Series Preview: Chicago White Sox

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Current Series

4 game series vs White Sox @ Metrodome

Chicago White Sox South Side Sox @ Minnesota Twins Twinkie Town Monday, Jul 28, 2008, 8:10 PM EDT Metrodome Mark Buehrle vs Kevin Slowey   Complete Coverage >
Tue 07/29	clayton richard vs glen perkins	8:10 PM EDT
Wed 07/30	gavin floyd vs livan hernandez	8:10 PM EDT
Thu 07/31	john danks vs scott baker	8:10 PM EDT

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Going In, In Brief

Losers of five in the a row, the Twins (57-47) bounced back over the weekend, taking the final two games in Cleveland to earn their first series win since taking three of four in Detroit prior to the All-Star break.  Minnesota is a team approaching a crossroads for their season, with many intriguing and telling choices to make in the coming weeks.  There's the ongoing hush-hush about third base, but there are plenty of questions inside the organization as well:  the outfield is full with Michael Cuddyer on his way back, veterans are taking up dollars and roster spots from younger players who are out-performing them, the the back end of the bullpen might be getting an overhaul very soon.

In the south side of Chicago (59-44), the White Sox have been one game better than the Twins since the break.  While Minnesota can thank timely hitting and great starting pitching for a good part of their winning streak, the Sox are in their position by overpowering the opposition on both sides of the ball.  Five hitters with double-digit home run totals, and Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye have 51 between them, while a pitching staff led by Mark Buehrle, John Danks and Gavin Floyd is one of the league's best.  Their weak spot, if they have one, is the bullpen after the loss of Scott Linebrink.  Getting to the bullpen early to avoid the three-headed monster of Jenks-Dotel-Thornton will be key.

Probable Pitchers

Mark Buehrle VS Kevin Slowey
Clayton Richard VS Glen Perkins
Gavin Floyd VS Livan Hernandez
John Danks VS Scott Baker

Opposition Focus

Mark Buehrle:  While he may have or may have not sold his soul to the devil, you can't argue with results--over his last 10 starts, Buehrle's ERA is 1.99.  It's definitely a Return of the Jedi battle on Monday night, as the Twins dominated the southpaw on May 7th but were struck down by the Dark Side of the Force on June 7th.  Round three, this time on Minnesota's home turf, will be one to watch.  If there's one stat that should make us optimistic, it's that Buehrle has been more hittable on the road (.300/.336/.436) than he has been in the comforts of the home ballpark (.233/.290/.374).

Clayton Richard:  The 24-year old left-hander had his first major league start on July 23, throwing 85 pitches in four innings versus the Texas Rangers.  He struck out seven and only walked one, but he also allowed seven hits and five runs.  It wasn't the best debut, but there was promise, and his team bailed him out of a loss.  At any rate, he's an extreme ground ball pitcher, acquiring percentages of 57, 65, 58, 52 and 61 at every stop in the minors since A-level in '06.  For his minor league career, he doesn't strike out a lot of guys, has decent control, and his 91-mph fastball can have a little sink to it.  Otherwise, he's strictly curveball/changeup.  If the Twins aren't careful, he could chew them up.

Gavin Floyd:  At just 25, Floyd is in his fifth year in the big leagues, and suffice it to say this is the knid of season everyone's been expecting him to have.  The biggest reason for his success is the drastic reduction in his home run rates.  Only 11.6% of his fly balls have been home runs this season, which isn't great, but it's much better than his 17.7% mark in '07 or his 19.7% mark in '06.  As a result he's been able to limit his damage this season, without getting more strikeouts, fewer walks or more ground balls.  One thing to keep in mind, however, is that his FIP and xFIP are well more than one full run higher than his ERA of 3.57, indicating that he's A) been lucky on balls in play and B) is likely to regress hard to the mean.  We'll see how he does on Tuesday, but it should be noted that in three starts versus the Twins this year he's done very well:  21.1 IP, 12 H, 2 HR, 6 R, 7 BB, 14 K.

John Danks:  Just 23 in April, Danks is enjoying a very successful sophomore campaign with the South Siders.  It's easy to see why:  better strikeout rates, better walk rates, home run rates cut in half, more gound balls, static line drive ratios and he's leaving more men on base.  Deciphering that formula is easy:  Danks is much better than he was in 2007.  He throws a good cut fastball now, in addition to the fastball/curveball/changeup/slider repetoire.  Also, he's been better on the road, and he handles right-handed hitters extremely well.  If there's one chink in his armor right now, it's that he's come undone a bit in his last three starts, totaling 17.2 innings with 15 runs and 24 hits.  He's still getting strikeouts and limiting walks, however, so it might be that he's just leaving the ball over the plate a bit too often.  That, or he's been unlucky.  Let's hope for the former.

Josh Fields:  With Joe Crede on the disabled list, Fields is back in black.  Last season, at 24, he filled in with good power in Crede's absence at the hot corner, but struggling with contact and plate discipline was sent back to triple-A when the Sox couldn't (or didn't want to) trade Crede.  In triple-A Charlotte, Fields hasn't faired awfully well this summer, but not horrible either:  .248/.325/.450 in 222 at-bats, with 12 doubles, nine homers, 25 walks and 77 strikeouts.  He has his weaknesses, so as long as Twins pitchers stay out of his wheelhouse they should be able to keep him under wraps.

Paul Konerko:  An old nemesis, the 32-year old first baseman has struggled mightily since returning from the disabled list in early July, hitting just .218/.283/.309.  He's having an off-season from start to finish, but he's liable to go off at any time.  Konerko is a hitter that shouldn't be ignored.

Carlos Quentin:  He turns 26 in August, and the guy just oozes talent.  There's a lot of power in his swing (.271 isolated power), and even though he has good plate discipline, if you can mix him up you can get him to expand and go outside of his comfort zone.  Mixing in regular breaking balls (that don't hang, by the way) will be a good idea, and could help keep a fly-ball hitter from hitting one over the fence.

Jim Thome:  He's 37, but he can still slug it with the best of them.  He's hitting .389/.522/.685 since July 8th.

Alexei Ramirez:  He's been Chicago's version of Alexi Casilla, just a bit older with more power and less plate discipline.  We've seen him a couple of times this season already, only once since he became a regular, and he's given the White Sox offense another weapon.  A .355/.381/.527 June and a .347/.363/.533 July have ensured he'll be a fixture for the foreseeable future.  Fortunately, he swings at an absurd number of baseballs, including a disturbing 43.9% of balls outside the strike zone.  Take that, Carlos Gomez!

Stats