Dizzy Sox

QUOTE (Condor13 @ Jul 17, 2016 -> 06:00 PM) Collins hit another 3 run home run tonight!! And he drew two more walks, giving him 4 in his first 3 A+ games.

Good to see, 3rd round pick Alex Call headed to Kanny: http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=2...87&sid=t487 Hopefully Jameson Fisher will be playing again soon with Great Falls...he hasn't been in a game since the 7th. I'd sure like him to get some time in low-A ball before the year is out. He and Call look like nice compliments to each other, with Call a righty bat and Fisher a lefty.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 28, 2016 -> 10:33 PM) The problem is we'll never know the player Mitchell would have been before that horrific injury. He just lost all his mojo when that happened. He HAD looked looked really good up until that exact moment. That's my point exactly. Mitchell looked great, toolsy and all that, but even in college his contact rate was poor. His leg injury had nothing to do with the fact that he couldn't hit anything that wasn't coming in straight as an arrow. It is rare to see a player prosper in the pros after exhibiting lousy plate discipline in college. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I would rather take my chances with a hitter who has a track record of making contact and has shown they have some kind of a plan at the plate than the golden athlete who can't hit a breaking pitch. Whether Collins, Call, Fisher etc make it or not I'm just glad the Sox finally have made an advanced hitting approach something of a priority in the draft, because that has been missing for a long time.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jun 28, 2016 -> 08:15 PM) Jameson Fisher with his first bomb of the season. He might end up being a pretty nice pick. I'd like to see Fisher and Alex Call in Kanny before too long. Between those two, Collins and even some of their latter round picks it's obvious the Sox targeted hitters who have a more advanced approach at the plate. This is very much breaking with recent history and I for one am extremely pleased with the approach. I don't care how good of an athlete a player may be or what kind of show they put on during BP...low contact rates in college (and HS for that matter, though admittedly harder to quantify) are a strong predictor of struggles in the pros. Yes, I'm looking at you Jared Mitchell.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 27, 2016 -> 04:30 PM) He rarely drew walks in the minors. I don't know why people are hoping it will change in the MLB. FWIW, look at Anderson's walks month-by-month in the minors over the last two years. In both instances he goes from none/very little walks to, well, not a lot but at least some: A M J J A 2016 0 8 2015 1 4 5 6 8 Hopefully we will see the same progression in the majors...otherwise he's going to be limiting himself to a bottom third of the order profile.

That toe tap and slow front leg pivot he does at the beginning would drive me absolutely crazy as a hitter. If he varies the interval he comes set before the pitch...I could see that really messing with your timing, especially as a reliever who you face only sporadically.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jun 15, 2016 -> 04:12 PM) Well sure, but that doesn't mean people can't have breaking points. Mine so happen to be domestic violence, rape, murder, etc. Being a jerk is one thing, I probably have a harder time rooting for you/the team if that's the case but 99% of the time doesn't stop me. When Kendrick Nunn plead guilty to beating a woman I was 100% ready to not watch a single game of Illinois basketball until he was out of the program. And it doesn't mean that they aren't perfect people or someone who does amazing things, but if you do something to morally wrong like that then yea, it impacts my ability to cheer for them and the organization that supports that behavior. amen to that...exactly how i feel

Ted Williams. But all of him, not just the head.

I wonder if the Sox scouting dept bothered to review Shields' velo metrics over the past few years. About 3 seconds on fangraphs will show that he's lost 3 mph, just since 2014. Do the Sox even care about that kind if thing? Do they even know that kind of info is available? You'd think so, but...

Hmmm...I wonder who's next. Buehrle? (Kidding, I think)

QUOTE (TitoMB @ Jun 8, 2016 -> 10:14 PM) And wow, Robinson used again in a non save situation, and he f***ing s***s the bed. I am so SHOCKED! /s was thinking the same thing. Guess it didn't matter tonight--we were going to lost no matter what--but this was entirely predictable.

All day I've been checking the site every 20 min to see if there's even a hint that RV (or anyone for that matter) will get canned today. You'd think I'd know better by now...

QUOTE (Baron @ May 31, 2016 -> 05:20 PM) That was more like. "Look I'm just the general manager...I wont criticize what he's doing". Basically distancing himself. Exactly. Hahn says he's happy from an 'information and process standpoint.' He most definitely did not say he agreed (or disagreed, for that matter) with the decision itself. Big difference.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ May 23, 2016 -> 08:03 PM) Just say NO to Collins. He is a Florida born kid who played little league,high school and college in Florida. He has never played a season in a cold climate. He will wilt his first April in Chicago. He is better off playing for a team south of the Mason Dixon. Draft a cold-weather player. Any Canadians in the draft?? Ah yes, I remember how the Chicago cold ruined that southern-born and reared kid we drafted in the 1st round in '89...Frank something or another. And more recently that washout 1st baseman from Cuba who had never been north of Havana prior to his 1st big league season in Chicago.

Toolsy outfielders are to KW what rakes are to Sideshow Bob. Can't avoid them, can't stop getting smacked in the face with 'em. Just once, just one freaking time would I like the Sox to spend a premium draft pick on a refined college hitter with an advanced hitting approach. I don't care what position--I've been beating the Collins drum hard the last month but he's not the only one--Nick Senzel would fit the bill for instance. But no, KW will keep trying to achieve some kind of vicarious playing career success through outfielders who look like they should be all-stars but in actuality don't have the plate discipline or eye to hit major league pitching. I have no idea if Rutherford falls into that category--he could be the 2nd coming of Ted Williams for all I know--but the lack of importance the Sox seem to place on plate discipline (which really boils down to having the physical ability to recognize pitch type, speed and location combined with walking up to the plate with, you know, an actual plan in mind) is stunning. Especially when that describes exactly Robin, Buddy Bell and Frank, the best hitter the organization ever produced-all key figures within the organization. If the Sox pick Collins, Senzel etc. I will gladly eat this post.

I just knew Fulmer would breeze through AA. My biggest worry was the Sox would rush him, not that he'd be looking at a 5+ ERA two months into the season. I'm sure he'll be fine long term but...didn't see that one coming. Other than Anderson and occasionally Adams the top talent our system has really blown so far this year.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ May 13, 2016 -> 05:37 PM) Am I crazy for not thinking Zach Collins is worth a top ten pick? It might be very old school of me but I wouldn't feel comfortable taking a guy without a defensive position that high. Collins is probably a DH at the next level and I don't think he is a good enough hitter to justify taking a DH that high. Collins has the most advanced plate disciple in the entire class, and arguably the best over the last several drafts. He has strong hit and power tools, hits lefty, and he has improved every year within one of the best college programs around. Nothing is for certain but his profile suggests his floor is a solid if not spectacular lefty 1B/DH, with a ceiling of an offensive first catcher. I'd take that any day of the week, especially with the extra 1st round pick we get this year.

Frazier! Frazier! woopwoopwoop

I'm probably in the minority here, but I would take Collins over Ray. Both are good prospects and if one is gone by the time the Sox draft I'd be ok with the other. That said, Collins' combo of strong hit and power tools, the best plate discipline in the draft, and the potential to play a premium position is just too good to pass up IMO. It also concerns me that Ray is hitting 9 points below Louisville's team average and has an OBP 25 points under avg. Collins, on the other hand, on a more elite program is hitting 107 points with an OBP 170(!) points above Miami's. While I realize that Ray is a much better prospect than Mitchell, Thompson, et al, I've grown very leery of toolsy outfielders with question marks around their ability to get on base...call it the KW Syndrome. I also wonder if Collins could move to 3rd if he can't stick at catcher. Even if he can't, a lefty power bat who draws walks...when's the last time we've had that kind of prospect in our system? Ventura maybe?

Two walks for Anderson after getting his first of the entire season yesterday! Let's hope this is a trend...

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Apr 27, 2016 -> 07:21 PM) Would you say they are similar types of players? Just my two cents, there are some superficial similarities--lefty bat with blend of speed and power, but as noted Ray is a much, much better prospect than Mitchell ever was. Ray has good plate discipline and is a legit CF prospect where Mitchell swung at everything within 10 feet of the plate and would have almost certainly wound up in left or right. Ray is polished, Mitchell was a project from the beginning. Ugh, how I hated the Mitchell pick. That was the nadir of Kenny's toolsy outfielder phase in my mind, and it has nothing to do with missing out on Trout (ironically, as it turned out the ultimate toolsy outfielder). Mitchell had whiffed about a third of his ABs at LSU. Yes, he was raw from being a football player first and foremost, but if anyone has examples of successful players who had that kind of a K rate in college I would like to see it. Especially in that age of offensive production at the collegiate level.

QUOTE (beautox @ Apr 27, 2016 -> 05:29 PM) I wouldn't be against that at all. If Senzel is available at 10 I would love that pick or if not him Jordan Sheffield. Zach Collins at 26 & Thaiss at 49 would be nice because its a deep catching class. Sox have shown their ability to identify pitchers in later rounds at 86 I still think there would be a couple questionable but high ceilings picks the sox could push for. I would love that haul but there's no way Collins is going to be there at 26. He's hitting .425 with 9 hrs and a 48/24 BB/K ratio in in 170 PAs (a .587 oba!). He's improved all 3 years in college, comes from a major program, hits lefty and has a chance to stick at catcher. I know, stats aren't everything and his D is a question mark. Still...that's a pretty solid profile and there are very few if any college bats performing at that level this year. He keeps it up and I could even see the A's taking him at 6.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Apr 26, 2016 -> 04:01 PM) That article is a lot more bullish on Zach Collins' defense than I've seen. I think he'll get drafted earlier than expected and go underslot. Both the A's and the Sox look like teams that could possibly do that. I'd take Collins at #10 in a heartbeat. Lefty bat, improved all 3 years at a major program, solid hit tool, plus power, improving defense and excellent plate discipline. I'd take that if he was strictly a corner infielder, much less someone who could potentially catch. In fact, now that I think about it...you could have used almost exactly the same profile on Schwarber coming out of college. I don't think Collins is as good as Schwarber, but to have at least a somewhat similar comp...not bad at all.

Dickey against Sale - the tortoise vs. the hare. I'm feeling good about another W...

Spring training must seem like a loooong time ago to Matt Davidson. 14 whiffs in 35 PAs. Ouch.