posted on Monday, August 11, 2008 2:24 AM by Jim

Getz up, Washburn targeted, Quentin a target, Griffey sore

After driving roughly 900 miles this week, I'm treating myself to a light night.  But here are some photos from the weekend:
I plan to have video of Jason Childers and Charlie Haeger by tomorrow, barring a season-ending injury by a White Sox player.  Haeger was originally scheduled to be a Saturday night production.

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Briefly:

*Ozzie Guillen likes the cut of Chris Getz's jib:

"This kid has a chance to be here for a few years," manager Ozzie Guillen said after Getz, 24, and 24-year-old right-hander Lance Broadway joined the Sox on Sunday. "I like the way he plays, I like the way he does stuff. So do the minor league people. The coaches out there really like him, and hopefully he can help with what we need."

"I like the way he does stuff."  First off, I'm going to use that.  Secondly, we know Ozzie doesn't seem to pay particularly close attention to the minors in-season, so I'm guessing Ozzie's referring to a successful sac bunt in his first spring appearance.

*Jarrod Washburn is in the Sox's sights.  The Yankees were willing to pick up Washburn's entire salary, but the Mariners wanted a top pitching prospect as well, which is laughable.  They may regret turning New York's offer down.

*Carlos Quentin has been hit by a pitch in four consecutive games.  It wasn't intentional, but I liked seeing Gavin Floyd throw hard and inside when Jacoby Ellsbury squared around to bunt in Sunday's victory.

*Proposed nickname for Ken Griffey Jr.: General Soreness.

*At Baseball Think Factory, Chris Dial has American League defensive ratings through Aug. 7.  Orlando Cabrera is the top shortstop.

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Minor league roundup:
  • Charlotte 3, Pawtucket 1
  • Birmingham 5, Montgomery 0
    • Lucas Harrell held the Biscuits to two hits over seven innings, striking out six and walking two.
    • Jon Link struck out three over 1 2/3 hitless innings for his 30th save.
    • C.J. Lang doubled and drove in two.
    • Javier Castillo and Robert Valido had two hits apiece.
  • Potomac 7, Winston-Salem 5
    • John Shelby homered for the third straight game.
    • Estee Harris went 4-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
    • Winston-Salem committed five errors, leading to three unearned runs out of five allowed by Anthony Carter.
  • Greenville 8, Kannapolis 3
    • Sergio Morales went 3-for-4 with a double and a solo homer.
    • Jorge Castillo went 2-for-4 with a double in his A-ball debut.
    • Miguel Socolovich was hit hard.
  • Kingsport 8, Bristol 5
    • Andrew Garcia went 3-for-4 with a homer
    • Jose Vargas also added a solo shot.
  • Great Falls 17, Casper 5
    • Mike Grace homered twice and drove in five.
    • Kyle Shelton went 3-for-4 with a homer, two doubles, two RBI and four runs scored.
    • Jesus Avila had four hits; Kent Gerst drove in two.
    • Daniel Albritton struck out four over two shutout innings of relief.

Comments

# re: Getz up, Washburn targeted, Quentin a target, Griffey sore

Monday, August 11, 2008 6:52 AM by Salty Dog
I like things that are great.

# re: Getz up, Washburn targeted, Quentin a target, Griffey sore

Monday, August 11, 2008 10:54 AM by Jim Margalus
Good things are fantastic.

# re: Getz up, Washburn targeted, Quentin a target, Griffey sore

Monday, August 11, 2008 12:08 PM by soxfan1
With all due respect to the Baseball Think Factory, I'd rate OC an average to slightly above defensive shortstop. Look at his range! He is very limited going back on pop flies. He doesn't get to most of them. Uribe is much better on that facet of the game!. OC's arm is also very average. Coming in on slow grounders he usually fields them cleanly and then throws to first and 2:1 the runner is safe. I'm not complaining about him. He is very adequate in the field. To rate him the best fielding SS in the AL is a real stretch!! It will be very interesting in the off-season to see who offers him a big multi-year contract.

# re: Getz up, Washburn targeted, Quentin a target, Griffey sore

Monday, August 11, 2008 4:02 PM by Jim Margalus
Uribe is better than Cabrera on popups, especially toward the left-field line, but I'd pretty much disagree with you on every single point otherwise.

Seriously -- he's late on two out of three slow grounders? If anything, he's the master of timing it so he gets everybody out by a step, whether the play is routine or difficult.

He doesn't capture the imagination like Alexei does, he's just machine-like automatic on nearly every ball hit to him.

# re: Getz up, Washburn targeted, Quentin a target, Griffey sore

Monday, August 11, 2008 5:19 PM by dudeman
It doesn't take a scout or some complicated metric to tell a good defensive SS from a bad one, but it may to tell an above average one from a very good one. I am personally not willing to make that call with just my eyeballs, especially since I do occasionaly miss a game or a few innings.

But is it just me or has there been at least a couple of times OC has flat-out dropped a throw at second base? i recall at least one dropped throw from AJ on a steal attempt that cost us an out, and another on a toss from Alexei that cost us two outs. I'd be more likely to call him very good if he would kindly not do that anymore.

# re: Getz up, Washburn targeted, Quentin a target, Griffey sore

Monday, August 11, 2008 11:53 PM by Jim Margalus
Yep, he does take throws from second too far in front of the bag sometimes, but I was talking more about the percentage of balls hit to him that are converted into outs, and I think that's far better than acceptable.

# re: Getz up, Washburn targeted, Quentin a target, Griffey sore

Tuesday, August 12, 2008 11:21 AM by soxfan1
I still say that OC is an average (to slightly above average) fielding SS. He IS automatic on balls hit right at him but take a close look at his range, whether it's going in or going out on balls. His arm is average so he can't "make up time" on balls he has to run a long way for. Anyway, I was just disagreeing with the Think Factory for rating him the best defensive SS in the AL.