RV on potential roster move: “It might be another pitcher. It’s one of those that a lineup like this can do it to you to make sure you keep

— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) April 12, 2013

…everybody fresh and healthy going back to the American League sked.”

— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) April 12, 2013

The transition to Gillaspie and Keppinger is rather seamless and since Conor stayed hot Thursday night and went 2-4 with a double, the Sox probably aren’t in the biggest rush to give him a platoon partner. Or maybe it’s because his potential platoon parter is Brent Morel.

Brian Omogrosso was pretty much the last pitcher left off the roster in spring training and has substantial major league experience, so he seems like a splendid candidate for a call-up.

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Jesse Crain feels much better after a two-inning performance in a minor-league game today. Threw 20 pitches. #WhiteSox

— Dan Hayes (@DanHayesCSN) March 23, 2013

“Feeling good, White Sox beat writers!”

It seems like Southside Showdown as a blogging entity, has probably dedicated too much time and energy to the travails of Jesse Crain’s abductor muscle (ESPN’s Bruce Levine is just calling it his groin).

It might have been spurred on by looking into the two identified replacements, Ramon Troncoso and Brian Omogrosso–a battle of ‘Has had MLB success but not in a while’ and ‘Conquered the minors but no signs yet of doing more.’

Troncoso

Troncoso spent last season getting obliterated for the Dodgers Triple-A squad, after being booted from the 40-man roster in March. His one shining year of effectiveness came when he posted a 2.72 ERA in 2009 over 82.2 innings of work. Emphasis on the ’82.2.’

Mike Petriello of Dodgers blog ‘Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness’ tells a tale of a reliever whose peripherals never backed up his production, and was ridden hard and put away wet by his manager.

“You can’t completely absolve Joe Torre. Troncoso’s average fastball velocity has dropped from 92.8 MPH to 92.5 to 90.7 in his three seasons under Torre, and if the overuse hasn’t led to a full-fledged blowout, it seems clear the wear-and-tear has had some effect.”

Troncoso doesn’t have strikeout stuff, or the plus-velocity that the White Sox so often covet, and was experiencing diminishing returns in his groundball rate. Perhaps he’s healthier now arm-wise, but he’s also recovering from being struck in the face with a line drive (knocking out four teeth) during winter ball.

Decent spring training ERA, though.

Omogrosso

Having weathered the hell of Tommy John surgery and a torn labrum already in his career, Omogrosso has spent the last two years slowly working his way up the chain of the upper minors. His 4.56 ERA in Triple-A last season wasn’t pretty, but 59 strikeouts and 12 walks in 47.1 innings sure was.

He’s never flashed that kind of control before, or since working his way up to the show. His 2.57 ERA was roughly a run-and-a-half to two runs better than his strikeout rate suggested it had any right to be. He’s got a perfect ERA on the spring, but also has more walks than strikeouts.

This is not to suggest the 28 year-old is not a major-leaguer, because he is, and will be one at some point this season. But he’s not overpowering, or going to be swapped in for Jesse Crain without anyone noticing. If anything, it would result in Matt Thornton getting ridden harder as an all-purpose setup man early in the year, which wouldn’t be the best for maintaining Thornton nor for retiring right-handed batters in late-game situations.

So this is good news:

Crain threw 20 pitches today. Felt good. Scheduled to throw again Monday in Cactus League game.

— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) March 23, 2013

And it allows us to move on to the next minor spring training injury overreaction.

Alex Rios scratched with lower back stiffness.

— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) March 23, 2013

Hey, there it is!

Follow James Fegan on Twitter @JRFegan

Jesse Crain shows the skipper he still has no problem inducing swings and misses. (Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE)

It’s preferred that Crain doesn’t get a shot to shake off the rust today. Chris Sale, who lead to the White Sox to a 2-1 victory over Kansas City in his last outing, hopes to keep the team in first place as they face off against a Detroit team that is just half a game away from overtaking the division lead.

Detroit puts their first place aspirations in the hands of Rick Porcello. Porcello comes in with a 4.66 ERA but probably isn’t somebody the Sox are excited to face as he throws a heck of a lot of ground balls. The team has had some issues generating offense, and the last ground ball pitcher they faced kept the team in check even without the aid of any strikeouts. Hitters should look to be patient against Porcello, even in his quality starts this season he doesn’t tend to go too deep into the game. Seeing some extra pitches each at-bat should put them in a position to face the bullpen early.

Today’s Lineup:

1. De Aza – CF
2. Youkilis – 3B
3. Dunn – DH
4. Paulie – 1B
5. Rios – RF
6. AJ – C
7. Dayan – LF
8. Alexei – SS
9. Gordo – 2B

It’s funny how perception works. Watching the reaction of Sox fans upon losing last night’s game you might think that it was September and the Tigers just clinched. The reality is that the White Sox are in first, it’s July, and there is a lot of baseball left to be played. Had the Sox been down 3 games to start this series and won Friday night, fans would be pumping their fists and shouting about how it’s only a matter of time before the Sox take over the lead. First place for now, and first place later. How about it?