With that reminder in place, on to what we’ve seen…

Peavy gets shelled

Last year, Jake Peavy got knocked around in his first outing, and followed it up by declaring that he wasn’t throwing anything beyond fastballs, and trying to locate. On Sunday, Jake Peavy got knocked around  in his first outing (three runs in three innings of work), and followed it up by declaring that he wasn’t throwing anything beyond fastballs, and trying to locate. This time, there was even praise for the velocity.

Peavy’s fastball sat between 89-93 mph throughout his three innings, according to one scout who noted the right-hander’s stuff was “much better than results.” One White Sox coach even counted a few 94-mph fastballs, a number Peavy didn’t come close to reaching in spring last season.

I had grown accustomed to, even charmed by, Peavy’s reliance on mixing in cutters, sinkers and two-seamers on 89-91-mph heat to thrive. But a handful of extra miles could certainly help, even if it’s just every now and then.

Dayan’s leg kick

The leg kick that Jeff Manto and Harold Baines devised for Viciedo for the purpose of keeping him restrained and balanced at the plate has been more subtle than an offseason of build up would suggest. It’s also in development and inconsistent in the degree to which it appears, but the issues covering off-speed stuff on the outer half, and frequent self-jamming that made Viciedo spring last year such a remarkable train wreck (18 strikeouts in 67 plate appearances) have been absent (not one strikeout yet).

Viciedo’s one home run was by all reports one of the most massive shots of spring training, so he’s shown some ability to tap into his power while he’s been tinkering

Addison Reed‘s slider

Reed losing most of his ability to get anyone to chase at his slider last summer was the primary difference between the white-knuckle youngster who held on to the closer job and the stalwart prospect who looked like he actually deserved the role in 2011.

It’s no surprise working it back in is a focus of spring training for him, and Reed threw it about a third of the time in his one inning of flawless work on Sunday. There weren’t any flashes of devastation, but Reed grabbed a whiff with it by throwing a decent one low-and-away to a right-hander (pretty much the reason for anyone to throw a slider) and didn’t look hopeless with any of his breakers, which could easily have been helped by the decreased tension and stakes of his normal outing. A pitch is easier to waste when it doesn’t put you behind in the count to the go-ahead run at the plate.

Gillaspie making it academic

Due to the relative irrelevance of the backup third basemen slot and Conor Gillaspie having no minor league options left, the onus was on Brent Morel to thoroughly outplay his counterpart to the degree of making it worth it to the Sox to waste their rights to their recent trade acquisition.

Instead, Gillaspie has done everything possible to end the battle early, clubbing three extra-base hits in limited time–two of which were gorgeous line shots out of the park. Brent Morel has kept things interesting by playing all over the diamond, but hasn’t done much to insinuate he’d be better at being a third basemen.

Beckham crouch

Good on you if you can keep a firm hold on the fruits of Gordon Beckham‘s most recent batting stance tweak. For what it’s worth, he’s modified the Carlos Quentin-like crouch from last season into an even deeper, more hunched knee-bend. Initial results are inconclusive.

Toolsy outfielders

We know that Jared Mitchell strikes out a lot, and can’t be discussed as a future starter until that’s sorted out, but his tools have been on display more than ever so far. He’s flashed his speed on a triple and a few catches on short liners that he rushed in on, and might have had one more three-bagger on a blooper that bounced under the dive of a center fielder, but decided not to risk it. Just as impressive was Mitchell’s one home run, an opposite field shot that cleared the left field fence with plenty of room for comfort. That’s some strength at work.

Keenyn Walker has shown plenty of the speed that’s been tagged as the best in the farm system on the basepaths, but has also struck out seven times in 15 plate appearances. The two he suffered on Sunday were on a pair of close takes on the corners rather than chasing, suggesting that the blame can be assigned to a long swing rather than a poor approach. I am not sure that makes it better.

Nestor-related sadness

Molina has four scoreless innings to his name, but they have been filled with hard lineouts and rippling contact. He lacks a strikeout to his name this spring because his high-80′s heat isn’t putting anyone off-balance

John Danks debut

Danks is not getting held out any longer than the rest of the normal starters, and will be putting his surgically repaired shoulder to the test on Monday afternoon at 2pm.

However, the triumvirate of James Fegan, Nick Schaefer and Kevin Wallace recover in time to save the day, and then waste an hour of that day by talking about White Sox baseball. Spring training baseball, at that!

In addition to being available here to be streamed or downloaded, the podcast is now available on iTunes. Subscribe, rate and review!

Still, a few players will inevitably report early for camp out of a desire to impress their employers, financial pressure to have a good season, or even genuine eagerness for baseball. It’s exciting, in a way

I’ve been trying to rhapsodize about the day of pitchers and catchers reporting for a few years now, and it’s time to admit that my heart is not in it. The baseball season–especially this year, with the World Baseball Classic–whirs to life slowly. This is a stage, and it’s followed by players in uniform running around, then fake baseball that gets increasingly less fake as the Spring wears on, and then finally real baseball, and that’s when all of our life schedules change. If MLB was really the product they hawked from February to the start of April, its critics might have a fairly good point.

But there is one thing that gets going full-bore starting this week.

I have arrived in sunny Glendale, Arizona. ST reports on MLB.com and chisox.com begin early Monday morning

— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) February 11, 2013

The beats are on the case! Which, if nothing else, means there will be a steady supply of content and stories to sift through for information. There’s not much more to this baseball blogging thing than that. The early storylines are already getting laid out.

Brent Morel is really trying to make this interesting

Allegedly healthy and fully capable, Brent Morel is making a seemingly doomed bid to get his third base job back from a guy who was handed a three-year contract and has been penciled into the #2 slot in the batting order. Between the September 2011 explosion, the Spring Training back injury and his god-awful 2012 season, it’s hard to pin down exactly what a fully functional Morel is, let along judge if its better than Jeff Keppinger.

Keppinger’s signing simply signalled that the Sox were done putting all of their trust in that Morel would be a full-time third basemen, but the new guy is capable of playing multiple positions otherwise occupied by disappointing Sox prospects, so a resurgence from Morel would be mighty welcome.

John Danks needs to progress through his rehab

This one is obvious, since there’s the whole matter of the next four years and the $57 million that he’s owed. But since the White Sox are justifying their lack of off-season improvements to the offense with a pledge to win games like the Rays do, having a top-end of the rotation that actually performs as well as ‘Sale-Peavy-Danks’ sounds is now what the season is riding on.

You can eliminate Charlie Leesman grabbing the last spot in the bullpen as a long reliever from the list of the Spring Training storylines 

Per @mdgonzales LHP Charlie Leesman out until midseason rehabbing from knee surgery from injury covering 1B in IL playoff game last season

— FutureSox.com (@FutureSox) February 11, 2013

All eyes on Tyler Flowers

Having already been through the ringer of SoxFest, Tyler Flowers will soon begin to display his rather ugly and displeasing method of offensive production for the general public. Flowers could probably swat an .800 OPS and many would still find the switch to his high-strikeout style jarring, but at least Manto has glowing positivity to be bestow upon his off-season work.

“With Flowers, it went great,” Manto said. “Bainsey and I had a chance to spend some time with him to make sure he was aware of his backside. That’s what we’re most concerned with, with his collapsing.

“He did a great job making the adjustments all winter long. Tyler had sent me some video with his workouts and when we got to Chicago we were pleasantly surprised with the progress that he’s made.”

And if the adjustments don’t stick, Tyler Flower’s collapsing backside will be a source of ire throughout the South side, which would be its own fun.

Follow James Fegan on Twitter @JRFegan