Bunting is meant for bad hitters or to get a man from second to third when one run will make or break a game.
Sacrifice bunting a man to second base should only happen when you have a player who has a best-case scenario of a strikeout or groundout double play.
This is why pitchers bunt. Professional hitters should not have to bunt a man to second.
Yes, bunting may keep you out of a double play, but it eliminates a walk, hit, error, hit by pitch, drop third strike, passed ball, or stolen base. The only thing a bunt assures you is an out and that out may even be the lead runner.
Out of the Chicago White Sox 21 total runs on the season, 12 of them have come via the home run.
So here we are, a week into the season and more than half of Chicago's runs have come courtesy of the long ball—something people should understand instead of damn.
A home run ballpark needs home run hitters.
Home runs are not evil—consistent solo home runs are, and only three of the White Sox' seven home runs to date have been solo shots.
However, the team's 2-4 record should not be blamed on a reliance on the home run.
The White Sox are 2-4 because they took away the home run lineup and replaced it with speed that can't get on base, and speed that can't field along with guys manager Ozzie Guillen and GM Kenny Williams are obsessed with, no matter how old they are.
Only three guys are consistently getting on base and driving each other in. The other six are not doing a thing. That is the problem with this White Sox lineup, and why the team is batting .203, good enough for second-to-last in baseball.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Jim Thome or Jermaine Dye's worst season would be better than Mark Kotsay's best season, so why is he in the every day lineup, let alone batting fifth, for the White Sox? Andruw Jones has at least a history of being good in MLB, and at 32, has far more potential than Kotsay.
Regardless, picking Kotsay/Jones over Thome or Dye simply doesn't make sense.
Speaking of potential, the White Sox signed Mark Teahen for three years and $14 million when he showed half a season of potential in his 676 career games played, none of which were for the White Sox. He is currently showing he never had potential and has now fooled two teams into believing him.
At least Teahen did something for the Royals to believe in him, however.
GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS
The good news for the White Sox is that Carlos Quentin, Paul Konerko, and Gordon Beckham are hitting the ball hard. Those three are 17-for-56 with five home runs, 14 runs, 11 RBI, and 13 walks.
Alex Rios is hitting the ball hard, but right at people as he sits 4-for-23 with one home run, one run, three RBI and three walks.
The bad news is no one else is hitting the ball, period. After Rios, Quentin, Konerko, and Beckham the team is 18-for-110 with one home run, six runs, three RBI, and 11 walks.
More good news is that the starting pitching has been very good going 39 innings while striking out 26 and giving up 12 earned runs, 34 hits, and 14 walks for a 2.77 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.
Sergio Santos has looked sharp in his short time giving up no hits in 1.2 innings pitched while striking out two.
The bad news is the rest of the pen has not been good giving up seven of their own created runs on 11 walks and 14 hits in 16.1 innings pitched.
This could be one frustrating team to watch due to Guillen having too many toys, too many bunt "opportunities," too many people to send on a stolen base attempt (the White Sox have been caught stealing three times on six attempts), and the possibility of getting no hits from five of the spots in the lineup, including the spot above and below the tough section of Beckham, Quentin, and Konerko.
Mix that in with a shaky defense and a shaky bullpen and you have yourself a third place team.
The other good news: It's only been a week.
The bad news: It's felt like a month.
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