Humber determined to prove himself worthy

[southsider2k5]

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/artic...rticle_26504336

 

Humber determined to prove himself worthy

Fifth starter refuses to take rotation spot for granted

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | 01/29/12 2:42 PM EST

 

CHICAGO -- The particular question presented to Philip Humber during Friday's SoxFest media session at the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago sent the right-handed hurler into an immediate moment of amusement.

 

It wasn't an inquiry concerning his present hold on the rotation's fifth spot as Spring Training fast approaches or a request for analysis concerning his breakout effort from 2011. This one elicited a much easier and quicker response.

 

Not exactly a commonplace line of thought in Major League Baseball circles, but it fit perfectly into the Humber storyline. On Aug. 18, Humber took a Kosuke Fukudome line drive just above the right eye with one out in the second inning of Cleveland's 4-2 victory at U.S. Cellular Field.

 

Humber flopped back upon contact and clutched his face, a look causing pain for everyone in the ballpark. But he jumped up instantly to search for the baseball and escaped with just a bruise. By Sept. 5, Humber was back on the mound at Target Field.

 

In probing deeper throughout this moment, it basically serves as a metaphor for Humber's career. The game can take its best shot in trying to knock him down, but Humber simply keeps pitching.

 

Even with manager Robin Ventura giving Humber the forceful late-January nod to join John Danks, Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd and Chris Sale, he won't believe sturdy ground lies beneath him or that he's out of harm's way in securing a regular rotation turn.

 

"No, I don't look at it that way," said the laid-back but driven Texan. "I look at it like every day I want to prove to myself, regardless of what someone says, whether I have this spot or that spot.

 

"I want to prove myself that I belong in the big leagues and I belong on this team. I'm going to keep taking that attitude from here on out. But I enjoy the opportunity and then the chance to go out there and show people what I can do."

 

Just one year ago, these confident but cautious comments probably would have resonated a bit more coming from Humber as he was far removed from a SoxFest presence. He actually was claimed off waivers by the White Sox from the A's on Jan. 18, 2011, almost one month to the day when the A's claimed Humber off of waivers from the Royals.

 

This third pick overall by the Mets in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft now was a professional simply trying to stick with a team for five weeks. He went into Spring Training with a shot to become a long reliever or potentially a fill-in starter as Peavy recovered from surgery to reattach his lat muscle, but in all honesty, the 29-year-old, who never appeared in more than eight Major League games during a previous single season simply, was grateful for the opportunity.

 

"There probably were points in years before that that I was thinking, 'I'm not ever going to stick,' and it just didn't look like I was going to get that opportunity," Humber said. "I'm definitely thankful for the White Sox giving me that opportunity and how the year went.

 

"I'm coming in with the same focus, and I didn't work any differently this year than I did last offseason. I'm going out there like I have something to prove. I don't have anything to lose, and I'm excited to get back."

 

Humber does have newfound expectations based in results to carry on the heels of his impressive 2011 effort. Take away Mark Buehrle, which the Marlins did through free agency during the past offseason, and Humber was the club's most consistent starting pitcher.

 

His ongoing first-half success, producing an 8-5 record with a 3.10 ERA over 16 starts, including a one-hitter over seven innings thrown at Yankee Stadium on April 25, forced the White Sox to keep Humber and temporarily move to a six-man rotation. Many believe Humber's exclusion from the Midsummer Classic was a classic All-Star oversight.

 

That eye-opening excellence turned into a 1-4 record with a 5.01 ERA over 10 post All-Star starts. Those struggles, though, were part of Humber's learning process.

 

Another phase of that mound growth for Humber is learning to avoid the dreaded comebacker. While pitching in a game for the Triple-A Omaha Royals on June 10, 2010, Humber took a Luis Cruz line drive to the face and ended up getting 18 stitches to the right of his mouth. He got hit in the back during a Minor League rehab start last year but was not hurt.

 

Let's go back to that original question, though, concerning Humber's head. Did it survive Fukudome's direct hit?

 

"Honestly, it looked a whole lot worse than it was," said Humber, who is expecting a son with wife Kristan. "I had a little bruise for a while. I kept looking in the mirror like, 'What is that?' Then I would remember, 'Oh yeah. I got hit in the face.'

 

"Really, it's one of those things serving as a constant reminder. But I got a new glove this year. It's a bigger glove. Hopefully, that will protect my face a little bit better and hopefully I'll be quicker about getting out of the way."

 

Opposing hitters should know better than to come after Humber. With 130 Minor League games under his belt, of which 120 were starts, and six seasons spent in the Minors before arriving, Humber is the definition of a big league survivor.

[elrockinMT]

Last sesaon I watched Humbewr take on King Felix in Seattle and match him for 8 innings leaving with the score tied 2-2. I was impressed

[CyAcosta41]

I'm a big-time Humber fan. Huge.

 

Saw him pitch a few times at Rice. Dude was dominant. His stuff was dominant then too (pre some injuries and lesser grade of hitter), but even at Rice, he wasn't excelling because he was blowing people away (not usually), he was a pitcher who changed speeds, used his repertoire, worked hitters. As the Sox like to say, he had "pitchability."

 

You ALWAYS give a guy with his pedigree and pitching savvy chance after chance until it's clear he can't do it. Great acquisition last year. Most of last year he was superlative. Are you kidding? There was a great argument that he was All Star game worthy. His occasional trouble the first half and his recurrent problem the second half was all largely the same thing -- good beginnings by a sometimes precipitous fall-off as he prematurely tired: the hard-stuff that used to pop and dart, now kind of poofed and slid; the breaking stuff that used to bit, now rolled. He would lose his repeatability and struggle with his location. You could see it happening time and again. Had Guillen been a bit more understanding, his overall numbers would have been better because once the pattern became clear he should have been out of there far earlier than he was (living to fight another day).

 

Cooper and the Sox are pretty good about pitching. They saw all this with last year's Humber. No doubt he had major core strengthening and long-toss programs in the off-season designed to better his durability. Hopefully that results in improvements in a clear weakness. And even if the improvement is minimal, I think they know from Day 1 the warning signs with Humber. When the guy is right, he's truly lights out. And if he's slotted as your number #4 or #5 guy, then he has the ability to be the best #4 or #5 guy in the league since he's capable of the stuff/pitchability combo of a #2.

 

As I said, big Humber fan. And I can be critical of Kenny with the best of them, but Kenny deserves big-time props for this particular classic Kenny-style "fallen prospect" acquisition.

[Wanne]

Love your handle Cy...he was always one of my faves. Wonder if many of the youngin's know who he is?

[elrockinMT]

Love your handle Cy...he was always one of my faves. Wonder if many of the youngin's know who he is?

 

 

Dick Allen time period. Had a real good year in '72 and in '73. Then fell off

Edited January 31, 2012 by elrockinMT

[CyAcosta41]

Love your handle Cy...he was always one of my faves. Wonder if many of the youngin's know who he is?

 

Thanks Wanne. Nothing to add about Humber, just a Cy Acosta fan, eh?

 

He was definitely one of my faves. I was 14 during that special '72 year and with so many Sox fans of my generation, THAT was such a special year. Coming out of the real dark ages of 1968-1970, had the slight upswing in 1971 sniffing at .500 (anything would have been an uptick after 1970), and then we get treated to Dick Allen ver-1972, an offensive force that none of us had ever seen playing for our beloved Sox. Even with those good 60's Sox teams, we had those popgun offenses, with great pitching, forced to be even greater because we were such hitless wonders. But '72! Wow. Dick Allen doing things we had only dreamed of. And then great young arms for the future -- Terry Forster (another favorite), Rich Gossage (whose stats were incredible all year before a trial start at the end of the season), and little Cecilio ("Cy") Acosta, a 26 year old Mexican import with deceptively good stuff, deceptive deception (!), and the AL just couldn't figure out the guy. Loved him. The 1972 Sox gave the A's everything they could handle that year (as the A's began their dynasty), but fell just short.

 

Acosta was used in higher leverage situations in 1973 -- got more saves and more great stats. All numbers fell off precipitously in 1974. Purchased by the Phillies before the 1975 season and 8.2 innings later, he called it a career.

 

Part of the Cy Acosta attraction for me was the then novel Mexican pipeline the Sox had going with players like Jorge Orta, Cy Acosta, and then Francisco Barrios. I remember talking with friends at the time how we didn't seem to compete signing players elsewhere, but seemed to want to exploit a then untapped market like Mexico. Some things never change, right -- today many of us are hoping that a Cuban pipeline can salvage help band-aid our deficiencies elsewhere.

 

As I was refreshing my memory about 71, 72, 73, etc., how about these stats from the 1973 starting staff:

*Wilbur Wood ................................ 48 starts, 359.1 IP ... 24-20 ... 3.46 ERA

*Stan (Stanley Struggle) Bahnsen ... 42 starts, 282.1 IP ... 18-21 ... 3.57 ERA

 

Wonder if the youngsters can even begin to get a handle on THAT? A knuckleballer with 48 starts AND a conventional pitcher with 42? Two twenty-game LOSERS on the same staff, one of whom also won 20+ and the other knocking on the door. And both with respectable overall stats. Beisbol was a very different game back then.

[winninguglyin83]

 

Also loved that Sox team. It helped save the franchise.

 

Attendance had plummeted after the 0-10 start to 1968 and finishing behind the expansion Royals in 1969.

 

Dick Allen was so unlike any Sox player of the 1960s that it was hard to believe. Pretty certain he made the cover of Sports Illustrated with a cigarette in his mouth from the Sox dugout.

 

Plus, it was fun to cheer for Carlos May, who made a remarkable comeback without more than half of his thumb.

 

Good memories.

[CyAcosta41]

Also loved that Sox team. It helped save the franchise.

 

Attendance had plummeted after the 0-10 start to 1968 and finishing behind the expansion Royals in 1969.

 

Dick Allen was so unlike any Sox player of the 1960s that it was hard to believe. Pretty certain he made the cover of Sports Illustrated with a cigarette in his mouth from the Sox dugout.

 

Plus, it was fun to cheer for Carlos May, who made a remarkable comeback without more than half of his thumb.

 

Good memories.

 

Saved the franchise and our passion for this team. My favorite Sox team of all-time, that is, until 2005.

 

As for Carlos May. Good player who might have been great. Blew that thumb off serving his country in the National Guard. What a time.

 

And of course, that rare player with his birthday on the back of his uni: May 17