Chicago's Inside Pitch

Well, you can see how much pull I have around here:

Soriano, LF
Theriot, SS
Lee, 1B
Bradley, RF
Fukudome, CF
Fox, 3B
Fontenot, 2B
Hill, C
Zambrano, P

My suggestion was to start Sam Fuld in right or center and lead him off while dropping Soriano to sixth. But Lou makes out the lineup card.

"Obviously, he's done a nice job; we recognize it," Lou said of Fuld, who was on base three times last night. "Yeah, I thought about it all night. Look, I was going to put Soriano in there to play, regardless. I gave him a couple days off. I need for Alfonso to start swinging the bat. I've got all the confidence in the world in him.

"But we recognize, too, believe me, that the other young man (Fuld) has done a real nice job and that, basically, he deserves to be in the lineup, too."

When All-Star Game rosters are announced on Sunday, there is a chance only one White Sox player will make the cut.
They'll probably get two _ but starter Mark Buehrle is a lock to play in his fourth ASG after putting on another pitching clinic at Kansas City Thursday night.
The lefty pitched 8 1/3 innings and allowed only 1 run. Buehrle (8-2) is tied for sixth in the AL in wins, he's second with 116 innings pitched and sixth with a 3.09 ERA.
Selfishly, the Sox wouldn't mind if Buehrle rested over the break, but that's not going to happen. And Buehrle is probably going to get a standing ovation when he takes the mound in the July 14 All-Star Game since it's being played in his hometown (St. Louis).

Since one is the lonliest number, and two can be as bad as one, we'll make it a three-blog night.

It's pretty clear Lou wants nothing to do with talking about moving Soriano out of the leadoff spot. "Let's see what we do," he said tonight when asked if Sam Fuld could get another shot, say, tomorrow. Fuld has been a sparkplug on offense and defense the last two games. It's pretty simple. When you get on base, your big guys can drive in runs.

Soriano has not been getting on base, to the tune of a .296 OBP. He's also not hitting homers or playing very good defense. So what to do?

Enter your consultant.

Sam Fuld gets his second straight start in left field and in the leadoff spot tonight when the Cubs play host to the Brewers. Lou said Soriano will be back in there tomorrow and that, yes, he and his .296 OBP would be leading off again.

I asked GM Jim Hendry if the organization had talked of Soriano no longer being a leadoff hitter (if he ever was such a thing) and Jim said no.

Expect the Cubs to announce today they've acquired infielder Jeff Baker from the Colorado Rockies. Details should be forthcoming, but also look for the Cubs to designate infielder-outfielder Ryan Freel for assignment, effectively ending his short stay with the Cubs.

Baker, 27, has been on the 60-day DL since early May with a left-hand injury, and he'll have to take a physical as early as today with the Cubs. This year, he was 3-for-23 in 12 games. For his career, Baker has a batting average of .257, an OBP of .313, a slugging percentage of .458 and an OPS of .771.

The Rockies took the right-handed hitting Baker in the fourth round of the 2002 draft.

In 2007, Baker played in 144 games with the Rockies, batting .222 with an OBP of .296 and 4 homers.

Notice how quiet it's been around the White Sox lately?
That's what winning does _ silences most of the critics.
Listen close, and it's nearly impossible to hear:
*Scott Podsednik is washed up and was only brought back because GM Kenny Williams is still living in the past, specifically 2005.
*Alexei Ramirez is a one-year wonder.
The shortstop couldn't hit in April and couldn't catch it in June, but Ramirez has overcome a lot of criticism (mostly from Ozzie) and is playing like he did over the final five months of last season.
A sore finger forced Ramirez out of Wednesday night's game at Cleveland, and the Sox are hoping it is just a bruise.
*Gordon Beckham is not ready for the big time.
Remember that 0-for-13 the rookie was riding after joining the Sox on June 4? Me neither.

What a busy Tuesday night as I check the box scores and reports with some morning coffee. Reading the Daily Herald Sports section (paper edition), I see that Mark DeRosa, now of the hated Cardinals, took himself out of last night's game after his fourth-inning at-bat after feeling pain in his wrist.

"There are so many small bones in there," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported DeRo as saying. Here's more:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/E48A...

Remember, the Cards visit Wrigley for four games beginning next Friday.

If you were planning on heading out to Kane County this week to see Cubs prospect Josh Vitters, you’re too late. The Cubs announced today they have promoted Vitters from their Class A Peoria club to high-A Daytona. The Peoria club will be in Kane County this week, and you may be able to see Angel Guzman in a rehab outing later this week.

Vitters, 19, was the Cubs’ No. 1 draft pick (third overall) in 2007. At Peoria this year, the third baseman turned in this hitting line:

.316/.351/.535

He had 15 homers, 46 RBI, 7 walks and 42 strikeouts.

The Cubs will announce soon that they’re recalling outfielder Sam Fuld from Iowa to replace infielder Aaron Miles, who will go on the DL with an elbow injury. Along with Milton Bradley, Miles is going down as one of the first-half free-agent busts for the Cubs and all of baseball.

To refresh your memory, Miles got a two-year $4.9 million contract from the Cubs last off-season after the St. Louis Cardinals did not tender him a contract. Miles gets $2.2 million this year and $2.7 million next year. Ouch.

Ozzie is usually right on, but I never understood why he always goes out of his way to defend Carlos Zambrano.
Yes, they are both from Venezuela, but the Cubs' starter has continually crossed the line during his career and he did it again Sunday.
After Chris Getz stole home in the Sox' 2-run sixth, Zambrano drilled Dewayne Wise with the next pitch.
Ozzie kept his cool, but White Sox players like Jim Thome and A.J. Pierzysnki looked like they were ready to rumble before cooler heads prevailed.
It's OK to show some passion on the field, but Zambrano always seems to take it too far.
And thanks to his decision to hit Wise, Ryan Freel paid the price when he was hit by John Danks leading off the seventh.