Now, to be fair, he is an improvement over Jayson Nix, whose less-than-stellar .833 fielding percentage (5 errors in 30 chances) was probably one of the big reasons why he’s now playing for the Cleveland Indians. And I’m fully aware that fielding chances and Range Factors and whatnot is decidedly less sexy than the possibility of 20+ HR seasons in the future for Viciedo. He’s got a great bat and a swing (and plate presence) that many have compared to Frank Thomas. What’s conveniently forgotten is that Thomas was a first baseman, and later a DH, two positions that leave decidedly less opportunity for the player to screw up.

So what do we do with Viciedo then? He obviously needs to get major league ABs so he can acclimate himself to major league pitching. One school of thought recommends letting Paul Konerko go at the end of his contract and plugging Viciedo into his place. I think this would be foolish. Granted, Konerko is going to demand a lot of money for his next contract – but the numbers don’t lie. He’s probably worth every penny. Hitting aside, he also have a pristine .998 fielding percentage (1 error in 652 chances), and is the clubhouse leader of this team. I think this should be only a last-resort option.

Another school of thought has the Sox playing Viciedo as the full-time DH. I think this is a more viable option; however, this may not be the wisest option since at some point you may want to keep Viciedo field-ready – he’s far too young to start taking on an Edgar Martinez-like role with the White Sox.

Whatever the outcome may be, the Sox need to find an answer for fielding at third base. Vizquel probably needs to be that answer in the short term (read: rest of the season) and then the question will need to be addressed more permanently in the offseason.

As a side note, you’ll probably notice that not once did I make mention of Mark Teahen in this discussion. With 8 errors in 112 chances (a .929 fielding percentage), as far as I’m concerned I hope Teahen remains on the DL until sometime in 2014. At that point, the Sox might have a chance of trading him. In all honesty, he adds no significant value to the squad, offensively or defensively. He may have had a tremendous upside in scouting reports, but when the Royals are trading you for (effectively) a sack of baseballs, there’s something wrong there. Teahen should not be a part of the discussion regarding the future of this squad, at any time. There are far better options to be had, especially this offseason.

With Jason Kubel up to bat in the 9th inning, Bobby Jenks threw a 2-2 curveball that tailed outside. Kubel appeared to know that the pitch was expected outside, and didn’t even bother offering at it, despite the fact that it was relatively close. Kubel may not have been in “swing mode”, but Steve Stone offered up a bit of different analysis which may have played into Kubel’s decision to take the pitch. Stone indicated that Joe Mauer, at second base, may have been communicating expected location based on where A.J. Pierzynski was setting up behind the plate. A photo to this effect:

Notice that at the time of pitch, Pierzynski is already set up, tipping location a split second early, as well as sliding outside. Mauer is very good at noticing these tendencies, being a catcher himself. By possibly communicating this location information to Kubel, it may have heavily influenced Kubel’s decision to take the next pitch.

Following this pitch, Pierzynski went out to talk to Jenks. Steve Stone indicated that Pierzynski may have told Jenks what he wanted him to do, and where he wanted the next pitch thrown. Pierzynski’s extremely late set-up behind the plate seems to confirm this thought:

Pierzynski did not set up until Jenks was almost through his delivery. The pitch was a slider down and in, and Kubel had no idea what was going to happen. Mauer could not accurately communicate sign/location information, so Kubel was left with only the ability to see Jenks’ release point, which is already tough to pinpoint, especially on his slider.

Was this the main reason for the strikeout? Perhaps. Kubel looked much more lost on the 3-2 slider than he did on the 2-2 curveball. In any case, while Delmon Young did eventually drive Mauer in to make the game 8-7, Jim Thome struck out to end the game, leaving the tying run on first base.

I continue to be impressed by the way the Sox are finding ways to win games without having to continually hit home runs. Three called hit-and-runs and a couple other instances of going first-to-third were just a few examples of how this team is far, far different from last year’s (for that matter, the last four years or so) squad. Don’t misread this – they can still hit home runs. Konerko with 20 HR, Rios with 15, and Quentin with 19 definitely showcase a great deal of power. Rios has been a definite upgrade, though – with Thome in the middle of the lineup, there was a distinct lack of speed in the middle of the lineup. The one-two punch of Thome and Konerko clogged up the bases repeatedly. Rios, however, gives this team a burst of speed that allows them to run the bases much more aggressively on a day to day basis.

I also continue to be optimistic about the resurgence of other players which began the season significantly down – especially Pierre and Beckham. Beckham was down for a while, but he has already begun to break out of his mid-season sophomore slump. The home run he hit in the second inning was indicative of how he is seeing the ball out of the pitcher’s hand – extremely well. His second base hit, a hard line shot to the right side, means that he’s regaining a greater control of the bat in his hand, something that will be especially useful to him once his resurgence gives him the opportunity to move higher in the lineup. If he can hit that well to all fields the rest of the year, the offense will really start to roll.

Kudos to John Danks as well, for fighting through a disastrous second inning. The resurgence of the offense allows the White Sox pitching to have confidence that even if a pitcher should have a rough inning such as that, the team is far from out of the game. Danks recovered brilliantly, and fought hard for six innings. He is as good as advertised.

Jeers, however, to Joe Mauer – how many times do you need to visit the mound? Let the pitcher throw the ball, and just stay behind the plate. I’m pretty sure the pitcher doesn’t want to see your ugly mug out there again, telling them how you’re going to change the signs again, or what you had for lunch today, or whatever else you might be telling them during the down time. This isn’t Boston, or New York. We like to get our games done in a relatively timely manner, thank you very much.

Let’s keep this going, boys – we can bury the Twins but good with three more wins this weekend.

In fact, you’ll probably be seeing me write after tonight’s game. Look for me then. Enjoy!