KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Don Cooper will have a very watchful eye onthis afternoon's game. The Sox pitching coach wants to see how hisstaff matches up against Detroit's red-hot lineup, and he wants tosee some life from Freddy Garcia's right arm.
Garcia complained about not being able to "get loose" with twoweeks left in spring training, and that carried over into his regular-season debut against Cleveland last week. Not only did Garcia allowseven runs on nine hits in the loss, but the velocity on his fastballwas consistently in the mid- to high-80s.
"What we're looking for [today] is more of an aggressive come-at-them," Cooper said. "The demeanor we've seen in all the big gameslast year is something we all would hope to get [today]."
The Tigers are the perfect team for Garcia to get something goingagainst, considering he was 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA against them in 2005.
While Cooper wants to see a bit more zip on Garcia's fastball, hedoesn't want it to be the only focus.
"No, I'm not going to force-feed that," he said. "It's just got tobe more aggressive and a better fastball. I don't think he can pitchup to his capabilities with the 87, 86 [mph] we were seeing, when weknow we've seen 92-94 in the past. Now I don't want him pushed up on,'You need to do this or that.' We're looking to get back to where wewere last year with all our pitchers. It's a high level, but that'scertainly our goal."
FAST START: The Sox are not only very aware of the Tigers' 5-1start this season, but almost expected it.
"Look at the rotation, and every guy is good," Sox first basemanPaul Konerko said. "There is no weak link in there, and they have alot of good guys at the back of the bullpen. I'm not ready to handover the division trophy, but at the same time, they will be thereall year.
"The worst thing you can do is call them a fluke. That's whatpeople were calling us a year ago. They have the talent to win. Theywill be there. There are no pushovers in this division."
BATTLE-TESTED: Outfielder Jermaine Dye, who missed two starts witha knot in his left calf, returned to the starting lineup Sunday andshowed no signs of the layoff.
Not only did Dye chase down two fly balls to the warning track,but he scored a run in the second inning and doubled in the fourth.
jcowley@suntimes.com
ON DECK:
WHITE SOX AT TIGERS
Today: 12:05 p.m., CSN, 670-AM.
Freddy Garcia (0-1, 15.75 ERA) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (1-0, 1.35ERA).
Wednesday: 12:05 p.m., CSN, 670-AM. Jose Contreras (0-0, 3.00 ERA)vs. Nate Robertson (1-0, 5.06 ERA).
Thursday: 12:05 p.m., CSN, 670-AM. Jon Garland (0-1, 15.19 ERA)vs. Mike Maroth (1-0, 1.69 ERA).
Update: The White Sox have made it a practice of bullying theTigers over the years, beating them in six of the last seven seasonseries (8-11 in 2004). But the 2006 version of the Motown Kitties hasa new vibe to it, starting the year 5-0 before a loss to Texas onSunday. The key game, as far as the Sox are concerned, will be FreddyGarcia's start today. That is not only because it's the home openerfor Detroit, but because the Sox have some questions about Garcia'svelocity that need answering soon.
Source: Joe Cowley
Garcia knows he needs more speed vs. TigersKANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Don Cooper will have a very watchful eye onthis afternoon's game. The Sox pitching coach wants to see how hisstaff matches up against Detroit's red-hot lineup, and he wants tosee some life from Freddy Garcia's right arm.
Garcia complained about not being able to "get loose" with twoweeks left in spring training, and that carried over into his regular-season debut against Cleveland last week. Not only did Garcia allowseven runs on nine hits in the loss, but the velocity on his fastballwas consistently in the mid- to high-80s.
"What we're looking for [today] is more of an aggressive come-at-them," Cooper said. "The demeanor we've seen in all the big gameslast year is something we all would hope to get [today]."
The Tigers are the perfect team for Garcia to get something goingagainst, considering he was 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA against them in 2005.
While Cooper wants to see a bit more zip on Garcia's fastball, hedoesn't want it to be the only focus.
"No, I'm not going to force-feed that," he said. "It's just got tobe more aggressive and a better fastball. I don't think he can pitchup to his capabilities with the 87, 86 [mph] we were seeing, when weknow we've seen 92-94 in the past. Now I don't want him pushed up on,'You need to do this or that.' We're looking to get back to where wewere last year with all our pitchers. It's a high level, but that'scertainly our goal."
FAST START: The Sox are not only very aware of the Tigers' 5-1start this season, but almost expected it.
"Look at the rotation, and every guy is good," Sox first basemanPaul Konerko said. "There is no weak link in there, and they have alot of good guys at the back of the bullpen. I'm not ready to handover the division trophy, but at the same time, they will be thereall year.
"The worst thing you can do is call them a fluke. That's whatpeople were calling us a year ago. They have the talent to win. Theywill be there. There are no pushovers in this division."
BATTLE-TESTED: Outfielder Jermaine Dye, who missed two starts witha knot in his left calf, returned to the starting lineup Sunday andshowed no signs of the layoff.
Not only did Dye chase down two fly balls to the warning track,but he scored a run in the second inning and doubled in the fourth.
jcowley@suntimes.com
ON DECK:
WHITE SOX AT TIGERS
Today: 12:05 p.m., CSN, 670-AM.
Freddy Garcia (0-1, 15.75 ERA) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (1-0, 1.35ERA).
Wednesday: 12:05 p.m., CSN, 670-AM. Jose Contreras (0-0, 3.00 ERA)vs. Nate Robertson (1-0, 5.06 ERA).
Thursday: 12:05 p.m., CSN, 670-AM. Jon Garland (0-1, 15.19 ERA)vs. Mike Maroth (1-0, 1.69 ERA).
Update: The White Sox have made it a practice of bullying theTigers over the years, beating them in six of the last seven seasonseries (8-11 in 2004). But the 2006 version of the Motown Kitties hasa new vibe to it, starting the year 5-0 before a loss to Texas onSunday. The key game, as far as the Sox are concerned, will be FreddyGarcia's start today. That is not only because it's the home openerfor Detroit, but because the Sox have some questions about Garcia'svelocity that need answering soon.
Source: Joe Cowley
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