White Sox, De Aza Enjoy Powerful Start

April 1, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Random thoughts (or as close as we come to those things around here) while realizing Alejandro De Aza won’t hit two home runs every game as he did Monday:

Video of Noemi Olah is below. For those who care. And even if you don’t.

* Speaking of the aforementioned De Aza who helped the Chicago White Sox to a 5-3 Opening Day victory vs. the visiting Minnesota Twins, he is the same guy some folks were hoping would be traded to make room for other players. Wonder if those folks might have changed their minds. At least for a day. On the bright side for those hoping for a De Aza deal, he did increase his trade value.

* Speaking of trade value, Chicago Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija threw seven scoreless innings in the team’s season opener at Pittsburgh. Which means he pitched like a top-of-the-rotation guy. Which is good news for the Cubs front office in its efforts to deal away Samardzija for prospects. Even if the Cubs did lose 1-0 in 10 innings. It was merely the first step to next season. Or 2016. Or 2020. Or whenever.

* Rich in history (a fair amount of it not of a positive nature), the Cubs were part of the first replay review in big-league history. Manager Rick Renteria used it to dispute an out call against Samardzija on what was deemed a double play. In typical Cubs fashion, the Cubs lost the appeal.

* Speaking of replays, there was a review when Cubs newcomer Emilio Bonifacio was ruled safe on a pickoff play in the top of the 10th. In typical Cubs fashion, the Pirates prevailed with Bonifacio called out. If it’s any consolation to Cubs fans (and the guess here it is not to the more veteran variety), Bonifacio did go 4-for-5 in his Cubs debut.

* Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who is coming off a subpar season (well, if that was par, the Cubs are in deep trouble), was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. It’s only one game, folks. On the bright (?) side, the Cubs are off Tuesday.

* With their 94-80 victory Monday against the visiting Boston Celtics, the Chicago Bulls (42-32) assured themselves of a winning season. Not to be confused necessarily with a successful season.

* Mike Dunleavy’s 22 points led the Bulls. Which speaks to one of the strengths of the team. In any given game, there are five or six players (maybe even seven) players who can lead the team in scoring. Which also sounds like it could be one of the weaknesses of the team. But the Bulls are a season-high 10 games. So there’s that.

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