Todd Ritchie pounced when Tony Womack dropped down a bunt toward third base. He fielded the ball, spun and fired it . . . into right field.
Two batters later, Luis Gonzalez crushed a long home run off Ritchie. You have to hand it to the White Sox for consistency this spring, if nothing else.
Their fielding has been brutal. Their pitching has been worse. Their outlook, despite scoring a majors-best 7.8 runs per game, must be downgraded.
When spring training began, it was reasonable to expect both Chicago teams to win 90 games. As fragile as the White Sox’s pitching staff now appears, it is no longer a lock that Chicago’s teams will have back-to-back winning seasons simultaneously for the first time since 1936-37.
I’m dropping the Sox’s over-under on victories to 86. That still could be enough to win the American League Central, which will be the majors’ softest division. But I’d handicap it Minnesota, Sox, Cleveland.
It hasn’t been the greatest of springs for the Cubs either. They have lost closer Tom Gordon indefinitely. But the dominating spring outings by Mark Prior and Juan Cruz suggest their starting pitching will team with Sammy Sosa to force St. Louis and Houston to take them very seriously in the National League Central.
I’ll keep the Cubs’ over-under at 90 victories. But that may not be enough for them to land a playoff spot. The NL Central shapes up like this–St. Louis, Houston and the Cubs.
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In Monday’s 16-13 loss to Arizona, Ritchie and Keith Foulke (in other words, two of the Sox’s three most reliable pitchers) allowed 11 runs between them. Bob Howry, whose role is changing from setup to mop-up, gave up five runs.
“It’s softball out here,” general manager Ken Williams muttered.
There’s something to that theory. Tucson Electric Park is the Coors Field of the Cactus League. At an elevation of 2,600 feet, well, we’ll allow manager Jerry Manuel to provide the description.
“This is probably the last place you’d want to identify pitching,” said Manuel, whose team is 7-13. “The wind blows out, which is very difficult. The infield is very hard. The air is very light. Pitchers’ breaking balls don’t work very well here. . . . It’s a tough thing, psychologically, for pitchers. They don’t get many easy outs here.”
The ultimate spring softball game was played on Sunday at Tucson’s Hi Corbett Field. Arizona beat Colorado 10-9 despite committing 10 errors. Four of those were by shortstop Tim Olson, an import from the Diamondbacks’ minor-league camp who did produce a game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth.
“Anybody can make four errors in a game; try four in an inning,” said Arizona manager Bob Brenly, who managed that feat as an emergency third baseman for San Francisco. “It takes a special kind of athlete to do that.”
Despite the Diamondbacks’ 10-error game, the Sox still lead the majors with 36 errors–a 278-error pace for a season.
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While former USC star Prior is making it an exciting spring for the Cubs, there will be no more crucial player for them in April than the guy who attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. That’s Kyle Farnsworth, who along with old hand Jeff Fassero will have to fill in for Gordon.
Farnsworth’s fastball can hit triple figures on the radar gun, contributing to his ratio of 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings last year, but his career numbers don’t inspire confidence. He’s 3-for-9 in save situations with a 4.76 earned-run average.
For the Sox, the guy most under the microscope is 22-year-old Jon Garland. The ineffectiveness of Jim Parque, who appears headed for the disabled list and rehab in the minors, makes it imperative that Garland, Ritchie and Mark Buehrle give Manuel at least six reliable innings per start.
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The little publicized upside of the Sox’s spring training is the .366 average over 202 at-bats by prospects Willie Harris, Joe Crede, Tim Hummel, Joe Borchard, Mario Valenzuela and Miguel Olivo.
“Oh, so we have more than just pitching in the farm system?” senior scouting director Duane Shaffer asked rhetorically.
Harris and Crede have been the only ones of these 25-and-younger players under consideration for the final roster, and it won’t be a surprise if all six open the season playing for manager Nick Capra at Triple-A Charlotte. The 2003 lineup could include any or all of them–Harris in center field, left field or second base, Crede at third base, Hummel at second or shortstop, Borchard in left or center, Valenzuela in left and Olivo behind the plate.
“They have gained confidence, and that is very big for young players,” Manuel said. “That has been a big plus out of camp. Crede, Harris, Hummel, they have swung the bat well.”
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Both Chicago teams need to make deals to improve their pitching, but neither believes it is in position to add payroll. The Sox, in fact, wouldn’t mind reducing a payroll that is about $57 million, down from $64 million a year ago.
According to major-league sources, they were seriously shopping Howry (owed $1.9 million) before he allowed 19 hits and 12 runs in 9 1/3 innings. If the Sox do make a significant trade, it will be to deal left fielder Carlos Lee for a starting pitcher. Julian Tavarez is the Cub most likely to be relocated.
