Guillen has some plans for Fields in backup role

Technically, Gordon Beckham's arrival doesn't mean incumbent third baseman Josh Fields is on notice.

That's because White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said prior to Thursday's 7-0 loss to Oakland that he hasn't sat down with Fields to discuss his new status.

"No, no, not really," Guillen said. "We will see how Fields handles himself."

While Fields started as the designated hitter on Thursday (and went 0-for-4), he'll be scrapping for work in the days and weeks to come.

"It's probably a little disappointing," Fields told MLB.com. "But like I said, I don't know the situation. Until it's broken down and explained to me, I'll just be sitting here thinking I'm still playing third."

Guillen hopes to squeeze him into the action as a backup to Beckham at third, Paul Konerko at first and Jim Thome at DH.

You'd think Fields' best bet, as a right-handed hitter, would be to start against lefty pitchers to allow Guillen to give Thome and/or second baseman Chris Getz a break.

But with his 0-for-3 showing against Oakland starter Brett Anderson on Thursday, Fields' average against lefties fell to .196 with just one extra-base hit in 55 plate appearances.

Meanwhile, don't expect Beckham to spell Getz at second too frequently.

"I'm not moving Getz," Guillen said. "Getz is playing pretty good for us. He plays the game I like, the way we like to see him play."

Lesser of two evils: In the wake of their third consecutive loss to Oakland and second straight day of Gordon Beckham queries, it was tough to tell after Thursday's game which topic bugged the White Sox more.

Ozzie Guillen, perhaps sensing the mood in his clubhouse, begged for no more Beckham questions during his postgame talk.

But since baseball is about winning and losing, the correct answer is probably the former for the 25-28 Sox.

"You guys said it best: We can't hit guys we've never seen before," said catcher A.J. Pierzynski. "So I don't even know why we go out there. Next time maybe we should just forfeit and you guys can just write a story about how bad we are and call it even."

Health updates: Ozzie Guillen said Brian Anderson, who left Wednesday's game due to lightheadedness, was fine before Thursday's game even though he didn't play.

"It was too late," Guillen said. "The lineup was made last night."

Meanwhile, Guillen hopes Carlos Quentin (plantar fasciitis) will be able to come off the disabled list on June 10 as scheduled.

"I think he should go to the minor leagues and get a couple of at-bats, then come out when he's ready," Guillen said.

Other debuts: Gordon Beckham became the third player from the draft class of 2008 (following Detroit reliever Ryan Perry and Arizona reliever Daniel Schlereth) to play in the bigs.

Beckham's 0-for-3 performance fell right in line with other ballyhooed White Sox first-round picks:

Frank Thomas went 0-for-4 on Aug. 2, 1990, but the 22-year-old drove in the winning run with a fielder's choice in the ninth against Milwaukee.

Robin Ventura went 1-for-4 with a walk, run and RBI on Sept. 12, 1989. He was just 21.

Josh Fields went 0-for-3 in his first start, Joe Borchard went 1-for-4 with a home run in his second career plate appearance, and Brian Anderson went 2-for-7 with a run in a 16-inning game.