Manager Ozzie Guillen wasn't pulling any punches on opening day when asked how long he would go with Dewayne Wise in the leadoff spot if the center fielder struggled.
"If we have to, we will do it right away," Guillen said of a possible change. It lasted a whole eight at-bats.
Following a second 0-for-4 performance in Wednesday's loss, Wise arrived to the ballpark Thursday to find his name down in the eighth spot, while Chris Getz moved up to No. 1.
It's no surprise that Guillen turned to Getz, whom the manager hinted since the last week of Cactus League play was the Plan B. Watching Wise's approach against Zack Greinke, however, seemed to push Guillen to making the change.
"The last three at-bats (for Wise on Wednesday), I don't like it at all," Guillen said. "I think he was trying to, I don't want to say intimidated, but just wanted to protect the plate. I want to get him out of there for a couple of days until he starts to swing the bat better. When he starts to swing the bat better or the way we think he swings the bat, I'll move him back up to see what happens."
While Getz, 25, is no stranger to leading off, the rookie is unproven at the big-league level. But he seemed to take the news in stride.
"I just saw the lineup card," Getz said. "No one even said anything. I'm not opposed to it at all. Just another opportunity that the team is asking me to fulfill."
With no free agent leadoff hitter of interest to the Sox, and general manager Ken Williams insisting that there was no deal to be made for a prototypical top-of-the-order guy, the Sox are almost handcuffed to finding someone within the organization to step up.
Getz did go 0-for-4, but Guillen said he liked his at-bats and would keep him there for the time being.
ROYALS 2, WHITE SOX 1: John Danks looked dominant Thursday, throwing six shutout innings and allowing just three hits in six innings, but his performance fell to the wayside in the ninth. Coco Crisp turned a scoreless game into a Royals 2-0 lead with a two-run homer off Bobby Jenks (0-1).
"A cutter that didn't cut," Jenks said. "It happens from time to time."
As they did on Tuesday, the Sox showed some life against the Royals bullpen. Carlos Quentin doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth. He eventually scored on two groundouts to cut the lead in half. After Paul Konerko walked and Alexei Ramirez reached on an error, the dramatic finish was once again set up. But making his Sox debut as a pinch hitter, Wilson Betemit struck out to end the game.
