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White Sox more than just pitching and offense

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The White Sox’ offense has the potential to do some serious damage this season, and the pitching staff is battle tested and apparently closer than expected to getting Jake Peavy back from injury.

But what is going to be the key for the Sox this season?

“The biggest difference on this club this year is we’re going to catch the ball better than we’ve ever caught it,” chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said at SoxFest.

“That’s what made the Twins so great. They never had a great bunch of players on paper. They always played the game right. I think this team is going to be that type of team.”

Time will tell, but the White Sox do have some defensive standouts.

Alexei Ramirez just might be the best fielding shortstop in baseball, and starting pitcher Mark Buehrle has won consecutive Gold Gloves.

On the next level, Alex Rios showed frequent flashes of brilliance in center field last year, and Brent Morel showed no fear and plenty of skill playing third base in September.

And don’t forget ageless Omar Vizquel, a 10-time Gold Glover at shortstop who also played third base and second base for the Sox in 2010.

“I think we were on the way last year to becoming a better team defensively,” said Vizquel, who turns 44 on April 24. “No doubt we can make the plays, but where to be in different situations is really going to be important.”

The White Sox were frequently out of position last season, and they had more than a few problems hitting the cutoff man or throwing to the right base.

As for actually catching the ball, the Sox were about average with 103 errors. The Yankees, Twins and Rays, who all made the playoffs, committed 69, 78 and 85 errors, respectively.

“It’s very important,” Morel said of team defense. “You always hear about how it’s all about hitting, pitching and defense. You look at some of the great teams and they always have one of the higher fielding percentages. And with our pitching staff, we have a lot of groundball pitchers, so you want to get the best defensive team out there as possible.”

That is why Morel is expected to replace Mark Teahen as the starting third baseman.

And second baseman Gordon Beckham, like Morel a natural shortstop, should be much improved with a year of experience at the position.

If Morel or Beckham are leaky with the glove, Vizquel is waiting on the bench.

“When you’ve got a staff that gets a lot of groundballs like we have, there’s no doubt that a lot of games can be decided by one play,” Vizquel said. “Not only just to make the right play, but you have to think about where you’re going to be on a particular play, a particular situation. That’s going to be really important.

“We play a lot of 1-run games and maybe those games are decided by that one play. Besides making the play, we have to really be aware about what’s going on in the field.”

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