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Ventura already seasoned on saying little
February, 23, 2012
Feb 23
4:49
PM CT
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Only a short while after Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams said he’d rather have manager Robin Ventura talk about the changes that will take place under a new coaching regime, the first-year manager continued to keep mum on what’s to come.
If Ventura has become known for anything through the early throes of his managerial career, it’s his penchant for keeping extremely tight-lipped when it comes to divulging any news related to competition for playing time and personnel decisions.
Then again, Thursday was just the start of spring training as pitchers and catchers went through their first workout, so maybe Ventura simply hasn’t made up his mind on several issues.
When asked who will take the mound on Opening Day, Ventura said, “I’m not going there yet. We’re going to plan for that here in the next week or two before we get into games and kind of have a better idea about that.”
And when it comes to the closer role Ventura cracked, “that’ll be the guy that finishes the game. So we’re not getting into any of that right now. I want to be able to talk to them, see what we have and then go from there.”
Thursday was another day of firsts for Ventura, who donned a White Sox uniform for the first time since he was a player, addressed the team on the field and attended his first pitcher-catcher meeting. Dealing with pitchers, Ventura said, is where he’s thankful to be able to rely on veteran pitching coach Don Cooper. Ventura also threw a short batting practice on Thursday, something he’ll likely add to his everyday duties.
“I feel that’s just part of being involved and seeing certain things,” Ventura said. “At the end of my career playing I actually threw BP and that’s when I knew I was done -- when they ask you to throw BP while you’re a player you know you’re done. But it’s just a different perspective. You can see things when you throw BP.”
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