Rongey: If White Sox stay in race, more fans will come out
Q. Low attendance already is an issue for the White Sox. Do you see the seats at U.S. Cellular Field filling up as the season progresses? Or are Sox fans going to stay away this year?
A. The reality is that the fans will come eventually if the team continues to play well, but it will take awhile.
This is especially the case when the preseason expectations are as low as they were going into this campaign. In 2005 the Sox didn’t begin to enjoy large crowds regularly until the later part of June, and that team was in first place from start to finish.
It may take awhile for fans to truly believe in the 2012 team, but when they do, they’ll be there. Hopefully they’ll buy in sooner rather than later.
Q. It looks like Orlando Hudson is going to be the White Sox’ regular third baseman for the indefinite future. What are the pros and cons of Hudson playing third?
A. The pro? Well, he’s a good defender, and he always has been. Usually, good defensive infielders are capable of making the adjustment from the middle infield to the corners when situations dictate such a move has to be made.
The con is that he’s having to make that adjustment on the fly. No spring training. No exhibition games. Unfortunately, when he fails, it counts.
If it’s so that he is the third baseman for the remainder of the season, he ultimately will settle in.
What will be interesting is just what it is the Sox do here, now that it appears Brent Morel’s back will be a bigger issue than once thought. I wouldn’t rule out a trade.
Q. What are your thoughts on Jose Quintana and his future?
A. The Sox seem to have more faith in his ability to start than maybe the Yankees or Mets had, and your evidence of that is in their assigning him the fill-in starts for John Danks.
So far I like what I’ve seen from Quintana. He’s not overpowering with a low-90s fastball, but he locates the off-speed stuff with good precision and it’s good enough to keep hitters off balance.
As long as he keeps doing that, he probably can put together a decent career as a starter.
Also, for a 23 year-old, he’s not afraid of much. That will only help him.
Q. What did Jordan Danks do to get his career turned around and finally get the call from the White Sox?
A. The common answer is that he has cut down on his strikeouts, but that’s not quite the case. Before his call-up, Danks struck out 59 times in 57 games. Compare that to his 155 K’s in 133 games the season prior.
So the strikeouts are there, but the real story is that the rate in which he’s doing everything else is better. More total bases and significantly better on-base percentage, in general.
In his current AAA season, Danks walked 40 times, but he only did that 57 times in the entire 2011 minor-league season. Basically, he took 17 more walks in 2011, but it took him 76 more games to do it.
ŸChris Rongey is the host of the White Sox pregame and postgame shows on WSCR 670-AM The Score. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRongey and at chrisrongey.com. Subscriber Total Access members can email him questions each week via our online link.