prefers to stay in Chicago.He has been tearing it up this month, and it’s fair to say that he will tune out the rumors and continue to produce at a high level. 

There is no doubt that Eduardo Nunez is a capable hitter for the Yankees when he replaces players like Alex Rodriguez, but will his horrible fielding allow him to stay on the field?  It wouldn’t be wise to have him on your squad as he could be gone at any moment. 

For the very small percentage of you who owned Orioles’ Josh Bell, make a move with him because he got sent back town to Triple-A.Same goes for Colorado’s Ian Stewart.He has been back and forth between the big leagues and Colorado Springs and hasn’t been able to keep his spot. 

Casey McGehee’s production has been a crapshoot to say the least.He started the second half of the season off with some terrible games but followed it up with a few multi-hit efforts.If his hitting starts to dip again this weekend, then it may be the time to show him the bench or get rid of him all together because it looks as if the Brewers are going to do so.

Shortstop

Jimmy Rollins is back!While this is a fantasy no-brainer, managers have to be excited about the 9 multi-hit games in only 15 contests. 

Even with the little work that he has done, Jesus Guzman has numbers that deserve attention.  His teammate Jason Bartlett who also has shortstop eligibility is playing at a high level as well.  The two won’t compete for playing time even though they are at the same position for fantasy.  Once Guzman plays enough games at 1^st, managers will be able to play him there. 

As long as Brendan Ryan continues to hit for a decent average and scores runs, he could be serviceable to those of you looking for a mediocre option at short. 

Alexei Ramirez is a good hitter, no doubt about it, but this is the week where it looks like he could use a rest on your bench.The reasoning?  Scroll up a little and see the problems that his teammate Paul Konerko is going to experience this scoring period. 

If you are looking for someone else to sit down then that would be Rafael Furcal.  The question would be as to why you have him on your team in the first place?

Outfield

There are a few players who will be HOT:

• Josh Reddick made the most of his playing time, and if it continues to be steady then he will produce.  
• Chris Heisey is going up against two of the worst staffs in MLB this year this next scoring period.  
• Jason Heyward: amidst his sophomore slump, the Braves youngster looks like he may finish the season strong as he has found his bat after the break.  

The ones who are NOT:

• Adam Jones: will only play in 5 games due to a double header against the Yanks.
• Carlos Quentin: see any White Sox player in this article. 
• Carl Crawford:he is only batting .125 against the Red Sox biggest foe and they come to town for a critical three game series.

The surprise player of this week is Will Venable.Position battles are always interesting, especially when the player is being called up from the minors.His average has jumped up 30 points since June and he has been increasing his power steadily.While he isn’t a great option now, he could be more than serviceable down the road.

If you are a fan of the Chicago White Sox, as I am, then this is a tune to keep in mind once next Tuesday rolls around. Why? That is when the Good Guys host the Twin Cities Piranhas in a three game set that will decide the AL Central.

Let’s preview the series and see just how optimistic White Sox fans should reasonably be about their team rising to the occasion in the most important series of the season.

White Sox-Twins: The Preceding Weekend

As I write this on Saturday morning, the White Sox sit 5.0 games behind Minnesota in the standings, thanks to last night’s thrilling come-from-behind home victory over the Royals. Each team has two games left before their pivotal tilt begins

The White Sox send Edwin Jackson to the hill today at home versus Kyle Davies. Jackson has been outstanding since the White Sox acquired him, although his history versus Kansas City is a bit checkered. Davies’ history against the White Sox is similarly checkered. Still, I think everyone would be shocked if the White Sox didn’t win this battle.

On Sunday, Freddy Garcia takes the hill for Chicago against Sean O’Sullivan of Kansas City. I see no discernible advantage here, so this game is a toss-up.

The Twins are in Cleveland, where they were shut down last night. Today, Nick Blackburn takes on rookie Carlos Carrasco and on Sunday it’s Kevin Slowey against Mitch Talbot. Carrasco and Talbot are better than you think, while Slowey has struggled since returning from injury. Blackburn has poor overall numbers but has been very good over the last 3-4 weeks.

All in all, I expect both the White Sox and Twins to split their games this weekend, meaning the Twins will still have a 5.0 game lead on Tuesday. From a White Sox perspective, this needs to be the absolute worst case weekend scenario. Losing any more ground is simply out of the question with only three weeks left in the season.

Update 9/13: Well, this didn’t go quite as planned. The Twins both of their weekend games while the White Sox split with Kansas City. So the Sox sit 6.0 games out as their pivotal series with Minnesota begins.

White Sox-Twins Preview: Tuesday

• First pitch: 7:10 CT
• TV: CSN
• Pitching Matchup: Francisco Liriano (13-7, 3.24 ERA) vs John Danks (13-10, 3.54 ERA)

This is a terrific pitching matchup in a series full of them. Liriano and Danks, both lefties, have had remarkably similar seasons. Not only are their overall numbers very similar, but their numbers against their Tuesday opponent are also similar.

• Danks vs MIN this year: 5 G, 2-1, 34.0 IP, 4.24 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 25:9 K:BB
• Liriano vs CHI this year: 4 G, 2-0, 24.1 IP, 4.07 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 20:13 K:BB

Both guys have actually pitched better against their rival this year than over their careers. Danks and Liriano have 5.00+ ERAs and 1.50+ WHIPs career against Minnesota and Chicago, respectively. And while both pitchers come into this game on the heels of at least two straight quality starts (Liriano has three straight), both have thrown up two duds out of their last six outings.

So history, both recent and distant, tells us that this may not be the low-scoring pitchers’ duel that we otherwise might expect just looking at the names.

Looking deeper into the numbers, Danks’ and Liriano’s home/road split this year should make White Sox fans feel better:

• Danks at home this year: 3.34 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, .218 BAA, 81:25 K:BB
• Liriano on road this year: 4.16 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, .266 BAA, 82:26 K:BB

Interestingly, while Liriano’s numbers match up with this career splits, Danks over his career has actually been about the same on the road as he is at home. Still, the fact that this game is in Chicago appears to be, from a pitching standpoint, a clear advantage for Chicago.

Which batters can we expect to step up?

For Minnesota, Michael Cuddyer absolutely owns Danks (1.369 OPS in 45 ABs). Joe Mauer hits .349 career against Danks but doesn’t hit him especially hard (.419 SLG). A positive for Chicago is that Justin Morneau has always hit well against Danks (1.222 OPS in 31 ABs) but remains out while dealing with the effects of a concussion.

Chicago’s players have about half the ABs against Liriano as the Twins’ players against Danks, but a couple guys jump out: Paul Konerko and Alexei Ramirez. Paulie has a 1.141 OPS and 2 HRs in 17 ABs against Liriano while Alexei has a 1.088 OPS in 17 ABs. Carlos Quentin, Alex Rios, and Mark Teahen, however, have been neutralized by Liriano.

White Sox-Twins Tuesday Prediction: Both teams have a couple of guys with especially strong numbers against the opposing pitcher, and both pitchers have struggled in this matchup. I expect a close game in which relief pitchers will likely play a big role during the last three innings. With the White Sox getting Matt Thornton and J.J. Putz back to go along with Chris Sale, this isn’t as scary a proposition as it was as recently as a week ago.

White Sox win it 6-5.

White Sox-Twins Preview: Wednesday

• First Pitch: 7:10 CT
• TV: WCIU
• Pitching Matchup: Brian Duensing (8-2, 2.02 ERA) vs Gavin Floyd (10-12, 3.91 ERA)

This is the game that terrifies me and that should terrify all White Sox fans.

Gavin Floyd’s terrific mid-summer run, which is his track record, helped propel the White Sox back into the AL Central race (almost exactly as I predicted, by the way) when they looked all but dead early in the season. Unfortunately, Floyd’s track record suggests that he’ll be just an average pitcher over the season’s final month (career 6-9, 4.22 ERA in 22 September starts).

As if on cue, Floyd has three starts giving up 5 earned runs or more since the calendar turned to August. Most frightening for White Sox fans is that two of those starts came against Minnesota and the third was his most recent outing against Detroit.

That’s not encouraging.

Duensing, on the other hand, is a guy who has pitched well in August and September. In 21 careers starts during the season’s final two months, Duensing is 9-2. He has a 2.81 August ERA and a 2.56 September ERA (though his WHIP is 1.36 and BAA is .280).

Against the White Sox Duensing is 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 9 career appearances, some of them out of the pen. Floyd has a 4.93 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in his career against Minnesota and is just 4-7.

(Stop me when you find something that leads you to believe the White Sox will win this game. Seriously. I’m trying really hard to find something.)

At home, Floyd is slightly better than he is on the road while Duensing is decidedly better at home (1.97 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) than on the road (3.66 ERA, 1.33 WHIP). Unfortunately, Duensing’s road numbers are better than Floyd’s career home numbers.

Ugh.

From a hitters’ perspective, Alexei Ramirez and Carlos Quentin are the only White Sox players who will be looking forward to this matchup. Alexei is 5-12 lifetime against Duensing with a .962 OPS. CQ is 5-9 against Duensing with 2 HR and a 1.822 OPS.

So Quentin needs to make sure he doesn’t get hurt between now and Wednesday because the White Sox will need his power to have a chance.

For the Twins, an entire phalanx of hitters will be looking forward to facing Floyd. Denard Span, Jason Kubel, and Joe Mauer all have OPS’ above 1.000 in 24, 35, and 34 ABs, respectively.

White Sox-Twins Wednesday Prediction: During June and July, Gavin Floyd was basically automatic. Every time he started you just knew the White Sox would have a great chance to win. While he hasn’t been terrible in August and September, his two recent outings against Minnesota, and his history against the Twins, are not encouraging.

Brian Duensing is one of the really good young pitchers that not too many people know about. White Sox fans and other AL Central aficionados do, but that’s about it. As September progresses, and over the next few years, that will probably change…and frankly, that sucks. The last thing the White Sox need is another annoyingly solid starter to haunt us for the next few years.

Even me, the most optimistic of all White Sox fans, cannot find a reason to predict victory on Wednesday. I hope I’m wrong.

Twins win 5-2.

White Sox-Twins Preview: Thursday

• First Pitch: 7:10 CT
• TV: CSN / MLB Network
• Pitching Matchup: Carl Pavano (16-11, 3.47 ERA) vs Mark Buehrle (12-10, 3.99 ERA)

I love Danks, Floyd, and Jackson. All are above average pitchers who typically give the White Sox a chance to win. But if you asked me who I’d want on the bump if my life depended on a White Sox W, I’d choose Mark Buehrle every time.

I’ve written before about Buehrle’s status as the ace of the White Sox and how underrated he is. A major reason for this is that while Buehrle’s overall career numbers are not overwhelming, he has usually stepped up big against two of the three teams that have been the White Sox main consistent rivals during Buehrle’s tenure: Minnesota and Detroit.

• vs Minnesota: 25-17 in 46 starts, 3.98 ERA, 1.33 WHIP
• vs Detroit: 16-8 in 29 starts, 3.01 ERA, 1.13 WHIP

(Cleveland fans, shut up. I know the Indians have killed Buehrle – 12-15 lifetime record – but that means nothing for the purposes of this discussion.)

This year, Buehrle has been predictably strong against Minnesota. He is 2-1 in three starts with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He’s only struck out eight Twins in 23 innings, but he’s also only walked three. Vintage Buehrle.

So if you’re a White Sox, you feel good about the man on the hill for you on Thursday.

Unfortunately, Twins fans will feel pretty good with their own mustachioed mound maestro: Carl Pavano. The Big Apple Pariah has resurrected his career with an outstanding season in Minnesota. And unlike many Minnesota pitchers, Pavano is better on the road (3.13 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) than at home (3.90 ERA, 1.24 WHIP).

He has not, however, been quite as good against the White Sox this season. His overall numbers are 2-1 in three starts with a 4.50 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and a .315 BAA. In his defense though, Pavano does have a sterling 13:1 K:BB rate against Chicago, and 15 of the 28 hits he’s given up to the White Sox, along with 6 of the 11 earned runs, came in his last start against the Good Guys. His other two starts against Chicago were both very good.

So we really can’t know what to expect from the White Sox offense against Pavano Thursday night. He could shut us down or we could tattoo him again. Both have already happened this year.

And that’s where I like the White Sox chances. Buehrle’s worst start against Minnesota this year was his first, back in April: 8 innings, 4 ER. He went 8 IP, 3 ER his next time out, then 7 IP, 0 ER after that. The trend is going in the right direction, which is the opposite for Pavano.

The hitters to watch for the White Sox in this matchup, based on the history, are Paul Konerko (.963 OPS in 27 ABs), A.J. Pierzynski (1.045 OPS in 22 ABs), and Alex Rios (.924 OPS in 22 ABs). This may be a good day to rest Quentin though. He’s 0-10 lifetime against Pavano.

Minnesota’s hitters have much more established track records against Buehrle, who they’ve seen so often over the past decade. Denard Span has fared the best, with a 1.037 OPS in 31 ABs. Delmon Young has also done well, with a .942 OPS in 30 ABs. Conversely, Joe Mauer (.647 OPS in 46 ABs) and Jason Kubel (.624 OPS in 14 ABs) have not fared as well.

White Sox-Twins Thursday Prediction: If the first two games go as I predicted them, and the remaining games this weekend go as I predicted, the White Sox will need this win to move to 4.0 games back. That is a seemingly insurmountable advantage with so few days left on the regular season calendar, but it at least keeps the White Sox in it.

And I do think Mark Buehrle wins this matchup. He may even do it without any help from the bullpen. Buehrle knows when he needs to put the White Sox on his back, and he usually does it, especially against Minnesota.

Also, there are troubling signs for Pavano. He’s only struck out six hitters in his last 23 innings, although all three are quality starts (1-2 record). Plus, his last memory of facing the White Sox is getting hit around like a pinata.

A desperate White Sox team will come through a big victory on this night, and hopefully the momentum can carry the White Sox to a white hot finish to the season. They’ll need it to have a chance.

White Sox win 7-1.

White Sox-Twins: The Rest of September

Based on my predictions, the White Sox will be 4.0 games out heading into next Friday. A bounce here or there and obviously that number could swing in either direction by a game or two. We’ll see what happens.

But assuming 4.0 games is the deficit, will White Sox fans have any reasonable hope of a late season surge? Here are the remaining schedules for the two squads.

White Sox:

• vs DET (3)
• @ OAK (3)
• @ LAA (3)
• vs BOS (4)
• vs CLE (3)

Twins:

• vs OAK (3)
• vs CLE (3)
• @ DET (3)
• @ KC (3)
• vs TOR (4)

Not really much of an advantage either way. Both teams have 10 games at home and 6 on the road. Both play Oakland, Cleveland, and Detroit. Both get an AL East squad out of the race, and both go on the road to face teams that aren’t very good this year (KC and LAA).

Basically, the White Sox will need to catch fire and the Twins will need to collapse. Is it possible? Of course it is. Is it probable? Probably not.

But the joy of being a fan is knowing that as long as your team has a mathematical chance, something crazy could always happen. And we watch, and we hope, and we implore both our teams to rise to the occasion and the sports gods to smile down upon us with benevolence.

For the White Sox, being five games out with just 3+ weeks left is tantamount to hanging by a thread. But at least we’re hanging and have a reason to stay engaged during September. Now let’s just hope that we’re not hanging on in vain.

Last night’s comeback win over Kansas City was huge and certainly rekindled my excitement. And I like our chances at home against Minnesota next week. As Hawk would say, don’t stop now boys…

**********

* – AJ / JJ photo source: SBNation

* – Paulie/Buehrle photo source: RightWingHouse.com

* – Brian Duensing photo source: TwinkieTown.com

But before we go anything further, let’s get into the right mindset for a Beckham discussion by listening to the song that is taking Chicago by storm and could perhaps prove to be the cheesy 2009 answer to 2005′s cheesy World Series anthem Don’t Stop Believing.

The song is Your Love by The Outfield and accompanies every Gordon Beckham at-bat:

[track title="Your Love" artist="The Outfield" url="http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/mp3/Your-Love-The-Outfield.mp3" alt="Gordon Beckham's At-Bat Anthem"]

Our friends at Tremendous Upside Potential wrote a great post back in June about Beckham’s somewhat curious song choice. In their post, they cite an article by CSN Chicago’s Chuck Garfien in which he puts to bed any talk of the song being part of some sort of rookie hazing by Beckham’s veteran teammates:

If you’re new to the blog, this song has been an ongoing topic in the Sox Drawer, mainly because after hearing it introduce Gordon for the first time a few weeks ago, I went up to him in the clubhouse, and asked what he felt about getting hazed by his teammates with one of the cheesiest songs from the 1980’s.

As it turned out, Beckham chose the song himself.  In fact, “Your Love” has been introducing Gordon going all the way back to high school.

Needless to say, as a fan and connoisseur of all things cheesy from both the 80s and the 90s, I fully support young Gordon in his musical choice.

Living in Dallas I don’t get to see the majority of White Sox games on TV. It’s always great when the Yankees are in town though, because usually at least two or three of the games are televised nationally. And since I watched every inning of White Sox baseball I could this weekend, I was able to hear Beckham’s song every time he triumphantly strode to the plate — seemingly smacking a double in every at bat — and Your Love got stuck in my head like all good cheesy anthems do.

However, what really stuck in my head is just how special this kid appears to be. And it’s not just me, Ken Williams, and other man-crushing White Sox fans who feel this way. Beckham’s idol Derek Jeter sees a lot to like in the young phenom as well.

From Chris De Luca’s column this morning in the Sun-Times:

The baseball world has taken notice — starting with Jeter.

”He’s playing well,” Jeter said. ”I got a chance to talk to him a little bit because he’s been on second base the whole series. He can hit, that’s the bottom line. You throw him in, he pulls it; you throw him away, he hits it the other way. It looks like he’s got some pop.

”He hasn’t been playing third base very long, but he’s been doing a good job there, too, so I’m sure he’s going to be here for a long time.”

Apparently Beckham turned some heads during Spring Training when he said that he wanted to one day lead the White Sox like Jeter has led the Yankees. Obviously that was bold talk from a kid who had never stepped foot in a Major League batter’s box. De Luca spoke with Beckham about that quote for today’s article, and even Beckham himself said that he “can’t believe [he] said that” having now played against Jeter and seeing how the Yankee icon handles himself.

The truth is, for those of us who have watched Beckham evolve from his struggles immediately upon being called up to his emergence as one of the most feared hitters in our lineup, his Spring Training proclamation certainly seems a lot less outlandish now.

Just look at his numbers from the Yankees series: 7-19, 5 2Bs, 7 RBI, 3 R. And over his last 20 games, Beckham is hitting .411 and has 11 2Bs to go along with 17 RBI. His 0-13 start seems like a distant memory now that his season batting average is .311 with 5 HR, 36 RBI, and 17 2Bs.

And all the talk about Beckham as a potential Rookie of the Year candidate is here to stay. Beckham has been a huge spark for a White Sox lineup that struggled with inconsistency through the first few months of the season. But the early season addition of Scott Podsednik, combined with Beckham’s emergence and the return of Carlos Quentin, plus the emergence of speed and excitement on the basepaths, has turned the White Sox back into an offensive juggernaut that is a force to be reckoned with.

(At least at home. Now the bats need to prove they can stay hot when away from The Cell, especially in Detroit and Minneapolis.)

In Gordon Beckham the White Sox absolutely have a major piece to build around for the next ten years. And while significant contract decisions must be made regarding Jermaine Dye, John Danks, and a possible renegotiation of Mark Buehrle’s deal, the White Sox will no doubt try to buy out Beckham’s arbitration years and lock him up long-term just like the Rays did with Evan Longoria and like the Brewers did with Ryan Braun. Yes, Beckham has done enough to prove that he is in the class of those two young stars, and he and Longoria could be competing for starting All Star slots at the AL’s hot corner for years to come.

What makes Gordon Beckham truly intriguing is that he seems to have that “it” star quality about him. Whereas Carlos Quentin’s intensity and focus make him appear, at least to an outside observer like me, more aloof and less charismatic, Beckham seems to revel in the attention that his phenom status brings. Beckham always seems to be smiling and having fun, with the fundamentals of baseball appearing to come easily and naturally to him.

This is not to say that Beckham does not work hard or is not focused (although he certainly wasn’t focused this weekend when he left the basepaths and got tagged out, not realizing there were only two outs). There is just a difference in the way he and Quentin carry themselves. TCQ seems like more of a “grinder” in which every movement is 100% max effort but not necessarily “natural”; Beckham, on the other hand, appears to glide effortlessly through every motion on a baseball diamond.

My point is that I think the Quentin-Beckham combination, which will carry the White Sox into the next decade, is going to be an excellent yin and yang duo. To me, Quentin never seemed totally comfortable with all of the attention showered upon him last season during his breakout year. I see him as more of a hard-hat-and-lunch-pail type player, who just wants to show up to the ballpark and work. And don’t get wrong, that’s great; but I have a feeling we’ll see Beckham embrace more of the trappings that go along with being a superstar athlete in a big market, and in that way he can perhaps help remove some unwanted pressure and attention from Quentin.

We all know that Quentin is an fantastic hitter, but one who tends to press sometimes, This can lead to slumps in which he appears to be over-swinging at everything. Beckham will certainly endure his fair share of ups and downs, especially as a young Major Leaguer, but he strikes me as the kind of confident-bordering-on-cocky player who won’t necessarily look like he’s pressing and who will rarely if ever grasp for confidence.

Maybe I’m off base in this assessment, and I admittedly am pretty far removed from the White Sox living in Dallas, but these are my relatively informed impressions. I’d appreciate the opinions of any Sox fans who are closer to the action. The comment section awaits you below.

I think the best part about this weekend’s series with the Yankees was that it was a terrific preview of what the White Sox can do for the rest of 2009 when the offense is clicking, and what the future will look like with Beckham and Quentin leading the way. Carlos will eventually find his way back to the 3 hole this season, and he and Gordon will be terrorizing opposing pitchers hitting 2-3 (or eventually 3-4) in the White Sox lineup for many years to come.

Of course, even with Beckham displaying his prodigious talents at the plate on a game-in, game-out basis now, his field work at third still leaves a lot to be desired. Through 51 games, Beckham’s fielding percentage is a paltry .944 thanks to 9 errors. This is somewhat expected, however, considering that Beckham just started playing third base a few weeks before his call-up. With Alexei Ramirez and Chris Getz holding down the middle infield, third base was the biggest hole in the White Sox lineup; it is a testament to Beckham’s confidence and overall baseball skill level that he can perform as well as he has playing a new position at the Major League level despite such limited experience.

But .944 won’t cut it forever, and defense could very well prove to be the Achilles’ Heel that prevents the White Sox from achieving October greatness this season. So Beckham and the rest of the team will need to clean up some of the spotty play in the field. Otherwise, we may need to rewrite the lyrics of Beckham’s favorite song: Please learn how to use your gloves…to-niii-ight!

At this point though, criticisms of the kid are pretty nit-picky. Few players have the natural ability and confidence to step into the situation he was given and produce like he has. If these last two months have been a preview of what the next ten years will be like with Beckham on the South Side, it has been about as auspicious a beginning as I can imagine.

In baseball, few things are as rewarding for an organization and its fans as seeing a draft choice (or international signee) come up through the system and become a fixture at the big league level. Frank Thomas did it. Mark Buehrle has done it. Joe Crede did it. And now Alexei Ramirez, Beckham, and others are currently in the process of doing it. The homegrown stars always seem to be the ones that are most beloved by the hometown fans and the ones who become the anchors of organizations and the icons of cities.

It’s early, but Gordon Beckham sure appears to be on track to become an anchor for the White Sox organization and a sports icon of the city of Chicago. Assuming these last six weeks are just a preview of Beckham’s career on the South Side, and that he stays humble and hungry enough to fulfill his potential, Gordon Beckham doesn’t have to fear ever losing the love of White Sox fans tonight…or ever.

**********

* – Gordon Beckham thumbs up photo credit: Michael O’Day via MLB.com

* – Gordon Beckham spazzing out photo credit: AP via NWITimes.com

First, the much anticipated return of Carlos Quentin is finally here.  The White Sox activated Quentin today from the DL and optioned Brian Anderson to AAA Charlotte.  Ironically, Quentin returns to Chicago in time to help his teammates this week in a big series against the Tampa Bay Rays…the same team the White Sox played in last year’s ALDS without Quentin.  Needless to say, White Sox fans everywhere will hold their collective breath each time Quentin slams a line drive into the gap and rounds first on his way to second…

Also, congratulations to Jim Thome, who was named AL Player of the Week for his impressive surge of power that saw him recently generate 14 RBIs over a three-game span.  As Hawk Harrelson might say, “Hell yes!”

UPDATE: Since writing this post a few hours ago, Bruce Levine broke word on ESPN Chicago that TCQ will start the post-All Star break portion of the season in AAA Charlotte. According to Levine, if Quentin continues to progress in his rehab from plantar fasciitis, he could rejoin the White Sox within a few days.

Levin also says there is still the possibility of a trade to upgrade the 5th spot in the pitching rotation.

Our most recognizable fan has garnered some criticism for a relatively weak toss before the All Star Game, and also inexplicably forgot the name of our ballpark (or old ballpark, to be exact) in an interview, but as the All Star break winds to a close there is some good news on the South Side.

And it deals with the man, the myth, the legend that is: THE Carlos Quentin.

According to Mark Gonzales of the Tribune, Carlos Quentin could be back in the White Sox lineup as soon as Friday against Baltimore.  TCQ has been out of the lineup since May 25 while dealing with the debilitating effects of plantar fasciitis. And while Sox fans everywhere will certainly be happy to have Quentin back in the lineup, don’t think the injury concern is over.  Rickhouse over at Tremendous Upside Potential posed the ominous question today, will Carlos be able to overcome the dreaded plantar fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis is quickly becoming a common enemy in Chicago sports. The foot injury has kept Carlos Quentin out the last month and a half, but now Q! is ready to come back, perhaps as early as tomorrow. But how effective will he be?

Make no mistake: this injury blows. Big time. It basically ruined the careers of NBA greats Andrew Toney and Andres Nocioni (Ha!). But before you laugh too hard at my hilarious joke, remember that Noce wasn’t always the worst player ever. There was a time – specifically in the 2005 playoffs against the Wizards – when Noce was accurately described best with words like “bulldog” and “warrior”. Then he got plantar fasciitis, missed a third of the 2006-07 season, and quickly became a laughingstock.  

That’s not exactly the most optimistic of anecdotes.  But at least he ends it on a positive note:

But will Quentin be able to mash right away? Who knows. But if anyone can do it, it’s Q!perman.

And Rickhouse is right in his article when he says that the White Sox need Quentin.  I think the team has done an outstanding job of compensating for his loss, and certainly the offense has picked up considerably over the past six weeks.  But to compete for the AL Central crown, and to battle deep into October, the White Sox need what they did not have last year: their best overall player healthy and providing a potent bat in the middle of the lineup.

According to Gonzales’ article, Quentin received a shipment of special shoes that are designed to help him deal more effectively with the plantar fasciitis issue.  But everything I’ve read about his injury has suggested that he won’t be truly 100% until the end of the season.  Ozzie and the Sox seem prepared for this inevitability, as they are already planning to remove Quentin late in games for defensive purposes and to give him rest whenever the opportunity presents itself.

But with all the talk this year about the White Sox trading for a pitcher like Jake Peavy or Roy Halladay, or even going after another power bat, the impact of an effective Quentin returning to the lineup cannot be understated. The White Sox have done more than just tread water in Q’s absence; they’ve drawn to within striking distance of the Tigers in the Central.  Now, assuming Quentin comes back at somewhere in the neighborhood of 80-90% effectiveness, we are essentially adding one of the 25-30 best hitters in the game to the lineup without having to give up any prospects to do so.

So here’s hoping Carlos is healthy enough to have a significant impact, as well as healed and protected enough to prevent further injury this season.  The White Sox were left for dead by many people in mid-May, but are back in the thick of things as we head into the second half of the season.  I still believe this team is going to the playoffs, and as I said a couple weeks back Carlos Quentin’s return is paramount among the reasons why.

* – Carlos Quentin “Q!perman” photo credit: Tremendous Upside Potential

It is unfortunately important to note that just because Quentin will be taking swings in Charlotte, it is not automatic that his foot will hold up:

The 2008 MVP candidate has been on the shelf with plantar fasciitis in his left foot since May 26. He said two weeks ago that even if the tendon in the foot holds up the rest of the season, he might have surgery after the season.

If it doesn’t hold up?

”We’re aware that if a relapse happens where the tendon ruptures even more, well, that’s major,” Quentin said.

Guillen and the organization want to make sure that Quentin gets to the end of this season without any setbacks. Then they can make a decision on the next step.

”We’ll see what happens,” Guillen said. ”I’m very optimistic about his improvement. But in the meanwhile, I have to see it first, then I’ll get excited.”

Still, for White Sox fans (and especially this one, who banked a lot of pride on Quentin’s eventual healthy return) today is a positive sign. Hopefully the reports from Charlotte will be as good as the reports were from Kansas City yesterday.

The White Sox had one of their most impressive wins of the season against Zack Greinke and the fading Royals last night, a 5-0 shutout. A few performances in particular stood out:

• Scott Podsednik (the 2009 AL MVP? That’s not as ridiculous as it sounds…) went 3-4 with 2 runs and a double and continues to be a stalwart atop the White Sox order. He also continued his impressive and surprising dominance of Zack Greinke. Look at this numbers: 16-30 (.533 BA), 5 2B, 1 3B, 1.342 OPS. Wow.
• AJ Pierzynski continued his hot hitting by going 3-4 with a home run and evening his average up at .300 for the season.
• John Danks captured his 7th win of the season, pitching 7 1/3 shutout innings and striking out 5 while giving up only 5 hits and, most importantly, walking no one. Danks now has a 2.70 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP lifetime in 7 starts against the Royals.

Today, Gavin Floyd looks to continue his hot pitching and lead the White Sox to their 8th straight victory of the year. He will be opposed by Luke Hochevar. The White Sox are currently only 2.5 games out of first place with Minnesota and Detroit beating up on eachother this weekend. Either way, a victory for the White Sox will see them get closer to Detroit or put more distance between 2nd and 3rd place. And if Carlos Quentin has a successful first step in Charlotte, even better.

It’s not too greedy to ask for a double-dose of good news on July 4th is it? Let’s see some fireworks White Sox, and a safe, comfortable, healthy return to the field for Carlos Quentensity. (I like this name a lot better than Mr. Pocelain…)

All treatment options provided in this article should not be taken as specific advice, but rather as a general guide regarding what is typically done to treat the injury being described.

You should always consult your doctor before beginning any pain management or rehab program.)

______________________________

Plantar Fasciitis

After the recent foot injury suffered by Carlos Quentin, the White Sox’s left fielder, we have come to the topic of plantar fasciitis. Last year’s homerun leader for the White Sox was placed on the 15 day DL on May 29th for pain in the sole of the foot. Plantar fasciitis, one of the most common causes of heel pain, can keep a player sidelined for weeks, and if not properly treated will become a chronic issue. This injury is common in football, basketball, soccer, and running. This type of injury will inhibit a player’s ability to sprint.

Plantar Fasciitis Symptoms and Mechanism of Injury

Someone who suffers from plantar fasciitis usually experiences pain localized to the bottom of the foot on the inside of the heel. In an acute injury the patient may be unable to place weight on the foot due to the intense pain. With chronic plantar fasciitis the first few steps every morning will be painful, as well as any pushing off with the foot, including jumping.

Plantar Fasciitis Symptoms (image courtesy of Medline Plus)

The injury is usually a tear of the plantar fascia closest to the heel that causes an area of irritation or a lump to form on the inside of the heel. The plantar fascia is there to help attach the muscles to the bottom of the foot, provide protection to the plantar nerves and vessels, provide shock absorption, and create equal transmission to the biomechanical forces placed upon the foot. With an injury or inflammation to this area any movement that requires a push off of the toes will cause pain.

The injury itself comes from a muscular imbalance in the lower leg, ankle, and foot. The imbalance comes from a weak tibialis anterior (the muscle on the front of your shin) and plantar fascia, as well as a spastic or tight solues and gastrocnemius (the muscles of the calf). This imbalance causes increased tension on the Achilles tendon, which pulls on the plantar fascia causing the stretching and tearing of the muscle. As the micro tears set into the muscle, the pain will develop in the area. If the tears and chronic stretching of the plantar fascia are not treated then the area will become increasingly weakened. In many cases, an athlete will hear or feel a pop in the bottom of the foot followed by intense pain and swelling. This is from the tearing of the fascia.

Plantar Fasciitis Diagnosis

Here are some self tests you can do to determine if you might have plantar fasciitis:

1. Pain on the inside (medial) portion of the calcaneus.
2. Pain during the first few steps in the morning.
3. Localized swelling on the bottom of the foot, or along the plantar fascia.
4. Standing on the toes causes either a band like pain on the bottom of the foot, or increases the pain symptoms near the calcaneus.
5. Pain on the bottom of the foot when pushing of with the toe. Ex. sprinting or jumping

If you are experiencing one or more of these symptoms, it is a good indication that you might have plantar fasciitis. In order to prevent further injury and pain, this would be a good time to consult your physician and discuss your potential plantar fasciitis diagnosis.

Your doctor may take is an X-ray to rule out any underlying fracture, dislocation, or other abnormality. In about 50% of cases where there is a plantar fasciitis diagnosis, a heel spur can be seen on the X-ray. The spur is the body’s way of trying to protect itself. Over time with the chronic strain and stress on the area the body will begin to lay down calcium in the area for stabilization. Once the spur forms it is common to have pain directly over that area.

Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

The most commonly misapplied treatment of plantar fasciitis is to stretch and massage the area. As mentioned above the plantar fascia is already stretched and torn, which causes the pain.

Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis (image courtesy of Spectrum Wellness)

Common sense would tell us that if the fascia is already stretched and torn, that further stretching the area as part of a plantar fasciitis treatment plan would in fact cause more damage than good. When the injury first occurs, applying pressure to the area may actually cause some relief. The reason for this is the pressure on the inflamed, injured area will release endorphins, the body’s natural pain killers. The down side to the unfortunately common plantar fasciitis treatment approach of stretching and massaging is further damage to the injury and a higher probability of recurrent injuries. The stretched fascia is already depleted in oxygen. The increased pressure will further deprive the injured area of essential oxygen.

Plantar fasciitis responds very well to conservative care. If you notice any of these symptoms the best thing you can do is get plantar fasciitis treatment quickly. This condition can easily be resolved with the appropriate care. Many with plantar fasciitis think that they have to live with it, or they are one of the few that plantar fasciitis treatment will not help. This is simply not true. If you get on top of your plantar fasciitis treatment quickly, the pain will generally subside, and the incidence of chronic problems will greatly decrease.

There are several successful treatments for plantar fasciitis. We will now describe the treatments we have success with at Mountain View Pain Center.

Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis

First and foremost, after the initial injury you must get ice on the area immediately. If you wait and try to “walk it off”, the foot will swell and become increasingly tender over the next few days, making even the simple task of walking a real problem. After you have followed the steps of PRICE (protection, rest, ice, compression, elevation), get yourself to someone who deals with sports injuries for treatment. Making a trip to the emergency room for this will be an unnecessary and expensive trip. The treatment you receive there will be some sort of pain killer or shot to reduce the pain and swelling, then a referral to either a chiropractor, therapist, or sports medicine doctor.

At Mountain View Pain Center, when a patient first arrives with an acute injury of plantar fasciitis, we apply a therapy called Hi-volt to reduce pain and swelling to the area, and also wrap the foot with an ice pack during the therapy. The next step we take is to apply a taping method called Kinesio-tape across the bottom of the foot. This method we have found to be a integral part of our treatment program. As local doctors we have the opportunity to work with several sports teams and high school programs. When a player goes down from this injury we immediately apply the tape to the area not only for support to shorten the stretched and torn muscle, but to also pump out the edema and in turn decrease pain and increase plantar fasciitis recovery time.

Plantar Fasciitis Treatment (Image courtesy of Mountain View Pain Center – Denver)

We instruct the patient to leave the tape on for 2-3 days to continue the support and reduction of edema while the patient is at home. This tape can get wet, so the patient can still shower or even apply topical ointment over the tape to help with some of the pain.

At Mountain View Pain Center we have found that within a few weeks the patient will be out of pain and can begin the rehabilitation portion of the plantar fasciitis treatment. As we have stated before, the main cause of plantar fasciitis is from a muscle imbalance in the lower leg. Stretching is still important. However, remember not to stretch what is already stretched.

Part of the imbalance is usually a tight gastrocnemius, so we stretch the calf and Achilles tendon. If you stretch the calf only then the real problem still may not be addressed and a re-occurrence of the plantar fasciitis will occur. You must also address the muscle weakness to correct the problem. You can do this by performing simple toe raises while sitting at your desk at work or while watching TV. Toe raises are not the same as calf raises. This does not mean standing on your toes. You keep your heels on the ground and raise the balls of your feet and your toes off the ground.

If there is a heel spur seen on X-ray, then we can apply some ultrasound to the area to break up some of the calcification. For our athletes who continue to train during treatment for plantar fasciitis, or who have some chronic bouts of plantar fasciitis, we apply the tape to support the area during their events.

Many athletes opt for a quick pain relief and go for a corticosteroid shot in the bottom of the foot. You must be careful here as getting the shot will decrease pain temporarily, but it does not repair the torn tissue or fix the problem. The pain you are feeling is your body’s defense mechanism to protect you from further injuring yourself. If you cannot feel the pain and go out running then you risk damaging the area further. Research has shown that repeated corticosteroid shots actually weaken tendons, damage nerves, and decrease the bone density to the area, which is recipe for disaster.

Supplements as Part of Plantar Fasciitis Recovery and Treatment

• Inflammatone is a specific supplement that contains ginger, bosweilla, and other natural herbs that helps to decrease swelling and pain.
• Vitamin C has been shown to help improve the healing process and decrease scar tissue formation.
• Magnesium is another important supplement for plantar fasciitis as the magnesium helps absorb the calcium into the body and decrease the deposits into the heel(and elsewhere).

If you are interested in any of these supplements, please visit our website. Note: we are still updating the website, so the supplements may not be available immediately. If this is case, find our email address below or leave a comment and we’ll let you know how to get them.

This article contains the opinions and examples of treatment plans for plantar fasciitis from Mountain View Pain Center in Denver, CO, and is not intended as a substitute for specific medical advice from a doctor regarding your individual injury or condition. If you have any further questions or concerns feel free to contact our office or leave a comment below.

——————–

The Trainer’s Room is written exclusively for Midwest Sports Fans by Denver chiropractors Dr. Niall McNally and Dr. Ihsan Erhuy of the Mountain View Pain Center in Denver, CO. You can contact them by leaving a comment below or sending an email to info@mountainviewpaincenter.com.

Dr. Niall McNally is certified in chiropractic neurology and has a strong background in sports injuries and in the rehabilitation of common nagging athletic problems. Dr. McNally also is trained in pediatrics, orthopedics, and nutrition.

He graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma and successfully completed his Doctor of Chiropractic degree at the Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas, TX. A very active athlete, Dr. McNally played hockey up into the junior level. In fact, it was his love for hockey, and the Colorado Avalanche, that originally gave him the idea to one day practice sports medicine and chiropractics in the area.

Dr. Ihsan Erhuy specializes in motor vehicle accident injures, back, neck, and extremity problems, as well as treating pregnant patients and children. He is certified in the Diversified, Gonstead, Thompson, Upper Cervical, Activator, Sacral Occipital, Applied Kinesiology, Soft Tissue techniques.

Originally from Adana, Turkey, Dr. Erhuy graduated from the University of Arizona and also susuccessfully completed his Doctor of Chiropractic degree, along with his bachelor of science in health and wellness, at the Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas, TX.

The White Sox only other sweep of the season came at the end of May when the Good Guys swept three on the road against the Kansas City Royals. And as KVB and I lament to eachother all of the time, the White Sox never seem to complete sweeps. It always seems like any time we take the first two or three games of a series there is a letdown in the final game. Either the regular lineup sleepwalks through the game, we get a terrible pitching performance, or Ozzie throws out one of his crazy lineups where Brian Anderson is hitting cleanup.

I’m exaggerating…but not by much.

Not yesterday though. Last night, the White Sox continued playing the solid brand of baseball that has propelled them to five straight wins and 12 wins in their last 17 games. Over that same time span, a fan base — and maybe even a team and an entire organization — has been reborn into one that expects, rather than hopes, to be playing baseball in October.

At least that’s how I feel. And hopefully the rest of the South Side is with me. (And if you’re not, I have a few words from Steve Perry I’d like to share with you. That’s right, I went there.)

Truthfully, what has transpired over the last couple of weeks has renewed my faith that the White Sox will ultimately come out on top in a very competitive AL Central. I have to admit that through the ups and downs of this season it has been hard to maintain that faith. Case in point: Ozzie saying that we are in trouble if we have to bring up Gordon Beckham…and then shortly thereafter Beckham gets brought up.

And yes, I realize that the majority of the recent success has come against the inferior National League (and then the even more inferior Indians), so I will grant you that the White Sox haven’t exactly been mowing down the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays; but, the Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, and Reds are all at least decent teams (especially LA, with our without Manny) so I don’t think you can simply chalk up the White Sox success to playing subpar competition.

No, there are many reasons why the White Sox are winning and the majority of them have to do with the players themselves and the better brand of baseball they are playing.

Will they make the playoffs? I’m not going to make any proclamations and jinx them. (Full disclosure: in preparation for this post I researched Jim Fassel’s infamous playoff guarantee when he was coaching the Giants and had planned on altering it for purposes of my own guarantee here. Then I thought the better of it.) But what seemed like a rather ridiculous conversation a few weeks ago is starting to look more and more realistic.

So in honor of the White Sox 40th victory of the season, and because it is my lucky number (in honor of my favorite basketball player of all-time), here are 40 reasons, in no particular order, why the White Sox have a great shot to win the AL Central and make a return trip to the playoffs in 2009.

1 — Ozzie Guillen. The SI players poll may suggest that other players don’t want to play for him, but his own players do. And they have proven it every year outside of that awful and anomalous 2007. As long as Ozzie is the skipper, I’ll always believe in the White Sox. Paws up.

2 — We actually have a productive 1-2 punch at the top of the order! Most White Sox fans had forgotten what that feels like. 2005 hero Scotty Pods and Sexy Alexei have reminded us over the last 50 or so games. If Podsednik can come close to maintaining his .368 OBP, and if Alexei can continue to put his early season woes behind him (and improve upon his .398 SLG), the White Sox will have the run production and speed they need at the top of the lineup.

3 — We get THE Carlos Quentin back around the All Star Break. Remember him? Mr. Porcelain, but also the best player in the American League through the end of August last year? The White Sox offense has fortuitously been able to find its footing over the last month without him, but no one has forgotten how important Quentin is to the overall makeup of our team. Assuming Quentin can even be 80% of his normal self throughout the rest of the season, he will provide a huge presence that has been sorely lacking.

4 — Jose F*****g Contreras. I love this guy. He’s like a phoenix. Every time you think he’s finished he rises again to prove why he was such a hot commodity upon defecting here from Cuba. And there are few guys that I trust more in big spots than Contreras. He was AWFUL to start the year, but since heading down to the minors he has found his touch again and has given up only 9 runs over five starts that have covered a little over 37 innings.

5 — Mark Buehrle is Mark Buehrle. He’s not always pretty, and he’ll get knocked around every now and then, but the numbers are always there. This year he’s 7-2 with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He’s an ace. You have to have one to win division titles, and I’ll just say it: you’re wrong if you don’t think Mark Buehrle is an ace.

6 – Gavid Floyd has become the good Gavin again. Gavin’s season has followed an arc similar to Contreras’. He struggled mightily out of the gate, but look at his game log since May 22. Floyd has not gone less that six innings or given up more than three runs in any start. That’s eight quality starts in a row. Even more exciting is the fact that he hasn’t walked more than three batters in any of those starts either. This guy was the #4 overall pick in 2001 by the Phillies for a reason. We’ve seen why over the past 6 weeks.

7 – John Danks has become the good Danks again. Danks is another pitcher who had an up and down first 6 weeks of the season, but has turned it around. And he’s saved his best outings of the season for his two most important starts thus far: his two outings against the Cubs. Danks gave up one run over 14 innings against the Cubs. Yes, their offense sucks, but Danks has pitched four straight quality starts, going at least seven innings in all four, and the guy proved last year that he’s clutch.

8 – Is the quartet of Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, John Danks, and Jose Contreras reminding anyone over the last month or so of another White Sox pitching staff of recent vintage? Eating innings, throwing quality starts almost every time out, and stepping up big in key spots…sounds a lot like the 2005 staff to me. Buehrle and Contreras are the holdovers, but Floyd and Danks have been every bit as good as Garland and Garcia. And remember, neither El Duque or Brandon McCarthy was that great in the fifth spot during the regular season that year. If the pitching continues on its current trend, and we know they are capable, this is a World Series-quality staff.

9 – Gordon Beckham is here and he’s every bit as good as advertised. Yeah, the kid struggled out of the gate, but look at his last seven games: 12-21 with a HR and 6 RBI. We all love Josh Fields and wish he had taken ahold of the hot corner when he had his chance, but Beckham is the future. And he is proving that he just may be the present as well.

10 – Did I mention Carlos Quentin is coming back at the All Star Break?

11 – Aaron Poreda is with the big club now and has not given up a run in his first five innings of work out of the bullpen. He has six Ks and only one BB and has given up only four hits. The Rays received a jolt from their phemon pitcher David Price last year. Could Poreda fill a similar role for the White Sox? He’s certainly had an auspicious beginning.

12 – Bobby Jenks is still one of the best closers in the game, and is as battle tested as anyone not named Mariano Rivera or Jonathan Papelbon. The big man has 18 saves on the season and has 28 Ks in 28 innings this year, a drastic improvement upon his sharply declining K rate from last year. He may not have the same gas he had back in 2005, but he is a much better pitcher now. And he’s already proven his stones on the biggest stage.

13 – Still, there are rumors that the White Sox might trade Bobby Jenks before the trade deadline. I do not want to this happen, nor do I think it will now that we’ve reemerged as a legitimate contender. Closers with Bobby’s stuff, talent, moxie, and proven experience do not grow on trees; and it’s rare to see a team get far in October without one. Regardless, on the off chance that we do trade Jenks, we’ve got a great bullpen filled with guys I would have confidence in to take over the role. (But Kenny…if you’re listening…don’t trade Bobby!)

14 – Matt Thornton has had a few rougher outings of late, but is still holding opponents to a .214 average and has struck out 39 batters in 31.2 innings.

15 – Octavio Dotel is walking way too many guys (21 in 30.2 innings) but has 39 strikeouts of his own through 30.2 innings and has successful closing experience in his past.

16 – D.J. Carrasco has come into his own as a very valuable asset in the bullpen. He’s logged 48.2 innings in 26 games and has an ERA under 3.00. He has given up seven runs over his last six outings though, so he needs to get himself back on track. But, as a former starter, he has the arm strength to be a bullpen savior on days when we need one.

17 – Scott Linebrink has not been great this year, but still has an ERA of 2.17 and averages more than a K per inning. He is not closer material — Thornton or Dotel would pick up that slack if Jenks is moved — but he remains a solid option as a setup man.

18 – Regardless of whether or not Kenny trades Bobby (don’t do it!!!), each of those four guys plus Poreda gives the White Sox an outstanding bullpen that I’d put up against any in the league. Still, I think Kenny will hang onto a proven closing commodity like Jenks, so each of the bullpen guys will get to stay in the roles they have been successful in and form one of the most unsung units in all of baseball.

19 – Ken Williams. He has to be listed as a reason why the White Sox can (and will!) make the playoffs. As White Sox fans we may not agree with all of his moves, but we have to give him this: he never stops being proactive to improve our chances. And I think his gameplan entering this season was brilliant. He put together a vet-laden team with a few new additions that, if everything fell right, had a good chance to make the playoffs. But he also has been restocking the farm system to the point where we can all feel pretty secure that when the Buehrle-Konerko-Dye era ends, the White Sox will be okay.

20 – Let’s get back to the offense, because its resurgence is one of the main reasons why the White Sox have started playing better baseball. And the most important cog in the White Sox offensive machine is still Jermaine Dye. As usual, Jermaine is quietly putting up solid numbers (.294, 18 HR, 48 RBI) and providing a steadying and consistent presence in the middle of the lineup. This guy was a World Series MVP in 2005 and was damn close to being the league MVP in 2006. He’s not quite the same player now — age will do that to you — but he is still good enough to be the second best hitter on a team that makes a deep playoff run.

21 – Carlos Quentin, of course, will hopefully resume his role as the best hitter on the team when he returns. And did I mention that he’s coming back around the All Star Break? My apologies if I didn’t. Quentin is coming back around the All Star Break.

22 – Paul Konerko, like Jermaine Dye, is having a solid season in the heart of the order (.290, 13 HR, 49 RBI). Like Dye, Konerko is not as ferocious as he once was, but is still good enough. And like Dye, Konerko has proven himself in clutch situations. I know that the combo of Dye and Konerko may not be all that sexy or exciting, but there is something to be said for battle-tested veterans who are team leaders and the essence of the term “professional hitters.” Paulie is still getting the job done both at the plate and in the field, as is JD.

23 – Chris Getz sometimes gets lost in the shuffle with all of the hullabaloo about Gordon Beckham, but Getz is providing something that our lineup has sorely lacked over the last couple of years: speed. He, Scotty Pods, and Alexei all have 11 or more stolen bases. Finally the White Sox have some people who can put a little pressure on other teams with the running game.

24 – AJ Pierzynski will never wow you with his stats, and he’ll do things that make you scratch your head sometimes (like his putrid ground out on the first pitch with the bases loaded at the end of one of our games last week), but he’s scrappy and he’s a winner. AJ comes through in the clutch more than often than not, and is underrated behind the plate (except for his arm, which can’t really be rated low enough). You need a good catcher to win, and the White Sox have one in AJ.

25 – The White Sox also seem to have found a backup catcher. Ramon Castro has blasted two home runs in 21 ABs since joining the team a couple weeks ago and is a guy who has always had monstrous power. Playing half of his games at The Cell with the weather warming up may be just the opportunity he needs to show that he can be a 25-30 HR guy someday. We’ll gladly take production anywhere close to that from our backup.

(BTW…all stats for the last six or seven of these have been taken from the White Sox hompage.)

26 – A couple of curses ended last year and we don’t have to worry about them anymore. The Jim Thome Curse and The Curse of the Douche Bag.

27 – Detroit has only three starters worth a crap (Verlander, E. Jackson, Porcello) and one of them is a 20-year old rookie (Porcello). Yes, Porcello has been very good this year, but how is his arm going to be holding up in September? He supposedly has a great makeup, but he’s never been through the pressure of a pennant race. If the Tigers cannot some more starting pitching, they are going to fall back even further to the pack.

28 – Curtis Granderson (.339 OBP, 18 HR, 13 SB) and Miguel Cabrera (.331 BA, 16 HR, 47 RBI) are really good, and Brandon Inge has certainly rebounded this year (18 HR, 52 RBI) from his subpar 2008, but what do the Tigers have after that? Magglio is on the sharp downside of his career and just is not supplying power anymore. Look at the other names that have chewed up the most ABs for Detroit this season: Placido Polanco, Gerald Laird, Adam Everett, Josh Anderson. Call me crazy, but I’ll take our offense for the rest of the season…especially once Quentin gets back.

29 – By the way, Quentin is coming back at The All Star Break.

30 – Minnesota is the Chicago’s other main competitor in the AL Central, and they have as many holes as Detroit. I do think that Minnesota’s pitching is better than what the numbers show (i.e. Baker’s 4.99 ERA and Slowey’s 4.41 ERA despite better peripherals) but this is a team that needed Francisco Liriano to be be an ace. Detroit has its ace in Justin Verlander and we have ours in Mark Buehrle. Who is it for the Twins? Baker and Slowey and very good #2-#3 starters, but the Twins do not have a guy who has proven he can take the ball and throw a gem in a big spot when the team needs it. Argue if you wish Twinkie fans, but that’s how I see it.

31 – Offensively, Minnesota has been surprisingly balanced this season. Look at the their team stats and tell me you aren’t surprised to see five guys with double-digit homers on the 2nd of July. In addition to the usual suspects (Mauer and Morneau), Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, and (*sob*) Joe Crede all have 11 or more dingers. Add in the speed of Denard Span and Carlos Gomez and the Twins have a more dynamic offense than usual that has been able to somewhat compensate for its struggling pitching. However, this is still a team that goes how Mauer and Morneau go, and you may be surprised to learn that both hit below their career averages against the White Sox. In 331 career ABs against Chicago, Morneau (a .284 lifetime hitter) hits only .275. He has a career OPS of .858 that drops to .840 when playing against Chicago. (For the record, his HR rate is almost identical.) As for Mauer, Mr. .400 blah blah blah, he is a .324 career hitter with an OPS of .881. Against the White Sox that drops to .313 and .858. Are Mauer and Morneau terrible against Chicago? No. Have they come up big at certain points against the White Sox in the past? Yes. But they sure as hell didn’t against John Danks in last year’s one-game playoff, and anytime you make those two hit worse than normal you have a great chance to beat Minnesota.

32 – Detroit and Chicago are big-market teams that will make moves at the deadline to improve their chances this year. Minnesota does not have the same luxury. That knocks the Twins down at least a peg in comparison to the Tigers and White Sox.

33 – Take a look at a quick comparison between the aces of the White Sox and the Tigers. In 15 career starts against Chicago, Justin Verlander is 3-9 with a 5.44 ERA. In 27 career starts against Detroit, Mark Buehrle is 14-8 with a 2.99 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. And, for the record, Buehrle is 23-13 lifetime against the Twins. So Peter Gammons and all of the other baseball analysts can go into the bathroom with a moist towelette and a mental image of Verlander’s incredible “stuff”, but the fact of the matter is that he doesn’t get the job done against his division rival. The underrated Buehrle, of course, does. So, in review: Minnesota has no ace, the Tigers do but he sucks against Chicago, and the White Sox ace (who many people erroneously don’t consider to be an ace) dominates the two best teams in his division. HUGE advantage White Sox.

34 – The White Sox schedule in the second half of September sets up beautifully for a late charge to pull away from the pack. From September 21-27 the White Sox play the Twins and Tigers three times each, all of which are in Chicago. These six games are sandwiched between three at home against Kansas City and then three on the road at Cleveland to end the season. And there is actually a good chance Cleveland will have just called off the season by then, giving the White Sox a three-game sweep by forfeit.

35 – Since the White Sox have no more games against the Rangers, I most likely will not be able to see them play live for the rest of the regular season. This is good because I think the White Sox have a .200 winning percentage in games I’ve attended over the years. When KVB and I go together it’s even worse than that. (Be thankful that we never moved to Chicago and got season tickets.) If the Sox make the playoffs, however, and especially if they go deep, I may not be able to stay away. My apologies in advance.

36 – I know, I know…I’ve left someone out who deserves mention: Jim Thome. Now that the White Sox are back playing in AL parks, Thome has returned to the lineup. He is by no means the masher he was in Cleveland or Philly, but the guy is still a productive hitter (.402 OBP, 13 HR, 42 RBI) and a tremendous leader in the clubhouse. It took me a while, but I’ve fully embraced him as a true Good Guy and he is another one of our battle-tested veterans who heats up with the weather.

37 – Time to address the elephant in the room: defense. This is the White Sox biggest weakness. Currently, there are only five teams in baseball with more fielding errors than the White Sox. And no one has had worse defense at the hot corner than Chicago (17 errors, .922 fielding percentage). With Joe Crede gone and the combo of Josh Fields-Gordon Beckham over there, that is to be expected. But on the bright side, this has no place to go but up. And considering that Gordon Beckham has only been playing third base for about a month, his struggles were anticipated. Most seem to think that he is a good enough athlete to become very good defensively at third. As the season goes along, I think we’ll see his production in the field improve.

38 – Another area on defense where the White Sox have struggled is at shortstop, where Alexei Ramirez recently drew the ire of Ozzie Guillen for lackluster and unfocused play. I definitely see this improving. Alexei has all of the tools to be not just a good shortstop, but a great one. And there is no way Ozzie will allow that position to be a consistent weakness.

39 – Getting back to pitching because I forgot someone: Clayton Richard. On the season he is 3-1 with a 4.48 ERA in 22 games (10 starts). Immediately after stepping into the rotation when Bartolo Colon went on the DL, Clayton strung together three straight excellent starts. I then picked him up on my fantasy team and he hasn’t thrown a quality start since. White Sox fans will be happy to know that I’ve dropped him again, which means that he will likely turn things back around. All kidding aside, Richard is nothing more than a 5th starter right now, but he is adequate. And when Colon comes back to the rotation (if he even does), he gives the White Sox a veteran presence who is still capable of putting up halfway decent numbers. The point is that while the White Sox don’t have a world beater in the 5th slot of the rotation, the guys they are throwing out there aren’t horrible. And with the offense picking things up, we can win with Richard or Colon on the bump. And who knows, maybe Poreda steps in there at some point and provides Porcello-like production. Either way, this slot will not keep up from winning the Central.

40 – And finally, reason #40 why the White Sox can, should, and I think will win the AL Central: the return of Carlos Quentin. Am I putting a lot on his shoulders? Yes. Is there a chance he comes back and gets injured again? Yes. But is his presence in the lineup necessary for this team long-term in 2009? I believe it absolutely is. The White Sox are proving they can without TCQ, but when you get one of the best players in the AL back after an extended absence it cannot be anything but a boon to your chances. And Carlos will have the entire second half of the season to get his timing back. Perhaps this year will be a reverse of last year in that Quentin will save his best for September in 2009. We missed him in September last year, but still found a way to claw our way to a playoff berth. With Quentin in September this year, I think the White Sox have a good chance of heading into the playoffs with momentum and their best all-around player hitting on all cylinders.

Say what you will about the 40 reasons listed above, but one thing is certain: those who stuck a fork in the White Sox a few weeks back did so prematurely. For some reason, people always seem to underestimate the managerial and leadership ability of Ozzie Guillen and the heart, character, and talent in the White Sox clubhouse. The good thing is that the only people who matter (Kenny, Ozzie, and the team) never doubted. Over the last three weeks we have seen why, and White Sox fans have every reason to believe that a return trip to the playoffs is not only possible but, at least in my opinion, very probable.

So sit back, relax, and strap it down, and let’s all enjoy what should be a great three-team race for the 2009 AL Central crown…one that will be made all the more exciting when the White Sox end up repeating as champions.

* – Scott Podsednik photo credit: MouthPieceSports.com

———-

DALLAS, Texas — May 26, 2009 — The National Unified Trust of the Society of Ass Clowns is pleased award Midwest Sports Fans author an “managing editor” JRod its esteemed Fantasy Baseball Douche Award for the week of May 25th, 2009. JRod has been named this week’s Fantasy Baseball Douche for his untimely and idiotic release of Alexei Ramirez early last week from his first place fantasy baseball team.

Despite extolling the virtues of the Cuban Missile earlier in the year — and being exactly right that Alexei Ramirez was simply off to a slow start and would turn it around — JRod decided to not even listen to his own advice, resulting in his releasing of Ramirez on May 21st. Since being released from JRod’s fantasy team, Alexei Ramirez has found a home hitting in the #2 hole and has gone 8-20 with 2 HRs, 6 RBI, 6 R, and 2 SB. For the season, Ramirez has overcome his putrid start to now have respectable totals for a second baseman of .243, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 14 R, and 8 SB, and obviously he is trending sharply upward.

N.U.T.S.A.C. would like to extend its most heartfelt congratulations to JRod for not only dropping a player with significant more upside than his current second baseman (Alberto Callapso of the Royals) but also for giving up on one of his favorite players in May. Nothing defines “douche” quite like that.

In related news, Lifetime Douchechievement Award winner recipient Jay Mariotti extends his most heartfelt congratulations to JRod.

“Well, I can’t say that I am pleased or proud to be winning this award,” JRod said in a statement. “However, I would like to state for the record that I held onto Alexei Ramirez in two other leagues and have reaped the fruits of Alexei’s success this week. Plus, I would be remiss if I did not point out that one of my motivating factors in dropping Alexei was the knowledge that each year I drop a player and he goes on to post incredible numbers the rest of the season. I was hopeful that by releasing Alexei it would help to turn his season around – which it did, almost immediately.”

After learning of JRod’s statement, N.U.T.S.A.C. has decided to also award him with next week’s Douche Award for using the phrase “reaped the fruits” and for making up a stupid excuse to rationalize his indefensible release of a ridiculously talented player on his own favorite team with a history of slow starts. To be fair, the fantasy team in question does currently sit in first place (thanks to lucky later round picks of Adrian Gonzalez, Jason Bay, and Raul Ibanez) but how soon will that last with such a moronic loose cannon at the helm?

Congratulations JRod. You are this week’s N.U.T.S.A.C. Fantasy Baseball Douche.

———-

Okay, moving along now.

After a horrific 9-day stretch during which the White Sox went 1-7 and began to fall deep into the depths of the AL Central standings, the team rebounded for an absolutely necessary 5-2 week that got the Sox within 4 games of .500. Of course, this is the White Sox, so it was a 5-2 record unlike many you will see. The 5 wins included a 17-3 thrashing of the Angels last night, a series win against division rival Minnesota, and two straight shutouts against Pittsburgh in Interleague Play.

Amazingly, the two straight shutouts of the Pirates came immediately after the White Sox gave up 20 runs in a loss to the Twins. And the Sox other loss was a heartbreaking 4-3 defeat in the final game of the Pittsburgh series when Bobby Jenks blew the save. The inability of the White Sox to close out a sweep, or win the final game of a series, continues a disturbing trend. Thus far in 2009 the White Sox are 4-11 in the last game of a series. I guess that means no coffee for the White Sox.

Still, 5-2 is 5-2 and right now the White Sox and their fans will take any signs of life and positivity they can get. Last night’s 17-run explosion was certainly a sign of life, and hopefully it will continue. This season is far from over, with the White Sox 5.5 games out of the first place and only 1.5 games back of 2nd place Kansas City. Obviously with plenty of games left against Detroit and the rest of the AL Central remaining, nothing has been decided. And the White Sox veteran core is proving more and more every year that they don’t get hot until the weather warms up, so perhaps this kind of start is what we should have expected.

Of course, not everything was birthday cakes and butterflies last night. Struggling but ultra-important left fielder Carlos Quentin got hurt…again…after doubling in a run in the first inning. He was limping badly after feeling a pop in his sore foot and had to be helped off the field. The reports on Chisox.com actually sound pretty positive though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed:

That pop cost Quentin the rest of the game and probably the remainder of this three-game set at Angel Stadium. But surprisingly, the injury might not be as bad as it sounds.

“Supposedly, from what I understand from [White Sox athletic trainer Herm Schneider], it is a good thing,” said White Sox bench coach Joey Cora, serving as manager in Ozzie Guillen’s absence. “But we’ll find out [tomorrow].”

By tomorrow, of course, they mean today. I’ll be scouring for news and will update if anything more is known about TCQ’s injury.

In other White Sox news…

Clayton Richard moving back to the bullpen once Jose Contreras is ready to rejoin the club may not be a foregone conclusion; nor should it be. Clayton has pitched very well over the past couple of weeks since being moved into the rotation, and he is a purported building block for the future.

I love Jose Contreras, but his ERAs from 2007-2009 (through 6 starts) are 5.57, 4.54, 8.19. He just has not been the same since being one of the most dominant pitchers in the league through the first half of 2006. I think that Ozzie needs to decide whether he will move forward with Contreras or Colon, but leave Clayton Richard alone. (And when I say “leave Clayton Richard alone”, I mean in regards to his rotation spot…not Ozzie’s apparent propensity for fondling the strapping youngster’s pecs. We should really do a caption contest for the pic to the right…) And if Richard begins to struggle, we can always plug the odd man out between Colon and Contreras back in. Regardless of how Ozzie juggles it, I want to see Richard show what he can do with consistent starts.

Congratulations to Jim Thome for passing Mike Schmidt and taking ahold of the 13th spot on the all-time home run list. I was not a fan of Jim Thome before he got to the White Sox and it took me awhile to warm up to him once he got here, but his homer in the 1-0 victory over Minnesota in last year’s one-game playoff earned him my appreciation. Way to go Jim.

Colon faces Joe Saunders tonight at 9:05 CDT on WCIU. Hopefully we can make it 6 out of 8.

The White Sox left fielder was scratched from yesterday’s game against the Indians (finally a White Sox winner!) after informing Ozzie Guillen that a sore left heel has been bothering him for a few days. With an off day on Thursday followed by an important series against the Blue Jays, Quentin will rest today while his teammates try to take the rubber match from the worst team in baseball.

And with the best left-hander in the AL Central (Mark Buehrle) going up against the most fraudulent, flash-in-the-pan Cy Young winner (Cliff Lee) since…well, probably ever, I am hoping that Quentin will not be missed this afternoon. With Jim Thome providing his usual pop when playing at Jacobs Field, the Sox should be okay, at least in theory.

Anyway, the Quentin injury touched off a bit of controversy in the White Sox clubhouse as Ozzie Guillen seemed none too pleased that Quentin kept the injury from him. We all know that Quentin is tough as nails and defines the term “gamer”, but we also know that he is injury prone and that the White Sox are not built to withstand any major time lost from their budding star.

Here is Guillen’s quite, courtesy of Joe Cowley’s article from the Sun-Times on the heel injury of Carlos Quentin:

”I wish he would have said he was sore or I wish my players would be a little more open and say how they feel. Just because you have pain, you can’t think, ‘Oh, I want to play. It’s a big series.’ No, I don’t want my players to take it that way. If they don’t think they can be on the field, I would appreciate it if they would let me know. ”

I agree wholeheartedly with Ozzie.

I know that players want to tough injuries out and not seem like complainers, but it’s May. If you want to be a little less forthright come September and October, I can understand it. But for a player as important to his team as Quentin is to the White Sox, it makes much more sense to get whatever rest and treatment is necessary early in the season to ensure that the injury doesn’t linger.

By keeping quiet, Quentin is certainly being tough, but more importantly he is being myopic. No one’s going to question TCQ’s toughness or commitment if he asks out to rest and injury; and while I know he is probably sick of sitting in the dugout injured, at this point in the season it is in his team’s best interest; and at a minimum he needs to have honest communication with his manager.

Hopefully this is a lesson learned, Carlos comes back healthy, and we move on and up the AL Central standings.

Which brings me to my next point.

A few weeks back, I wrote an article proclaiming Carlos Quentin as the 2009 AL MVP after 12 games. (For the record, typing that sentence just now made me feel silly.) The article actually gained a little bit of national attention for MSF as Rob Neyer wrote an entire article in his ESPN blog about Quentin and my thoughts on his budding greatness.

Well, at the time I wrote the article, Carlos Quentin was hitting .302, slugging .814, and had hit 7 homers with 13 RBIs and 11 runs, coming on the heels of his excellent though injury-shortened 2008. If you have been following the White Sox over the last month, you know the pathetic numbers I’m about to cite next. Carlos Quentin is now hitting .237, slugging .482, and has 8 homers, 18 RBIs, and 18 runs.

Ouch.

I can’t take full blame for jinxing Carlos, as other articles were published around the web at that time lauding Quentin as a current and future superstar. And I certainly don’t think he’s been as bad as his numbers suggest. There is no question he has not looked quite as locked in at the plate, but he’s also hit some tough luck line drives right at people and had some solid shots come down right around the warning track. Still though, his precipitous drop in production is a little concerning for White Sox fans, who understand Quentin’s importance to the team.

It is no coincidence that the White Sox began to look like a very ordinary, if not below average, team right about three weeks ago. Without Quentin in the 3-hole doing his best Frank Thomas impression, the White Sox have a very mediocre lineup.

Hopefully when he comes back from the sore heel, Carlos Quentin can resume his MVP-like ways and get the White Sox rolling again. If he does, the White Sox can compete in the AL Central. If he doesn’t, we’re bound to continue looking like the Indians, as we have over the past few weeks; and that’s never a good comparison to have to make.

LF Carlos Quentin, whose importance to the White Sox I explained a few days back, was hit by a pitch on his left hand last night. He was forced to leave the game, immediately conjuring up images of last season in which the Sox star missed the final month of the season with a wrist injury.

Seeing Carlos Quentin pulled the from the game and head to the showers prompted the following text message between me and KVB:

KVB: Damn it TCQ just got drilled on the hand and left the game.

JRod: I saw. It’s on MLB Network. He’ll be okay.

KVB: I hope so.

JRod: He’s magic.

KVB: So is Jenks’ blonde goatee.

—–

Click Here for Great Deals on Chicago White Sox Baseball Tickets from StubHub

—–

Luckily, upon waking up today, it appears that Carlos Quentin will be okay. Mark Gonzalez of the Tribune reported late last night in his Carlos Quentin injury update that Quentin suffered a bruise on his left hand and would be re-evaluated today. Quentin reportedly says he’ll be fine. Joe Cowley, on his Twitter feed, said that Quentin seems fine and it appeared no X-Rays would be necessary.

So I guess we can’t completely exhale, but it’s a hell of a lot better than waking up to news that Quentin will be going on the DL. We could survive without him, but it would be difficult. Despite his current 1-11 skid, Quentin already has 7 HRs and is the anchor of the middle of the order. Hopefully the injury is nothing more than a bruise and at most he just takes a few days off.

In other White Sox news, could Alexei Ramirez’s spot in the starting lineup, or even with the big league club, be in jeopardy? Jow Cowley reported last night that Jayson Nix has been playing SS at both AA and AAA during his rehab assignment and will have to either be called up or sent through waivers once he is declared healthy. Cowley speculates that if Alexei continues to struggle, Nix could supplant Cuban Missile at SS while Alexei zips off to Charlotte to get well.

I don’t think anyone doubts that Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox are committed to Alexei Ramirez long-term, nor does anyone doubt that Alexei has the talent to be a top-flight middle infielder in the big leagues. I obviously would not like to see him get sent down, but I’d rather have him get right. Still, I think he deserves a few more weeks to work things out in the bigs. If his April struggles continue into mid-May, I’ll start to worry. Alexei started slow last year too, and is having to make sophomore adjustments. We all know the offense needs Alexei to pick it up, but I am a proponent of patience with the Cuban Missile. Hopefully the White Sox are too.

As I was driving into work today, I was trying to think about what kind of post I should do. And all I found myself thinking about was Carlos Quentin his fast start in 2009. Then, I check my inbox, and there is an email from MSF’s good friend Josh Q. Public. The subject: “Welcome to the Carlos Quentin Era.”

Hell. Yes. Glad and excited to be here.

Go ahead and check out the Josh Q. Public post on why Carlos Quentin is awesome. Then come back and I’ll tell you why I wholeheartedly agree.

Carlos Quentin’s greatness begins with attitude and it ends with production, and includes all the many intangibles and components for a successful baseball player in between, not the least of which is his remarkable intensity on a daily basis. Of course, as we all know, that intensity can also be a weakness if left unchecked, as TCQ would have been a shoo-in to win the AL MVP award last year had he not cost himself the award by breaking his wrist punching his bat after fouling off a Cliff Lee pitch.

In 2009, Carlos seems to be on a mission to claim what should have been his in 2008.

So far this year, Carlos has put his name right atop the AL MVP watch list in the early going by proving that not only is his wrist fully recovered, and that not only was last year far from a fluke, but that he is capable of being the youthful heart and soul of a talented, veteran-laden, championship-level ball club.

In 2008, Carlos Quentin hit .288 and slugged .571. He also jacked 36 bombs, knocked in 100, scored 96, and did it all in only 130 games. And any White Sox fan who followed the team last year will tell you that those numbers do not even begin to describe how valuable Quentin was to the White Sox. With the entire team mired in a horrible offensive slump to start the year, Quentin literally carried the club and kept it afloat (along with solid pitching). His home runs always seemed to be in clutch moments when the team needed a lift.

In his first 12 games in 2009, TCQ is hitting .302, slugging .814, has 7 homers, 13 RBIs, and 11 runs. As Josh Q. Public stated in his post, Quentin tied Jim Thome’s club record for most home runs hit in the first 12 games of a season. The White Sox are 7-5 and tied atop the ultra-competitve AL Central with the Royals and Tigers. Luckily for Quentin, teammates like Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye are actually hitting to start this season. Whether or not these grizzled vets can keep it up (I think they will), Sox fans can take solace in one thing: Quentin will.

And seriously, think about this right now (as I did driving in this morning): if the entire American League dumped every player into a draft pool and redrafted, how many players would be picked ahead of Carlos Quentin?

Would you take ARod, with his age, his recent injury history, clutch failures, plus all the drama, over Quentin?

Certainly guys like Miguel Cabrera, Josh Hamilton, Dustin Pedroia, Roy Halladay, C.C. Sabathia, Grady Sizemore, Mark Teixeira, and Ian Kinsler would be in the discussion near the top of such a hypothetical draft, based on their talent and production. But Carlos Quentin is without question among the top handful of players in the American League. Start assessing each player’s value to his respective team and I think TCQ inches closer and closer to the very top.

And you can say that I’m biased, but I know this: over his last 142 games, no player in the AL has been better than Carlos Quentin.

The only negative that can be said about Quentin is that he has durability issues. In three Major League seasons, he has played 57, 81, and 130 games. But if the former first round pick of the Diamondbacks can keep that trend going upward, he will undoubtedly enter the upper echelon of baseball stardom this season.

Ever since the glory days of Frank Thomas, the White Sox have been searching for the next true offensive superstar to carry baseball on the South Side. Vets past and present like Carlos Lee, Konerko, Thome, and Dye have all had their moments of stardom in the midst of very productive South Side tenures. And Mark Buehrle is the underappreciated anchor of what is consistently the most underrated pitching staff in the Major Leagues. But Carlos Quentin is the first player this decade other than Magglio Ordonez to truly remind White Sox fans of what it was like when a slim and trim (relatively speaking) Big Hurt was one of the most feared hitters in the game.

Carlos Quentin is approaching that level, and doing it with the kind of work ethic and first class attitude on and off the field that makes all White Sox fans proud to call him our own. Josh Q. Public is right: we are in The Carlos Quentin Era.

There is no telling how far he could have carried the White Sox last year had he not injured himself in September. With a healthy TCQ for 162 games this year, you’d have a hard time convincing me that the White Sox are not one of the two or three most likely teams to end up in the 2009 World Series.

And this much I’ll predict right now, after completely overestimating the potential lingering effects of Quentin’s offseason wrist surgey: if The Carlos Quentin stays healthy this season, he will be The MVP of the American League in 2009 — taking home the first of what could be many MVP awards, and claiming what should have been his last year.

Update: Little did I know when I wrote this that it would lead to an MSF first: our first ever link and mention at an actual ESPN.com writer’s blog.  Rob Neyer, one of the most statistically astute baseball writers anywhere, picked up on our Carlos Quentin article earlier this evening and used it to lead into his own discussion of Quentin’s 2008 season and his prospects for 2009.  He also rightfully called me out for my blunder above, where I violated my own pet peeve and screwed up the usage of literally/figuratively.  Nice timing by me, huh?

Anyway, check out Rob Neyer’s colum on TCQ:

Carlos Quentin Aiming for MVP — (SweetSpot blog by Rob Neyer, ESPN.com)

**********

Other Carlos Quentin articles from today:

Cerebral Quentin puts team first — (Scott Merkin, MLB.com)

Three’s a charm for Carlos Quentin — (Mark Gonzalez, Tribune)

And that is exactly what Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko did today against the Detroit Tigers, as two of the heroes of the White Sox 2005 World Series team proved that they are still on top of their game. Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye hit back-to-back homeruns, the 300th career homerun for each, in the 2nd inning of Tigers starter Zach Miner. It marks the first time in Major League Baseball history that two teammates reached a century milestone in back-to-back at bats.

I cannot wait to hear Hawk Harrelson’s calls of these two jacks.

And, of course, not to be outdone, Carlos Quentin went 4-5 and jacked two dingers today, his 3rd and 4th of the season, putting to rest the Spring Training whispers that Quentin’s power may be slow in returning after his wrist injury last season. (What idiot would say that?) Something tells me Carlos Quentin will be the next White Sox player to reach 300 homeruns. Just a hunch.

After today’s 10-6 White Sox victory, the first of the season for starter Gavin Floyd (1-1), the White Sox are all alone in first place in the AL Central at 4-3, a half game up on the Tigers, pending the result of the Royals-Indians game later today.

Update: I didn’t get a chance to watch today’s game, but I just read that Dewayne Wise separated his shoulder and will be out indefinitely. Brian Anderson will obviously be getting more ABs in Wise’s absence.

Click here for great deals on White Sox Tickets

Projected Batting Order from Whitesox.com :

1. CF Jerry Owens:
.276 BA, .346 OBP, 30 SB at AAA Charlotte in 2008 (2007 MLB: 356 AB, .267 BA, .324 OBP, 32 SB, )
2. C A.J. Pierzynski:
.281 BA, 13 HR, 60 RBI in 2008
3. LF Carlos Quentin:
.288 BA, 36 HR, 100 RBI, .394 OBP, .571 SLG in 2008
4. DH Jim Thome:
.245 BA, 34 HR, 90 RBI, .362 OBP, .503 SLG in 2008
5. RF Jermaine Dye:
.292 BA, 34 HR, 96 RBI, 41 2B, .541 SLG in 2008
6. 1B Paul Konerko:
.240 BA, 22 HR, 62 RBI in 2008
7. SS Alexei Ramirez:
.290 BA, 21 HR, 77 RBI, 13 SB in 2008
8. 3B Josh Fields:
.246 BA, 10 HR, 35 RBI for Charlotte in 2008 (2007 MLB: 373 AB, .244 BA, 23 HR, 67 RBI, .958 FPCT)
9. 2B Chris Getz:
.302 BA, 11 HR, 52 RBI, 11 SB for Charlotte in 2008

There is nothing wrong with this projection. Center Field and Second Base are the only positions up in the air and will be decided by Ozzie during spring training. The only other CF options are veterans Brian Anderson with Dewayne Wise being the underdog and fan favorite. One of the two will make the team regardless.

At 2B the options are young or experienced. Besides Getz, Wilson Betemit will get a look as he came from the Yankees in the Swisher trade. In this Baseball-Reference.com link Betemit’s seven year career stats are compared to that of Joe Crede (he gone) who was missing from the lineup more than half of the games in 07 and 08. This also opened the door for Josh Fields getting a solid 100 of major league experience in 2007. But back to Betemit specifically, he could easily get a lot of time if the inexperienced Getz doesn’t impress Ozzie. Though there is a lot of confidence verbally from Ozzie already. Whoever has the better glove in spring training will start the season.

Projected rotation from WhiteSox.com :

1. Mark Buehrle, 15-12, 3.79 ERA in 2008
2. Gavin Floyd, 17-8, 3.84 ERA in 2008
3. John Danks, 12-9, 3.32 ERA in 2008
4. Bartolo Colon, 4-2, 3.92 ERA with Red Sox in 2008
5. Clayton Richard, 2-5, 6.04 ERA in 2008

The pitching staff is closer to being in order after the Bartolo Colon signing by GM Ken Williams. Mark Buerhle is still the number one and has been for some time. Gavin “Pretty Boy” Floyd and John Danks look to improve on stellar 2008 campaigns. Both youngsters were the main reasons “The Good Guys” even made the playoffs last year.

The fifth position with Clayton Richard could be good enough if the former Michigan quarterback can get more strikeouts and give up less base hits. If that doesn’t hold to be true in his first full season in the majors you might see Jose Contreras be the man if his ruptured achilles is healed by the All-Star break.

Aaron Poreda is one of the challengers if Richard doesn’t impress in spring training or catches the injury bug. Poreda is looked at as one of the best pitching prospects in the organization and also the biggest ( 6’6″ 240 lbs). He just turned 22 years old in October and has a dominant stat line after a short 2007 in rookie league and a 2008 season in single and double A: 2.69 ERA 1.09 WHIP 207.1 IP 166 K and only 7 home runs given up in that span.

Pitchers and catchers will report Sunday February 15th so the season is fast approaching. I would say I have the White Sox finishing in first place this year but that wouldn’t be different then any other year. GO GO WHITE SOX!

So I decided to wait until the morning, and as crushing as last night’s loss was, I still feel pretty positive about the White Sox. I certainly feel positive about this season. As I recall, most of the pundits were picking the White Sox to finish 3rd or 4th in the division. Cleveland and Detroit were the “it” teams in the offseason. Way to step it up Indians and Tigers. I remember talking with KVB at the start of the year, recalling how every time the White Sox are picked to do nothing we end up having a good season: 2000, 2005, 2008, just name a few seasons. With the additions of Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera I thought this team could be better. And it was, because we all remember how God-awful 2007 was.

And even though the White Sox flamed out in the first round, with a 1-3 series loss to the upstart Tampa Bay Rays, I consider this season to be resounding success. Here are three key reasons why:

1. We found some young pitchers to build around in Gavin Floyd and John Danks. Mark Buehrle is and will continue to be the ace of our pitching staff. Javier Vazquez? Who knows. He’s a good April-June pitcher, but the ‘ol sphincter starts to tighten once the games get more important and I’m just not sure we can trust him to win game games. I don’t know what the report is on Jose Contreras, but I certainly hope he is back healthy at some point next year. With question marks surrounding Javy and Jose Contreras, just think where we would be without the emergence of Gavin Floyd and John Danks. These two guys proved that they can be reliable starters over a 162-game season, and that they have the ability (although Gavin did not show it yesterday) to step in clutch situations. I feel good about Buehrle-Floyd-Danks topping our rotation moving forward. And I would not be shocked to see Clayton Richard in the rotation or pitching key relief innings next year. I like him, and he showed me a little something down the stretch and in the playoffs.
2. Carlos Quentin. The White Sox found their next superstar, and this guy was the runaway MVP if he doesn’t get hurt. I think the injury will give him extra motivation next year, and he’ll have another strong season. He’s young, he’s tough, he’s clutch, and he is just a solid all-around player. The South Side will continue to fall in love with this kid for years.
3. Alexei Ramirez. He will most likely be manning the shortstop next year, and proved that his success with the bat in Cuba could translate to the majors. I’d love to see his combination of speed and power higher up in the order, but he may be best served hitting 6th or 7th to drive in our slow boppers in the middle of the order. The negative is that they can clog the bases for Alexei. Either way, Alexei Ramirez is special and someone to build around.

(I know I said three reasons, but let me add more: Matt Thornton. He had a great season and provided stability to a sometimes shaky bullpen. I hope we lock him up longterm because worst-case-scenario he is a superb specialist to get lefties. The best and more probable case is that he is bridging the 8th inning gap to Bobby Jenks for the next few years).

You will notice a theme in all of the aforementioned reasons why I consider 2008 to be a successful season for the AL Central Champion Chicago White Sox: they are positive signs for the future. I think our franchise is set up pretty well to match or exceed this year’s success next season. We have a GM in Ken Williams who is committed to doing whatever it takes and taking smart chances (Danks for McCarthy, Floyd for Garcia, Quentin for peanuts, signing Alexei) to improve our team. We have a manager who is dynamic, more cunning and smart that people give him credit for, who can adjust his style to match his team, who has the respect of the veterans, and who has proven is ability already with a World Series title. We also have an owner in Jerry Reinsdorf who has proven he will step up to the plate and spend money to field a winning team. And, finally, with a solid stable of veterans who have at least 1-2 more years of solid play while bridging the gap to the future with young guys and newcomers over the next few seasons.

No doubt there will changes for the White Sox in 2009. Orlando Cabrera will likely be gone, as will Ken Griffey Jr. 2005 stalwarts and South Side veterans Joe Crede and Juan Uribe will probably be gone too. Javier Vazquez? I don’t know his contract situation be it seems to me that it would be hard for him to stay around with his last season failures and the lack of the confidence Ozzie has in him. And one can only hope that Boone Logan and Ehren Wasserman are no longer taking the ball and toeing the rubber at U.S. Cellular Field for the White Sox ever again. Nick Swisher’s role on next year’s team seems to be up in the air. Harold Reynolds made a good point yesterday about Swisher being an energy guy and a switch-hitter, and that this predisposes him to needing regular playing time to be effective. I agree. I’d love to see a role for Swish on next year’s team because he quickly became one of my favorites when he joined the team.

Who will be brought in? We shall see. Probably a speedy centerfielder who can hit a little bit. It will be interesting to see if guys like Chris Getz, Gordan Beckham, Josh Fields, Lance Broadway, etc step into regular roles at any point next year. And let’s not put it past Ken Williams to find a diamond in the rough somewhere along the way in the offseason that turns into a star. At this point last year, who would have thought that Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez would be looked at as cornerstones for the future?

The 2008 season ended with a disappointing 6-2 whimper from the White Sox last night at U.S. Cellular Field, but it came on the heels of one of the most exciting 7-day stretches in the history of White Sox baseball. Let’s not lose sight of that Sox fans. The seasons is over, but it was a great and successful season that will result in some sort of banner or flag flying in U.S. Cellular Field forever proclaiming this team as 2008 AL Central Champions. In a season in which we supposed to finish 3rd, our best player was hurt for the final month of the season, our other All-Star was hurt and non-existent after the break, and in which we were completely one-dimensional offensively, being able to call yourself one of six division champions in baseball is nothing to take lightly.

Congratulations on a great 2008 White Sox. I am already looking forward to a successful 2009.

And Sox fans, even though today is rough, remember: at least you aren’t a Cubs fan!

[tags]chicago white sox, baseball, mlb[/tags]