Righty swinging outfielder Ron Kittle burst onto the scene for the White Sox back in 1983 when he won the Rookie of the Year Award, while also making the All-Star team. Kittle played in 145 games for the White Sox in 1983 and he was 132 of 520 (.254 avg, .818 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 35 homers, 100 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. It was all downhill from there for Kittle though as he peaked as a rookie. Kittle played in 657 games in his 8 years with the White Sox and he was 517 of 2,183 (.237 avg, .777 OPS) with 292 runs scored, 140 homers, 374 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Kittle is still #10 in White Sox’ history in homers with 140. Kittle was a flash in the pan, but it was sure fun to watch him hit the bombs that he did.

Backup switch-hitting infielder Omar Vizquel just refuses to act his age as he will turn 44 years old over the weekend. Vizquel has played in 5 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 8 for 19 (.421 avg, .924 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 113 games in his first two years with the White Sox and he is 103 of 363 (.284 avg, .685 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 2 homers, 32 RBIs and 12 stolen bases while still playing outstanding defense. I know it’s a longshot but I would like to see Vizquel stick around long enough to get 3,000 hits, but, it won’t be easy as he only has 2,807 right now.

Lefties Matt Thornton and Chris Sale have been operating as the White Sox’ closer this year and they just aren’t getting the job done right now. Thornton started the season as the White Sox’ closer but he has been terrible. Thornton has pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the White Sox so far this year and he is 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA and a 3.21 WHIP. He has given up 11 hits (1 homer) and he has walked 4 batters in only 4 2/3 innings! Chris Sale has been a little bit better. He has pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the White Sox so far this year but he is 2-0 with 1 save, a 7.36 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. Sale has given up 11 hits (2 homers) in his first 7 1/3 innings of the year but he has only walked 1 batter while whiffing 9. If neither Thornton or Sale step up soon, the White Sox are going to have to turn to either righty Sergio Santos or righty Jesse Crain to close. Santos has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the White Sox so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. He has only given up 5 hits while whiffing 11 batters in his first 8 2/3 innings of the year. But, Santos is a tad wild as he has walked 4 batters so far this year. Jesse Crain would be the safer bet due to his experience pitching late in games. Crain has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the White Sox so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 2.16 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP. He has given up only 5 hits in 8 1/3 innings for the White Sox so far this year and he has 10 whiffs and only 2 walks. At least Ozzie Guillen has options to choose from here, he just needs to pick the right guy to trust as the Pale Hose can’t afford to keep blowing games late.

The White Sox have dealt 27-year old righty swinging outfielder Stefan Gartrell to the Braves for cash considerations. Gartrell played in 7 games in AAA-ball for the White Sox this year and he was 7 for 23 (.304 avg, .993 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He played in six years in the minors for the White Sox appearing in 581 games in which he was 572 of 2,081 (.275 avg) with 342 runs scored, 83 homers, 320 RBIs and 36 stolen bases.

Starting CF Alex Rios is off to a slow start for the Chicago White Sox. Rios has played in 12 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 11 for 52 (.212 avg, .569 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 0 homers, 4 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Rios is making contact as he has whiffed only 8 times this year and he has also walked 5 times (which is good for him). The White Sox are hoping that Rios gets it going with the bat soon as he was awful for them in 2009 and solid for them in 2010. They really need his bat to comeback to make the offense click on all cylinders.