Enjoy The Ride, Axelrod Arrives On South Side

Batting leadoff, Ian Kinsler was 2-5 with 2 HRs (his 27th and 28th), 2 RBIs, and 2 runs scored against the Rays. Wow. That's 7 HRs in 7 games. Again, wow. This is Kinsler's 3rd season where he has scored 101 or more runs.

Batting cleanup, Danny Valencia was 1-4 with 2 RBIs and 1 run scored against the White Sox.

Batting 5th, Kevin Youkilis was 1-4 with 1 HBP and 1 RBI against the Blue Jays.

Batting 3rd, Ryan Braun was 1-4 against the Cardinals.

Making his MLB debut with the White Sox, Dylan Axelrod pitched 2 scoreless innings on 2 hits, 1 BB, and 2 Ks against the Twins. According to Neil Keller, Axelrod is an MOT on his father's side. However, it should be noted he wasn't raised Jewish.

As far as his actual performance, he doesn't have overpowering stuff, but it looks like he can paint and has a decent changeup and slider. Splitting time between AA and AAA, Axelrod made 26 appearances and 24 starts. He was 9-3 with a 2.69 ERA, 1.069 WHIP, 7.5 H/9, 0.2 HR/9, 2.1 BB/9, 7.9 K/9, and 3.77 K/BB. He gave up just 126 hits in 150 2/3 innings and had 132 Ks. Definitely a control artist. It's doubtful the Sox will give him any starts this year (unless they shut down Jake Peavy), but in the future I could see him being a swingman and possibly getting a shot at cracking the rotation. Peavy is injury-prone and has 1 year left on his contract, Mark Buehrle is contemplating retirement, and I don't see the Sox being able to hang onto both John Danks and Gavin Floyd.