Dylan Davis Haines Axelrod, The Third Start – Lineups 4/16

Now that it’s official that Dylan Axelrod isn’t going to be pumping out 5-plus scoreless innings on a regular basis and is, in fact, a borderline 5th starter at best, we can refocus our hope distribution between above average run support and John Danks returning sometime soon. For now, Dylan is the guy, and he’s facing the team responsible for putting up 7 runs in 3 innings against him last season, which is an outcome worse than what he delivered us last week in Washington. Walks really did Axelrod in against the Nationals, but over his White Sox career his high walk outings don’t necessarily spell his doom with as much predictive value as you might expect. Though, keeping hitters off of the bases is always a plus, a little unpredictability in his location seems to keep him in a decent place. Of course, this likely has a lot to do with lack of repeated viewings due to his short service time and that can only last so long.

This edition of the Dylan Axelrod experiment will be countered with Josh Johnson. Once arguably one of the National League’s top pitcher’s, Johnson has yet to fully recover from a 2011 shoulder injury. Johnson travels a path that is well tread, learning first hand that shoulder issues are hard to return from. He pitched his first full season in 2012 since missing most of 2011 but with diminished results, turning in a roughly league average performance after leading the league in ERA+ in 2010. This year, with excuses of building up arm strength behind him, he’s had 2 outings, neither stellar, with the most recent being a 1.1 inning drubbing by the Tigers to the tune of 6 runs on 7 hits. Despite his struggles he’s never had much of an issue keeping the ball in the park, which may create difficulties for the White Sox as they try to treat Dylan Axelrod to some run support.

Today’s Lineup:

1.De Aza – CF
2.Keppinger – 3B
3.Rios – RF
4.Dunn – 1B
5.Konerko – DH
6.Gillaspie – 3B
7.Viciedo – LF
8.Alexei – SS
9.Gimenez – C

Adam Dunn continues to be tasked with 1B while Paulie will resume DH duties. Some folks have been taking it upon themselves to link Konerko’s slow start to not playing in the field, but he’s been hitting the ball well enough and just hasn’t seen a ton of those shots fall for hits.

Toronto Blue Jays Lineup:

1.Emilio Bonifacio – RF
2.Melky Cabrera – LF
3.J.P. Arencibia – C
4.Edwin Encarnacion – DH
5.Adam Lind – 1B
6.Brett Lawrie – 3B
7.Colby Rasmus – CF
8.Maicer Izturis – 2B
9.Munenori Kawasaki – SS

Where to Watch
Today’s White Sox game will be shown on WCIU for the Chicago area and will be broadcast on SNET for those north of the border. 6:07 Central start time.