Sox giving Floyd every opportunity

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Ozzie Guillen has been down this road before.

In 2004, his first season as White Sox manager, Guillen had to make a decision with starting pitcher Jon Garland.

Should he follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Jerry Manuel, and keep Garland on a short leash? Or, should he let Garland run and hope for the best?

Guillen wound up taking the second route, and Garland made him look smart.

"Nobody believed in that kid more than I did,'' Guillen said.

No longer worried about getting the quick hook in pressure situations, Garland responded with his first winning record (12-11) in 2004, and he won 18 games in each of the next two seasons before slipping to 10-13 last year.

Garland was traded to the Angels in November for shortstop Orlando Cabrera, and Guillen had a hard time saying so long.

"We lost a good pitcher,'' Guillen said. "We lost a lot of innings and we lost a great guy. But this is the big leagues, and that's the way it is.''

Guillen's experience handling Garland should serve him well with Gavin Floyd.

Like Garland, the No. 10 overall pick in the 1997 draft by the Cubs, Floyd started his professional career with high expectations.

Selected No. 4 overall by the Phillies in 2001, Floyd had to deal with the pressures of making an instant impact.

Just like Garland, it never happened. Floyd came over to the Sox before last season in a trade for Freddy Garcia and had more downs than ups while going 1-5 with a 5.27 ERA in 16 games (10 starts).

Rather than pull the plug on the 6-foot-5, 230-pound righty, the White Sox stayed patient.

With Garland back home in Los Angeles, Floyd is going to get every shot to take his spot in the White Sox' rotation. Guillen is confident Floyd is going to develop just like Garland did.

"I just go out there and say, 'Listen, you know what? I think you have great stuff. Go out there and perform,' '' Guillen said. "He's got the manager, the pitching coach (Don Cooper), the GM (Kenny Williams) and the players behind him. When you've got all these people behind you, you should just go out, perform and forget about everything.''

Much like Garland, Floyd is blessed with physical talent. The only difference is the dominant pitch -- with Floyd it's the curveball, with Garland the sinker.

The big hurdle for Garland was simply believing he could succeed. Floyd has dealt with the same problem, but the 25-year-old pitcher said he's made a lot of progress.

"Right now is different from the past,'' Floyd said. "I feel confident with myself in what I can do. I've been through some stuff. I've learned and I think I've become a stronger person. There's pressure, but I think I can handle it.''

Having Guillen and Co. in his corner has been a big help.

"I've been told they've been looking at me, they think real highly of me, and they're impressed with how I've been throwing,'' said Floyd, who allowed 2 runs on 3 hits over 3 innings in his Cactus League debut. "Yeah, it's a little confidence boost, but I feel great. For me, knowing what you can do and knowing how you feel on an everyday basis, try to build on that. Feeling confident, that's what's going to get me through the season, and hopefully I'll do real well.''

Guillen would not be surprised.

"I have the feeling Gavin's got his confidence back and he found out he can pitch at this level,'' Guillen said. "As long as he believes his stuff is good enough, I don't think this kid should have any problems in his career.''