June 22, 200421 yr Gonzalez was ready for Pulaski SPORTS COLUMN By BUCKY DENT Bristol Herald Courier PULASKI – Bristol manager Jerry Hairston had a question for Gio Gonzalez before Monday night's Appalachian League opener at Calfee Park. "Man, you ready?" he said. "I'm always ready," said Gonzalez. Gonzalez backed up his confident talk in his first professional inning by striking out the side – the White Sox's highlight of the evening – in an 11-3 Pulaski victory. Relieving starter Jay Marshall in the bottom of the fourth with Bristol trailing 6-1, Gonzalez showed the 803 fans on hand why the Chicago White Sox used the 38th overall pick of the Amateur Draft on him. Anthony Garibaldi swung through a 92-mile-per-hour fastball for the first out. Emmanuel Sena flailed meekly at a full-count changeup for the second out. Eugenio Velez watched a fastball shave the inside corner for strike three. Sena and Velez reached base a combined five times and scored three runs. They had no shot against Gonzalez. "You saw the exhibition he put on out there," said Hairston outside Bristol's locker room. "He threw three pitches for strikes. He went right after guys. He looked real good." At 5-11 and 180 pounds, Gonzalez isn't going to intimidate anyone with his size. But his three-pitch arsenal (fastball, curve, change) belies the fact he won't turn 19 until weeks after the Appy League season concludes. Blue Jays manager Gary Cathcart noticed one thing about Gonzalez while working the third base coach's box. "What I liked about him is that he had pretty good command of his breaking ball," Cathcart said. "Obviously, that gives his fastball more life. The ball came out of his hand pretty free and easy." BriSox pitching coach Bill Kinneburg found something else to like about Gonzalez's outing. "For a high school kid, he's very polished," said Kinneburg. "His ability to throw the curveball and changeup at this point in his career is very good." Gonzalez had a thought behind every pitch. He started Sena off with a changeup that dove below his bat for a strike. The first pitch to Velez was a curve that barely missed the outside corner. "You rarely see that in a high school kid," Kinneburg said. "He's something special." "He knew what he wanted to do with the hitters," said Hairston. "He just went about his business. He was cool and calm. I'd sure like him to be here for a while." Managers are fond of saying that baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. And rookie league baseball has a way of turning a guy who looks like a can't-miss prospect one night into a confused mass of humanity the next night. But based on one inning and 17 pitches on a cool night in the New River Valley, Gonzalez is in this for the long run.
June 22, 200421 yr he hasn't gone through the progression of sore arm - surgery - ineffective comeback phases yet. give him time.
June 22, 200421 yr he hasn't gone through the progression of sore arm - surgery - ineffective comeback phases yet. give him time.
June 23, 200421 yr Got the same pitches in his arsenal as Barry Zito I believe, with the fastball, changeup, curve combo. If B-Mac is moved up from Kanny to Winstom Salem, we could see Gonzo in Kanny by the end of the season.
June 23, 200421 yr If B-Mac is moved up from Kanny to Winstom Salem, we could see Gonzo in Kanny by the end of the season. Both of those should happen too.
June 23, 200421 yr Gio didn't play his senior year of HS. They will go slow with him this year. Should go slow with most of them, Fields K'd 3 times tonight, he should not be in a tough pitchers league like CL.
June 23, 200421 yr Should go slow with most of them, Fields K'd 3 times tonight, he should not be in a tough pitchers league like CL. I hear they told he he should be in Birmingham in a month. Not sure about that.........
June 23, 200421 yr Gio didn't play his senior year of HS. They will go slow with him this year. He just missed the final week of the season. It ended up being one game from what I know. The team lost in the playoffs (it was the 1st game he missed).
June 23, 200421 yr He just missed the final week of the season. It ended up being one game from what I know. The team lost in the playoffs (it was the 1st game he missed). I interpreted it differently, but you may be right...... I am going off of memory.
June 23, 200421 yr I believe he missed the playoff game, which they lost. Other than that he played the whole season. Sb
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