Stray Observations in the Middle of May

Sox thoughts... bullet style

• If Viciedo is going to walk at a decent clip, he’ll be a useful baseball player.  Since coming off the DL, he’s walked six times.  He also has 8 hits and 2 home runs. Sure it’s an insanely small sample size, but it’s a really positive sign.

• Adam Dunn isn’t hurting the Sox that much right now. I know this probably isn’t popular, but he’s walking again and the dingers are and probably will continue to happen. We know what we’re getting with Dunn: strikeout, walk or homer. He’s been doing that the last few weeks. Stop complaining/booing.

• Speaking of Unpopular Opinions... Konerko is hurting the Sox more than Dunn.  Also Konerko looks like he might be done as a ballplayer. In almost 150 plate appearances this year, everything is way off his career averages in a bad way: strikeouts up, walks down, power down. I know he’s been banged up a bit, so if this is an injury put him on the DL. But it’s likely it isn’t an injury and we’re watching a 37 year old guy play out his final season in the majors.

• Keppinger has me officially thinking about giving Morel a chance. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Who am I kidding... odds are Keppinger sits when Beckham comes back and we continue to ride the luck of Gillaspie. Which is the right move.

• Chris Sale’s start on Sunday was one of the best pitching performances I’ve ever seen in a White Sox uniform.  His game score of 92 ranked him third in the “One Hitter, No Walks” Performance of Last Week:
• Miller: 98
• Harvey: 97
• Sale: 92
• Lester: 90
• Wainwirght: 89 (true, not a one hitter or non-walk performance but still pretty good)

• While the starting pitching has been great, it should be pointed out that the bullpen hasn’t been nearly as bad as I think most people assume (myself included, bullpen ERA is 3.46). If the hitting comes around, and it’s shown signs of life...

• I don’t think the Sox can or will catch the Tigers.  But the struggles of the AL West (ie the Angels) does leave a wildcard possibility depending on how the next few weeks ago.  The loss of Floyd really does hurt the Sox chances, but if Danks can return even somewhat effective in the next three weeks, let’s just say crazier things have happened.  But yeah, let’s get to .500 before I start actually mapping out wild card scenarios.