The White Sox have re-started the regular conference calls with some core bloggers, including FutureSox. This one was with Rick Hahn and Buddy Bell, and our own Rob Young (southside hitman) was in attendance.

 

Here are his highlights from the call, which include some notes on position battles, prospect progress, and injuries.

 

This was an excellent read. Loved the info on EJ and why Hawkins has stayed up.

A couple of really interesting things in there.

 

First was Hawkins "needing to be humbled"

 

The second is using Anderson as a lead off hitter, which to me means they are trying to get him to take more pitches, and not that they see him as a leadoff hitter.

A couple of really interesting things in there.

 

First was Hawkins "needing to be humbled"

 

The second is using Anderson as a lead off hitter, which to me means they are trying to get him to take more pitches, and not that they see him as a leadoff hitter.

 

Yes, forgot about that. I hated the "humbled" line.

 

Loved the stuff on Steverson and Hawkins.

A couple of really interesting things in there.

 

First was Hawkins "needing to be humbled"

 

The second is using Anderson as a lead off hitter, which to me means they are trying to get him to take more pitches, and not that they see him as a leadoff hitter.

 

Bell repeatedly said that he didn't view the jump between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem to be that great then he said Hawkins needed to be "humbled." So I didn't really follow his logic there.

 

He was equally confusing on what Anderson needed to do, mentioned that he needs to control the strike zone, but also swing at pitches to determine his strike zone. The only concrete thing I got out of what he said about Anderson is we should expect more steal attempts.

A couple of really interesting things in there.

 

First was Hawkins "needing to be humbled"

I recall reading something awhile back that said something along the lines of "Hawkins thought he was on the fast track and wanted to get to the majors as quickly as possible, which contributed to his struggles in 2013." That's obviously not a direct quote.

 

Perhaps that's what Bell's "humbled" quote could be referring to, rather than implying Hawkins was cocky or arrogant.

I recall reading something awhile back that said something along the lines of "Hawkins thought he was on the fast track and wanted to get to the majors as quickly as possible, which contributed to his struggles in 2013." That's obviously not a direct quote.

 

Perhaps that's what Bell's "humbled" quote could be referring to, rather than implying Hawkins was cocky or arrogant.

Yeah, what Bell once said was that when 2013 opened, Hawkins was whiffing over half the time a few weeks into Winston-Salem and was already making plans for his arrival in Birmingham.

 

I can tell you from when I interviewed him down there in person, by August of 2013 he had most certainly been humbled (for good or bad). He was quite dour when I talked with him, got a lot of mumbled and resigned answers to my questions.

 

 

concerning the farm and minor league, excellent work. i love to read up on these area. btw, do you or any know if they will do it again?? it would be a great update / PR move.

concerning the farm and minor league, excellent work. i love to read up on these area. btw, do you or any know if they will do it again?? it would be a great update / PR move.

Season ticketholders are getting a call either today or tomorrow at noon and it is a Hahn/Bell conversation.

Season ticketholders are getting a call either today or tomorrow at noon and it is a Hahn/Bell conversation.

 

oh how i wish to add to that call about 1 of my rants.

 

oh well, i am trying to be nice.

concerning the farm and minor league, excellent work. i love to read up on these area. btw, do you or any know if they will do it again?? it would be a great update / PR move.

 

The team does a blogger call fairly regularly. We have been on them previously on many other occasions. They are always interesting, and we are very thankful the White Sox do them. It is a great opportunity that most teams don't provide to people outside of the traditional media outlets.

concerning the farm and minor league, excellent work. i love to read up on these area. btw, do you or any know if they will do it again?? it would be a great update / PR move.

As I said in the original post, this is a re-start of a regular thing.

 

Season ticket holders sometimes get access to calls too, though those are a little different. The blogger calls are usually maybe 5-6 bloggers/writers, which affords a nice opportunity to ask a bunch of questions.

 

Previous calls ranged from players to front office and coaches.

 

The team does a blogger call fairly regularly. We have been on them previously on many other occasions. They are always interesting, and we are very thankful the White Sox do them. It is a great opportunity that most teams don't provide to people outside of the traditional media outlets.

 

esp last yr and now with the continuation of the rebuilding of the systems. all the new blood in the system and we as fans, or should i say, i like to know more about them, their growth, their success.

 

this is sox baseball at its best

 

The narrative on Hawkins has always been that he expected to just breeze into AA and the Sox aggressive promotions certainly didn't do anything to disabuse him of that notion. When he struggled the scuttlebutt at the time was yea, "he was humbled" so it makes sense. And props for actually using the word properly and not Lebron James style.

 

But save me some time: why exactly did they keep Hawkins in spring camp so long? Just based on his performance or did they mention something else?

The narrative on Hawkins has always been that he expected to just breeze into AA and the Sox aggressive promotions certainly didn't do anything to disabuse him of that notion. When he struggled the scuttlebutt at the time was yea, "he was humbled" so it makes sense. And props for actually using the word properly and not Lebron James style.

 

But save me some time: why exactly did they keep Hawkins in spring camp so long? Just based on his performance or did they mention something else?

 

They want to keep hawkins in camp with Steverson because they have a great relationship, and they are rewarding him for his great play.

They want to keep hawkins in camp with Steverson because they have a great relationship, and they are rewarding him for his great play.

 

Awesome, thanks.

The narrative on Hawkins has always been that he expected to just breeze into AA and the Sox aggressive promotions certainly didn't do anything to disabuse him of that notion. When he struggled the scuttlebutt at the time was yea, "he was humbled" so it makes sense. And props for actually using the word properly and not Lebron James style.

 

But save me some time: why exactly did they keep Hawkins in spring camp so long? Just based on his performance or did they mention something else?

 

Bell said Hawkins is still in camp because "basically he was doing really well and we wanted to play that out."

 

Also alluded to his relationship with Hitting Coach Todd Steverson.

They want to keep hawkins in camp with Steverson because they have a great relationship, and they are rewarding him for his great play.

 

 

That and with the Taylor surprise retirement, Danks finally gone and Campana blown knee ligament/release, the PT became available for both Thompson and Hawkins.

Another thing I found interesting that I did not include in my article due to relevance to the site content, is Hahn wasn't ready to commit to needing someone to start for Chris Sale. He said that Sale has hit every goal put out for him in his rehab and there is a growing optimism he wouldn't have to miss any starts. Perhaps that is why we haven't heard Shark being named the Opening Day Starter quite yet?

Another thing I found interesting that I did not include in my article due to relevance to the site content, is Hahn wasn't ready to commit to needing someone to start for Chris Sale. He said that Sale has hit every goal put out for him in his rehab and there is a growing optimism he wouldn't have to miss any starts. Perhaps that is why we haven't heard Shark being named the Opening Day Starter quite yet?

 

Kenny Williams already told MLB network that Sale was out for the Opener.

Another thing I found interesting that I did not include in my article due to relevance to the site content, is Hahn wasn't ready to commit to needing someone to start for Chris Sale. He said that Sale has hit every goal put out for him in his rehab and there is a growing optimism he wouldn't have to miss any starts. Perhaps that is why we haven't heard Shark being named the Opening Day Starter quite yet?

The White Sox have already said Sale will not pitch Opening Day. Maybe 6 days later.

Kenny Williams already told MLB network that Sale was out for the Opener.

 

Sorry got ahead of myself there. But it is possible he could pitch at the end of the rotation schedule and not miss a start.

Sorry got ahead of myself there. But it is possible he could pitch at the end of the rotation schedule and not miss a start.

 

I honestly think you're right. He threw a 75 pitch bullpen session the other day and I'm not sure how much more arm strength he needs to build. Sure you'd like to see him go 5-6 innings in a Cactus league game before the season but IMO that's all he needs. He could do that next week and come north with the club and be ready to pitch by the 10th.

I honestly think you're right. He threw a 75 pitch bullpen session the other day and I'm not sure how much more arm strength he needs to build. Sure you'd like to see him go 5-6 innings in a Cactus league game before the season but IMO that's all he needs. He could do that next week and come north with the club and be ready to pitch by the 10th.

The reports I read and supposedly Cooper verified was they targeted April 12th, but Coop said they could hold off until late April.