The White Sox may have to prepare for
life without Paul Konerko for the next few weeks:
Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko could be headed to the disabled
list after straining a muscle near his rib cage before the White Sox's
game against Colorado on Sunday.
Konerko, batting .215 with eight homers and 30 RBIs, hurt himself
during batting practice and did not seem optimistic about a quick
return. The team initially said he injured his oblique, but Konerko
said it was one of his intercostal muscles, which connect the ribs and
chest wall, on the left side.
''It's definitely gotten a little sore as the day goes on,'' he said.
A few weeks ago, the Sox could've been able to live with this just fine. But then Konerko went on a seven-game hitting streak, and although it was snapped Saturday against the Rockies, he did reach base with a walk. He also has been one of the few Sox to visibly make some adjustments, opting to go the opposite way more often.
If it were Jim Thome, it really wouldn't matter who the Sox would call up, but since Konerko anchors a position, replacing him becomes more difficult. The possibilites, in terms of ease of fit:
1. Brad Eldred. He's become somewhat of a popular choice, and because of homers in both parts of a doubleheader Saturday, he now leads the International League in homers, one ahead of Detroit's Mike Hessman. He also represents an obvious first baseman-for-first baseman switch.
But the same caveats always surrounding Eldred still apply -- he has 76 strikeouts in 69 games. That's about on par with Hessman, who has 277 minor-league homers and eight big-league ones, mainly because he strikes out roughly once every three at-bats. And Elrdred doesn't draw walks, either, something Hessman can do a little.
As much as it might be fun to see him connect, he does nothing to solve the Sox's offensive issues.
2. Jerry Owens. Ugh. He becomes a possibility because if Konerko is out, Swisher will handle first, which leaves an opening for a fourth outfielder.
He is having a great June, to the tune of .345/.393/.364, and the Sox could use that OBP. But the Sox don't have a need for a guy who gets himself thrown out on the bases, because they've been doing that plenty already. Owens is only 4-for-8 this month on stolen base attempts, and if that part of his game isn't working for him, his value is severely diminished.
(In fairness to Owens, there could very well be zero drop-off in terms of catcher defense in Triple-A, since that's where great-glove-no-bat types like Chris Stewart wait to get a chance to back somebody up. Still, it's in no way encouraging.)
3. Josh Fields. Where would he play? He hasn't played first anywhere to my knowledge, and while they say anybody could play it, Carlos Guillen would beg to differ.
Maybe he could play it. Or maybe Ozzie Guillen could run Jim Thome out there and pray he doesn't aggravate his back. But left field is no longer an option with Carlos Quentin both holding down the position offensively and struggling defensively, so it's hard to see Fields getting much playing time unless the Sox know something about his first-base abilities that we don't.
4. Chris Getz. Another outside shot, because Alexei Ramirez can play center and be enough of a fourth outfielder, and Getz has played some shortstop and left field along with plenty of action at second.
He's hitting .306/.352/.454, but has a massive 370 split in OPS between home and road, clearing 1.000 in Charlotte's tiny park and struggling away from it.
As a last resort, Jermaine Dye is also a possibility in the most generous interpretation of the word. He has only played one game at first base, and that was back in 2005. But it might be fun to see how creative the Sox can get.
One thing I will say is that I now know what an intercostal muscle is. Like with Scott Podsednik and Owens and their troublesome adductors, at least I'm learning something out of this.
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Looking at the lede of
Dave Van Dyck's story in the Trib:
After scoring three runs in the last two games against the National
League's worst pitching staff, the White Sox are still trying to figure
out what kind of offense they have.
First two weeks: .256/.353/.461
Next month: .235/.315/.380
Week after: .287/.360/.456
Week after: .254/.301/.379
Week after: .347/.407/.634
Week after: .201/.264/.295 (does not yet include Sunday's game).
The scales favor "a bad one," but if you want to be a little kinder, you could say "dysfunctional at best."
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Minor league roundup:- Richmond 3, Charlotte 1
- Charlie Haeger put together a sixth straight quality start, but took the loss -- 7 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR.
- Jason Bourgeois had the only multi-hit game with two singles; .118-hitting Jared Price provided the only run with a solo shot.
- Jerry Owens and Josh Fields both went 0-for-4; Danny Richar had a hit.
- Birmingham 3, Carolina 1
- Carlos Torres allowed one run on four hits and three walks over seven innings, striking out seven.
- Miguel Negron doubled and drove in two; Ricardo Nanita hit a solo homer.
- John Lujan and Jon Link each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
- Winston-Salem 5, Wilmington 3 (Game 1, 10 innings)
- Brandon Allen went 2-for-4 with a solo homer; Anderson Gomes had two hits and two RBI.
- Matt Davis picked up the win with three scoreless innings of relief.
- Wilmington 8, Winston-Salem 3 (Game 2, 7 innings)
- Anthony Carter was hammered for six runs over two innings in his start, allowing five hits and two walks while only striking out one. All runs were scored in the second.
- John Shelby went 2-for-3 with a double and two stolen bases, his 16th and 17th of the season. He also committed an error and had an outfield assist.
- Paulo Orlando, C.J. Lang and Billy Killian each had two hits as well.
- Kannapolis 5, Lexington 3
- Charlie Shirek is back -- six shutout innings, one hit allowed, no walks, three strikeouts. He retired the first 16 men he faced, and there may have been an issue with the single, because the recap says it was hit to second baseman Dale Mollenhauer, and Mollenhauer was ejected thereafter.
- Jim Gallagher went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs scored.
- Matt Inouye followed up his five-hit day with two doubles in three at-bats.
- Logan Johnson and Mark Fleisher each drove in two.