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Gracious Stevo...fixed the error.

Strong Pitching Carries Barons By Jason Gage April 27, 2004 FutureSox.com The first month of the season is nearly over with the Barons sitting atop the Southern League Western Division with a 9-7 record. The Barons, who are managed by new skipper, Razor Shines, have been carried by strong starting pitching and a good bullpen. The Barons rotation is led by Arnaldo Munoz, Heath Phillips, and Testsu Yofu. Munoz was moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation this season. It doesn’t appear the move was done to stretch Munoz out, but to make him put less focus on his curveball and more focus on his secondary pitches, which should make him a stronger reliever in the long run. The early returns have been exceptional; Munoz is 3-0 with a 1.56 ERA in 3 starts and has surrendered 10 hits in 17.1 innings of work while striking out 16. Phillips, another lefty, is putting his name back on the prospect charts, after a rough 2003, which he started in extended spring training. Phillips is 3-0 with a 1.65 ERA and has drawn comparisons in the past to Sox lefty, Mark Buehrle. Right hander Tetsu Yofu, who remains on the rotation from last season, has also dominated going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA. Yofu throws numerous pitches and is due for a call up to Charlotte. Ryan Meaux, another lefty, is following a similar path as Munoz. He is joining the rotation this season after pitching predominantly as a closer for the Sox. Meaux (1-1) has made the jump well, while posting a pedestrian (note, the sarcasm) 3.94 ERA in 3 starts. It is unclear whether Meaux has been moved for the same reasons as Munoz, but either way he has pitched well. The only weak point of the Barons rotation has been the fifth spot, which was vacated by ace Kris Honel, who has been placed on the disabled list with soreness in his arm, after leaving his first start early. Wyatt Allen, Jim Bullard, and Dennis Ulacia have all made spot starts; all but Ulacia struggled. Closer Jeff Bajenaru has been lights out with a lead. He has 2 saves and a 1.17 ERA while striking out 13 in 7.2 innings of work. Bajernaru should be pitching in Charlotte shortly. Brian McNichol, Matt Smith, and Jim Bullard (minus his spot-start) have also excelled out of the bullpen. Offensively the Barons have been led by shortstop Michael Morse (.327 AVG, 4 HR, 9 RBI), first baseman Aaron McNeal (.273 AVG, 6 HR, 12 RBI), centerfield Michael Spidale (.300 AVG) and second baseman Ruddy Yan (.270 AVG). The play of Michael Morse and Aaron McNeal has been surprising and if Yan and Spidale continue to heat up, the offense should become more potent. Both Yan and Spidale can create runs with their speed, and manager Razor Shines is awful familiar with that, after spending last season with the pair in Winston Salem. On the Horizon: The Barons should only get better as Kris Honel and Ryan Wing return from stints on the disabled list. Both pitchers have excelled throughout their minor league careers and are arguably the best pitching prospects in the organization. Wing was expected to miss the first month of the season and should return sometime in May. Honel, who was just placed on the disabled list, should also make his return soon. Ruddy Yan is recovering from a shoulder injury which slowed him down out of the gate, but look for him to get off to the races soon enough. This is a kid who stole 76 and 88 bases the past two seasons. Up Next: April 27-30 @ West Tennessee (Cubs) May 1-4 vs. Chattanooga (Reds) May 6-9 @ Mobile (Padres) Note: All Stats are as of April 26, 2004

Tisch pitched solid. He only gave up 2 runs on 7 hits.

Cerb, if you read this, you aught to get your butt to this game.

My question goes kind of in line with Donkey's. Felix, what has been the biggest change between this year and last year and what do you feel you still have to work on. Jeremy: Do you look at the major league team and see that they have a need for a 2 hole hitter, or do you more look away from that and just focus on the game knowing that it will sell yourself?

Alex is going to be doing a little something for FutureSox and we have contacts with all of the minor league teams Without their support we couldn't do near the job we do. I'm very appreciative to all of the minor league teams, all of them treat us great and are very receptive.

Knights In the Midst of a Slump on the Field By Andrew Dunn April 26, 2004 FutureSox.com Near the end of the first month of the 2004 season, the Charlotte Knights find themselves in the midst of a 5 game losing streak. Currently they are 7-10, but, they are only 3 games behind the International League South leading Durham and Richmond. Despite their lack of success on the field at this present time, there have been many positives from players early in the season. Offensively, Jeremy Reed has been leading the way. Jeremy is leading the team in batting average (.349) and stolen bases (5). Reed has recently been moved to the leadoff spot for the Knights, and with the lack of production from Willie Harris in Chicago, Reed could find himself leading off for the Sox and playing centerfield. The big surprise so far for Charlotte has been the stellar play of Bryant Nelson, who was signed to a minor league deal after spending the previous year in Japan. Nelson has been moved from the leadoff spot to the number 3 spot in the lineup to take advantage of his surprising power. He leads the team in home runs (3), runs (12), runs batted in (12), hits (23) and slugging percentage (.529). Nelson is emulating the season of last year’s second baseman Aaron Miles who finds himself competing for the second base job with Luis Gonzalez in Colorado. The Knights offense, minus Reed and Nelson has struggled to muster up any consistent attack. Former star prospect Joe Borchard has had another disappointing start. He is hitting .238 with 2 home runs and a 7/14 BB/K ratio. Joe’s play has picked up in the last few games and hopefully he can continue it for the rest of the season. Jamie Burke who was very unlucky not to be part of the 25 man roster in Chicago is hitting .250. Many of the Knights infielders are having trouble getting on base; especially Bobby Smith and Mike Bell who have 17 K’s and 12 K’s respectively and both are hitting below .235. Charlotte’s starting rotation has been the most impressive aspect of the Knights play so far, with Felix Diaz the stand out. Diaz is undefeated with a 3-0 record and a 2.59 ERA. He also leads Charlotte with 21 strikeouts and innings pitched with 24.1 in 4 appearances. If Felix continues to pitch well, he will put a lot of pressure on the White Sox hierarchy to promote him, possibly as the 5th starter where Dan Wright hasn’t had the best start. Jon Rauch and Jason Grilli have also been impressive with their strikeouts (19 and 17), although both have fairly high ERA’s over 4. Ryan Kohleimer has been the surprise starter in the Knights rotation with a 2.76 ERA in 3 appearances. Jose Santiago has been leading the way in the bullpen with a team low ERA of 1.64 in 6 games. He also shares the team high in saves of 2 with Gary Majewski, who has been roughed up early on. Kelly Wunsch, who is scheduled to complete a 30 day rehabilitation assignment with the Knights, has pitched in 3 games with an ERA of 6.75. Vic Darensbourg leads the Knights bullpen in appearances with 9, and former Cub Courtney Duncan is the only reliever to pick up a win. Charlotte may have had a disappointing start to the season, but they will be looking to force their way back up to the top of the division In order to do this, the Knights need to hit better and give support to Jeremy Reed and Bryant Nelson who are playing lone hands so far. Joe Borchard and Jamie Burke are 2 players who should improve as the season continues. The Knights also lost one of their better hitters from a season ago, Mike Rivera, to the Oakland A’s. He was claimed when the Sox removed Rivera from the 40 man roster. The starting rotation has pitched well enough and should only get better, but it will have to carry the team. Upcoming Schedule: April 26-27 vs Norfolk April 28-29 vs Richmond April 30 – May 3 vs Louisville May 4 – 7 vs Indianapolis

Went with a B, would of been a high B if they picked Josh Harris.

Big Bad Ben Roethlesberger. I think Rivers will be the 2nd best of the 1st round picks. ELI = Dissapointment

IB is like AP/Honors programs. A friend of mine was in it during high school for a bit. Not me, I stuck with the all regular class approach, lol. Worked fine for me, I got a 3.8 in college so far

Thats one of my favorite shows. Is tonights episode funny steve?

Saw it a few days ago and s*** was that a badass movie. It was just as good as the first in my book. Some awesome action scense and all in all it was just a very good film. Highly Recommended

He's still got a lot to work on though guys.

To me Uribe is almost like Tejada. He's nowhere near that level yet, but he's got a similar look, both in the field and at the plate. I think Uribe will get plenty of time when he's back, playing for Jose, Willie and Crede. Right now I want Willie playing though. I'm glad him and Juan will get a lot of playing time.

You brought him good luck; he hit his 1st homer of the season today.

Trust me, Willie, thats just sarcasm. Its also kind of a sign for respect for Reed.

Bull pitched good, but he made a costly 3 run error in the game. Rodriguez is pretty talented. Off the top of my head I'm thinking he has a good curve and a low 90's fastball with some life to it. His other pitchers are still pretty raw, but he's doing very well considernig he was out all of last season. Prior to the injury he looked like a guy with a very high ceiling and it looks like he's still that guy.

I was really pissed, but fact is, if it wasn't for a great play by Eduardo Perez (How he blocked Lee) it wouldn't of even been close. Lee was back in plenty of time, he just couldn't get his hand past Perez's knee. Now I see a few people saying its not allowed. It may not be, could be interference. Then again, how would it be any different from a catcher blocking the plate, unless they aren't allowed to until they have the ball. IT could be one of those things that is just never called. I was so pissed though when it happened.

Crede is our 3rd baseman. Gload isn't capable of handling the spot. That type of transition would be very tough, especially for a left hander, since they couldn't go to the hole. Yes, they would be good at shots down the line, but thats about it, but it would be awful hard to range to the hole between short and 3rd.

Hell ya...that was awesome..absolutely awesome. I was so pissed when Carlos got gunned down. Then so so happy. Heck, Willie really should of been 3-3 with two walks because that was a pretty damn borderline strikeout call in the 8th.

Huge double play their. I hope Mark can get rolling here.

Umm, going to be watching the Laker game pretty soon, but either tonight or we could do it on Tuesday like 4 ish your time.

I'm guessing it was retroactive, so he could basically come off whenever.

Ya, I'm ready.