Black Sox Beat Writer
Chicago Sports Online
With on-base machine Mark Wareham departed for free agency, the Chicago Black Sox find themselves with an interesting question that has no obvious answer:
Who should bat lead-off?
One possibility would be CF/RF Manny Cleide, who slashed .265/.335/.361 last season, has decent speed, and drops bunts for base hits at nearly a .400 clip.
But after tasting an OBP of .390 in that spot for most of last season, manager Julian Negrete is reluctant to settle for a pretty pedestrian .335.
Next alternative, please.
Tomás Durán
Problem solved?
Well, not quite. Negrete is reluctant to put a guy who hit 36 homers in the leadoff spot – and even more reluctant to put a guy who’s slow as molasses there.
“That means you don’t go from first to third on a hit, and you don’t score from second on a single,” said Bench Coach Ken Jenkins. “It ain’t ruinous, but it ain’t ideal, either.”
Negrete would prefer to bat Simpson second in hopes of having a couple of guys on as the heart of the Sox order – RF Hao Hang, 1B/DH Aarnoud Budding or Tommy Cochran, and LF Fernando Reyes – comes to the plate.
So, next alternative, please.
Reyes – who slashed .325/.378/.549, with 32 doubles and 23 homers, would be a possibility. But he has Simpson’s problem, in that he’s slow of foot, too. Not as slow as Simpson, but you wouldn’t sweat it much if he challenged you to a foot race.
Are the Sox out of alternatives, then?
Not necessarily. Negrete is thinking of trying second-year third baseman Tomás Durán in the spot, at least against right-handed pitchers.
His BBA slash line was fairly pedestrian last season, at .257/.342/.436, but he only had 114 plate appearances and his production suffered as a result.
The organization is enthused about his development, though, and say he came into camp in excellent shape.
“Our scouts think he’s ready to start moving into the third-base spot full-time,” Negrete said. “Historically, he gets on base at around a .350 clip – and our coaches say his contact ratings have bumped a bit. Plus, he’s got good gap power, and he’s fast. His baserunning technique needs some work, but we’ll tutor him on that.”
Durán, who chafed at sitting behind veteran Luis González last season, clearly relishes the idea of hitting lead-off.
“Hell yes, I want a crack at that,” he said. “Setting the table for the offense, opening the game. Hell, if you ain’t up for that, you shouldn’t be playing baseball,” Durán said.
Chances look good that he’ll get the opportunity, at least during spring training.
“This is our chance to experiment a little,” Negrete said. “Let’s see how the kid does. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, we’ll try something else. Personally, though? I like Durán’s chances here. I think he’s got what it takes to succeed.”
