What I've noticed so far...

Below is some observations I have conquered over the first 12 games this season about the Sox.

• Our pitching is not as scary bad at 4 and 5 that other people(myself included) had thought. Colon is learning how to use his off-speed pitches because he doesn't have his 95+ fastball anymore. Contreras has been decent, but will be better once he gets his control back


• Carlos Quentin is a monster


• Brian Anderson is figuring out how to hit major league pitching and judging it. He has 6 walks through his first 40 at-bats. Last year he had 10 walks through 181 at-bats. If he can keep his OBP over .320 and his average over .240, hit 15-20 HR with 60+ RBI's we should be in good shape.


• Brent Lillibridge looks 12 and sucks at everything but running


• Alexei Ramirez looks lost at the plate. He looked lost at the beginning of last year. Some blame it on the cold weather but that is a bullshit excuse because he would have been hitting at the Trop over the weekend. We just need to be patient and relax


• Paulie looks real good at the plate. His thumb injury has seemed to pass and has his timing back.


• Mike MacDougal needs to go away

Final Word: If the pitching holds up, they should easily win the division.

FANTASY:Top White Sox Fantasy Performers

Today, I will be projecting the top White Sox fantasy performers for the 2009 fantasy baseball season. Here is my list:

1. Carlos Quentin

2. Alexei Ramirez

3. Jermaine Dye

4. Bobby Jenks

5. Jim Thome

6. John Danks

7. Mark Buerhle

8. Gavin Floyd

9. Paul Konerko

10. A.J. Pierzynski

MLB.com Fantasy

Hey, go check out the fantasy predictions. I love looking at that stuff. it has a lot of interesting predictions. The ones I'm most intrigued by is the Clayton Richard, Wilson Betemit, and Paul Konerko. All of them are predicted to have pretty good seasons.

PREVIEW: 1st Base

In 2008, Paul Konerko had one of the most disappointing seasons in his career. You can blame it on injury, yes, but is it just Paul aging? According to John Dewan, who is on weekly with Mike Murphy, a radio host for the White Sox flagship station 670 the Score, Paul Konerko's average on line drives is .551. The league average is .701 and Paul Konerko's average for his career is .702. Here is his Metrics:

I would say that Paul's struggles had mostly to do with a combination of injury, age, and just plain and simple bad luck. Konerko's defense was also not as good as it was in years past. He really struggled in getting an angle to throw it over to 2nd base and has lost some range. Off-season acquisition Wilson Betimet could see some time over at 1st to spell Paul Konerko.

Overall I see Paulie hitting .255-.260 with 25-30 HR and 80 RBI. He won't be a 40 HR guy any more but can still be a contribute on offense.