Spring Break - Part I

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The Sox enter Spring Training with four live, healthy, capable of anything starting pitching arms in the form of Buehrle, Ed Jackson, Floyd, and Danks. Buehrle already has a Perfect Game and No-Hitter on his resume, and Ed Jackson has a no-no of his own. Floyd has tantalized a few times with near no-hitters and won't shock anyone if he finally does it. And it's possible that Danks is the best pitcher of them all.

So when those four guys came out and fired four straight two inning, no run/no hit innings to start Spring Training, my excitement level for 2011 went from 10 to 11.

Alright, it probably more accurately went from a 8 to a 9. For a 10 I'd need to see Morel hitting everything in sight and the young bullpen arms - Sales and Santos - looking untouchable. And to hit Spinal Tap's vaunted 11? That would take a string of Jake Peavy starts that show he's as strong and effective as ever.

Oh wait... lookie at what Jakie did his first time out - he got himself his own 2 innings of scoreless, hitless work to kick of his Cactus League campaign. Where's that leave us - 30 straight outs with not a single hit or run against our starting rotation to start the pre-season.


Still, not quite an 11 yet, but hell's yeah I'm pumped to see those five guys dealing as they have. I wrote about this a lot last year - when we were on our hot streak in 2010, the starting pitchers were driving the train. Every game it looked as if the day's starter was out to one-up the guy from the night before. Memories of 2005 danced in my head as this team went on an unholy tear from June 9th to the All-Star Break.

Of course, after the All-Star Break the Sox were very middling, quickly fell out of the race with the Twinkies, and I was faced with yet another disappointing season on the South Side (probably my 28th in 30 years... I'll grant that the Game 163 win was enough to label 2008 satisfactory).

But with the calendar flipped to 2011, somehow Kenny retained all the key vets we were supposed to lose and also somehow found the coin to upgrade all over the place. Dunn was the big splash, but don't sleep on Crain, Ohman, or even Lastings Milledge. Similarly, getting AJ and Paulie back was tremendous, but re-signing Castro, Pena, and Vizquel should also prove crucial at various points this season. And one last tip of the hat - not parting with Ed Jackson (or any SP) or Quentin, despite the many talks that one or both needed to go.

Personally I think it's almost always a dumb move for any team that has a legit chance to contend for the playoffs to ever get rid of proven effective starting or relief pitching. I've just never seen a team have too much of those. Injuries, ineffectiveness, and all sorts of other random things sprout up to make every single arm you have necessary to success. Only rarely will you find a team that truly has too many arms to the point that they're better served dealing some.

The Sox aren't there - instead the fact that we're 4.5 frontline capable guys deep (which hopefully will round up to a 5 as Peavy proves healthy and sharp) in the rotation is huge to me. And the fact that these guys are already out there dealing means even more. Sure it's the first outing of Spring Training, sure both Floyd and Buehrle followed up with 3 ER outings. But it still was impressive to see all five of these starters to come flying out of the gate. Especially after what we dealt with last year, seeing are big guns chomping at the bit to prove their worth is very encouraging. It speaks to a preparation, a drive, and a camaraderie that is exactly what we rode to the 2005 title.


Now while Peavy is most certainly the biggest question mark, he's also got the most room to help this club. Imagine if the other four guys are dealing during the year, pacing us to a Central Division lead and a favored status in the AL when the doldrums of the season hit in July and August. Who should just be rounding into prime form then... none other than your 2007 Cy Young winner, an ultra-competitive sort who seems uniquely qualified to be that stretch run and post-season Ace you wanna have.

Now I'd argue that Contreras was no better than Buehrle, Big Game Fred, or Garland in the 2005 Postseason, but there is zero question that we'd never have gotten there if Jose hadn't been lights out in the second half. He was that much-needed stopper to slow the August/September free-fall. And I think mentally it helped the rotation to know that Jose would take the ball in Game 1 each series, with everyone else able to fall into whatever place after that.

So I'm not counting on Peavy early on. Instead, I just need him to get healthy in May or even June (no hurry in April, where a 5th starter is barely needed). And then I need him to work out the kinks - mentally and physically - so he's ready to deal in the second half straight on through October. He needs to slot into that unquestioned Ace role, so that the other four guys can fill in #2-5, where they probably fit best.


So yeah, I'm a pretty big Kenny fan for how he's assembled and kept together this rotation. I'm also pumped with how he's stewarded our bullpen. Keeping Sale in a spot where he's proven he can be highly effective and where the odds are far greater than he can remain so for the full season is great call. And while you hate to mess with what works, the steady consistency Thornton has shown after years and years of working the most stressful late-inning situations (how many times when there was trouble a-brewin in the 7th and 8th, did you see Ozzie motion for the lefty and big Matt came hustling out of the pen?) leads me to believe he'll be a money closer.

Throw in that Crain's proven a steady 7th/8th inning righty, that Santos has the upside to be as good as any of these guys, and that Ohman is an accomplished professional situational lefty and I love what our relief corps look like. Wait - can't forget about Tony Pena, who has, pre-Sox days, been a viable late-inning option and also proved last year that he could be as good as anyone in baseball in mop up work and even spot start duty.

So while I've said it a million times, let me do so again - there are few things are crucial to a ballclub as having lights out relief pitching. You show me a team that has 4-5 consistent options out of the pen and I'll show you a team that is contending, regardless of what else they've got. And tho you never know what the hell you're gonna get out of a pen, I think Kenny has built as good of one as we could have expected.


Yeah, it's easy to cherry pick what you want to see in Spring Training and make more of it than it is. But I consider myself a fairly critical off-season fan - I love predicting and following all the moves and strategies, and as you've seen around here, I've got plenty of my own opinions on it all. But this off-season I gotta give Kenny the credit that he's built a club that deserves our optimism.

Top to bottom, core guys to role players, we've got it all... on paper. Now we just need to see if they can get it done on the field. So far, there are some signs that not only is the talent there - as we figured - but that they've also got the right attitude. I won't put too much stock into Spring numbers much going forward, but if the numbers seem to add up to something more - such as all five starters firing off beauty outings in succession their first time out - then I'm gonna let it up my excitement level. Maybe even to 11.

Please go here for Part II, here for Part III, and here for Part IV, and check in Friday for Part V.

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