One day after the World Series ended Kenny Williams is at it, getting the White Sox ready for next year. Chicago traded secondbaseman Chris Getz & power hitting Josh Fields to Kansas City in exchange for Mark Teahen. I’m hoping they install Teahen at the hot corner, moving Alexei Ramirez back to secondbase, and allowing Gordon Beckham to play his natual shortstop position. There’s talk that Teahen will play rightfield, but I hope not, we need more production out of rightfield than Mark’s season average of .269 with 14 home runs. We shall see what happens.
Tag: chris getz
Beckham’s Better
There is a current battle underway for the starting secondbase spot with the Chicago White Sox, with the incumbent Alexei Ramirez sliding over to SS replacing Orlando Cabrera. So the guys battling are Jayson Nix, Chris Getz, and Brent Lillibridge. What I really don’t understand is why there hasn’t been more discussion about leaving Alexi at 2B, with Gordon Beckham taking over the starting SS position.
Beckham was the White Sox #1 draft choice out of the University of Georgia, where he led the NCAA last season with 28 homers, while batting .411 in 197 games at Georgia. Gordon is a born SS and a born competitor. He reminds me of former White Sox SS Bucky Dent in the field, but with a much better bat.
Jayson Nix is a solid fielding secondbaseman, with pop, however he strikes out quite a bit, and is not a leadoff type hitter. Nix was handed the starting job last season with the Colorado Rockies, but couldn’t get the job done. Now Jayson, at 26, understands the importance of not taking this opportunity lightly.
I really like Chris Getz. He’s a lefthanded batter out of the University of Michigan, he’s a real battler, does all the little things well, not as good a fielder as Nix, but he can bat leadoff.
Brent Lillibridge was a SS in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, but is competing with Getz & Nix for the starting secondbase job. Brent has excellent speed, but lost his stroke last season with Atlanta, batting only .220 in AAA.
Competition’s good, I hope it’s not a closed competition. Last season Jerry Owens won the starting CF job last year, but was injured, so Carlos Quentin got a shot, and we all know how well that turned out. Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t think Beckham needs to pay his dues in the minors, this kid’s from a big time college, and he’s ready to PLAY BALL!
CHRIS GETZ HIS FIRST HIT
For Chris Getz it was a night of firsts and a night of lasts. Chris, pinch hitting for Alexei Ramirez, nailed a solid line drive to center off KC reliever Josh Newman. The ball was retrieved, thrown into the dugout, it will be given to Getz, and soon be displayed on his mantle, a base hit in his first big league at bat. Then Getz handled a grounder off the bat of Alex Gordon, threw a strike over to Paulie, and the ballgame was over.
The Grosse Point, Michigan native was drafted twice by the White Sox, once out of high school in 2002, and then out of Big Blue in 2005. At 6’0″ 165 the lefthanded hitting secondbaseman started off his collegiate career at Wake Forest where he batted .305, then transferred to Michigan where he hit .364 & .386 in two seasons with the Wolverines. I saw Getz play in spring training, he’s a scrapper, who does the little things needed to win ballgames. Chris is a slick fielder, who walks about as much as he strikes out, and he can steal a base. He doesn’t have much power, but had hit eleven home runs at the time of his callup. I know alot can happen between now and next future, but it looks as though Getz will be at secondbase, Ramirez at SS, 2008 first round draft choice Gordon Beckham will be at 3B, with Swisher over at first. I may be a little ahead of myself, but daydreaming can be fun.
Getting back to the subject at hand, which is last night’s game. Javier Vazquez stepped it up a notch, throwing eight shutout innings, before giving way to Adam Russell in the 9th. Vazquez was masterful throwing about 100 pitches, while totally dominating the Royals. Javier has the best stuff on the staff, but most of the time he doesn’t trust his ability and nibbles rather than challenging hitters. With Jose Contreras on the shelf for the rest of the year, somebody needs to step it up, and Vazquez is the logical choice.
While Vazquez was dealing, the Sox hitters were hitting. Jermaine Dye got it going in the first inning with a two run blast. Then A.J. Pierzysnski sent a solo shot to the opposite field, just clearing the leftfield fence. Nick Swisher absolutely crushed one, long gone, to right. Brian Bannister kept his team in the game, but got no relief from Kansas City’s bullpen who allowed the Sox to tack on five runs in the 8th, final score Good Guys nine, Royals zip.