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Apparently no one wants the gamethread after yesterday's beatdown. Ye of little faith. I'll guess I can handle the next few days of gamethreads ? Pitching probables are LHP Hard Carl Rodon vs RHP Luis Garcia. Garcia was the Astros 13th ranked prospect last year, but he's having a solid season. He has 63.1 IP across 13 games, 11 of those starts. He has compiled a 2.98 ERA, but it is a half run better than his 3.40 xERA, and a full run better than his 3.83 FIP. He throws a 93 MPH fastball almost 50% of the time, then mixes in 21% cutter, 15% slider, 9% changeup, and 8% curveball. His statcast numbers are solid, but definitely not special. Rodon on the other hand has absolutely been special. He has a 1.89 ERA, a 2.53 xERA, and a 2.42 FIP. His statcast numbers are elite across the board.... except for exit velocity and hard hit%, strangely. It will be interesting to see if that is a problem for him against an Astros team that is in the middle of a massive power surge, with 10 straight games of 2+ home runs, led by Jose Altuve, who has 8 HRs in his last 10 games. Oh, and fuck the Astros, they are dirty dirty cheaters. EDIT - Lineups:

I'm here for a good time, not an accurate time

No I want to ban you for your dog whistle racism that you have been throwing at Yermin for over a month. THAT is trolling

It's too bad you have devolved into a dog whistling troll. I hope your ten minutes are over here soon too

Fuck you Jerry!!!!!

Yawn. Fuck this offense.

Time to turn off this game before I see something horrendous happen.

"Yermin has become a distraction for the team at this point. His streaky hitting and flamboyant style will suit him much better in the Pecos league. Hahn will give him his walking papers at some point in the not too distant future. He had his ten minutes of fame but its almost over now." Where is thee racist dog whistle in that? Do you even know what the Pecos League is? I think YOU made an assumption about race because the name sounds Mexican. " The Pecos League is an independent baseball league which operates in cities in desert mountain regions throughout California, New Mexico, Southern Arizona, Kansas, West Texas and Colorado. Pecos Teams play in cities that do not have Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either.

A distraction? Good god you’re a fucking joke

Depends on how good Robert is in 2022-23. Still not seeing how we can compensate for leadership loss of Abreu, Gio and especially Anderson after 2024. Those are our Aaron Rowands and Carl Everett's.

This is a great team when healthy no doubt, but we can’t let beating up on the Tigers convince us the offense is stronger than it is. Reinforcements will be needed, at least for the playoffs.

Mendick is to blame too no doubt, but ultimately I don’t like managers over-managing, especially early in games. And I’m not sure I get the logic of hit & running in that situation there even if I put my old school baseball hat on.

It was a great call. Mendick just whiffed on a cookie down the middle ?

Weird, a "new poster" being critical of the best team in baseball because they lost a game.

It looks like the Sox left their smoke and mirrors back in Chicago. Before yesterday's game I said I'd be satisfied with the Sox winning one of this four game series. Winning one would still be okay, getting swept wouldn't. A split of the series would be great, but it's unlikely. With all of the Sox injuries, the Astro's are currently fielding a more talented team.

Eloy has proven he cannot play LF without injuring himself. I am not sure what games you were watching.

You are accusing me of being a racist? I am nothing of the sort, which you might understand if you read any of my posts on the Covid forum where I have opposed racism and the conduct of a certain political figure who promoted it.

My comments are within the rules. I am commenting about a player's performance on the field. You are levying a personal attack and what appears to be a threat given that it comes from a moderator of the forum. You want to ban me because I think Yermin Mercedes should not be on the roster? That's trolling?

Tony keeps batting Mercedes 5th and did say he’ll move Yermin up to 2nd the other day, so La Russa believes Mercedes will turn it around. However, tray did correctly predict Yermin’s downfall, so it’s Tony’s baseball’s mind vs tray’s baseball mind in this battle of the sport’s titans.

Tony ruined Yermin. This is 100% on TLR. Yermin has been under so much pressure since those comments.

Yermin has become a distraction for the team at this point. His streaky hitting and flamboyant style will suit him much better in the Pecos league. Hahn will give him his walking papers at some point in the not too distant future. He had his ten minutes of fame but its almost over now.

Totally, Mendick is a bum and probably in DFA territory since he only hit .318/..423/.455 after receiving consistent ABs for the first time. Let’s not forget he is. butcher at 2B.

Thanks for your kind and cordial reply. I agree that it's not realistic to try to translate AAA performance, especially at the Knight's stadium, to the Majors, but it's worth noting that Beckham has a decent track record in the "show". Considering that he didn't play last year, I think now that he seems to have found his power stroke again, it's reasonable to hope that he could contribute at a level comparable to his last few seasons in the A.L. That would represent pretty good production, as a replacement for the injured Madrigal, without having to give up prospects. He has historically not been a high OBP guy, but he has put up decent Slugging Percentages.

Hopefully he packed the smoke and mirrors.

My first thought after reading the initial post was, “Wow, this is a @Chicago White Sox style game thread. Let’s f***ing GO!”

Best run differential in MLB = smoke and mirrors. Good point.

I think you're one of the more thoughtful posters here, and I respect that. But, I think you're overlooking the Coors Field-like YAWNING gap between Beckham's Home/Away splits. Its laughably easy to hit well in Truist Field, but much less so away from there. To wit, Beckham's Home OPS this season: A MIGHTY .909; Beckham's Away OPS this season: A putrid .706. SOURCE Since he won't have the laughably easy task of hitting against Reynaldo Lopez-quality pitching opposition at a Coors Field-like setting if he were to be called up, I would imagine that Beckham's OPS would be more likely to be the putrid .706 OPS. [Likely, even less than that, since he'd be hitting against better opposition than he's seen in the IL.] His splits aside, his OBP is sub .300 overall. Vs. AAAA types and Reynaldo Lopez-types and other walk machines. What would his OBP be in MLB? Sub .250? Beckham's OBP in AAA is less than Seby Zavala's. It's less than Zach Remillard's OBP. IMO, Tim Beckham isn't any sort of solution, although if he were, it would solve a lot of issues this TDL.

He'll fit right in

smoke and mirrors lol....

He could drop 100 pounds and still play LF like a cat on skates.

One thing I am hoping is that with all the rehab...he got a good diet going and dropped 10-15 lbs. he needs that IF they have any intention of playing him out there.

Right I 100% agree we need more LH hitting which is why I advocate for Escobar. And as you say "shoot for the stars" was also a post of mine basically when I said I don't believe there will be sustained success or believe that the pitching prospects currently in the system will ever be good enough to give the Sox a better chance in the future to win a World Series as they have now with great starting pitching and a potentially great lineup once Eloy and Robert return. That post offended a lot of people who didn't want to shoot for the stars this year because it would hurt future years. My post and focus is also on the playoffs. I thought I conveyed that pretty clearly in my post. I brought up the 5 weeks because I think what the Sox ultimately do is dependent on how certain players perform. But like you I already know they will need more LH hitting ( I say with power ) . I don't know how many AL teams have won a World Series recently while being the 2nd worse HR hitting team in the AL at or near the All Star Break. I like that Engel and Goodwin have hit 4 HR's between them in the short time they have been in the line up and the defense they provide . Ketel is a really good player and versatile which I also love but the power is lacking. Now it might not make a difference if Eloy comes back and starts raking but I think it's essential to add power in case he doesn't . If the Sox "shoot for the stars" then they will have to give up a lot of prospect capital which is likely to be some pitching prospects. Shooting for the stars would mean Ketel or Escobar or both and relief pitching. You know they have to get more relief pitching and you know the chances of the Sox hurting the promised future window is not going to happen. It should be pretty lively around here when the Sox eventually get around to doing whatever they do.

I find providing cost on mid tier guys on trades hard but I feel like sheets is similar to Ryan Cordell who better Soria. I think he should be able to get us a good RHP reliever but yea a .5-1.5 year guy. Hard to look for those guys honestly. Weird year so far. I sorta like that Colorado set up guy.

The Vuc trade basically turned into worst case scenario. The Bulls would be sitting so much better had they just done nothing or accumulated more picks. I have a feeling the front office really loves Vuc, but it just had disaster written all over it.

Let's dig up that other thread too where you talk about his haircut and his necklaces and how much his flamboyance bothers you. Keep whistling

Let's get real right now. Once Eloy is back in the lineup he will be playing LF often. There is just no way around it. He is a way better hitter than Vaughn against RHP. Now of course Eloy will play some DH maybe even half his games or more in the beginning while he readjusts to playing. If the Sox want the best lineup against LHP then Vaughn should play LF while Eloy DH's. The best lineup against RHP ,which is most of the time, will be Eloy in LF and Vaughn on the bench. I would also think Vaughn would play LF against select RHP with Eloy DHing but that won't happen too often once Eloy is re-acclimated. The only way this scenario plays out differently will be if Vaughn starts mashing RHP in the time left before Eloy returns. I would love for this to happen because player improvement in a top prospect can only mean good things for the Sox moving forward.

Pretty sure Sox fill second base with internal guys as the guys here ( Mendick and Garcia are decent enough) and if burger makes the jump that would be a great story. Burger was an elite hockey player back in his days at Christian Brothers academy ( top program in St. Louis) so he’s a tough kid who will likely never give up. also Sox shouldn’t trade any minor league pitchers like lambert or Stievers as this year is a game of attrition and the team that wins the World Series is likely the team that has the minimum number of injuries or greatest depth. The Sox will likely need 2-3 guys from Charlotte to come up and pitch this year. If there is an add anywhere I’d add more pitching.

I love watching him pitch too - but with how little he has thrown - they had to really manage his innings and having this type of break, especially with the clubs record etc - is really good when it comes to ensuring we can watch him be awesome in the postseason (vs. getting shut down, etc).

See the funny thing is that coming into this season, I had zero expectations of Yermin. But unlike you, I enjoyed what he did and hope to see him do more. But your feelings are so hurt that people keep telling you to get something other than Yermin hate to talk about, that you assume that every one else loves the guy because you can't conceptualize putting your favorite team ahead of a mindless hatred. For the record, I didn't think he would even do what he did this season, so I enjoyed every minute of it.

Hooe Kopech gets healthy sooner rather than later

There are those here who think trading prospects should never happen or our guys most of us have given up on because talent cost will be low and other GM's will be taken in by Hahns announcement that we don't know what we are going to do. As of now in my not so humble opinion , the Sox will try to preserve the status quo. That means wait and assess the situation until the last possible moment and see where the team is at and where the weaknesses are. Then they will make the minimum least costly move(s) available for more relief pitching which probably would be in accordance with LaRussa's wishes. Let's hold onto those Gold pitching prospects we have who are going to be the 2nd wave in the decade long window of contention of sustained success that Hahn has been selling us . After all if we have to trade someone ,guys like Sheets,Adolfo, Rutherford and Burger will surely entice teams way more than anything else other teams have to offer. When we don't win the World Series in the next 10 years feel free to look me up after Hypnotist Hahn and Jerry have lead their followers into the Valley of Sustained Success. But hey we will always have Danny Mendick ,our saviour, to console us. No need to go all in this year just because we have the best Starting pitching staff in baseball and probably the best it will ever be in the next decade . Keep dangling that carrot Jerry you sure have Sox fans pegged right. Keep them longing for a better future while delaying the present. Fill the hole at 2nd base with needed LH power get more pitching . That's where I stand. Give up what is necessary and if it isn't our best low minors position players or our top pitching prospects even better . Win Win.

Are you really trying to say that Eloy is a better OF? Put the laugh reacts away and man up and say it. Because if that is REALLY are trying to say, THAT is what needs to be laughed at.

Sucks that it has taken as long as it has, to get him on the IL.

Sox really don't need to have urgency. These next four with the Astros are big of course. After that, the Sox schedule leading up the ASB is 18 games against awful teams (current winning percentage rank in parenthesis). 2 @ PIT (28th) 3 vs. SEA (18th) 4 vs. MIN (26th) 3 @ DET (23rd) 3 @ MIN (26th) 3 @ BAL (29th) Meanwhile Cleveland's July is 4 vs. Houston 3 @ Tampa 4 vs. KC 3 @ Oakland 3 @ Houston 4 vs. Tampa 2 vs. STL Then they come to Chicago last weekend of July. If the Sox handle their business, they should be several games up on Cleveland going into the All Star Break. The Indians will have their ace, #3 starter, catcher on the shelf. Their #5 starter has already been a disaster before Pleasac/Bieber injuries. JMO, but I get the feeling these substance bans are going to have a particular effect on Cleveland. Cleveland has the lowest payroll in baseball. They have Jose Ramirez under control for 2 years after this year through team options. They also have Eddie Rosario, Bryan Shaw, Cesar Hernandez and Roberto Perez as either free agents or guys under control in 2022 only if CLE flexes the club option. If you know anything about the Indians owner, you know that he wouldn't hate it if the Sox tore through their schedule and the Indians got swept the through the first week of July. He can then cash in on Ramirez for a significant package and sell off their other expiring contracts and potentially getting something for them instead of letting their value expire with an ~85-86 win team with very limited upside. Sox should be able to walk through the next 5 weeks and find themselves in a better position than they are today. The type of players that Sox are going to acquire are still going to be available in the July 20's and up to the deadline. Sox best move right now is 100% to hang tight and see where they are at. See what Mendick can do. Call up Fry. See if Burr/Ruiz can continue to get guys out. See if Heuer/Foster have their bad luck turn around. See how Eloy/Robert recover. See if any other key players get hurt. Sox are sitting pretty right now. Urgency would be a bad thing.

Does AAA hold a derby?

Something like Stiever + Sheets + Gonzalez + Burdi

Yermin in March/April - .415 Yermin in May .221 Yermin in June .146 He'll be in the Japanese league Home Run Derby next year at this rate.

Totally agree, ptatc. Every case is different, but given what Vaughn has shown (and what he hasn't) at this point....I don't know how much AAA really does for him.

I always thought Ron was like Monty Burns or Ned Flanders...