Keep beating the Marlins – Lineups 5/25

It’s a time of substantial upheaval for the White Sox.

–John Danks came back and was passable. Pitch F/X says he hit 91, which seems unlikely but is nevertheless nice.

-Undead Paul Konerko is 5-9 in the last two games.

-Hector Gimenez is starting at catcher for the second-straight night for whatever reason.

-Angel Sanchez was waived, passed on, offered back to his original team, rejected, outrighted and placed on Triple-A Charlotte, which is great because now he can provide depth without that annoying obligation to keep him on the major league roster. Even if that depth is the sort of depth Ray Olmedo offered.

-Gordon Beckham is apparently going to be enduring the normal amount of rehab for his surgically-repaired hand after experiencing soreness in his left wrist.. Dan Hayes has the explanation of how this isn’t a huge setback.

"“Hamate bone injuries normally take six-to-eight weeks from which to recover. So even if Beckham needed another 10 days to return to the White Sox he’d still be on par with most hamate bone rehabs.”"

-Alex Rios has an 18-game hitting streak going on.

-Chris Sale still hasn’t been officially confirmed to start next week, but is keeping active.

But there’s still the Marlins in town, which proves to be a challenge that can be met even without all the pieces in place and in functioning order. The offense was spoiled milk on Friday night and was still enough to support a rusty and rehabbed Danks.

White Sox lineup

1. Alejandro De Aza – CF
2. Alexei Ramirez – SS
3. Alex Rios – RF
4. Paul Konerko– 1B
5. Adam Dunn – DH
6. Dayan Viciedo – LF
7. Conor Gillaspie – 3B
8. Jeff Keppinger – 2B
9. Hector Gimenez – C

Jake Peavy, SP

Good thing Konerko is awake and responding to basic stimuli, since Adam Dunn and Dayan Viciedo have both added a lot more ineffectual waiving to their approaches recently. Dunn is hitless in his last three games and has struck out in half of his last 12 at-bats. Dayan Viciedo has only struck out in four of his last 12 at-bats, but the lack of restraint and balance is troubling.

Since breaking a three-game hitless streak on May 15, Keppinger is hitting .344/.382/.500 and hasn’t struck out. His slump never made a whole ton of sense, so it’s leaving without a big mechanical adjustment isn’t something that needs much delving into. FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan said at the time of his signing that Keppinger “singles until he gets tired of singling,” so perhaps that’s what was going on. Not really, though, but you know what I mean. Marginal talents can fall on hard times very easily.

Last night’s lineup didn’t exactly set the world on fire, but it being exactly repeated shows how much more stability the White Sox have compared to the Marlins

Marlins lineup

1. Juan Pierre – LF
2. Placido Polanco – 3B
3. Derek Dietrich– 2B
4. Marcell Ozuna– RF
5. Chris Coghlan – DH
6. Justin Ruggiano – CF
7. Greg Dobbs – 1B
8. Adeiny Hechavarria – SS
9. Rob Brantly – C

Ricky Nolasco, SP

The Marlins switched last night’s leadoff hitter to the No. 8 slot because Juan Pierre is on a strict platoon and they seem to have no offense they can put at the first base position whatsoever. Given that they have Brantly at catcher, its odd that they give roster spots to both Jeff Mathis and Miguel Olivo, who are both deep shades of terrible with the bat.

Traditionally–traditionally–Ricky Nolasco has struggled with the long ball. The two home parks he’s had in his career were a football stadium and the massive mausoleum they play in now.

Where to Watch: Fox. Sorry, everybody who wanted to watch.