--RHP Scott Linebrink pitched a 1-2-3 inning in relief in his spring debut on Feb. 27, fanning two, but that wasn't the highlight of the veteran's showing. "I think the first four outings, you don't really look at results," Linebrink said. "You just want to look at your mechanics, throwing the ball down. As spring wears on, you want to start turning it up a notch and see the results, but at this point, it's about mechanics, feel for off-speed pitches and not worry about velocity. For me, especially, I just want to be healthy. And to go out there and throw an inning and not have your shoulder barking, that's huge." Linebrink fought inflammation in the back of his shoulder throughout the second half of the 2008 season, and the club is being cautious with him.
--3B Dayan Viciedo singled in his first major league at-bat and then a day later took Jon Garland out of the park, going 2-for-3. Viciedo was hitting .500 through two games, but that doesn't mean that Josh Fields is close to being in danger of losing the foothold he has on the starting job at third base. The big reason: Viciedo still needs a lot of work on defense. "It's funny because we know he can hit," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He has a lot of confidence hitting. This kid has confidence at the plate and knows what he's doing. As long as they don't know him, I think it makes it easier. To me he has more confidence at the plate then his fellow countryman, (Alexei) Ramirez. You are going to see a lot of good things on offense from him, and defense, he has to be better but we are going to make him better." --RHP Mike MacDougal will get a lot of work this spring -- the best-case scenario is that the right-hander at least will draw some interest from another club. MacDougal is in the final year of a three-year extension he signed in 2006 and will make $2.65 million this year. Either way, pitching coach Don Cooper is hoping for some sort of life from MacDougal. "He's throwing the ball pretty good," Cooper said. "Let me tell you something, here is my thought on MacDougal: He didn't do too bad (last year). The big knock on Mike is he might not be able to maintain focus and stay under control, and then he gets a wild hair up his (butt) from time to time. But when he does throw it over, his two pitches, he does get good results, whether it's a groundball or whatever, he can get people out. He will be getting some extended outings."
--LHP Mark Buehrle was scheduled to make his Cactus League debut March 1 but will have some time off. He has been given permission to leave the team for the birth of his second child. It won't affect his pitching schedule that much, however -- the White Sox wanted to lighten his workload, especially early on in the spring.
--Manager Ozzie Guillen said that the White Sox won't necessarily go with a right-handed hitter to be the backup catcher for A.J. Pierzynski, and Guillen also reiterated that going outside the organization is still not being talked about. General manager Ken Williams confirmed to the Sun-Times earlier in camp that veteran Paul Lo Duca was talked to last month, but those talks stalled. From what Guillen has seen so far, there is enough quality in camp to make a decision. Guillen also ruled out his close friend Pudge Rodriguez.
BY THE NUMBERS: 27.7 -- The average age of the 40-man roster in camp. Jim Thome is the oldest at 38 years old, and Cuban defector Dayan Viciedo the youngest at 19.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Well, a lot of people say, 'You can get Alexei more at-bats and would be better off,' but I don't think Alexei is ready mentally. Last year, we tried to bat him second a couple of times, and it no work out too well. I kind of worry about ... I mean, this kid is a great RBI guy." -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen on hitting shortstop Alexei Ramirez in the top of the order.
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