Jake Peavy made his second start of the spring today against the San Francisco Giants. I know I said I wanted to stay away from all things Jake related until he was given the “all-clear” and was on the roster until indefinitely, but keeping an eye on his progress is kind of like watching a bad train-wreck. I want to turn away, but being that I am a “crazed” White Sox fan, I must keep up with his progress.

After his first start, he said he felt normal after pitching soreness and he also had a regular side session after that start In listening to the game, Peavy was looking good. (“DAMN HIM”  for potentially getting me excited about seeing him sooner rather than later). His line for the day: 3.2 IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 1K. His ERA for the spring is now a “terrible” 1.59. He threw a total of 49 pitches, 31 for strikes. Admittedly, he has looked very sharp. His one walk came at the end of his outing against Buster Posey and Jake is impressed with the young catcher’s plate discipline. Buster worked the count on Peavy in his first at-bat of 8 pitches against the veteran pitcher. After that, Jake appeared to be experiencing some discomfort and Ozzie came to get him. Fortunately, no medical staff was needed and he was hi-fiving with teammates after leaving the field.

I was expecting him to go 3 innings today, so when he was out for the 4th I was surprised. However, Jake was out in the 4th inning due to his pitch count (it was around 40 to start the inning) and he also wanted to get some work in out of the stretch. Thanks to CSNChi_Beatnick for the info on why Jake was back out to pitch in the 4th inning. Peavy also mixed in his change up today, which he didn’t throw in his first spring outing. Scott Merkin of MLB said that Peavy felt he wasn’t as free and easy in his throwing today, but it was otherwise a step forward. Peavy’s next scheduled start (assuming all continues on a good track) will be Monday, March 14 against the Padres.

Things I noticed: in the first inning, 2 of the 3 batters got some serious wood on the balls and got them out to center. Lucky for the Sox, the defense was on to get those fly balls. Peavy’s hit / home run to Aubrey Huff came while he was working out of the stretch. No one was on base at the time, but Peavy was working out of the stretch. Hopefully this isn’t something to worry about or be more concerned when there are actually runners on base he needs to hold. I’m chalking it up to getting back into the swing of things given how long it has been since he last was regularly pitching. The pitch Huff homered on was not a bad one as it was the same pitch used to get the strike out that Peavy had. Again, he was sharp. I am sure the outing wasn’t to “Peavy standards,” but considering where he is coming from, it was great.

Now to not start believing too early . . .

Don’t forget, this evening, the White Sox Edition of 30 Clubs in 30 Days will air TONIGHT at 10:00pm EST on MLB Network.