Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
September 16, 2005
Upset Guillen

Ozzie Guillen is not happy with the way the White Sox are playing:

There is no sadder statistic and none that tells the story of the sagging White Sox's season better than this:

The Sox started 10-0 against the Royals but are 3-5 since then.

The Royals haven't changed a thing, except managers. They are still the worst scoring team in the American League, the second worst in hitting and the worst in pitching. They are, simply, the major leagues' worst team.

And what does that make the Sox, who just lost two of three here, including Thursday's 7-5 game played on a dark, dreary, drizzling day that matched the mood in the visiting clubhouse?

"We flat-out stink," manager Ozzie Guillen said.

The collaspe the South Siders are on may make people forget the 1978 Red Sox. This is turning into a bigger, lengthier fall than that fabled crash. By this point in the season, the Sox had given up their lead and were playing the Yankees evenly down the stretch. Like that Sox fall, injuries are playing a role in this one as well.

And now, with just 17 games left in the season, there is concern about the arms of Garcia and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and Hermanson's back.

Rookie Brandon McCarthy has been told to be ready to relieve when Hernandez starts Saturday in Minnesota, and he has been told he might start in place of Garcia on Monday in the opener of a three-game series against—gulp—Cleveland.

"It's up to Freddy and Duque how they feel," Guillen said. "If something happens to either, we will put him in the spot."

Guillen has even rethought his rethinking on a six-man rotation. In other words, the pitching is a big question mark, if not a big mess.

What's been the strength of the team all year is now becoming a weakness. They've had a bad turn through the rotation, the starters posting a 8.62 ERA in the last six games.

Now they go to Minnesota while the Indians host the Royals. Odds are the Tribe won't lose any ground before they face each other on Monday.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:16 AM | Team Evaluation | TrackBack (0)
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