Black Sox Beat Writer
Chicago Sports Online
Chicago’s star first baseman Mark Simpson tore ligaments in his left ankle while trying to advance from second to third base on a single in the Sox's July 16 game at California.
Team doctors said he will be lost to the club for at least four weeks. Emilio Lugo, an accomplished hitter in his own right, will fill in at first during Simpson’s absence.
Mark Simpson
Emilio Lugo
“This is extremely disappointing to Mark and to the team,” said Manager Bret Richards. “But we know he’ll get excellent care and rehab in Chicago, and we look forward to his return to the lineup in August. Meanwhile, we know we’re in excellent hands with Emilio.”
While it’s true that Lugo has shown himself to be an excellent hitter in the past, he has been languishing on the bench behind Simpson at first and Tommy Cochran at Designated Hitter. As a result, his numbers this year have suffered.
As of July 20, Lugo was slashing .250/.321/.466, with 8 homers and 25 RBIs. Last season, in a platoon role in which he faced predominantly right-handed pitchers, he slashed .312/.321/.466 with 24 homers and 65 RBIs.
“I don’t know that comparing the two seasons is entirely fair to Emilio,” Richards said. “He’s been coming off the bench this season and, as a result, hasn’t been able to get into a flow. He’ll have four weeks of steady work now, and I’m confident he’ll knock the rust off and show what he can do.”
One possibility the team might consider is promoting either 3B Tomás Durán or 1B Aarnoud Budding from AAA Carolina to DH – both of whom hit left-handers well – to platoon with Lugo over the next month.
“Well, sure, I guess that would be something to consider,” said Sox GM Vic Caleca, “but we’d rather not go that route unless we need to. For one thing, Carolina is in the race for a post-season berth, which we would hate to imperil. For another, we like the way Budding and Durán are developing. We would prefer to bring them up next season after a full year of AAA seasoning and development.”
Unspoken in Caleca’s assessment: the Sox are going nowhere this season, while Carolina is in good position to challenge for a AAA playoff spot, just 4 games out of first place in its division and leading the Wild Card chase by 3 games. Several of the franchise's top prospects (including Budding and Durán) would be in line to get some valuable playoff experience.
So, while minor league postseason chances aren’t usually something to factor into personnel decisions, in this case it might make sense to consider other alternatives.
“We’ll figure something out,” Caleca said. “If nothing else, we can just let Emilio take his cuts against left handers and see what he can do.”
