Survival of the Fittest

There is no coaching at the major-league for the White Sox, unless you think Mickey Mouse and his staff qualify; enough said. What they have going instead is what Darwin wrote about, the survival of the fittest. And even that I wonder about. Yesterday in Kansas City, rookie starter Drew Thorpe was pretty much unhittable; Thorpe threw six shutout innings, allowing a mere three hits and two walks. He left with a 1-0 lead the bullpen turned into a 4-1 loss. That’s seven in a row in case you’re counting. The day before, fellow rookie starter Jonathan Cannon also threw six innings, though his weren’t nearly as clean, four runs (all earned) on eight hits. After the game, Cannon talked about the outing giving him “invaluable” experience (from story Sunday on team website). That’s putting a nice spin on things. And maybe Cannon’s right, given how he went on to retire twelve of the last thirteen batters he faced. Still, the danger here is that young players will press trying to get the win. With the position players, that could mean an error or a strikeout, as evidenced by Brooks Baldwin. After singling in his first major-league at-bat, Baldwin has gone 0-for-9 with five strikeouts. No physical harm, though. It's different with pitching. Pressing on the mound can lead to a shoulder injury or Tommy John surgery. Right now, all I can do is hold my breath until the Sox put a real coaching staff in place, if they ever do. It’d be a waste for all this talent to perish in the jungle.