Boone Logan

[RockSports17]

TUCSON, Ariz. -- There will be one more scheduled appearance in Atlanta on Friday, and then the real education of Boone Logan begins.

When the White Sox staff first began kicking around the idea of actually breaking camp with a 21-year-old left-hander who had never pitched in a game higher than Class A, it was under the premise that reliever Dustin Hermanson would begin the year on the major-league roster rather than on the disabled list.

In other words, there'd be some room to bring Logan along slowly, putting him in situations in which he had the best chance to succeed.

That's no longer the case.

''Yeah, the plan was to do what we did with Neal [Cotts] a few years ago,'' pitching coach Don Cooper said Wednesday. ''Neal, like Boone, was a left-hander from within the organization that showed a lot, and a guy that we felt could be special some day.''

When Cotts was made into a full-time reliever during the 2004 season, however, the Sox weren't under the microscope of just winning their first World Series in 88 years, and they didn't have a bullpen that was suddenly fragile.

''To bring Boone along like we did Neal would be a perfect scenario, and I don't think we have that perfect scenario now,'' Cooper continued. ''I think the bullpen, at least personnel-wise last year, maybe the last two years, was a bit stronger.

''With Hermanson's back problems, you know he kind of was a key guy because he was seventh, eighth and ninth inning for us. I don't think we have that luxury right now. It would be great if we did, but we don't. We're going to pretty much have to run Boone out there. He's going to have to grow up fast.''

Logan says he wouldn't want it any other way.

''There is absolutely no room for error,'' Logan said. ''I know that, and I know what I've got to do. I have to keep going out there and doing what I've been doing. I have to pitch the way I've been pitching and not really think so much about everything else that's going on.''

After another scoreless appearance Wednesday, Logan has allowed just one run in nine Cactus League games. It also showed he could be effective pitching on back-to-back days. Then again, spring-training stats don't win divisions.

''I knew the day was going to come, but not so quick,'' Logan said. ''I've got to be ready now, and get ready pretty quick. There's no time to dwell on it at this point.''

When the regular season starts on Sunday night, Cooper's plan for Logan is to use him primarily in the sixth or seventh innings. If he continues to show he can handle the pressure, he could see action in the eighth inning of games.

"If I had to describe what it looks like right now in the bullpen, [Matt] Thornton might be a little bit of the long lefty and would have a piece of the sixth, seventh and hopefully the eighth,'' Cooper said. ''Boone would be sixth, seventh -- hopefully he grows into the eighth.

"We have [Cliff] Politte, we have Cotts and we have Bobby [Jenks] for seven, eight and nine. Then there's [Brandon] McCarthy, who is going to be in the seventh and eighth, too.

"On nights that we don't want to use Bobby because he's been in there a lot, we're probably going to mix and match, look at who is hot and go with our gut like we did last year.''

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So what do you guys think of Boone Logan?

[Dam8610]

That's "The Legend of" Boone Logan.

Seriously though, I think it's cool that he was able to earn a roster spot. If he can keep doing what he did this spring, he should be a good guy to go to in the 6th or 7th if needed.

[RockSports17]

Do you think he'll continue it? He's still quite young and he may be inconsistent this season. He sounds like a good pitcher in the future, but I'm just not buying that he'll be good this season.

[Dam8610]

He just kept going out and getting the guys out in spring. According to Ozzie and Coop, he seemed to handle the mental aspect of it pretty well, I watched get ahead of hitters almost every AB, and he just kept getting outs. If he can continue to get ahead of hitters and keep his head on straight, I think he'll do well. I'm not expecting a 0.83 ERA (or even close) from him though, and anyone who is is just asking to be disappointed. If he can post a 3.50 range ERA, that'd be great. I wouldn't hope for much more than that.