The New Kids can Play?

The White Sox have some fresh young faces that have gotten some extended playing time with the club due to a variety of reasons. These inlcude, Josh Fields at 3b, Jerry Owens in CF, Danny Richar at 2B, and two relief pitchers, Ehren Wasserman and Ryan Bukvich.

Josh Fields was rushed up after Joe Crede went down with back surgery. Fields was always thought of "the future" at 3b, especially since Crede's agent is Scott Boras and he only has 1 year left. Fields is not on the same level as Crede in the field, but he has made some pretty good improvements since arriving in Chicago, and should only get better as he gets more playing time. He struggled at the plate when he first came up and couldn't keep his average above .200. Then Ozzie told both him and Jerry Owens, "This is your job, no one is taking it from you this year, just relax and play." Well, that seemed to help out, Fields has been on a great run as of late and has his average up to .250 and now has 13 HR's and 41 RBI's in just 63 games. He still strikes out way too often, but that will cut down as he learns to handle big league pitchers better. He has a lot of power, and he is just starting to flex it with 4 HR's in his last 7 games and a .333 batting average. Josh is only 24 and has a bright future, but what do we do next year when Crede comes back?

This isn't Jerry Owens' first stint up from the minors, but it looks like he's finally turned the corner. He's got a lot of speed which has translated to 17 SB's in only 53 games, so he has the capability of being a 50+ SB guy. He also had a hard time hitting when he first came up, but he has gotten his average up to about the .250 range as well. He is showing more patience, and the Sox are boosting his confidence by letting him stay in the leadoff spot, and giving him the oppurtunity to succeed. The CF job is all his, unless he just can't hack it. Owens has exactly what the Sox want out of a leadoff guy, except he needs to get on base a little more frequently.

Danny Richar was basically an unknown at the time the team traded Tadihito Iguchi. The Sox acquired him in a trade earlier in the year from the Diamondbacks. The White Sox are really thin at 2B, and they probably rushed Richar up to see what he could do. Well, through 14 games he is only batting a meager .171, but has shown some speed and some defensive ability. Hopefully Richar will start hitting just as Fields and Owens have, or the Sox could be in a real bind when it comes to the 2B position next year.

The relief group that started the year was anything but a relief. After blowing lead after lead, Ozzie finally blew up and many changes were made. Along with those changes came Ryan Bukvich and Ehren Wasserman. Bukvich has appeared in 32 games and has a very respectable 2.83 ERA. Wasserman has appeared in 13 games with a 3.18 ERA. These ERA's are good for 1st and 3rd on the whole staff, respectively. Both of these guys look like they could be a big part of the bullpen in 2008, as they have helped get the ball to Bobby Jenks to close out games.

Well, 2007 isn't a World Series type of year.....or even a playoff year. But with the young kids comes hope for next year. The dream of winning another championship, celebrating once again. Because when it all comes down to it, when we play our first game next year we will be back at 0-0 with high expectations, and these kids have a lot to do with it.