For Jon Rauch and Jim Parque, pitching isn’t as much about cut fastballs and sharp breaking curves as it is putting together consistent starts for Charlotte, the White Sox’ Triple-A affiliate.
Rauch seems on his way. He won at Indianapolis on July 11, pitching six scoreless innings while allowing three hits and striking out six. Tuesday he pitched six innings of four-hit, eight-strikeout ball against Buffalo for his fourth victory since the White Sox sent him down May 6. The 6-foot-11-inch right-hander lowered his earned-run average to 4.86.
“Everything is starting to come back,” Rauch said. “I’m getting better command of my pitches, and when that starts you have successful outings.”
Rauch was on the disabled list in June with tightness in his shoulder.
“Right now it’s back to the touch and feel part of the game and trying to stay healthy,” he said. “But I’m also fine-tuning because you lose track of a lot of things when you miss a year.”
Rauch was 16-4 with a 2.66 earned-run average and 187 strikeouts for Class-A Winston Salem and Double-A Birmingham in 2000. He also pitched for the gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team. But his 2001 season ended May 24 when he underwent shoulder surgery.
Parque’s 2001 season also was cut short by a shoulder injury–he underwent surgery for a torn labrum May 15.
Parque’s 2002 season has been one to forget. He was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in nine innings of work for the White Sox and is 5-8 with an ERA just under 8.00 for Charlotte, allowing 144 base runners in 81 innings.
Although the Sox have struggled to fill their rotation behind Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland and Dan Wright, they don’t appear in any hurry to recall Rauch or Parque.
“I don’t think there’s a timetable with either one,” Charlotte manager Nick Capra said. “They need to work through this year, get better and then go into spring training really healthy next year.
“Both of them have shown a great work ethic, but Jimmy needs to learn to pitch a little bit better. He won’t have the velocity back right now, and it may not come back until next year–if it comes back. He needs to locate his fastball and develop his breaking ball and changeup.”
Rauch is 23 and Parque is 26, so at least they have time on their side.
“I’m trying to put the work in down here so the next time I reach the Sox, I won’t come back to Charlotte again,” Rauch said.
