Dayan Viciedo Off To Impressive Start
Cuban import has already shown he can handle bat
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Say queso!
Kenny Williams and the White Sox seemed to strike gold last spring when they brought in an unknown stick figure of a man from Cuba named Alexei Ramirez to see if he could compete for a spot on the roster. Not only did Ramirez make the team, but it's pretty easy to argue that without him, the White Sox wouldn't have won a division title in 2008.
So this winter Kenny set out to see if he catch lightning in a bottle yet again, and signed another Cuban prospect named Dayan Viciedo. The White Sox gave the 19-year old import a four-year deal worth $10 million in hopes that he could come in and potentially take over Joe Crede's spot at third base, or possibly the outfield.
The truth is that the team doesn't know what they're going to do with Viciedo in the field, but if the first two games of spring training are an indicator, he'll be playing somewhere because his bat is just too loud. Through his first two games as a Major Leaguer, Viciedo is hitting .500 (3-for-6) with a home run and an RBI. Even his outs have been hard hit, but no ball has been hit harder than the 420-foot homer Viciedo hit off of former White Sox pitcher Jon Garland on Friday afternoon.
Still, we have to realize that Dayan is only two days into his career and he could easily have an 0-for-15 stretch awaiting him. There's also the matter of his defense, which while not horrible, is certainly not going to make White Sox fans forget about Crede anytime soon.
Defense can be taught, though, where as the bat speed and powerful stroke Viciedo has in his stroke cannot. Looks like Kenny might be two-for-two.
Along with writing for NBCCHICAGO.com, Tom Fornelli can also be found contributing at FanHouse, SPORTSbyBROOKS, and his own Chicago sports blog Foul Balls. He can't describe how happy he is to have baseball to watch.
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Posted Tuesday, Jul 14, 2009 - 6:02 PM CST
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