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Elite athlete + elite makeup + elite work ethic = Superstar

Yes we know you don't watch baseball. In Alexei's prime he was a 4 WAR starting shortstop. He came at 25 and had to learn a new league. He was a really good player who faded after age 30, beat up mentally and physically.

I'm sorry but why the f%$# is Mazara in the lineup again? He has looked awful and Engel busted his ass twice down the line to get infield singles last night. I disapprove of this greatly!!

Docked for what? Herein lies the problem. Parents thinking little Johnny has a future in baseball. Well I have bad news. The odds are overwhelming he doesn't so stop paying these exorbitant fees for travel teams and private lessons for absolutely nothing. There are plenty of small towm leagues for kids to play and have fun and if little Johnny really is good he'll be found. Parents have to stop feeding the machine.

Engel to the IL for busted ass.

I can't really think about anything but talking about TA right now. I don't know of a single player on the sox I can think of that became elite after arriving in the bigs so quickly and unexpectedly. A short recap of what I hoped TA would be throughout the course of his career. TA is drafted: - I hope he can be another Alexei Ramirez TA is in minors: - Shawon Dunston comp. That's interesting. Solid player, we need those. TA arrives: - I guess Schoop is making things work, hopefully he can get to Schoops level TA last year: - Whoa...he's really good, is he a top 5 shortstop now? TA This year: - Whoa...Tim is a top 5 player in baseball. That's crazy. Luis Robert I had expectations he could become a great. Same with Eloy. Same with Moncada. Same with Jose! Same with Giolito, kopech, Frank Thomas, Crede. Have I ever watched anything like this? This is like a sammy sosa transition without the roids and expansion-weakened pitching. Tim Anderson should be a damn MVP. That's INSANE.

It does appear Madrigal is better than Mendick.

I can say 100%, Tim Anderson is my favorite player on this team. I mean it is easy to say a guy who gives you the best stats on a team is your favorite, and many do. For me, it isn't JUST what he does on the field, but the way he lives his life. He gives back to his community. He loves his family and his teammates. He plays the guy with his heart on his sleeve. He has a ton of work ethic. He hasn't been afraid to assume the mantle of leadership, both on this squad, but also in his community and for this franchise. Nothing was as powerful as watching him work publicly through the murder of his best friend, and putting himself out in public while trying to heal and cope. Finally, the TA story is a great success story for this franchise as well. We heard forever that this team couldn't draft or develop position players. They took a chance on a raw position player who barely played baseball in HS, and didn't play much as a small school JuCo player. Heck Gordon Beckham had more ABs his final year of college than TA had in all of his college experience. But the Sox drafted him in the first round. Many people felt he was rushed through the minors and to the majors. He was still a raw and toolsy kid when he got to Chicago, and made a ton of mistakes. But he learned and worked through it. Many felt his extension was premature and there were no savings to be had in it, even if he did succeed. The talk after TA got here was how many amazing SSs there were in baseball, and that Timmy was a level under all of them... at best. Yet at every single stage of this mans professional career his worked past it, and exceeded pretty much everyone's expectations. Tim Anderson is an incredible person, as well as an MVP caliber player. The kid has a fan for life in me.

Even if critics say he can't maintain his BABIP...the dude has one of the highest xBAs in baseball and a xwOBA of .388. If you watched him enough, you know he's not just hitting seeing eye singles all day.

It’s pretty calm it seems

No Kopech, no Bummer, EE hitting .160, Mazara no home runs, nothing from Rodon,Moncada suffering from Covid aftereffects. Still 32-16. This is pretty unbelievable to me.

I'm telling you he's fine. Renteria said in postgame that he's starting in Cincy and I checked with some beat writers. He's all good.

Bring in a lefty bring in a lefty bring in a lefty...

Even as a joke ("joke") this is fucking gross. Delete this, log off, and do some critical self-examination.

Yikes.

Agree with your thoughts in this thread 100%. I'm open to playoff reconstruction, league reconstruction, and even a minimal playoff expansion, but 16 teams in a 162 game season? That's absurd and swings the momentum to the complete other direction. If on one side we had teams tanking too much (now), the other side is completely meaningless regular season because all the decent teams get in. This is not a solution, this is a ploy for the owners to make more money.

TA7 is the superstar we all wanted but never expected. I have always been patient with him, but never thought this level was truly going to happen. I was all for Robert to bat leadoff as soon as this season, but realistically next season. Until he can lay off bad pitches he can't be that guy, but Anderson has basically forced himself into leadoff for the rest of his tenure...because TA bats wherever he says he is going to bat at this point. Enjoy the ride and the pasta.

IMO, last night is our best lineup.

My friend sometimes it's best to know that you don't know everything about baseball instead of smugly sticking to your argument.. Fry has been pretty much a lefty specialist even when baseball made it harder to be that. Before yesterday he had pitched in 13 games for a total of 12.1 innings so he usually goes less than 1 inning per outing. He had also walked 6 guys in those 12.1 innings. This was his 1st appearance since coming off the injured list and he is our only left handed reliever that can be trusted unless you think Gio Gonzales or Detwiler are better options for late innings. He is extremely important especially if Bummer doesn't come back. He had already pitched more than he averaged when healthy. Another 2 outs could've been another 20 pitches if he walked another guy. You got a good job from him. You don't risk re-injury to his back by over extending him when he is so important moving forward. The big picture is way more important than another 2 outs with a 4 run lead. Bullpen pitchers have roles and he had already pitched beyond his role in that situation.

Tim Anderson is truly amazing. Incredible MENTAL skills of understanding his particular strengths (off-the-charts hand-eye coordination and hand-speed) and developing an approach to let his strengths play through each at-bat, thereby taking away all of the tactics of smart major league pitchers (changing eye-level, in-and-out, changing pace to keep a hitter off-balance, etc.). And it's one thing to formulate an approach, but a different and completely rare MENTAL strength is required to have the discipline to do this at the plate, virtually every at bat, against the best pitchers on the planet. Tim looks like he's toying with pitchers. He can do whatever he wants to do. His hand speed allows him to react so much later than most great hitters can. Barry Bonds had that same "advantage" when he became THAT Barry Bonds, only, well, you know .... As a somewhat older fan, TA reminds me of Paul Molitor in his HOF prime -- lightning quick and strong hands making him nearly impossible to pitch to. Incredible that TA has blossomed before our eyes, making him in some ways the primary weapon on a team that already has a revitalized Abreu and young studs like Robert, Jimenez, and (a hopefully soon recovered) Moncada.

For the 17th pick in the draft? Alexei Ramirez would be a home run result

You should really become familiar with 1st round draft pick history.

That was the thing with Tim. We hadn't had a guy come up in a while (position player) who had a plus skill so apparent. Tim's hands and bat speed were undeniable. What is crazy to me is it was hard not to listen to baseball people who were saying his approach couldn't work. He'd need to up his walk rate, be more patient to not be susceptible to falling down 0-2 and getting sliders. But instead he's just...made his approach work in a way I don't see in baseball. He's just ... moved around in the box and taken away pitchers pitches against them because he's so smart. When the hell does that happen? Mike Trout molded himself into this perfect encapsulation of all the best things to do in baseball, and that's amazing and I love Mike Trout. But Tim Anderson just...didn't do that and is incredible. And that's fun as hell and he's a WHITE SOX

Good way to overuse your shutdown closer is to mismanage all the other relievers your manager trusts Sox yesterday got 7IPs from their starter, 1.1 from their back from injury reliever and .2 to finish it from their non closer. It’s a great day for bullpen management moving forward. And you are still whining about it.

Gator meth. It's like regular meth, except they sprinkle in bits of real gator.

Dane Dunning might at this moment be my favorite player on this squad. Dude has balls of steel. I love a pitcher that would rather find the zone with a hanger than miss with a teaser. He attacks guys and pitches effectively wild more often than not. Has good stuff, knows it, and will make the hitter more often than not hit his pitch -- because he's not afraid to throw his pitch. If it was easy everybody would do it but learn up Dylan.

Yup. he's hitting 400 this year

To be fair, Engel always starts vs. lefties. And we're 12-0 vs. them.

FYI will we know ASAP or TBD? IMO he is DtD fwiw

Just so someone says this...yeah going "1 game and done" in the wild card is tough for the teams, but gosh those were some of the best games of the year to watch.

Japanese teams are watching closely

So did EE tell Ricky..."what do you mean put me back in...are you nuts?"

Yes, his baserunning rating is heavily affecting his WAR, and no, he wasn't following the coach's signal, he ran through stop signs multiple times and was thrown out every time

This is really a key point.

-.1 fWAR after last night. Needs to pick it up a bit imo.

I could get on board with 12 playoff teams. Three division winners, then the next three best records regardless of division. And you can't play a team in your division in the first round. But yeah, 16 is too many.

2021 will be the actually genesis of the "Madrigal Mystery Tour". Can't wait to see him perform over a 162 game season

Tim has the skills, that's obvious. But what makes him so good is his understanding of the game and his work ethic. He also has a ton of attitude, and he uses it for good. He's a leader on and off the field, picks his guys up, and is probably the biggest cheerleader on the team. I don't know what I expected out of Tim when he was drafted, and even once he was brought up I didn't really know what the Sox had. The jump he made from 2018 to 2019 was startling, and he's gotten even better in 2020. He's not just the best SS in Chicago, he's one of the best PLAYERS in baseball. He makes every game exciting.

These two posts also sum up why Tim Anderson is probably the most marketable player in baseball ... and why MLB is blowing a golden opportunity. He's the genesis of succeeding while telling all the unwritten rules to fuck off and to have fun while playing baseball and to do it his own way. While being an amazing human being. MLB sucks at marketing its traditional stars and now Tim is here #ChangingTheGame.

We were thinking about the same guy at the same moment; I almost started a Tim Anderson thread but just bumped the MVP thread and the other TA thread instead. I should have started one like you, as should everyone! This guy is playing like the best damn baseball player on the planet. It's absurd. He talked, and now he's walking that walk. I am even surprised how great Tim has been, and I'm on record here saying he has the best and quickest hands I've ever seen. People have hands as quick, but no one in the games history have had faster hands/wrists than Anderson. He gets to start his bat so late he can do whatever he wants with the baseball.

I think the players are making one hell of a case for why service time manipulation and the minor league hold downs in general are completely meaningless; this year has allowed so many guys that were supposedly a year or two away to show that they're not actually that far off at all. The gap between elite amateurs and professionals may be closing in baseball.

With due respect, so? If a team doesn’t want to be out of it by June or July, play better. If I am ever elected Czar of Sports, one of the first rules I would enact is that no more than 25% of teams in any sport can make the playoffs. That is one of the things I love about baseball, it is damn hard to make the playoffs. At that point, any team that wins it all is deserving. For 2020, it’s ok, though they should be seeding the non-division winners by record. After this year, go back to what works.

Jesus the Sox now have allowed 2nd fewest runs in AL. We know the offense. This is a complete team.

The talk of this structure remaining after 2020 is awful. I’d you’re going to expand, make it 6 teams or go back to division winners and a wild card game. 8 teams is awful. It works for 2020, but that should be it.

So we all agree now that Dunning should get the ball if there is a game three in the wild card round?

????

Cleveland lost by their pitcher hitting two gus in a row when there were 2 already on.

Yeah the Sox suck. Ask Twins fans on twitter. They don't need to beat KC and DET because they beat good teams, like uhh, umm. Hmm, I don't know

Three weeks until the playoffs and a meltdown about our first round opponent? Bravo.