1971 Recap: The White Sox havve long been an enigma, acting like a small market team in spite of playing in a very large market, and last saeson they did the small-market move of blowing everything up and starting over. It was a rough year all around, although a 16-16 July gave the few remaining South Side fans hope that maybe things will be better in the future.
1972 Outlook: These White Sox are probably a few years away but they've got a couple of very intriguing younger players who might be on the next contending team, assuming the next contending team ever happens.
Pitching
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Code:
Pitching Age BT W L WL % ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9
Williams, Aidan 28 LL 13 14 .481 3.16 31 31 0 9 3 0 236.2 236 92 83 25 61 5 108 1.255 100.0 1.0 2.3 4.1
Messina, Chris 30 RR 11 15 .423 3.75 31 30 0 5 0 0 216.0 210 105 90 18 64 6 92 1.269 100.0 0.7 2.7 3.8
Anderlik, Tim 27 SR 9 15 .375 4.94 30 30 0 4 2 0 200.1 253 112 110 29 62 6 115 1.572 100.0 1.3 2.8 5.2
Colucci, Nick 29 SR 9 13 .409 4.48 27 23 1 4 1 0 162.2 148 87 81 14 79 3 95 1.395 100.0 0.8 4.4 5.3
Post, Malcolm 25 RR 7 4 .636 2.23 60 0 49 0 0 24 97.0 82 24 24 2 38 2 73 1.237 100.0 0.2 3.5 6.8
Lamar, Ben 23 RR 3 4 .429 2.52 51 0 39 0 0 4 64.1 51 22 18 4 25 7 59 1.181 100.0 0.6 3.5 8.3
Venegas, Manny 30 LL 1 2 .333 2.67 51 0 20 0 0 1 57.1 40 17 17 4 17 5 33 0.994 100.0 0.6 2.7 5.2
Lagos, Ed 27 RR 0 0 .000 4.11 25 0 8 0 0 0 30.2 29 14 14 5 4 1 13 1.076 100.0 1.5 1.2 3.8
Roche, Daniel 33 RR 0 3 .000 4.21 21 3 9 0 0 0 36.1 38 22 17 3 19 2 18 1.569 100.0 0.7 4.7 4.5
Davila, Franklin 31 RR 6 7 .462 3.87 17 15 0 2 0 0 102.1 112 47 44 13 33 4 54 1.417 100.0 1.1 2.9 4.7
Reese, Rich 26 RR 4 3 .571 3.53 10 10 0 2 2 0 71.1 59 28 28 5 37 1 53 1.346 100.0 0.6 4.7 6.7
de la Crus, Jesus 25 RR 3 4 .429 3.33 18 4 6 1 1 0 54.0 46 30 20 8 9 2 35 1.019 100.0 1.3 1.5 5.8
Reyes, Bob 31 SR 2 2 .500 5.62 8 6 0 1 0 0 41.2 48 28 26 8 9 0 14 1.368 100.0 1.7 1.9 3.0
Martinez, Jason 27 LL 0 4 .000 4.42 7 5 0 0 0 0 36.2 39 18 18 2 13 2 11 1.418 100.0 0.5 3.2 2.7
Amador, Oscar 24 RL 0 2 .000 6.38 3 3 0 0 0 0 18.1 19 16 13 4 8 0 16 1.473 100.0 2.0 3.9 7.9
Fleetwood, Mick 23 RR 1 0 1.000 6.00 2 2 0 0 0 0 12.0 13 8 8 1 6 0 5 1.583 100.0 0.7 4.5 3.8
Gebhardt, Aaron 27 RR 0 0 .000 5.59 9 0 1 0 0 0 9.2 12 6 6 1 3 0 6 1.552 100.0 0.9 2.8 5.6
John, Brennan 28 LL 1 0 1.000 0.00 3 0 1 0 0 0 4.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0.750 100.0 0.0 4.5 0.0
Code:
Starting Pitching GS Wgs Lgs ND Wchp LTuf WTm LTm tmW-L% CG SHO QS QS% GmScA Best Wrst sDR lDR RS/GS RS/9 IP/GS Pit/GS <80 80-99 100-119 >=120 Max
Williams, Aidan 31 13 14 4 1 8 13 18 0.419 9 3 23 74% 55 92 15 6 13 3.2 3.8 7.6 112 0 10 13 8 162
Messina, Chris 30 11 15 4 1 7 12 18 0.400 5 0 20 67% 52 82 21 5 16 3.3 4.1 7.2 105 1 10 15 4 144
Anderlik, Tim 30 9 15 6 1 3 12 18 0.400 4 2 14 47% 45 79 14 6 15 2.7 3.7 6.7 104 3 6 19 2 161
Colucci, Nick 23 9 13 1 0 2 9 14 0.391 4 1 12 52% 51 84 14 6 13 2.9 3.8 6.8 107 2 6 10 5 148
Davila, Franklin 15 6 7 2 0 5 7 8 0.467 2 0 11 73% 51 66 9 2 8 2.7 3.7 6.6 99 2 5 7 1 136
Reese, Rich 10 4 3 3 1 1 6 4 0.600 2 2 5 50% 56 81 40 1 6 3.5 4.4 7.1 119 0 0 7 3 150
Reyes, Bob 6 2 2 2 1 1 4 2 0.667 1 0 2 33% 44 72 16 0 4 3.0 4.2 6.5 91 1 4 1 0 102
Martinez, Jason 5 0 4 1 0 3 1 4 0.200 0 0 4 80% 46 68 18 0 3 0.8 1.2 5.8 87 1 3 1 0 100
de la Crus, Jesus 4 1 2 1 0 1 1 3 0.250 1 1 3 75% 55 75 26 2 1 1.5 2.0 6.7 92 1 2 1 0 109
Roche, Daniel 3 0 0 3 0 0 2 1 0.667 0 0 0 00% 52 57 49 1 1 4.3 9.8 4.0 71 2 1 0 0 82
Amador, Oscar 3 0 2 1 0 1 1 2 0.333 0 0 1 33% 43 52 31 0 2 2.3 3.4 6.1 102 0 0 3 0 104
Fleetwood, Mick 2 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 1.000 0 0 1 50% 42 55 30 0 2 4.5 6.8 6.0 106 0 1 0 1 129
Code:
Relief Pitching GR Wgr Lgr SVOpp Sv BSv SV% SvSit Hld IR IRS IRS% ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo Run Emp <3O >3O 0DR 1DR 2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Post, Malcolm 60 7 4 27 24 3 89% 27 0 23 9 28% 1.758 24 18 18 11 49 5 31 11 24 9 16 4.9 24
Venegas, Manny 51 1 2 1 1 0 100% 7 6 16 4 20% 0.774 8 30 30 9 42 11 16 14 6 8 23 3.4 15
Lamar, Ben 51 3 4 6 4 2 67% 8 2 20 5 20% 0.927 13 31 31 10 41 5 20 12 7 10 22 3.8 19
Lagos, Ed 25 0 0 2 0 2 0% 3 1 18 5 22% 0.725 3 17 15 8 17 6 10 2 4 5 14 3.7 17
Roche, Daniel 18 0 3 1 0 1 0% 2 1 16 4 20% 0.757 2 12 12 8 10 4 9 2 2 1 13 4.1 23
de la Crus, Jesus 14 2 2 0 0 0 0% 0 0 13 4 24% 0.794 3 9 9 8 6 3 8 3 2 2 7 5.9 28
Gebhardt, Aaron 9 0 0 0 0 0 0% 1 1 4 2 33% 0.409 0 8 8 3 6 4 2 1 1 1 6 3.2 19
Colucci, Nick 4 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 3 0 0% 0.297 0 3 3 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 4 4.5 28
John, Brennan 3 1 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0% 0.350 0 2 2 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 4.0 13
Davila, Franklin 2 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 1 1 50% 0.567 0 2 1 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 4.0 27
Martinez, Jason 2 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 4 0 0% 0.524 0 2 2 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 11.5 65
Reyes, Bob 2 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0% 0.182 0 2 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 4.0 15
Messina, Chris 1 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 0 0 0% 1.280 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3.0 26
Chicago's pitching staff looked about like a pitching staff does when you yank its ace out. That was Sandy Hinojosa, now a mid-rotation starter in Boston. In his stead,
Aidan Williams was their guy, coming off of 2 14 win seasons. He very nearly made it a third in spite of this team, but where he was 14-4 and 14-8 in '69-'70, he was a below-.500 pitcher last season. Probably worse news for Chicago was that he stopped getting strikeouts with his stuff; he was never a big K guy but 4.1 K/9 is kind of bad, even for the era.
Tim Anderlik and
Chris Messina were similar finesse-based guys who suffered a bit from not being able to close down opponents. They also combined for 30 losses in 60 games and the team had identical 12-18 records in games they started. Which is not good.
Still, it's hard to see those men being knocked out of the rotation; Chicago simply doesn't have enough arms.
Nick Colucci probably gets another chance to show whether he's a major league caliber starter again for similar reasons. The 30 year journeyman old barely had a K/BB ratio over 1. This is generally the kind of pitcher you want in the minors as an injury replacement. Singer/guitarist/SP
Mick Fleetwood was 11-12 but with an impressive 3.17 ERA in AAA Tucson before starting 2 games in September; he'll get a longer look in spring training. He at least is an interesting chip.
Rich Reese is the closest thing to a power pitcher the White Sox have; he throws a variety of pitches, including a 4-seamer that touches the low 90s. And we can't count
Oscar Amador out... well, maybe not fully. He potentially has the stuff to be an ace but walked 186 batters in 217 innings in AAA.
Malcolm Post is a luxury a 90-loss team really doesn't need but on the other hand he's only 25, so why not? Should the White Sox do, like, anything, the game plan will surely change to use and abuse him at every opportunity.
Manny Venegas was a rare situational lefty I actually used. Hooray for him!
Ben Lamar represents another guy who should probably play more often going forward. We'll see!
Batting
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Code:
Batting Age BT G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS DP BA OBP SLG Pos
Perez, Mike 33 RR 109 380 48 89 18 1 18 58 61 97 0 1 6 .234 .338 .429 2*
Hackney, Matt 26 RR 34 110 11 17 2 1 1 5 1 12 0 0 7 .155 .168 .218 2/3
Thaxton, Ryan 30 LR 25 62 8 19 1 0 5 17 15 9 0 0 2 .306 .442 .565 2
Salazar, Bruce 28 SR 16 40 5 8 2 0 2 3 5 13 0 0 0 .200 .289 .400 2
1971 was a year that was kind of all about moving various catchers from one city to another. Chicago added the veteran signal-caller
Mike Perez, who'd hit just .165 the previous year with the Angels and who looked like a guy who might be done. The amiable Perez proved the doubters wrong and recaptured some of that power that made him such a big threat for the Reds in 1969 and a desired component for the Angels in the first place. Once upon a time
Matt Hackney was seen as a guy who could do some damage at the plate as well as behind it. Last year any hitting ability he had seemed to leave him and as of this writing he is now plying his wares in the Mexican League. That leaves
Bruce Salazar and
Ryan Thaxton, neither of whom look like they'll ever play significant major league games.
Code:
Batting Age BT G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS DP BA OBP SLG Pos
Jennings, Pete 30 RR 158 621 90 176 28 3 16 77 68 75 2 1 35 .283 .349 .415 3*
Reeder, Ian 26 RR 133 509 58 127 12 3 6 40 49 72 17 7 11 .250 .311 .320 4*/759
Hopka, Chance 28 RR 25 91 7 23 3 1 0 6 10 21 3 0 1 .253 .308 .308 4
Nation, Jeff 26 RR 139 518 55 125 15 5 12 48 33 84 4 4 7 .241 .290 .359 5*
Carter, J.P. 25 RR 54 109 8 30 5 1 2 10 6 15 2 0 2 .275 .314 .394 5/3
Perry, Mike 27 LR 13 31 2 5 2 0 0 4 4 8 0 0 2 .161 .250 .226 /5
Arellano, Pedro 33 LR 15 17 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 1 .176 .176 .235 /5
Henderson, Justin 33 RR 115 317 23 74 9 3 0 24 27 50 2 2 12 .233 .295 .281 6*/4
Fiederlein, Jim 28 RR 83 183 8 35 6 1 1 18 6 46 0 0 3 .191 .211 .251 64
Morgan, Chris 23 SR 24 67 7 14 2 0 1 9 11 7 1 1 1 .209 .313 .284 6
Amidst all the other things going wrong for this team,
Pete Jennings was kind of a rock in the middle of the order. It's hard to see him making another All-Star Game - he's gone to 4 in his career - but he's an above average hitter with a decent enough eye and enough gap power to hit 40+ doubles if the situations permit it. He's also getting a reputation as a malcontent, although he seems happy enough right now (which itself could be seen as a red flag - should you be happy with a 90-loss team)?
Ian Reeder was a 26 year old rookie and new debutant in 1971 who was, essentially, the epitome of a replacement level player. Nothing against him; he's just not all that good. As of this writing the White Sox look like they're going to want to go with
Chance Hopka, the former California Angels starter at 2nd base whom the Sox claimed off of waivers on Septembe 1st, as their new guy. If that happens, Reeder might still be able to carve out a career as a utility man.
Jeff Nation was a huge disappointment coming over from the Royals. The biggest fears - whether he'd be able to man third base - were mostly quelled; he committed only 9 errors in 322 chances and although he lacks range, that's really good - but the Chisox also expected him to hit like a middle of the order man and he just plain did not do that. He's only 26 so he could easily bounce back to the .292/21/84 form he had in KC in 1970. If he doesn't,
JP Carter is there. Carter doesn't hit for any kind of power but hit .298 in Tucson last year and .321 at AA Mobile in 1970. Perhaps if Chicago can get over the perceived need for power at the position...
I grew tired of
Justin Henderson, a 3-time Gold Glover with the Dodgers and a 7 year starter in this league. He's still a rock solid defender but even for a shortstop he's not a good hitter. The issue is, the White Sox don't really have anyone ready to step up.
Jim Fiederlein is a backup middle infielder with backup middle infielder skills.
Chris Morgan got some September starts but for him I'm not even sure if it's a question of being "ready" so much as it is a question of "is he capable". The top prospect is
Richie Flanagan, a 21 year old kid who saw all of 5 games and 18 at-bats at AA last season. Henderson could return just because there's nothing else here.
Code:
Batting Age BT G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS DP BA OBP SLG Pos
Kane, Brandon 28 LL 117 291 38 89 21 2 7 41 27 48 1 0 7 .306 .368 .464 7/9
Lammers, Scott 29 SR 51 172 27 40 4 1 11 27 39 41 0 0 6 .233 .373 .459 7
Veneziano, Sebastiano 34 LL 101 141 10 32 2 1 2 13 5 23 2 0 2 .227 .257 .298 7/8
Rhoades, Aaron 27 RR 35 59 7 12 2 1 1 6 6 8 0 0 1 .203 .271 .322 /798
Carrillo, Guillermo 31 RR 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 /78
Everett, Ian 29 LL 90 333 27 88 8 3 2 18 18 74 8 9 3 .264 .302 .324 8
Weyenberg, Eric 23 LL 89 294 29 77 10 1 4 30 33 30 14 2 0 .262 .337 .344 8
Wade, Josh 27 RR 115 427 44 119 22 3 2 32 10 66 5 5 10 .279 .300 .358 97
Cooper, Alice 23 LL 64 211 42 58 10 2 20 47 41 52 1 6 2 .275 .396 .626 97/8
Schwarzenegger, Arnold 24 LL 28 112 21 36 5 2 0 6 19 17 10 3 0 .321 .417 .402 9/8
Barone, Josh 25 RR 7 8 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 1 0 .250 .400 .250 /96
The outfield, at least, has the look of something that could make waves in the near future. The penciled-in starter in LF heading into 1972 is
Alice Cooper, a "glam" rocker who makes us adults feel queasy but who the kids love, I guess. He's also one hell of a power hitter, with 20 HRs in just 211 at-bats. That performance unfortunately will make him ineligible for Rookie of the Year honors in '72 but I think Chicago will be fine if the 23 year old merely becomes a 30 HR hitter at the heart of the order. In 1971 this position was a bit of a grab bag and a lot of those guys remain.
Scott Lammers in particular is a guy 2 years removed from .267/22/74 at Candlestick Park; it's hard to see where he'd play but a return to form would be pretty huge.
Brandon Kane also deserves at-bats somewhere, although again the question of where is a strong one.
29 year old
Ian Everett will return as the incumbent, although he is starting to miss a lot of time. Last year the Sox used
Eric Weyenberg in the second half of the season after Everett went down in July with a broken kneecap. He held up the offensive end of the bargain but is an average at best center fielder and should Everett miss time again it's more probable that the Sox will try and make do with projected RF
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Speaking of "Ahnold"... for a bodybuilder, the man sure does not hit for power. He cracked a grand total of 6 HRs between Tucson and Chicago last season along with 23 doubles and 10 triples. He also hit .321 for Chicago, which was miles ahead of the .240 he hit in AAA but which is also probably closer to his true form. He's also a huge gym rat who's reportedly trying to get other guys on his team into his weightlifting regimen. Also, he fields right like the converted center fielder he is, which is to say he's really good out there.