Brent Morel Named Starting Third Baseman, Nobody is Surprised

As expected, manager Ozzie Guillen confirmed Thursday that Brent Morel will be the team’s starting third baseman on Opening Day. He’ll likely hit ninth in the lineup, but his glove is more important than his bat.

Morel is hitting .286 in Cactus League play, a number that has risen steadily over the last couple weeks. He has committed no blunders in the field in 129 innings this spring, whereas his counterpart, Mark Teahen, committed five in his first five games (WhiteSox.com now has that number at four, but I know it’s not updated because he committed another error at first base on Wednesday).

Teahen will be a backup at third, probably pinch hitting for Morel in important late-game situations, and he will also see time at first base, designated hitter and in the outfield.

Guillen also confirmed that Phil Humber will be the team’s No. 5 starter if Jake Peavy is unable to break camp with the team. Though Humber has had a less-than-stellar statistical spring, he’s shown the coaching staff enough to earn their blessing.

Gavin Floyd makes his final start of the spring tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks. For up to the minute, incessant tweeting, follow me on twitter at @AtTravisMiller. Read that last sentence out loud.