caulfield12

ROGERS CENTRE MONDAY7 p.m. LH Mark Buehrle (0-0, 10.24) vs. RH Gavin Floyd (0-2, 5.56) TUESDAY7 p.m. RH Josh Johnson (0-1, 11.05) vs. RH Dylan Axelrod (0-1, 5.79) WEDNESDAY7 p.m. LH J.A. Happ (2-0, 3.48) vs. LH Jose Quintana (0-0, 4.09) THURSDAY 7 p.m. RH R.A. Dickey (1-2, 5.82) vs. LH Chris Sale (1-1, 5.21) All games on Sportsnet and Sportsnet 590 The FAN SCOUTING REPORT Monday’s game will mark Mark Buehrle’s first appearance against the Chicago White Sox, the franchise with which he spent his first 12 major-league seasons and won a World Series in 2005. “I’m sure he’ll make it humorous,” White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko, a longtime friend of Buehrle’s, told MLB.com. “You got to be ready. He might throw an eephus pitch or something like that. He’s not afraid to screw around out there.” ... Brett Lawrie (strained oblique) could return to the Blue Jays at some point this series, and it may be at second base as the Jays continue to juggle their injury-riddled infield. ... Gavin Floyd has owned Jays slugger Jose Bautista over his career (1-for-12), while Adam Lind, Maicer Izturis and Melky Cabrera have all fared well against the right-hander. ... Last season the Jays had a 4-6 record against the White Sox, who finished second behind the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central after leading the division for most of the season. ... Both teams are looking to even their records after slow starts. thestar.com/sports/bluejays.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,7814473.story Lots of good quotes from Thornton, Konerko, Peavy http://www.chicagotribune.com/videogallery...-It-will-be-fun Konerko video On Monday, when the Blue Jays open up a four-game set against the White Sox, Mark Buehrle goes up against his former team for the first time. He didn’t face the White Sox last season while a member of the Miami Marlins. From 2000-2011, Buehrle called the South Side of Chicago home and he has plenty of familiar faces and good friends in the White Sox lineup. “It’s different because I’ve never faced them before and I have a lot of friends on the team,” Buehrle said. “At the same time I’m trying to get back on track (he is 0-0 in two starts with a 10.24 ERA) and try to pitch good. Obviously it’s going to be weird seeing some of those guys in the batters box and going up against them but I’ll be trying to get them out just like they’re trying to get hits off me.” Will he buzz one of them just for old time’s sake, to say hello? “I can’t say because if I do then I’ll get suspended,” he replied with a smile. “Konerko (Paul, his good friend), watch out though. But it will be a little awkward looking over in the dugout and seeing a lot of friends, 12 years of playing there it will be different.” http://www.torontosun.com/2013/04/14/blue-...ace-former-team

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 08:16 PM) Jake and Paulie save the day. Nice. I hope Jake is confident enough in his third season to be team leader this year and kick some ass in the clubhouse if he thinks the team needs such a butt kicking. Three runs isn't a ton. He saved us today as did Paul. Mid 2009-10-11-12-13.

QUOTE (sammy esposito @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 10:24 PM) he's rule 5 we can give him back but he can field . If you're good at fielding how is that going to help. I've sat for a long time once or twice and my lower back hurts sometimes too. Assume you're referring to Angel Sanchez. I doubt his upside is so high (especially offensively) that we can afford to keep a younger version of Ray Olmedo on the 25 man roster for the entire year. Plus, we already have Carlos Sanchez, Saladino, DiMichele and some other fairly legit infield prospects. We had another incarnation of Sanchez in Eduardo Escobar and we traded him away. It's not a high priority at the moment.

Marin and Jaye have some ability... Berken is filler.

No hitter gone. That didn't last long. Bleeder to RF.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 01:44 PM) I disagree. Ventura will start playing Wise more often before they bring Danks up. Otherwise, Danks would be on the roster and Wise would have been released.

Courtney Hawkins with HR #4 and only 18 K's. Hitting .207. At least 4 of his 6 hits were homers!

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 01:42 PM) As much as we love them, it's funny seeing Alexei and Rios hit the ball deep to right center/right. Neither will probably hit an opposite field homer again in their career. And yet Eduardo Escobar managed to hit one 400 feet to the opposite field this season... Ironic, because he was dumped for not having enough XB power. Any doubts that ATL is the best team in baseball right now? They're putting the finishing touches on a sweep of the Nats in Washington, although the first two games could have gone either way.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 01:40 PM) I would be so proud of Rick Hahn if he sent Viciedo down and brought Jordan Danks up. It won't happen, but... They're more likely to promote Courtney Hawkins to BIRM than that happening.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 01:39 PM) Did Wilder recommend Viciedo? Same scout who recommended Asdrubal Cabrera. Obviously, they both should be DFA'ed.

4/34 for Viciedo. On the plus side...we get to hit indoors for four games, and only 6/16 from getting back to a .200 average. Swing is WAY too long, but he's always a cold starter.

Hopefully the "good" version of Addison Reed shows up today. Brantley/Swisher/Stubbs/Giambi/Raburn...due up

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 01:30 PM) Speed kills. Brain cramps kill.

Thornton with a late start getting over there, didn't run as hard as he needed to. Hmmm...no excuses for that. What did they do all spring in AZ?

DJ and Farmer pointing out that DeAza's not trusting his hands at all and not able to time fastballs yet this season...that he pretty much accidentally ran into that one. Well, we'll take anything we can get at this point.

Courtney Hawkins...2 more K's in his first 3 AB's, at least he has a single and a run scored. 18 K's/28 AB's

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 09:46 AM) There are only three players on the current roster who are important to a rebuild. Sale, Quintana, and Santiago. Danks is fourth on the list because of his contract. Realize Viciedo is a bust, keep Konerko through a rebuild if you want, doesn't matter and do with the rest of the roster what you will. Deal by deadline: Peavy, Rios, De Aza, Floyd, Reed, Crain. Ummm....Viciedo's a bust after 30 at-bats when he put up 25 homers and 78 RBI's last year and was close to a ML average left fielder at age 23. That's fine. Then what is Tyler Flowers? And Beckham? I'm not sure why we would be in a hurry to trade Addison Reed, unless some team out there's going to give up a ransom for him. He's super cheap still...and sure, you don't need a bona-fide closer when you have a rebuilding team, there's THAT argument. But something which is often overlooked is how difficult it is for a young team to have confidence it can win games when the bullpen collapses game after game. Internally, they should assess between Jones and Reed who they REALLY envision being the closer for the next 2-3 years and deal the other if they can get something significant back. And Lindstrom will have value if he continues to pitch this well....while not throwing 98-100 MPH anymore, he's a nice piece for a contending team if he's 100% healthy.

It's way too early to assume that Gillaspie's an everyday player based on a hot start. Keppinger, on a good team, is more of a super sub. They still need a full-time 2B/SS. Sanchez had a really good season last year, but he has to back it up in 2013 before he becomes a completely legit prospect. His age does work in his favor, but he's not the kind of dynamic, game-changing presence this team needs more of...he's more of a complementary piece, who does lots of things well but doesn't have a lot of pop (yet), and that's going to be an issue when you have three infielders who would be hard-pressed to put up 25-30 homers combined at USCF. We're having so many issues right now with Dunn, Viciedo and Flowers striking out...and the low team OBP...one shudders to think what might happen with Mitchell/Walker/Thompson (2 of the 3) starting in the 2013 outfield. Right now, I would go with Walker and Thompson, simply because Mitchell's going to strike out the most and we need another player at the top of the order to spark the offense, and Walker's the more prototypical leadoff guy. (That said, it's scary to think what could happen if we bring up Thompson too early and he goes Joe Borchard on the Sox...thankfully, in this scenario, we wouldn't be in "must win now" mode and we would be able to extend some patience). If that's the direction they do go in...it's going to be a 66-74 win team. And that's assuming Viciedo and Flowers are both around and have decent seasons offensively and don't end up as platoon players. They need to dump Matt Thornton from the payroll as well. The sooner, the better.

Better than where the Angels moved the press box, fwiw. http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012...box_stadium.php

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 04:25 AM) On May 16th last year the Sox were 17-21. Why does one bad week freak so many people out? What was the record of the Tigers on that same day?

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...11649--mlb.html Quentin's twitter feed hacked...I liked the line "went all psychopathic like The Punisher" (@missnighthawk on Twitter) Granted, this is a very tame alteration, which is part of the reason why we can bring it to you, but it's still pretty funny. It's also factually correct, or at least the part about Nick Blackburn being the pitcher who's hit him the most is correct. In 37 plate appearances, Blackburn has drilled Quentin four times. That's a pretty high rate, though not as high as Quentin's batting average (.419) against him. Quentin has also homered three times against the Minnesota Twins right-hander. Three different pitchers have plunked Quentin three times. Of course Zack Greinke is the most notable name in that group for several reasons. Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox is also on that short list. But if there was one person who should be truly watching his back, it would be Erik Bedard. He's equaled that total in just nine plate appearances. Maybe it's just me, but if a guy is hitting me every third plate appearance on average, that's the one I'd be seeking answers from.

Help on the way? It's not a reach to believe Erik Johnson could join the Sox by the end of the regular season. Johnson, the Sox's top pitching prospect, has allowed one earned run in 11 2/3 innings while striking out nine for Double-A Birmingham. Johnson threw seven innings of three-hit ball while striking out six Friday in a 1-0 win over Mississippi in a game witnessed by assistant general manager Buddy Bell. "He's making a ton of progress," minor league pitching coordinator Curt Hasler said. "His changeup has become a much better pitch for him, and he's using that more effectively. His fastball command to both sides now has improved quite a bit. "From the middle of last season to now, he's added a nice sinker to go along with it. He's getting all the equipment he needs to pitch at the major league level. He's doing a nice job with it." www.chicagotribune.com/sports

Talent trumps tenaciousness. This time, Pujols delivers the game winner with two out in the bottom of the 9th, plating Jimenez and Trout, who'd reached on an infield single. Almost had more fun cheering for the undermanned Astros against the Western Evil Empire than the White Sox yesterday.

Former Hawkeye football player Marquis Bo Porter called for the suicide squeeze and it worked to perfection, haha. Scioscia brought in a LHR (Sean Burnett) to face a RHB who promptly drove in a run. 4-1 Astros to the bottom of the 7th. Crowd quieted.