McKnight: Bullpen Woes Lead To Ozzie's Frustration
Ozzie Guillen finally lost his cool after Wednesday's 7-4 loss to the Athletics. Frankly, it's about time and he had about six good reasons to do so.
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Ozzie Guillen finally lost his cool after Wednesday's 7-4 loss to the Athletics. Frankly, it's about time and he had about six good reasons to do so.
Starting pitcher John Danks went eight innings and only allowed one run to score. However, another collapse by the bullpen led to the White Sox losing 7-4 in the 10th inning.
Alexei Ramirez smokes cigars anyway but after hitting a pair of home runs including the game winner the one he lit up was a victory cigar.
We're 6% of the way through the White Sox season. Ten games in and a record of 6 and 4.
Close games have not gone the White Sox way early in 2011, losing both one-run contests they've been in this year after falling 2-1 to the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.
For the most part, things have gone pretty well for the Chicago White Sox this season, but one area of rising concern remains to be the team's bullpen, and closer Matt Thornton.
So far this season, Mat Thornton has struggled to close out games for the Chicago White Sox. He has three blown saves, an 0-1 record and a 2.73 WHIP.
Ten games into a major-league season is no time to declare a crisis. There will be normalization of underperformance, just as there is in the other direction. In time, players will be who they are.
It was deja vu all over again for the White Sox as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Oakland A's. Just like the script in the movie, "Ground Hog Day" the bad episode keeps repeating.
Matt Thornton hasn't got off to the best start for the 2011 season. In his 3.1 innings pitched, he's allowed seven hits and walked two and given up six runs, although only one of them was earned.
The White Sox were trailing heading into the ninth inning and were able to come back to send the game into extra innings. Brent Morel singled in the 12th to send Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez across the plate. One more run from the Sox shut the Royals down 10-7.
After going most of spring training battling with Chris Sale to be the Chicago White Sox's closer, Matt Thornton got the official nod from manager Ozzie Guillen. But it's business as usual for Thornton, even after the announcement.
The expectations for the Chicago White Sox are high this season. The organization has already declared that they're "All In," in their pursuit of a championship.
One of the biggest stories for the Chicago White Sox during spring training has been the battle for the closer role. The perception is that it will come down to with Chris Sale or Matt Thornton.
All-Star relief pitcher Matt Thornton has signed a 2-year, $12 million contract extension with the Chicago White Sox. The deal also includes a club option for the 2014 season.
With the departure of former Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Jenks, the team has opened up the competition to be this year's closer to the entire bullpen. And it's a job they'd all love to have.
Will Ohman and Matt Thornton feel their bullpen is one of the best in the league. With that said, the closer spot isn't set just yet. Thornton is fighting for that spot and so far looks like the first choice for it.
The competition to be the White Sox closer is one of the biggest topics coming from the team's training camp. And it looks like Matt Thornton might be separating himself from Chris Sale.
Over the offseason it wasn't clear if Chris Sale's role for the 2011 season would be as a starter or coming out of the bullpen.
For the Chicago White Sox, the competition to be the team's closer might be the only positional battle taking place during training camp. While players like Matt Thornton want the job, winning is ultimately more important.
I had a chance Tuesday morning/afternoon to catch both Chicago baseball teams. The Cubs & Sox are now both working out and I hurried from one to the other.
One of the biggest questions for the Chicago White Sox heading into the 2011 season in who will be the team's closer. And it looks like it's too early to try and answer that question.
Gordon Beckham wasn't going to get into the details of Oney Guillen and his "Twitter Gone Wild'' account like Matt Thornton did a few weeks ago, but the White Sox second baseman would like to see a drama-free 2011.
Further evidence that Ken Williams doesn't mess around when it comes to adding to the on-the-field product was offered up by newly-signed White Sox reliever Jesse Crain on Monday.
No stranger to chasing down his white whales, Ken Williams harpooned his latest one on Thursday. And it's a doozy.
