Stagnant offense won't be saved by Viciedo

Dayan Viciedo should be in the major leagues. He would make the White Sox lineup better. But he wouldn't save it.

The only person who can save the White Sox lineup from miserable performances like Sunday's struck out four times today. Adam Dunn now has 100 strikeouts on the season and a batting line so putrid it's not even worth posting here.

We can pine for Viciedo to replace Pierre all we want. That move would be a nice upgrade for the White Sox lineup, no matter how Ozzie Guillen feels about it. But a 22-year-old rookie can only do so much. The boat has multiple leaks, and Viciedo would patch up one of them. But the big one, the one that's sinking the boat, will continue to let in water.

With Sunday's 2-1 loss, the White Sox have scored one or zero runs in 17 games. That's 21 percent of the team's games—or about once every five games, the White Sox offense completely neglects the pitching staff.

White Sox pitchers have allowed three or fewer runs in nine of those 17 games. Four runs or fewer have been scored on the Sox in 14 of the games. In only three of the games did White Sox pitching not give the team a fair chance to win.

Dunn isn't the only one to blame here. Alex Rios, Gordon Beckham, Juan Pierre and Brent Morel all have struggled this season, crippling the Sox with a lineup that only includes four batters on which to count. And A.J. Pierzynski was pretty bad before June—only Paul Konerko, Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez have been reliable for the majority of 2011.

But Dunn is the most noticeable struggler, and the one who could have the greatest impact if he ever was to come out of his offensive malaise. The Sox could find a way to get by with four very good run producers if Dunn was to join Konerko, Quentin and Ramirez. It's hardly an ideal situation, but it's better than the Sox are in right now.

All the Sox can do is hope with Dunn. They have to hope Dunn can start hitting at his usual career pace. Because no matter what Viciedo does if/when he's called up, it won't be enough to cure the offense.

The only person who can do that is Dunn. Maybe, at some point, he'll jump in and save the day—and season.

Comments

[MBT Sale]

hmm interesting i figured teahen would go on the DL but bring up a guy who had an ok spring? i would've though viciedo or danks woould've been a better choice but as long as he swings the bat i don't see many issues