 05/06/2004 4:51 PM ET
Wunsch out to prove his worth
Left-handed reliever waits for his call back to the bigs
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By Scott Merkin / MLB.com |
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| Kelly Wunsch (right) sported a 2.75 ERA in 43 games for the White Sox last year. (Steve Matteo/AP)
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Thursday's wake-up call for Kelly Wunsch came somewhere around 9 a.m. at his hotel in Indianapolis. The game for Triple-A Charlotte against Milwaukee's top affiliate wasn't until later in the evening, but Wunsch and his current teammates had work to do.
"We have a 10 a.m. workout," said Wunsch, speaking from his hotel late Wednesday night. "It's not like being in the big leagues. We have to bus over to a local gym."
Wunsch's wake-up call actually began a little more than one month ago, when the left-handed specialist was put on the disabled list at the close of Spring Training, retroactive to March 31. The move was talked about as precautionary at the time, giving Wunsch extra time to rehab an inflamed teres minor muscle under his left shoulder.
But the White Sox's outlook toward Wunsch apparently has changed. As of April 25, Wunsch, who turns 32 on July 12, didn't seem to be part of the South Siders' immediate plans.
"Right now, there is no spot for Kelly," said White Sox general manager Ken Williams of Wunsch when questioned directly on that particular Sunday. "That's the way it goes sometimes."
Williams wasn't the first member of the White Sox brass to refer to this sentiment. Pitching coach Don Cooper had talked as early as the end of the first series in New York of keeping rookies Jon Adkins and Neal Cotts in the bullpen even when all the veterans were healthy. They weren't brought with the team out of Spring Training to be sent back, according to Cooper.
So, where does that leave Wunsch, the affable and eloquent reliever who has been a major contributor to the White Sox bullpen for three of his four years with the team? Basically, he has three options.
Pitchers have 30 days to complete an injury rehab assignment from the first game pitched at the minor-league level, so Wunsch's trip comes to a close on Sun., May 9. At that time, the White Sox could bring him back to the Major-League club, trade him to another team or option him to Charlotte. Wunsch still has all of his options available, having never made a big-league appearance during his seven years in the Brewers' organization prior to his breakthrough rookie season in 2000 with Chicago.
If given the choice, Wunsch's decision would be easy. He wants to stay with the White Sox, first and foremost. But next on his level of importance is pitching in the Major Leagues.
"These are a great bunch of guys and coaches (with Charlotte), but it just feels like I'm a big-league pitcher," Wunsch said. "I want to be back in Chicago, and I told that to Kenny when he sent me on the rehab assignment.
"With the way Spring Training had gone, with (manager) Ozzie (Guillen) here, it looks like a lot of fun. I'm ready to get back. But if they decide they don't have a spot for me, I hope they are in contact with some other teams."
Wunsch feels as if he's 100 percent physically, maybe taking a few extra throws to get loose. But that's more to be cautious than anything else. The velocity issue for Wunsch is a slightly different story.
When pitching two-thirds of an inning Wednesday in support of Felix Diaz's fifth-straight victory, Wunsch registered between 83 and 85 mph on the speed gun. He would rather be up around 86 or 87, but thinks that level can be reached in one or two weeks' work.
Gone are the days of the 91 or 92 mph fastballs, which Wunsch used to produce a 6-3 record and 2.93 earned run average over 83 games in 2000. Surgery in 2001 to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder took care of that extra speed.
"Am I ready to get out big-league hitters? I would say definitely," Wunsch said. "If I'm at 86 or 87 and my change is 76 or 77, that's okay. I've retired big-league hitters with those pitches before.
"It makes it a little easier to get right-handers out when you have more velocity, but when the velocity is lower, you throw a little more junk. Right now, my slider is working well. It looked like a Nintendo slider with the way it was breaking Wednesday."
Through eight games with Charlotte, Wunsch has allowed five hits and two earned runs over 4 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five, including former teammate Mark Johnson on Wednesday.
There have been no talks with Williams since Wunsch was told of the move to the disabled list in Spring Training. Joe Sambito, Wunsch's agent and a former Major-League hurler himself, has been in contact with the White Sox.
It's not a concern for Wunsch at this point, even when he reads online or in the Chicago newspapers that there's no room for him on the roster. Wunsch simply is focused on getting completely ready to pitch.
"There's not much to talk about until I'm ready to go," Wunsch said. "I can't concern myself with it until Sunday rolls around, and then I can figure out which direction I get pointed."
If the White Sox have intentions of moving Wunsch, but can't get what they want in return, it might behoove them to put him on the active roster first so he can show his ability to pitch once again at the Major League level. Wunsch proved that point in 2003, limiting left-handed hitters to a .127 average and right-handers to a .153 mark while posting a 2.75 ERA in 43 games. He has given up only one home run to a left-handed hitter in each of the last four seasons.
Wunsch avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $800,000 deal in the offseason. It was a good move by the White Sox to have a proven commodity such as Wunsch in the fold, even if he ultimately might turn out to be more of an insurance policy.
But Wunsch is more than ready to trade in the journeys around Indianapolis, Norfolk and Toledo for a trip back to the excitement on the South Side of Chicago.
"I kind of got the impression that they had an idea of what they wanted to do in Spring Training, in terms of who they wanted to start out with," Wunsch said. "Maybe I wasn't necessarily in their plans if certain pitchers did well in camp.
"But I'm happy in Chicago. It's a good place, I know a lot of good people and even the media is okay," added Wunsch with a laugh. "I'm good enough to be in the big leagues, but the last thing I'm looking to do is go somewhere else."Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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