Walker raves about Viciedo's raw talent, but there's a long way to go
A day later, White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker was still raving about the 2-run homer Dayan Viciedo launched off Boston's Jon Lester on Thursday night.
"He hits a home run to right field that was just phenomenal," Walker said. "His oppo (opposite field) power is off the charts."
Now for the bad news on Viciedo.
"His next at-bat, he comes back and swings at three pitches," Walker said. "All three of them were above his helmet. Those are the kinds of things that don't hold up long haul in the big leagues. This league will exploit stuff like that. If your zone can be expanded, it doesn't take long for the league to figure that out. So he's got some areas that he's got to improve, but he's a talent, a real talent."
Considered to be one of the best hitters ever to come out of Cuba, Viciedo signed a four-year, $10 million contract prior to last season.
The 5-foot-11, 240-pounder fared about as well as expected with Class AA Birmingham in 2009, batting .280 with 12 home runs and 78 RBI in 130 games.
This season, Viciedo started at AAA Charlotte and was with the White Sox from June 18-Aug. 11 before being shipped back to Charlotte.
For the most part, Viciedo held his own during his first stint in the major leagues, batting .268 with 3 home runs and 7 RBI in 27 games.
But he also showed an expected rawness, going 82 at-bats with the White Sox before drawing his first walk.
"I think the physical ability, the combination of power and quickness, is off the charts," Walker said. "It's really, really good. We're trying to plug a couple of holes. We're trying to change his swing plane a little bit and get a little more coverage of the whole plate. Obviously, he's got to learn the strike zone better; he's got to become more disciplined.
"There's a great piece of clay there, but it's got to be molded."
The 21-year-old Viciedo gives the White Sox some insurance in the event they can't agree to a new contract with first baseman Paul Konerko, who is eligible for free agency at the end of the season.
As he showed Thursday, the powerful right-hander can look great one minute and completely overmatched the next.
Walker was asked who Viciedo compares to as a hitter.
"We're looking at (Miguel) Cabrera's swing from Detroit a little bit," Walker said. "A young Cabrera before he made some adjustments. I'm obviously not putting him in that class right now, but body type, power, strength, quickness, there are a lot of similarities.
"But Cabrera made huge adjustments and he's going to go down as one of the greatest hitters of all-time. Am I saying that's going to happen with Viciedo? No, I'm not telling you that. I am telling you body type and strength and quickness, there are a lot of similarities there.
"But he needs a lot more refined swing and a lot more refined approach. A lot more."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Scot Gregor's game tracker </p>
<p class="News">Indians 7, White Sox 3</p>
<p class="News"><b>Pena pounded:</b> Filling in for injured starter Gavin Floyd, reliever Tony Pena allowed a career-high 6 runs on 9 hits in 6 innings.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Heating up:</b> Dayan Viciedo was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Since snapping an 0-for-16 streak on Sept. 17, Viciedo is batting .538 (7-for-13) with 5 RBI.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Lucky seven:</b> Indians starter Fausto Carmona pitched 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 5 hits to get the win. In his last 7 starts against the White Sox, Carmona is 7-0 with a 2.82 ERA.</p>
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