All in the Family

Twenty games into the 2009 season, one glowing concern for the Sox has been sub par middle relief pitching. Jack Egbert (27.00) proved as efficient as his predecessor and the Lance Broadway experiment is awaiting. Clayton Richard is still a question mark with an ERA just under 5, while D.J. Carrasco is pitching a modest 3.48. So where does Don Cooper and manager Ozzie Guillen go from here? For Guillen it may be as easy as climbing his family tree.
Sun-Times Sox beat reporter Joe Cowley hinted in a recent post that former Southsider Freddy Garcia again has the interest of Guillen. Garcia was recently let go by the New York Mets and now is in search for a job. Garcia has only 14 starts to his credit since leaving the Sox in 2006. Of those starts, Freddy is 2-6. In 2005, Garcia was 14-8, with 228 innings pitched. Freddy tossed three complete games during the Sox World Series championship season; one of which was hurled during the ALCS. So what can an injury prone, 32 year-old bring back to the Sox? To speculate- much needed middle relief. It's not a role Freddy Garcia is accustomed to, but it is a role that Don Cooper can custom mold for the aging Garcia. In addition, if there is any hope for Garcia's future, Ozzie Guillen will find it. "I need to talk to him [Wednesday], see where he is, if he's hurt, how he's doing,'' White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen admitted. "I guess [general manager] Kenny [Williams] and the scouts know more than I do. I have to ask them and see how he's doing. I know he will find a job and hopefully he pitches better for the next team, I don't want to say us yet because I don't know anything about it.''