Ersty Playing in Opener?

                                       AP Photo

So I had this question posed to me today: Will Darin Erstad be playing on opening day for the White Sox tomorrow?

The Jamestown native got a serious look-over in spring training this season. His 80 at-bats put him fourth amongst those who played, and just 2 behind Chris Duncan (St. Louis) and Todd Linden (San Francisco), the majors' leaders in plate appearances.

Ersty hit .300 in 23 games, with 24 hits, 10 runs scored, 8 RBI, 1 home run and apair of stolen bases. He struck out 14 times and took four walks. Personally I think he was probably given the green light all spring, as Chicago wanted to see how he hit versus judge his pitch selection.

Erstad (who is projected to start in center) is one of five outfielders on the 25-man roster, along with Brian 'I can't hit' Anderson, Jermaine Dye (who is projected to start in right), Rob Mackowiak and Scott 'I can't hit but I sure can run' Podsednik (who is projected to start in left). He can also play first, but between Jim Thome and Paul Konerko, barring an injury, I don't see him logging much time there.

If he is healthy, he'll produce, but even if not at 100 percent, Erstad has built a career on playing on guts. He plays the game the right way, and goes at it as harder than the body allows. While I don't think we'll see him post numbers like he did in 2000 (25 homers, 100 rbi, 121 runs scored, .355 batting average, all career highs) he should be better than last year's .221 average with 0 home runs and 5 RBI in 40 games before being shut down with injury.

But, looking at the last five years, Erstad has played in 150 games or more twice (153 in 2005 and 150 in 2002), has not hit more than more than 9 homers since 2002 (when he hit 10 and drive in 73 runs).

I think if he's playing, he'll get on base, he'll be smart on the bases and he'll play defense. Really about all that is left for Erstad, in my opinion, is to decide how much longer he wants to play. He's been an All-Star, won gold gloves, won a World Series and has been the pride of Jamestown and the state for years. Injuries have probably robbed him of his best seasons, and while he isn't a hall of famer, he's been a good one since his first season in 1996.

I don't know if I'll ever quite get used to him in a White Sox uni, but the fact that he's in the same division as the Twins and there is that much more of an opportunity to get to see him on TV is good. Plus, Chicago and the Indians open the season against each other. They need to call it the Peace Garden Classic or something with Ersty getting to play against Pronk.

Posted by: ost on 4/01/2007 at 4:03 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink