SB Nation - Ramon Castro

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:38:02 -0000

Craig Counsell slides right into the projected 2010 roster.

Some things to read while she digs for her phone.

It's finally time to back off the comments about Randy Wolf not wanting to be here. Wolf said all the right things in his introductory press conference yesterday, and now actually appears happy to be a Brewer. Jen Lada was also at the press conference, and tweeted four quotes giving a nice feel for Wolf and the organization's excitement to have him.

The Brewers also announced Craig Counsell's new deal yesterday (FanShot). Counsell will earn $2.1 million next season along with some playing time incentives. The Bucky Channel says moves like this one are "crucial when trying to make a smaller market team a contender." Fire Doug Melvin is fine with the move, as long as Counsell doesn't take playing time away from Mat Gamel.

With Wolf and Counsell officially on board and LaTroy Hawkins (physical on Wednesday) and Claudio Vargas (physical on Friday) expected to be added by the end of the week, Adam McCalvy notes that the Brewer 40 man roster is about to be full, which might mark the end of any major Brewer moves in free agency. Two notes on that:

If you're still waiting for the Brewers to sign another starting pitcher, odds are you'll be waiting for a while. Adam McCalvy said Doug Melvin probably regrets comments he made months ago suggesting the Brewers were looking to sign two starters.
Secondly, the 40 man roster may be full, but it's a "soft" full. Room could almost certainly be made by outrighting new acquisition Luis Cruz or Tim Dillard, who would most likely go unclaimed at a time of year when no one has many 40 man spots to spare.

The roster crunch was one of the reasons cited for non-tendering Mike Rivera. Brewed Sports isn't too happy with the decision, and also notes that non-tendering the team's lone returning catcher pokes a hole in arguments used to support starting Jason Kendall last season.

Speaking of crowded situations, you can add David Riske to the list of pitchers to pencil into a bullpen spot to start the season. Doug Melvin said Riske expects to be ready for spring training (FanShot). That's bad news for Chris Smith, Chris Narveson, Zach Braddock and Chuck Lofgren, among others, who now may be fighting for one roster spot. If Mark DiFelice hadn't gone down, they'd all come to Maryvale on the outside looking in. A lot can happen between now and then, of course.

And speaking of Chris Smith, Brewerfan.net asked someone from the Brewer organization to verify some of their option info, and discovered that Smith doesn't have any options left. Obviously, Smith wouldn't be a major loss, but it's possible someone would claim him if he were available.

Meanwhile, we reached the final conclusion of the Mike Cameron era in Milwaukee yesterday, as he agreed to a two year deal with the Red Sox (FanShot). Cameron's strikeouts and one memorable dropped fly ball made him a polarizing talent as a Brewer, but most advanced metrics seem to agree on his significant value, and you'll rarely hear anything negative said about him as a teammate and clubhouse presence. If you missed it last night, Jordan has a goodbye post for him.

How lucky are the Brewers to have Ryan Braun? I think we occasionally forget how rare it is for a player to have an impact as immediate as his in the major leagues. Braun hit the second most home runs of any major leaguer in their first 162 games, and also collected the tenth most hits, making him the only player to appear on both lists.

Speaking of luck, Braden Looper's 14 wins last season made him the most unlikely winner in major league history.

Another day, another new poll for our BCB All Decade Team. You have until 4 pm today to select a catcher, and until 4 pm tomorrow to select our final starting outfielder. So far Damian Miller and Geoff Jenkins are leading those votes, respectively.

After looking at the candidates at catcher, I'm starting to wish I had gone this route instead: Camden Chat has an All-Awful lineup for the 2000-2009 Orioles.

And actually, speaking of awful: Rob Neyer has a ranking of the Top 100 players of the 2000's, and while former Brewers CC Sabathia (#25), Mike Cameron (#36), Ray Durham (#71), Jose Valentin (#88) and Corey Koskie (#92) are on it, Prince Fielder is nowhere to be found.

Around baseball:

Angels: Signed Hideki Matsui to a one year, $6.5 million deal.
Astros: Re-signed outfielder Jason Michaels to a one year deal.
Blue Jays: Signed catcher Ramon Castro to a one year, $1 million deal.
Mariners: Signed catcher Eliezer Alfonzo to a minor league deal.
Marlins: Signed pitcher Clay Hensley to a minor league deal.

Of course, the biggest transaction "announced" yesterday appears to be far from done, and may take several days to be made official: A three way deal would send Roy Halladay to the Phillies, Cliff Lee to the Mariners and prospects to the Blue Jays. You might recognize this trade as one several bloggers mocked Ken Rosenthal for suggesting over the weekend. I guess he knows something after all.

Happy birthday today to 2005-2006 Brewer Rick Helling, who turns 39.

Drink up.

Jays Sign Ramon Castro

Tom Dakers — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 01:46:57 -0000

For a moment we didn't have any catchers, now we have 3 though Raul signed a minor league contract, Ramon Castro signed for a year and a million. Click on his name for his stats. A defense first catcher, who hits the ball hard when he does hit the ball.

Lester Comes Through, BoSox Roll ChiSox 6-1

Ben Buchanan — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:41:21 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

It's always nice when you have to choose whether it was the dominant pitching or productive offense that was the story of the game. Let's go with pitching for now. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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After dropping the first two games of the series by a combined score of 17-3, the Sox looked to Jon Lester to play the role of stopper--a role he filled perfectly. After allowing a single and a walk to the first two Chicago batters, Lester induced a bloop fly ball which Dustin Pedroia made a fantastic play on, doubling Scott Podsednik off of second and averting a first-inning disaster. After that, he was nearly untouchable, allowing only 3 hits and a walk in 7 scoreless innings, throwing 122 pitches.

The offense showed some life through the first 3 innings, but didn't score until the 4th when Jason Bay singled and Mike Lowell homered to left on a John Danks fastball. Another Bay single would plate Jacoby Ellsbury for a 3rd run in the 5th.

The White Sox would cut the lead to 2 runs in the 8th as Billy Wagner allowed his first earned run with the Red Sox on an absolute bomb by Ramon Castro. He would retire the next 2 batters before Bard came in and struck out Paul Konerko on 3 pitches.

Victor Martinez put the game out of reach, hitting a 3-run homer off of Octavio Dotel. Jonathan Papelbon gave up only a single in the 9th in closing out the game.

The Sox will look to earn a series split as they send a struggling Josh Beckett to the mound against "Mr. Perfect" Mark Buerhle. Buerhle has been hittable of late, giving up 35 hits over his last 23 innings, but has managed to avoid too much damage.

Robbie and ribbies reconcile their differences, gets pied in 5-2 10-inning win

CrazyYankeeChick — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:50:20 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

"This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship [with RISP hits]."

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Sometimes I think the new Yankee Stadium was built in Narnia. Or through the looking glass. Maybe mystique characterized the House That Ruth Built, but the 2009 season has been trotting out one "Nope, didn't see that one coming" experience after another.

If it's not a 12K loss from AJ, or 3 straight walk-off wins in a row, or a game going scoreless for 15 innings, then it's our 2B overcoming his RBI allergy to end a rainy 10 inning night in the Bronx with a win.

When I went to pick up Chinese food in the 4th inning, I was legitimately concerned that by the time I returned from the corner, the game would be in the 8th inning. Just like the aforementioned 15 inning marathon, there was the definite kernel of expectancy that this game was flying by so fast, we'd wrap this up in no time.

CC was dealing, as CC is wont to do, eating up innings, collecting Ks like they're stamps on his Tasti-D-Lite card, shutting down Chicago, as economic with his pitch output as he is liberal with his caloric intake.

It was so seamless that I went into a food coma post Lo-Mein, only to awake to a 2-1 game in the 7th.

Serves me right. It was like the gods of baseball were punishing me for catching some Zzzz's during the game. If CC can wait til the game's over to eat, I should be able to, too. (I'm sorry, his girth will never, ever, ever cease to send me into fits. It's at an all-time high today on account of my buddy at the game alerting me that his music selection is "I love it when you call me Big Poppa." Few things have made me happier than this information.)

But despite the shallow 2-run comeback, the Yanks were able to best the White Sox, bookending the game with long-balls--a solo from #1 hitter in the captain's first at-bat of the game....and then a 3-run rocket from our #7 hitter in the 10th inning. (Check out those numbers. Interestingly enough, the historical Mega Millions numbers for tonight? 1, 17, 31, 37, with Powerball 31. What's more, the only innings either team scored were in the 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 10th.)

And for some more relevant information on the game:

CC deserved the win, but his ND is proof that baseball always evens itself out in the long run, as he certainly didn't deserve a W in the last Chicago series. Even though the ND broke his 6-game winning streak, his pitches are somehow improving with every game. His control is so impeccable at this point that he could probably knock a beetle off the ump's shoulder on command.

Brian Bruney got the win, and I just realized that this sloppy clown is 4-0. Eh, the race doesn't always go to the swiftest, I guess. Congrats, #38. Way to save the game.

Phil Hughes is beyond filthy. If Girardi hadn't pitched him, I think Yankee fans would have staged a coups. This Thor-like supergod of relievers threw 14 pitches, 10 for strikes, and struck out Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, and Jermaine Dye in his 1-2-3 inning, all of which were called out on swinging strikes. I actually got chills watching him work.

The agility and sure-handedness of our fielders can't be discounted in this win. A-Rod made 2 key run-saving plays that keep the Sox at bay, including one beautiful diving stop to keep Jayson Nix's screaming shot in the infield. He really makes it look easy sometimes.

Outfielders should be able to throw out runners at home. It's part of their job description. I don't ask my boss for a raise for coming into work on time. That said, I still gotta give credit to Swish for his throw to the plate that enabled Molina to tag out Ramon Castro. After watching the defense so determined to not give the Sox the lead in that inning, I realized just how resolute and unflinching the Yankees have become.

Melky Cabrera certainly likes him some Mark Buehrle. Our sparky outfelder's been in a bit of a slump lately, but once again came to life against Chicago's ace. Hopefully this fires him up enough to get back into the black.

Yesterday I said that if Jeter went hitless today, I was going to be delivering to his locker Minka Kelly's cheerleading vest with a fish wrapped inside. Fortunately, he saved her from this fate literally right off the bat. That's love.

The wind was a discernibly mitigating factor in tonight's game, and flyouts fooled me on more than one occasion. I can't even think about what this meant in terms of Sterling warning track antics, without my head starting to hurt.

The RISP situation: 1 for 7. Chicago was 3-8. I'll take any kind of win, and knowing how poorly the Yanks tend to work in the rain, I am thrilled about the way they played, particularly in light of the other Sox coming back to beat the Jays.

The more significant RISP situation: When Robbie hit that blast, you could see in his face the liberation he felt from the statistical stigma branding him up til that point. "You see the statistics up on the board," he said. "I want to get better." Consider yourself unshackled, kid. That shot meant more than the win. It meant the start of an RBI tear.

...Which will come in handy since tomorrow they send in Sergio Mitre to face Jose Contreras. I don't see this going as neatly as tonight, from either end.

We're mere days away from September, and the Yanks are still in first, as they've been for now 40 days and nights, and I expect Robbie and the Yankees to tear through the next month, plowing through their opponents like an army of Pac-Men who just binged on power pellets.

Let's keep it going.

-CYC

Meaningless Ramon Castro Facts That I'm Posting Anyway

James Kannengieser — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:30:11 -0000

Record and winning % of the Mets and White Sox, pre and post Ramon Castro trade on May 29:

Mets

Pre: 27-20, .574
Post: 30-49, .380

White Sox

Pre: 22-25, .468
Post: 41-38, .519

This is irrefutable evidence of the positive impact Ramon Castro's mere presence has on a baseball team's performance.

Mets Top Prospects: #23 Francisco Pena

Sam Page — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:00:41 -0000

Nice teeth.

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Francisco Pena

Born: 10/12/89
Physical Stats: 6'2" 230 lbs.
Position: Catcher
Bats/Throws: R/R
Drafted: NDFA, Santo Domingo, DR
Current Team: St. Lucie Mets (Hi-A)

Scouting Report: Despite his size, the son of former Major Leaguer Tony Pena has surprising athleticism. He is agile behind the plate with a cannon arm, and has lots of raw strength just dying to be translated into on-the-field power. The offensive numbers may not bear it out, but Pena has taken some interesting developmental strides this year, most notably in his actions behind the plate. He seems to be moving much better and getting plus grades across the board for his defense, whereas in the past the potential was frequently noted, but was much more raw ability than finished product. Where he previously received criticism for things like conditioning and defensive consistency, this year he has received far more praise. The problem is his bat, which seems to be coming along at a snail's pace.

Statistics

YR	LG	G	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	BB%	SO%	AVG	OBP	SLG	ISO	BABIP	HBP	SB	CS	GB%	LD%	FB%	HR/FB
2007	(SAL-A)	103	399	367	77	12	0	5	24	76	6.00%	19.00%	0.210	0.263	0.283	0.073	0.248	4	1	1	58.00%	7.50%	34.20%	5.00%
2008	(SAL-A)	105	426	397	105	22	3	6	25	95	5.90%	22.30%	0.264	0.308	0.38	0.116	0.330	1	0		48.90%	11.50%	39.70%	5.00%
2009	(FSL-HiA)	72	269	276	61	11	1	7	13	57	4.80%	21.20%	0.221	0.264	0.344	0.123	0.254	4	0	1	44.70%	10.70%	44.60%	7.30%

Mark Says: Part of his struggles is the strange way the Mets have handled him. In another organization he might have just made his full season debut this year. He's been clearly overmatched every step of the way; struggling to make hard contact, hitting for just a touch power, and not drawing many walks. The good news is he has also improved in this department as well. His second tour of duty in the SAL was far less brutal than his first, though still not worth getting very excited over. Particularly encouraging was the much more balanced GB/LD/FB rates in 2008. Then after a dreadful start to his career in the FSL this year, he's actually managed to finally flash some of his raw power by hitting five HR in July, a career best in any calendar month, and particularly impressive for such a young player in the pitcher friendly FSL. A 7.3% HR/FB for a 19 year old in a league where homers go to die is quite encouraging. Also encouraging is the fact that he's maintained last year's more balance batted ball profiled, which bodes well for his power production moving forward. His contact and walk rates still haven't improved, in fact they've regressed, which is troubling. But considering he looks like he's turning into a plus defensive catcher, you have to be happy with any kind of offensive glimmer of hope. He's still young enough where there's plenty of time for him to figure out how to hit, and if he can maintain his conditioning and become a dependable defensive backstop, he should still have a nice chance of becoming a big league backup at least. Whether he'll ever earn a starting job will be a question of how much offense he finds over the next few years.

Sam Says: MY EYES!! THE GOGGLES...THEY DO NOTHING! The similarities between his LD% for this year and 2008 are interesting and make me wonder whether he got some bad luck this year, good luck last year, or whether the LD% are just messed up, which is a distinct possibility with these minor league batted ball profiles. I wouldn't say the walk rate has regressed, as a decline of sorts should be expected when promoting such a young player from SALLY to the Florida State League. Without getting too much further in the minutiae of this data, however, it's important to take a step back and remember how monumentally bad Pena has been every season so far in the minors. The Mets rushed him, yes. He's got time, yes. But sometime, he's got to hit. Stocking your minor leagues with defensive minded players are premium positions, who have some offensive upside, is always a good strategy, so I suppose we'll wait and see.

Expert Smackdown

John Sickels: He sucks. He can't hit and I don't think he'll start. He has a good arm but is still raw behind the plate. Maybe he'll make it as a backup, but I don't buy him as a regular at all.

Kevin Goldstein: The son of Tony Pena, who won four Gold Gloves in the 1980s, Pena was a big-budget signing out of the Dominican three years ago, but he spent his first two years doing little offensively in the Low-A Sally League. Still just 19, his overall batting line is still a poor .237/.281/.369, but he's as hot as he has ever been as a pro of late, going 8-for-16 in his last three games with a home run in each one. A plus defender, he's still got a chance to turn into a solid big league backstop.

Fun With Comps

Disclaimer: The funky ARL path the Mets have put Pena on combined with his somewhat peculiar size for such a young catcher have made him something of an oddity. As such, in contrast to other comp sections we have been running, Pena's will be more about how we might hope/expect his career to turn out, rather than how he's faring right now compared to others who went onto have success or not.

1) Scott Boras Says: Jim Sundberg

The second overall pick in the 1973 draft, Sundberg was a catcher whose bat developed just enough to make him an extremely useful player in the majors. During his peak, Sundberg's BA hovered around .270 with good plate discipline and very modest power. The comparison comes with Pena as a good-sized catcher and a plus-defender who was a 4.5-WAR player in his prime and a .5 WAR catcher when his body couldn't handle the demands of full time catching. Good defense and passable bat, however, make him a the 25th best catcher all time, despite durability issues in his later career.

2) Impartial Observer says: Tony Pena, Sr.
Since ARL comps are so hard to come by with Pena, his famous bloodlines seem like the next logical place to look, and who better than Frankie's pop? A strong defender behind the plate, Pena feigned offensive competency for a long enough time to carry a starting job at the big league level for a number of years. While Tony's good offensive years were almost all built with solid batting averages and a bit of power, we might expect Pena's to favor power over contact right now, though that's more conjecture than anything else, and we'll likely have to wait until Pena isn't two or three years younger than the rest of his league before we can make such an assertion with any kind of certainty. As it was, Tony's defense and varying degrees of decent offense yielded some productive overall seasons, and he topped out at a 5.5 WAR in 1984, though generally stayed around 1.5-3.5 through his prime.

3) Steve Phillips Says: Ramon Castro (minus bat?)
Now, we all lovingly remember Ramon as the better offensive catcher option the Mets never took proper advantage of these last couple years, but he does tell us a few things about the low end expectation for what Pena might become, as well provide a reasonable physical comparison. Though Pena may never hit as well as Castro, he is a good enough backstop where he should be able to eventually find himself a second string job on a big league team as a defensive specialist whose primary offensive weapon is a touch of power. Defense behind the plate is always at a premium, and so long as Pena can maintain his conditioning and defensive work ethic, adding consistent Blastro-type power would only serve to make him more valuable than this comp implies. The flipside to this is that when big guys like Castro and Pena play such a physically demanding position, conditioning really can become a major issue. If Pena's bulk winds up taking a toll on his mobility, he would really need to be able to produce offensively the way Castro has to carry a backup job, though in both cases pure arm strength is a nice tool to fall back on that will carry some base defensive value by itself.

Value:

Peak WAR: 4.0

Median WAR: 0.5

Mythbusters 2: The AAA Lineup

Sam Page — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:00:30 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

You're doing it wrong.

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Hat tip to Lookout Landing for the inspiration a while back, and metsblog for the title. Part 1 here.

Cory Sullivan is _______: Versatile. Good at defense. A passable hitter. Not a reason Buffalo has been terrible, despite their great pitching staff. All of these descriptions are false. Every defensive metric rates Sullivan poorly, with our favorite, UZR, putting him at -11 runs/150 games in centerfield and -9 UZR/150 in rightfield. Plus/minus rates him as only below-average, not very bad, so he's got that going for him. I've heard Coors Field throws off these stats, but they use park factors, so that seems like a myth in itself. Putting aside his defense, however, one can marvel at his Coors-inflated .715 career-OPS. He's --.3 WAR already, and his "range" isn't suiting Citi Field, despite what you hear on the radio. He got promoted over Nick Evans, because Sullivan was "more versatile," despite Evans being a good defensive infielder and outfielder with pop and potential. Just because he's been played in all three OF spots, doesn't mean he's good at any of them.

Omir Santos is our defensive catcher: Brian Schneider has thrown out 35% of would be basestealers. Santos has thrown out 27%. Sometimes his throws barely reach second base. At seemingly every play at the plate, Santos fails to block home plate or lets the ball get away. But that's just part of catcher defense, right? According to Baseball Prospectus, Schneider has been a run above average, Santos has been four runs below average, and just for kicks, Ramon Castro has been four runs above average defensively. If you consider him the offensive superior to Schneider, that's a whole 'nother mess, but stop calling for him to start "for defense." We kept him because he calls a better game that Hippo, right?

Orlando Hudson>>>Luis Castillo: Luis Castillo's OBP eclipsed .400 and all people could talk about was trading him to make room for Orlando Hudson. I think Orlando Hudson is better than Luis Castillo, but it's a slight difference (2.2 v. 1.5 WAR) and it could change soon. Despite his hot start, Hudson's wOBA is only 3 points higher than Castillo's (.352 v. .349), and his gold-glove defense is declining even faster. After having a bad -5 RangeUZR rating last year, Hudson has already eclipsed -4 this year. Meanwhile, Castillo has improved his from -6 last year to -1.3 this year, due in large part to his knees healing. These two players are about as close in value as possible, and with Hudson's deteriorating range, Castilo could be the better player very soon.

Jeff Francoeur is fixed!: I've heard it all lately: stronger grip, more open stance, more relaxed. Pretty soon, we'll be reading stories about Francoeur's lucky underpants. Not to discount the possibility the change of scenery has helped him, but save the quick-fix stories for when he draws his first unintentional walk. The WINCOEUR12 database of gameday data I constructed will be following any signs of improvement from Jeffrey very carefully, but until I see something tangible, like a walk, I'll ignore the usual noise about minor modifications making 2 years-worth of improvements.

Omar Minaya's Job Security

The Mets are back in it: As one user put it: "When is 6.5 GB really not 6.5 GB? When you have 7 teams ahead of you." Despite the Mets' winning streak, Baseball Prospectus has the Mets chances at 3.7% (or just 1.8% PECOTA adjusted). That's a shot, in the most lenient use of the word, but not worth rushing Carlos Beltran back injured for or trading prospects for a LOOGY.

Perfect Game Applesauce - Ramon Castro catches perfection, Reyes coming back, Maine probably isn't, robot baseball players

Joe Budd — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:40:38 -0000

Add yet another story to the New York Met near perfect game/no hitter lore. I've come to accept it as a law of nature that the New York Mets will be shut out in this department. It's only frustrating if you allow yourself to think that something is actually possible.

Meet the Mets

Of course, the big news in MLB is Mark Buehrle's perfect game and Dewayne Wise's amazing 9th inning catch. So, let's try and find something Met related in the news. Well, that's easy. Buehrle was throwing to former Met Ramon Castro. To make you feel better, Castro is hitting .156 as a White Sock. We all know how many Met pitchers have thrown no-hitters/perfect games in other uniforms, but Metswalkoffs has compiled a list of Met catchers who have participated in these feats. Remember when there was talk about landing Buehrle?

Jose Reyes is drinking the Omar Minaya-we-can-still-compete Kool-Aid and insists on rushing back. John Maine, on the other hand, is visiting Dr. Andrews and might miss the rest of the year.

Toby Hyde gets some face time on SNY and talks about Brad Holt. Some pitching video as well there. Holt gave up 5 runs in 6 innings in last night's Binghamton victory over Connecticut. Metsmerized begs Omar to keep Holt.

Daniel Murphy means business worst OPS for a first baseman in a while.

Around the NL East

The Nats showed that they really are bad again, losing to the Cardinals 4-1 in a rain-shortened game.

The Giants knock off the sloppy Braves, 5-1.

Brave pitcher Tim Hudson's progress took a step back after a bad rehab start.

Kelly Johnson has been recalled to Atlanta.

The Phillies got right back to their winning ways after having their 10 game winning streak snapped.

Around MLB

Former MLB pitcher Jim Parque has a great steroid confession article in the Sun-Times. This is one of the best counters to the normal media sanctimony I've seen yet.

The Carlos Voltron story might not be too far from the truth.

Brian Bannister for KC GM!

Beyond the Box Score takes a look at the Alou family dynasty.

Finally, Mad Dog Radio is looking for a sports talk radio host.

Contreras & Castro Combine To Topple Tribe

The Cheat — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:17:37 -0000

White Sox roll to season-high 5-game win streak, 2 games over .500

Hey, guys! Come look! Quick! I can see first place from up here!

Jose Contreras continued his surprising return with another strong 8-inning performance Wednesday night. He's gone 8 innings in all of his victories this season, all 3 of them. I kid.

The Sox are 3-2 in Contreras starts since his return from self-imposed AAA exile, with 4 quality starts and both losses coming by just one run. Contreras, like Floyd (and, to a lesser extent, Danks) has turned his season around. Suddenly the Sox look like serious contenders in the underwhelming AL Central. (We're all Tdogg, now)

A certain amount of credit has to go to Ramon Castro, who delivered the big blow at the plate tonight with a game-breaking 3-run HR. Contreras has thrived with him behind the plate, mostly because he has improved command of all his pitches. But there's still some credit that needs to be given to Castro, who boosted Jose's confidence with some encouraging words from Livan Hernandez, and maybe, just maybe, makes him beam with Cuban Pride simply by being named 'Castro.'

Jose Contreras' turnaround

	W-L	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Before Demotion	0-5	6	29.2	40	30	27	4	16	17	8.19	1.89
After Return	3-2	5	37.1	24	10	9	3	5	29	2.17	0.78
Total	3-7	11	67.0	64	40	36	7	21	46	4.84	1.27

If you were to graph the Sox season this year, the two previous high points would have fallen on May 1st and June 1st. They sat at 2-games over .500 and a half-game up on the division in the former, and had just completed their first sweep of the season en route to a then-season-high 4-game winning streak in the latter. So now that's it's July 1st and they've climbed back to within 3 games of the Tigers and have a now-season-high 5-game streak, I'm a bit wary of getting too excited.

Ozzie feels the same way.

"When Kenny asked me about it, I was honest about it," Guillen said. "I said, 'Well Kenny, you got to give me another week to be honest with you because right now I'm confused.' And I told you guys in the media, I'm confused. I don't hide anything, that's my problem. I'm confused. One day we play good, three days we play bad. Of course I have to be confused, we were like 10 games under .500, that's not a good team. Or we a good team playing real bad.

"Little by little, we've started to hit better, the kids start contributing a little bit more, and they take the heat away from the big boys when they start doing more. Then [John] Danks and Gavin [Floyd] and [Clayton] Richard are starting to contribute by pitching well. To have Jose [Contreras] come back and pitch the way he has, it's like we traded for somebody. The ballclub right now is great. How long are we going to be great? Hopefully from now until November. That's my goal.

It was a great series, and maybe the launching pad to a second-half run. But I'm still feeling a lot like I did following Jose's first start since coming back from AAA. Prove it.

You beat up on a down and out Indians team. Great. Go do it again against the Royals.

* * * * *

Photo Gallery | Boxscore | TSN recap | Quentin on track for post-All-Star return | 'Missle' to sit out Thursday, X-Rays forthcoming

Why's it gotta be WHITE Sox? Civil Rights, bitches! Reds win, 4-3

Brendanukkah — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:54:24 -0000

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

Oh, you didn't KNOW? Yo' ass betta CALL SOMEBODY! (AP Photo/David Kohl)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Brandon Phillips. The key to wins in the time of T-Virus is Cancer, evidently. Phillips was 1-3 with a two run homer and 3 RBI. Honorable mention goes to Bronson Arroyo, who went 6.2 innings and only gave up two runs on two hits, striking out 7. His four walks weren't so great, though.

Key Plays

The White Sox got the early lead thanks to a walk to Ramon Castro in the fourth, followed by Chris Getz's first home run of the season. 2-0, and recent history suggested this game was over.
But Lee Corso cautions us to decrease the speed with which we make assumptions. Everybody put on their Mr. Redlegs heads as Laynce Nix and Ramon Hernandez hit back to back doubles to pull a run back in the bottom of the fourth.
Ryan Hanigan tripled to lead off the fifth. The rout was on! Oh, except Paul Janish, Bronson, and Chris Dickerson couldn't bring him in. Nice job, Strand Landers.
Oh, your second baseman hits home runs, does he? Check it. And your Jerry Hairston has been retired for twenty years? Well guess what! Cherry led off the sixth inning with a single (he didn't have to bunt someone else over) and Brandon Phillips hit his eleventh homer of the season to give the Reds a 3-2 lead, our Frisch's Big Boy Big Play of the Game.
Phillips added a Great American Insurance Run with a sacrifice fly, following a double by Dickerson and a single by Hairston in the seventh inning.
Good thing too. Coco Cordero gave up a big home run to Paul "We'll Stick With Sean Casey, Thanks" Konerko in the ninth inning. Fortunately, it was the first batter he faced, and he got the three outs to nail down the Reds victory.

via FanGraphs

Other Notes

The top of the order went 5-10 with 3 runs, 3 RBI, and a stolen base. In unrelated news, we won.
Bronson's seven Ks were the most he's had since Sept. 21, when he struck out 8 Brewers in six innings. But that day he also gave up six runs and the Reds lost 8-1.
Despite a lot of swinging from his heels, this was BP's first homer in 53 at bats, since June 3.
Prior to Nix scoring the 4th, Contreras had pitched 19.2 innings of scoreless ball.
Bronson Arroyo now has as many wins as Johan Santana.
What offensive drought? Five Reds players had multiple hits. Meanwhile, the White Sox only managed four hits, though two of them were home runs, and they did walk four times and stole three bases.
Bill Clinton will be the keynote speaker tomorrow at a luncheon for the Civil Rights Game. No word on whether White Sox fan and president Barack Obama will be on hand for the festivities tomorrow.

Final - 6.19.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago White Sox	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	4	1
Cincinnati Reds	0	0	0	1	0	2	1	0	X	4	11	0
WP: Bronson Arroyo (8 - 5) SV: Francisco Cordero (17) LP: Jose Contreras (2 - 6)

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