No Way, Not Jose!

During their 2005 World Series Championship season, the Chicago White Sox were led by their starting pitching. The rotation managed to stay healthy throughout (with the exception with a stint on the DL for Orlando Hernandez), a very rare feat in the Major Leagues these days.

Sox fans need not look past their neighbors to the North to realize what a blessing having a young and healthy rotation is.

Well, on Monday night the first dark cloud seen in 18 months hovered over US Cellular Field. Jose Contreras is likely headed to the disabled list. Contreras (5-0 1.41ERA) has won his last 13 regular season decisions and was just named the AL Pitcher of the Month in April, a repeat of his accomplishment in September 2005.

Sunday, in a bullpen side-throwing session, Contreras felt pain in his hip. MRIs were taken.

As of now (2PM Central time), the White Sox have not made an announcement on whether Contreras will be placed on the DL but what we do know is that the Sox have called up knuckleballer Charlie Haeger from AAA Charlotte for a start Wednesday at US Cellular against the Angels.

Haeger has been brilliant for the Knights, going 3-0 with a 0.68ERA in 40 innings, striking out 31 batters without yielding a single home run. If Haeger does make the start Wednesday he will, at 22, be the youngest knuckleballer to debut in the Majors in quite some time. That's younger than both Phil Kniekro and Charlie Hough were when they made their MLB debuts. (Interestingly enough it was one time White Sox Charlie Hough the team brought in during spring training to work with Haeger on his knuckleball.)

If Contreras has to miss a few starts it's likely the young knuckleballer will only be needed for one of them: the Sox still have Brandon McCarthy in the bullpen. The only reason he's not starting on Wednesday is that he's not prepared to throw for five innings just yet; he needs a few more days to get his arm ready. But as usual the White Sox are ready for something like this, thanks to the foresight of GM Ken Williams.

With a starting rotation so deep and talented - Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, and Javier Vazquez - the team is prepared to survive the loss of their "ace" for 15 days. I put ace in quotes cuz it really is hard to pinpoint a single standout on this stellar White Sox staff. After all, their number five starter, Javier Vazquez (another BRILLIANT move by Ken Williams, getting Vazquez for Orlando Hernandez in the offseason), is sporting a 4-1 record with a 2.88 ERA with 33 strikeouts and only 8 walks in 40.2 innings. Those are "ace" numbers for any other team in the Majors. But for the White Sox he's just another one of the guys.

So really, all I'm saying is that I'm not worried... much. Yeah, the White Sox can easily survive a few weeks without Contreras but it's never a worry-free event when a pitcher goes on the DL. Durability was the key to Sox success last season. All five starters threw over 200 innings last season, a rare feat for one pitcher these days, let alone an entire staff.

Living in Chicago though I've seen this too many times with guys like Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Now I'm not saying I think that Contreras is facing the same fate as those two, but now the possibility is out there.

Another worry is the fact that unlike last season, the White Sox don't have a large cushion to work with. The Detroit Tigers are off to a 20-11 start, sit a game and a half behind the White Sox in the AL Central and don't appear to be dropping off anytime soon.

In the Sox favor: they've won 8 of their last 10 and start a three game series tonight at the Cell against the Angels, a team that they've beaten 7 straight times(4 during the ALCS, and a 3 game sweep in Anaheim 2 weekends ago).

So the best way to quell the fear of losing Contreras would be to keep winning.

I have a feeling that's just what they'll do too.

Random Thoughts

• Tampa Bay Devil Ray prospect Delmon Young has finally learned his fate. He is to be suspended for 50 games for an incident in which he threw his bat at an umpire and struck him. (Video of incident through the link.) Personally I feel he should be suspended for the season. Throwing bats at people isn't exactly a safe practice, and frankly I think Delmon could use a wake up call. This isn't the first incident involving Young, and one gets the feeling that he suffers from the Marcus Vick syndrome. (Delmon's older brother Dmitri plays for Detroit) Somebody thinks they're untouchable cuz they have talent and a professional sibling.
• I never did a second round preview for the NBA playoffs (Or a first round for that matter) and even though all series have been started I'm still gonna give my predictions. Spurs in seven, Clippers in six, Pistons in five, Nets in six.
• The Nets beat up on the slower, older Heat in Game One, but a Game 2 victory will be a lot tougher without Richard Jefferson.
• Now that the Bulls have been eliminated I have adopted the Clippers as the team I'm rooting for from here on out. It's pretty bittersweet watching them though. I mean watching Elton Brand brings back powerful memories of the night at work in which I was informed the Bulls traded him to the Clippers for 2 high schoolers essentially. I was pissed then, and I'm still not happy about it now. It's hard to watch Tyson Chandler (Eddy Curry is now in New York) look completely lost on the court and then see what Brand did last night in Game 1 at Pheonix. Brand's stat line? 40 points on 18-22 shooting, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocks. That's Tysons monthly stat line.
• The Cubs lost again last night. That's 7 in a row, and now even Greg Maddux is getting roughed up. The loss of Derrek Lee has absolutely stifled the Cubs offense. They've been losing games 1-0, and 2-1. They have gone from 14-10 a few games out of first to 14-17 and fifth place in the NL Central. How Dusty Baker handles this rut will go a long way in determining his future in Chicago. The Cubs are now off to San Francisco where they will try to keep Barry Bonds from catching Aaron.
• Speaking of Bonds, I'm sick of hearing people complain about the big deal made of him catching Aaron. Whether you want it to be or not, it IS a big deal. Steroids or no steroids, the fact that somebody is about to pass Babe Ruth isn't something you can just look past, no matter how much you hate Barry. I'm not saying you have to be happy about it, but to say it's not that big of a deal is ludicrous.
• Speaking of ludicrous, I have no problem with Steve Nash winning the NBA MVP. He's not the guy I would have picked, but I can't argue with it. What I can argue is that at least 20 voters for the award did not include Kobe Bryant on their ballot. Those who don't know, voters vote on their top 5. That means there are 20 voters who don't think Kobe is in the top 5 in the NBA. Somebody needs to find out who these guys are and take away their votes, cuz that's just stupid. Same as Bonds, even if you hate Kobe you can't deny his talent.