I know I shouldn't fall in to the fluff, but I am REALLY started to get excited about Chris Sale. Him saying he wants to pitch 200 innings scares me, but every quote I have seen is just gushing over him.

I know I shouldn't fall in to the fluff, but I am REALLY started to get excited about Chris Sale. Him saying he wants to pitch 200 innings scares me, but every quote I have seen is just gushing over him.

Still say he has the best pure LH stuff I've seen since Liriano 06. Which scares me in itself.

cot Gregor ‏ @scotgregor

Ventura on new #WhiteSox P Nestor Molina: "You see how athletic he is and you watch him go through his stuff and see how impressive he is"

I'm not sure what the second half of that sentence means. I think it may mean "I haven't seen him pitch yet, but he looks great running drills."

Even this early in spring training, it's a very nice change not to have stories about the goofy stuff the manager says. I think a more business-like approach will put the focus and pressure on the players which will make them play to their talent level.

Still say he has the best pure LH stuff I've seen since Liriano 06. Which scares me in itself.

 

Lets just hope Sale's slider is easier on his elbow than Liriano's was

I hate the spring fluff as much as anyone but if Sale can stay healthy he's going to be an absolute stud. Kid is loaded with talent.

I hate the spring fluff as much as anyone but if Sale can stay healthy he's going to be an absolute stud. Kid is loaded with talent.

 

I can't argue with that.

I remember when Sale came up and took care of Mauer on three straight pitches. Easily one of the most dominant ABs I've ever seen. It wasn't even close to fair.

Dunn, Dunn and I'm on to the next one...

Adam Dunn arrived Saturday at the Chicago White Sox's spring training camp, ready to work with new hitting coach Jeff Manto as he tries to erase a disastrous 2011 season.

 

Dunn and Manto, who replaced Greg Walker, already have spoken more frequently since SoxFest last month.

 

"We'll kind of go over some things and see what he wants me to do and how he wants me to approach the season and kind of go from there," said Dunn, who struck out 177 times in addition to a .159 batting average and only 11 home runs. "My main goal is to be ready for opening day, and that's what I'll do."

 

Dunn intimated it was too early to assess the results of taking batting practice in the off-season for the first time since 2005.

 

"No, other than I’ll probably be a little better in (batting practice) than normal," Dunn said. "Other than that, I don’t know."

 

Dunn said he wasn't placing any added emphasis on performing well this spring after last year's debacle.

 

"My goal is to be ready for opening day, and that's the ultimate goal," Dunn said. "It doesn't matter to me if I go out and hit .500 with 20 home runs this spring. That probably won't translate over to the season."

Addison "Babyface" Reed.

 

Some PFP:

 

 

 

 

 

Trib photo gallery

I hate the spring fluff as much as anyone but if Sale can stay healthy he's going to be an absolute stud. Kid is loaded with talent.

A.J. Pierzynski: “Chris Sale looks good, looks like he put on a pound or two.”

....

 

The second half of the 28 pitchers in camp threw bullpen sessions today, and that list included recently acquired pitchers Simon Castro, Pedro Hernandez and Nestor Molina.

 

“It was good to see some of our new guys throw from mounds today,” manager Robin Ventura said. “It was nice to see what some of your scouting department saw.”

 

One pitcher Ventura has mixed emotions seeing was left-hander Chris Sale. The emotions were mixed because Ventura admitted that he still watched some of the pitchers as if he would have to face them in the batter’s box.

 

“That’s a baaaaad matchup for lefties,” Ventura said of Sale. “He’s throwing nice and easy, free. He just needs to build up arm strength throughout the spring.”

Riefert

Solid.

As usual, AJ Pierzynski dropped one of the best lines of the day. “They told us (all of the catchers) to catch someone we don’t usually catch, so I chose Peavy,” he joked.

How you frame a photo:

 

I'm excited for Sale. My biggest fear is a dip in velocity going from the pen to the rotation. If he's popping 95+ on that fastball during the season that makes him even more dangerous...

I'm excited for Sale. My biggest fear is a dip in velocity going from the pen to the rotation. If he's popping 95+ on that fastball during the season that makes him even more dangerous...

 

I'm more worried about him getting his other 2 pitches over the plate. If he's doing that, with his length and delivery, 92-96 will be more than enough.

 

BTW, for some reason, I'm more excited about this spring than I've been in a long time. I'm more ready for baseball than usual. I like new faces too.

Edited February 25, 201214 yr by TaylorStSox

The Catchers:

Flowers, 26, admitted his relationship with Pierzynski, 35, "started a little rough."

 

"We have a good relationship now," Flowers said. "We talk every once in a while during the offseason. We play video games together, too. We're bonding. We're all right. It's getting better."

 

Pierzynski doesn't view Flowers as someone out to take his position.

 

"You look at it like as another guy," said Pierzynski, who says he intends to keep playing past 2012, when his current two-year, $8 million contract expires. "We play the same position. I don't think I have much left to prove. I've proven what I needed to prove in this game. I'll continue to go out and do what I can this year and hopefully play a lot. I'll play when they tell me to play. That's all I can do.

 

"If I'm doing well, I'll play. If I'm not, they'll find somebody else. It's always been like that since the first day you step foot in this field. Nothing's changed."

 

However, Pierzynski revealed that he spent more time hitting off a batting tee at his Orlando, Fla., home to ensure that his left wrist is fully healed from a fracture that nearly ended his streak of 10 seasons with at least 1,000 innings caught.

 

"You guys all got on (Adam) Dunn last year for not hitting (in the offseason)," he said. "I hadn't hit in five years in the offseason, at least."

 

Pierzynski threw out only 13 percent of would-be base stealers last season, a bigger issue than his .287 batting average. He and his fellow catchers had two mornings of early work on Friday and Saturday as the Sox attempt to improve their defense and situational hitting.

 

Flowers, who was promoted shortly before the All-Star break after Ramon Castro suffered a right wrist fracture, was praised for his defense and work with his . pitchers.

 

But after batting .316 in his first 13 games, Flowers slumped to .153 in his final 25 games, and he struck out 38 times in 110 at-bats.

 

"The last thing I want to do is step into the box and be down two strikes and say, 'Don't strike out,' " said Flowers, who did hit five home runs — just three fewer than Pierzynski did in 464 at-bats. "But if I'm consistent, I shouldn't put myself in that position as often."

 

Since the start of spring training, manager Robin Ventura has slightly tempered his earlier stance that Pierzynski would rest more, now emphasizing that Pierzynski is the Sox's starting catcher and that he will try to find a way for Flowers to receive an occasional start.

 

And Flowers admires Pierzynski's durability, as he started in only three games his first 27 games with the Sox in 2011 until Pierzynski suffered his fracture.

 

"If you've been around him, he works harder than anyone else I've seen," Flowers said. "Looking in from the outside, this guy has done something special for the past 10 years, so I need to pick up and learn some stuff from him and hopefully duplicate what he's done with his career."

 

That might include some trash talking.

 

"I'm sure it will come," Flowers joked. "Not recently, but he's been thinking about it enough to come up with something witty. Usually spring training is the time. Usually we have a confrontation in spring training."

Beckham

"I feel good about where I’m at," Beckham said. "I came into the end of spring training last year weighing 205. I weigh 198 this year, and I feel leaner. I just feel more athletic than I did last year. I kind of needed to lose some pounds when I got here, honestly. I felt heavy, in terms of what I always felt, so I feel really lean and good right now.

 

"It’s going to be about keeping up with my diet and making sure I eat breakfast, get up and eat breakfast. I’m a sleeper. I like to sleep and that’s gotta be something, I ‘ve got to get up and eat. That kind of stuff.

 

Beckham added that he doesn't care where he bats in the Sox's order after starting the season at the second spot but failing.

 

"It won’t bother me if he (manager Robin Ventura) bats me second, first, ninth," Beckham said. "I’m going to focus on me and not worry about anything else."

Rivers:

"Um, I have played right and center," Rios said Saturday shortly after arriving at the Chicago White Sox's spring training camp. "I like center and right because those are the ones I’ve played. I think I played left last year. It’s different. Center and right is different than left. We’ll see what happens."

 

Rios actually played one game in left in 2010, but he has played mostly center since joining the Sox in August of 2009. His defense fell under scrutiny after misjudging flies last year.

 

Rios also was reluctant to elaborate details of his offseason hitting program, although he did bat .309 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in September after moving his hands away from his body.

 

"I just tried to remember all the good things that I did through my good years," Rios said. "I broke it down and tried to get that feeling. I’m going to try to translate that into the games. In the games, I’ll see if they work or not."

Nice gut Matt Thornton, with every day that goes by I like this guy less and less

The Catchers:

 

I can't believe people thought AJ wouldn't be a horrible mentor.

I can't believe people thought AJ wouldn't be a horrible mentor.

shocker

chris sale is the skinniest major league pitcher i've ever seen. Lincecum included. jeeeez

chris sale is the skinniest major league pitcher i've ever seen. Lincecum included. jeeeez

 

You missed the Jack McDowell era.