What are the areas of concern for the White Sox?

Written by: JJ Stankevitz on 18th March 2009

What are the areas of concern for the White Sox? | read this item

With the spring about halfway over, there have been a lot of positives so far for the White Sox. Josh Fields has been mashing the ball to the tune of a 1.137 OPS. Chris Getz has been very good, posting an OBP of .394. Gordon Beckham has looked like a legitimate prospect. Alexei Ramirez, Wilson Betemit, and AJ Pierzynski have all mashed the ball. Corky Miller has done an admirable job behind the plate in relief of Pierzynski. Clayton Richard and Jack Egbert both have pitched well enough to be deserving of a rotation spot if Bartolo Colon is unable to go at the start of the season. Gavin Floyd thrown the ball very well and, of course, Jose Contreras is back and maybe better than ever.

There are positives so far this March for the White Sox, no question. But, in the spirit of the classic White Sox pessimism, here are four glaring concerns that could nullify many of the positives the White Sox have seen so far:

Leading us off a ledge

The White Sox don’t have a leadoff hitter.

Well, okay, the White Sox have players who can lead off—just not well.

Jerry Owens has improved his OBP recently, but it’s only up to .333. He hasn’t stolen a base (0/3 so far) and has a grand total of one extra base hit in 43 at-bats. Dewayne Wise is looking more and more like the fourth or fifth outfielder that he is, as he hasn’t fared any better than Owens with his .300 OBP (he has yet to talk a walk this spring).

Brian Anderson has had a typically good spring, posting an OBP of .370 with three home runs. But the problems here go beyond spring stats: the White Sox do not have a leadoff hitter.

Anderson doesn’t fit the bill in that department, as his career .277 OBP indicates. Wise is worse in that regard with a career .254 OBP. Owens has failed to take control of the leadoff spot like the organization hoped he would, but even if he did, his career .321 OBP doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence.

So with no centerfielder separating himself from the pack, the White Sox are looking like they will be without a good leadoff hitter for the start of the 2009 season. It may take some creativity from Ozzie Guillen to find this team a reliable leadoff hitter if Owens or Wise can’t turn it on in the last half of spring training.

Jim Thome in “Back Trouble”

In the three years that Jim Thome has worn a White Sox uniform, he has been incredibly lucky to stay off the disabled list for an extended period of time. His at-bat totals from 2006-2008: 610, 536, 602. Thome will be 39 in August, and his recent back problems that have kept him out of the White Sox’ lineup for about a week could be a red flag for the rest of the season.

While Thome doesn’t think they are, these back problems have to be some sort of cause for concern. Maybe it won’t land Thome on the disabled list for an extended period of time, but it could lead to multiple trips to the DL during the season. Losing Thome would leave a pretty large hole in the White Sox lineup not only in production, but in that Thome is the only left-handed power bat the White Sox have in their lineup.

On the same note at Thome’s back, Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye, and Pierzynski all are a year older, meaning injury and production dropoff concerns are going to be higher regarding each player.

Hold the line, relief isn’t always on time

Scott Linebrink‘s slow start to the spring (3 earned runs and 10 hits in 4.2 IP) could be a sign that Linebrink’s days of being a reliable setup man are coming to a close. Problem is, the White Sox might be on the hook for another three years and about $15 million for a regressing Linebrink.

If Octavio Dotel‘s spring struggles are not due to tinkering with a changeup and Linebrink is unable to stave off regression for another season, there will be a big gap in the right-handed bridge to Bobby Jenks this year.

DJ Carrasco hasn’t been any better this spring (6 earned runs and 13 hits, 3 walks in 5.0 IP). If he continues to pitch like the DJ Carrasco of old and if the White Sox don’t consider Egbert for a bullpen role, there could be a serious dearth of right-handed relievers in the White Sox ’09 bullpen.

Marqed man

As Jim at Soxmachine pointed out, Jeff Marquez may be getting the Nick Masset treatment. The “Masset treatment” is defined as when a newly-acquired player doesn’t perform to organizational expectations but is selected to the 25-man roster anyway for no discernible reason except that the organization seems to love him.

Cheat at SouthSideSox has been all over the Jack Egbert bandwagon, which would be a pretty good one to jump on while most of the Sox’ brass is still on the Marquez bandwagon. Egbert (2 earned runs, 9 hits, 10 strikeouts in 11.0 IP while getting ground balls) has decidedly outpitched Marquez this spring (4 earned runs, 7 hits, 7 strikeouts in 8.1 IP while getting too many fly balls), but Marquez still could win a spot on the MLB roster out of favor alone.

Now, Marquez allowed all of his runs in one start this spring (which came on three home runs, which is troubling for a groundball pitcher), so he’s not at Masset levels just yet. But if Egbert continues to string good outings with a lot of ground balls together while Marquez gives up more fly balls and more runs, there will be a massive blogger uproar if Marquez makes the team over Egbert.

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Topics: Brian Anderson, Clayton Richard, Dewayne Wise, DJ Carrasco, Jack Egbert, Jeff Marquez, Jermaine Dye, jerry owens, Jim Thome, Octavio Dotel, Paul Konerko, Scott Linebrink, White Sox