Dan Wright

[DBAHO]

From the Sun Times,

 

TUCSON, Ariz. -- After a 1-7 season in 2003, Dan Wright certainly is not surprised at being somewhat of a forgotten man this spring.

 

 

 

The Sox are claiming no favorites for their open No. 5 spot in the starting rotation, despite the fact Wright has 60 major-league starts and went 14-12 in 2002.

 

"After having the year I had last year, I wouldn't expect anything else,'' said Wright, who had a 6.15 ERA in 861/3 innings.

 

Wright will be fighting it out with Josh Stewart, Neal Cotts, Jon Rauch, Felix Diaz, Enemencio Pacheco and Jason Grilli. Nobody has an advantage.

 

"Everybody knows that it's wide open,'' pitching coach Don Cooper said. "If somebody jumps up, it can be had. If there is a favorite guy, if he just does pretty good, he should get it, right? And pretty good is not what we're looking for. We're looking for a guy that we feel comfortable with.''

 

So far, Wright is having a much better spring than in 2003, when he was bothered by a sore right elbow. He eventually went on the disabled list for more than a month with elbow inflammation and didn't return to the Sox until May 9.

 

His luck didn't get any better as he went 0-7 as a starter, leaving with the game tied in six consecutive starts at one point. His only victory came in relief, making him one of four American League pitchers without a victory in at least seven starts (Tampa Bay's Jason Standridge and Steve Parris and Toronto's Pete Walker were the others).

 

After minor arthroscopic surgery early in the offseason to clean up his right knee, Wright feels ready to go.

 

"Like Ozzie [Guillen] said in his opening speech, everything you have done in the past is wiped away, good or bad,'' Wright said. "We're just going from Day 1 and trying to pick the best team to help them win this year.''

 

 

MORE THOMAS: Guillen expects Frank Thomas to report on time Wednesday, saying: "I can't wait for Frank to get here because he will see all the guys in here and the way we are right now and all the fun we are having and the workout that we do, and hopefully he likes the way we are going to treat him. We will treat him the way he deserves.''

 

While the Sox have scheduled position players to report Wednesday, Major League Baseball rules state that players have until March 2 to report to camp.

 

 

SOX VS. SOX: The first two intrasquad games of the spring are set for March 1 and 2. The Sox also will have B games on March 6 and 15 in an effort to get as many starts as possible for the candidates vying for the No. 5 spot.

[FlaSoxxJim]

While I'd prefer he be used as dependable middle- and long relief, sure, he needs to be in the mix and get a look for the 5th spot.

 

Hopefully the 2002 version shows up and not the 2003, but Wright needs to have a good year that's for sure.

[Rex Hudler]

The bottom line is if he is our best option at 5th starter and steps up, then we want him there, not in the bullpen. The best case scenario is that he pitches well, but so do several others. Ozzie would then have to pick someone for the 5th starter spot and could use Wright out of the bullpen.

[YASNY]

I'm glad we have DW as an option for that 5th starter slot. He's really our most proven commidity there.

[elrockinMT]

One would like to think that Dan Wright can develop like Jon Garland. I think he has the talent, but last year was a terrible display. I have always felt that Dan was injured more seriously than we thought and that goes for Billy Koch also. A healthy Wright means good competition for that 5th spot. Competition is good. Whether Wright ends up as a starter or as long relief means little. All I want is an effective pitcher handling the role. I personally think the 5th starter should be a combo type individual. One capable of pitching long relief when needed and start when needed. I think Dan Wright has that type of makeup. We need versatility and forget all this specialization to an extreme.