Fields still on DL

But signs are positive for the ex-Glacier Twins pitcher

OK baseball fans, if you've been scouring the Internet trying to find out where the Flathead Valley's lone Major League Baseball prospect is, here's the scoop.

Josh Fields, a 26-year-old Columbia Falls native, is still on the disabled list for the Chicago White Sox and is still at the team's spring training facility in Tucson, Ariz.

"Everything is OK," Fields said on Friday. "I'm throwing well. There's a little soreness, but it's normal soreness. They just want me to be completely ready for a big workload. It's a 140- to 160-game schedule I've got to be ready for. It's a grind. I'm about three weeks, maybe a month at the most, behind everybody else. Everybody broke camp and I extended my camp for another three weeks."

The former all-conference quarterback and free safety for the Columbia Falls High School football team tore the labrum in his throwing shoulder in August of the 2005 season. He was a relief pitcher for the White Sox' AAA affiliate, the Charlotte Knights, at the time and had good potential for being a late-season call-up for the eventual World Series champs. He underwent surgery in September of 2005 and spent all of 2006 rehabbing, including a stint with the Pioneer League's Great Falls White Sox.

"This is a long and hard process," Fields said. "Last year was the toughest year for me. I did what I had to do. I'm still going through good days and bad days. I want to be even keeled. I've been doing this long enough to know when I'm ready to go and the organization respects my decision."

The relief pitcher said he will probably play for the AAA Knights again this season. But it's more likely he'll have rehab assignments with an A or AA affiliates first. He said before he gets assigned to the lower leagues, he'll get it in writing that the assignments will only be for a few weeks at a time because he's seen players get stuck in the lower leagues for a long time during rehab assignments.

On top of all the rehab, this year is a big year for the former Glacier Twins player for another reason. He is in the final year of his original six-year contract with the ChiSox.

"I've still got a job," he said. "I'm an unrestricted free agent after this year. So I've got to get out there and work and show what I can do because there are a lot of good arms out there for the job."

Fields finished the 2005 season with a 4-5 record and a 2.75 ERA with Charlotte in the AAA International League. He pitched 68 2/3 innings in 55 games as one of the Knights' top men out of the bullpen. He gave up only 21 walks while striking out 51 batters and posted a 1.19 WHIP. He throws four different pitches: cut fastball, slider, change-up and two-seam fastball. He said he is throwing in the upper 80s (mph), but had gotten into the low 90s before getting hurt.

"Everything is good," he said. "I've just got to be completely ready for a long grind of a season."