White Sox Player Grades

Now that schooooool's.out.for.summer. It's time to hand out the end of the year grades. I may come off as a hard teacher and grader, but that's because I'm not grading solely on performance. I'm also grading against expectations coming into the season, so consider that the curve.

Pitchers

Period 1

Mike MacDougal, A+: You can’t argue with a 1.80 ERA
Matt Thornton, A: Most people thought he was just going to be a waste of space, but posted a 3.33 ERA, good for second on the team.
Jeff Nelson, Inc: Can’t judge on just 6 games of work. He’s like the kid that got mono and disappeared for the whole year.
Sean Tracey, A-: For performance, F: For following directions.
Charlie Haeger, B: He scared us all his first time up in the bigs, but did well his second time around.
David Riske, B-/B: He’s a good arm to have in the bullpen, but not the lights out pitcher you would want out there in a tight spot.
Bobby Jenks, A+ for the first half, and a B for the second half. Grade = A-/B+
Dustin Hermanson, Inc: Can’t judge on just 6 games of work. He’s like the kid that got mono at the start of the year, and came back right at the end.
Jose Contreras, See Bobby Jenks
Jon Garland, See Bobby Jenks, but flip grades for first and second half
Freddy Garcia, C-: Too bad he didn’t pitch like he did in September all year long.
Brandon McCarthy, B+ as a starter or in appearances where he worked like a starter, but C- as a reliever.
Javier Vazquez, C-
Mark Buehrle, D, for dreadful
Agustin Montero, F, for fat
Neal Cotts, F, for fat pitches
Boone Logan, F, for freakin' Daniel Boone
Cliff Politte, F-, for farewell

Class Average: C+

Hitters

Period 2

Paul Konerko, A: He produced after signing a fat contract, while carrying the title of Captain. An iffy back in the second half slowed him a bit.
Tadahito Iguchi, B: His situation hitting wasn’t as good as last year, but is AVG and HR were up.
Joe Crede, A-: A bad back cost him of an A or an A+ season down the stretch.
Jermaine Dye, A+: He surpassed all expectations and made a run at the MVP.
Scott Podsednik, F: Poor SB% and a poor OBP are not what you want from your leadoff man.
AJ Pierzynski, A: He produced at the plate.
Jim Thome, A-/A: Hs came flying out of the gate, but faded a bit down the stretch.
Juan Uribe, F: .235 AVG.
Brian Anderson, D+: As much as I have defended him in the past, that .225 AVG is an eyesore. I hope he comes out on fire next year, because I like him a lot.
Alex Cintron, B+/A-: He did what he was brought in to do. He was solid, but not spectacular at the plate and in the field.
Rob Mackowiak, B+: It’s not his fault he was marched out there in CF. He hit well, and played hard.
Pablo Ozuna, A: I’m overlooking his early season woes in the field, much as I overlooked Rob’s woes in the field.
Ross Gload, A: Professional hitter. He produced when he was in.
Sandy Alomar Jr., D: He couldn’t hit, and Buehrle actually pitched worse when he was behind the plate.
Ryan Sweeney, Inc.
Josh Fields, Inc.
Christ Stewart, Inc.

Class Average: B

Clearly the hitters outperformed the pitchers this year. Hopefully after a summer's worth of rest, the pitchers can rebound with a stellar year next year.