Bruce_Blixton

Congrats to James Dykstra on the no-no!

Trayce Thompson continuing his hot start, it would be great if something clicks for him this season. He probably still has the best physical tools in our minor league system.

QUOTE (newguy @ Apr 13, 2015 -> 02:05 PM) Bruce Blixton, thanks for the kind words about Brad. (my son) I wouldn't normally have responded, but I wanted to build on your comment about "not having a lot of mileage on his arm". I know we are very early into the season, but since he was converted into a pitcher, we have always emphasized about being efficient, as it relates to the pitch count. Strikeouts are fine, but over-rated. (even Greg Maddux would say so) The main goal is to pitch to contact & get the ball in play within 4 pitches. There's 8 other defenders to help make outs & it saves the arm. Having been a former shortstop, he knows what it's like to have pitchers throwing 5, 6 or 7+ pitches to every batter & he doesn't want to be that guy. Last year was his 1st full year as a pitcher & his pitches/inning were a pretty good 15.8 with a 63.2% strike rate. We set goals before spring training of getting the P/Inn to 14 or less & strike % rate to 70%. As I said, it is still early, but the P/Inn is currently at 11 & the strike % is at 67.3%. He's got 5 total innings in 2 games with only 55 pitches. I think the thing I'm most proud of is getting the ball in play in 4 pitches or less. So far he has faced 19 hitters & balls in play in less than 4 pitches is 14! (73.7%) (10 of those batters were 2 pitches or less) That saves the arm & keeps the fielders on their toes & into the game, cause the ball will be put in play. There are so many numbers as it relates to Sabermetrics these days, and admittedly, I sure don't understand them all. I try to stick with the few basics: First-pitch strikes - 11-19 (58%) - needs to improve a little there. Granted, it's only a 2 pitch difference, but the goal is 67% (13-19 would be 68%, but it's still a goal) Strike % on a 1-1 count - 4-5 (80%) - very happy with that - a strike thrown on a 1-1 count favors the pitcher by a difference of roughly .200 points in batting avg. than if you throw a 1-1 pitch for a ball Getting the first batter of the inning out - 5-5 (100%) - very happy with that Pitches per batter - (2.9) - very happy with that. So far, so good. Just need to keep focused & working hard. Thank you for such a lengthy and informative reply, I am absolutely impressed with your understanding and involvement in Brad's progression. He's lucky to have such a great father around! It sounds like he has a great gameplan on the mound and having watched Mark Buehrle all those years I completely agree with your philosophy on working efficiently and keeping your fielders involved in the game. The numbers that you shared with us, especially the situational strike %s, lead me to believe that Brad could make the leap to starter. I would love to read a first-hand account on his transition from SS to P, I've always had a lot of respect for players that can do that.

Brad Salgado with an old-school 3 innings save for Kanny too, I wonder what the Sox long-term plan with him is. Grooming him for the bullpen is the obvious choice, but I wonder if he's shown them enough flashes and potential to convince them to give him a shot as a starter. He doesn't have a lot of mileage on his arm being a converted position player and his results so far have been pretty impressive, seems to have a good command of the strike zone.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 26, 2015 -> 05:19 PM) at #8, Aiken (after surgery), Kirby, Allard, Matuella, Bickford, or Fullmer. who still has the higher upside?? From that list I'd go with Matuella, Bickford, a toss up between Kirby and Aiken and then I'd go with Buehler and even Funkhouser before Allard and Fullmer. Don't really like the size of Fulmer, he could light it up like Stroman but I'd feel more comfortable is the Sox took someone with a bigger frame and more projectability. As to the original question posed regarding Aiken, I wouldn't choose Aiken unless he gives us a steep discount which I think is extremely unlikely to happen. I'd rather take someone that has a clean history and similar projectability than someone coming off of TJ surgery, but I'm skeptical of the conventional wisdom that TJ surgery is some kind of cure-all for pitchers.

Hahn has done an amazing job locking in a great core of players so far, Sale, Quintana, Abreu and now Eaton, this has to make a pretty persuasive case for Samardzjia to sign an extension before the end of the year. Also I'd love to see Hahn sign Avi to an extension on the heels of this one. Great time to be a Sox fan right now, I haven't been this optimistic since the offseason before the 2006 season.

QUOTE (3GamesToLove @ Mar 4, 2015 -> 07:36 AM) Think I'm going for a Quintana shirsey this year. Don't see enough of them around. I've got a dark gray Sale and an Alexei ASG one, but that's it (let's pretend the Beckham one I bought in early 2011 doesn't exist). I think Quintana's the guy. Are you sure you wouldn't want this instead? http://supersportstees.com/view/2934901/jo...aseball_t_shirt

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 7, 2014 -> 06:29 AM) No, that is the perfect example as to why you make a move like that. They gave Paulino a shot to prove himself, he didn't, and they jumped ship immediately. They gave Downs a shot, he stunk, and they jumped ship immediately. Frankly, I think they kept Belisario because the stuff was still good and they wanted to see if they could get him straightened out and, bottom line, they need SOMEONE to pitch those innings. They couldn't, and he'll likely be non-tendered this offseason. So I believe Eminor would like to thank you for the perfect example of what the Sox should do. They can probably shoot a little higher up the ladder than Paulino, but the idea remains. Also, when the good you are trying to acquire is unique by itself, and you are going up against 29 other teams, the player has a lot of leverage, especially early on. Someone who has had success like Masterson in the past will likely command a lot of 1 year offers and he'd likely take 1/$6 mill compared to 1/$10 with a team option for year 2 because he has a higher earning potential with the 1/$6. I am very sure he'll get a standard one year deal. Totally agree that this is the best strategy to address our rotation over the next couple of years, by signing a reclamation project like Masterson or possibly Brandon Morrow to a short-term "prove it" deal the Sox limit their downside while having the potential of a lot of upside if they can regain their previous form. With Rodon waiting in the wings to enter the rotation and another high draft pick this year to acquire another front-end pitching prospect the Sox would be smart to have a bunch of short-term deals that can be easily unloaded to make space for the pitchers that have a better pedigree. Ideally I'd like to see the Sox sign Masterson to a cost-effective 2 year deal and eventually take Danks' spot in the rotation, Morrow would be another good choice and would most likely be way cheaper but he also carries the same injury/bust risk as Paulino did this year. Still that 10 K/9 he had for a few years would look really nice in our rotation...

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 09:34 AM) Super, super awesome early list with great info: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2015-mlb-draft-top-51/ Thanks for the link, great preliminary look at next year's draft class. I hope the Sox go with a college player in the first round next year, even if it is Aiken or Bickford, I'm really hoping that Matuella falls to us though. For the second round I hope Hahn & co. go for a high-upside prep bat, a couple of players really stuck out from that list that might be available when our second pick rolls around. has amazing size and athleticism almost in a Vlad Guerrero mold and Jahmai Jones has great bat speed and the athleticism to play several positions. Regardless of which way they go with their picks it looks like a pretty strong class this year and we should get another couple of good prospects out of it.

I thought you guys did a great job with the recaps, they helped add color to the box scores. Thanks for doing it all season long!

Brandon Morrow could be interesting for the right price, I highly doubt TOR would pick up their club option on him.

Great Falls does have to complete a suspended game today as well so maybe they give Adams the nod to help finish out that one. Although one start at Kanny to end the year might be a good test/reward for the season he's put together.

Bassitt has to have firmly entrenched himself in the top 10 prospect ratings after the past couple of seasons. He's absolutely shredding Southern League lineups since his return, hopefully he doesn't turn into EJ 2.0.

What has been the most difficult transition for you making the switch from speedskating to baseball? What motivated you to make such a dramatic change? What were your expectations on your skating ability translating to baserunning? Does it give you an advantage? *Edit - Are you cool with the nickname "Fast" Eddy Alvarez?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 10:20 AM) Seriously. I mean, Andy Wilkins didn't get a lot of love from us at FutureSox because he's 26, but we understand that he can hit. But Ravelo? This is a guy who is 22 years old hitting .318/.397/.491 at AA and showing ever increasing power. I don't want to go all crazy talk, and I'm not outright making this comparison, but at similar ages, Ravelo and Votto were putting up similar numbers. Votto walked and struck out more (so more good and bad), but they do have similar bodies of work at this point (including height and build). Like I said, I don't want people to think that I'm saying Ravelo is the next Votto, but there's a lot of reason for optimism. The name that always comes to mind Ravelo's very top ceiling when looking at his stats is Edgar Martinez, a very talented hitter that won't wow you with power but has the ability to make contact and hit for average.

QUOTE (newguy @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 07:03 AM) Hello everybody. I am Brad's father. I will try to keep the emotion out of the discussion since I am obviously biased. I am only responding to this to provide some additional information. I certainly appreciate all of your positive comments & I hope Brad continues to improve & perform. Regarding the "velocity" concern. I was actually very happy to hear about all the movement of his offspeed pitches. I wonder if the person who wrote that was at the game? Anyway, regardling velocity, Brad typically sits around the 90-91 range, but on a few occasions this year, both at Great Falls & Kannapolis, he has been able to top out at 94. As you stated, more velocity will come as he continues to re-learn how to pitch. He hasn't pitched since his junior year of high school in 2009 & has only been a "pitcher" for about a year now. It was about this time last season at Great Falls that he actually got to pitch in games. Hope that info helps. Thanks for all the info and welcome to the board, I know the transition from position player to pitcher is a tough one but Brad is in one of if not the best organization to make that switch. Looking forward to following his progression!

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 08:48 PM) Throws a lot of nasty offspeed stuff, FB reaches 88-89 as seen tonight but his movement is filthy, most of his pitches were 78-81, pretty normal delivery and arm action, his 1 jersey looks so odd on a pitcher That's very interesting to hear, following his progression this season I always assumed that he was one of those SS that had a rocket for an arm and was just blowing away hitters with an upper 90s fastball. Hearing that he has nasty movement on his offspeed stuff is very encouraging since I'm sure he'll be able to add some velocity as he irons out his mechanics. I've been rooting for him this year and am really happy to see his continued success.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 07:32 PM) No Ravelo on the White Sox top 20. That is completely absurd.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 07:19 PM) Adams is a strikeout machine. 2 in the first makes it 25 in 18.2 IP, and it's been trending up too. I love the fact that he's not afraid to attack the strike zone this early in his career, what's his ceiling if he puts it all together? Greinke? Also, I'd have to say that Dykstra has to have cracked the top 15 prospects by this point, it looks like he's adjusted well to the promotion and is sporting an 8.5:1 K/BB ratio with a 1.15 WHIP between the Sally and Carolina Leagues.

Another day, another Wilkins homer. I can't recall any of our minor leaguers having a stretch like this in a while.

Another dinger for Wilkins, up to 5 RBIs on the night. They really need to find a way to call him up and play him.

2-2 with 2 more doubles and 2 RBIs for Wilkins already, it's getting to the point where you almost want to stick Konerko on the 15-day DL with a phantom injury and call up Wilkins while he's this hot to see what we actually with him.

Pretty blah day so far, Ravelo and Kevan Smith both 1-2 with an RBI, Snodgress doing his unimpressively effective thing as usual. Jason Coats providing the only offense so far with an RBI double in the 3rd. Things getting heated for Kanny today, the manager, hitting coach and Trey all have been tossed from the game. Serious question: Mitchell has almost 100 ABs at Birmingham now and has put up 1.000+ OPS, is he back in the prospect conversation for us? After last season it's been hard not to remain skeptical but he's made the Southern League his b**** over the last month.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 02:03 PM) There are some parallels between those two. Both were 3B who went to 1B for defensive reasons, both hit for high average but only hints of power through their middle-minors careers, both were said to have power potential but didn't show it for a few years, both hit plenty of doubles. One could do an interesting parallel study there. I knew Thome started as a 3B but I never realized that he was more of a hitter for average in the minors, I always assumed that he was a masher from start. That makes things a lot more interesting, now I'd like to see Ravelo promoted to Charlotte sooner rather than later.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 10:13 AM) Baseball America prospect hot sheet. Ravelo "In the team photo" I'd really like to see what happens when Jim Thome gets to work with him, maybe he can unlock that untapped power we're all waiting for. Is he still in Charlotte working with Davidson or is he more of a roving instructor?