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I wrote about the draft class for FutureSox. Lots of Mike Shirley quotes here: https://soxmachine.com/2023/07/2023-white-sox-draft-recap-shirley-leads-process-behind-well-rounded-class/

It's almost as if hes like a 1B or something.

For the 19th time, that's right DVS of the Sun-Times listed his missing in action stints since he was called up to the Sox last month in the newspaper, our guy Eloy is going to miss time "at least the next four or five days..." Of course the Sox won't put him on the IL and play shorthanded. LOL. https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2023/7/16/23796778/eloy-jimenez-exits-white-sox-game-with-groin-tightness Please trade this stiff! So tired of this crap. ?

I love that pick. Quick mover who can start. Bargain at that price IMO. This bonus leaves the Sox right around $1.6 million to play with. George Wolkow is signing officially tomorrow. He's in Kannapolis. I'm guessing he's getting close to $1 million. Gordon is probably $150-$200K. $10K or so for Franklin. That would allow them to do like $250K each for Nishida and LaCombe if they need to as well.

A wRC+ of 82 (89 against RHP) and -4.1 runs below average (position adjustment included) with the glove so far. -.2 fWAR. This is the type of player only the Sox keep around. A smart franchise would have flipped him in the offseason for a A ball lotto ticket and figured it out otherwise.

He must not be present at the parade, celebrating causes injury as well.

It's like raaaaaaaaaaiiiiin, on your wedding dayyyyyyyyyy, the freeeee advise that you just didn't take....

He has an OPS below 800? He's not exactly a great hitter. Only by our s%*# standards is he much.

But who are they going to flip him to? WE'RE the dumb franchise that the smart franchises trade their chaff to.

I haven't been watching games most of the year, so I didn't know he was still playing the OF so much. 45 freaking games in the OF? This org is such a joke.

Mike Trout has nine seasons with a higher fWAR than Eloy’s career 5.4. Eloy is 0.3 ahead of Adam Engel. He is a hyped reserve, should have been traded after 2021.

Yes some of these are assumptions, but they are logical medical and athletic training assumptions. I will list several assumptions of detailed areas he might not be doing or doing well enough. One must ask themselves if Eloy is doing all he can, then why is he constantly injuring his hamstring, groin etc.? Do a dynamic warm-up! This is easily overlooked, but important. Prior to training and competing, ensure you perform a complete warm-up, including slow to fast movements, dynamic stretches (movement stretches) and sports-specific drills. Stretch the inner thigh and outer thigh muscles on a daily basis. Tight groin muscles are a large contributory factor to groin strains. Also, hamstrings should also be stretched to ensure good muscle balance. Regularly get manual therapy and massages from certified physiotherapists, athletic therapists or massage therapists. This will help to get the muscles flexible and break down any trigger points or scar tissue that can lead to injury. Learn sport-specific drills from our strength and conditioning experts to practice the change of direction and cutting maneuvers which commonly cause groin strains. This will help the muscles to adapt and become stronger at performing this kind of movement. Work on your core stability. Having good core and pelvic stability provides a solid base for sport-specific movements and reducing the chance of adductor strains. Strengthen the inner thigh muscles using weight machines and resistance bands. It is especially important to strengthen the muscles in the movement which caused the injury, to prevent a reoccurrence. Strengthen the lateral hip muscles, mainly the gluteal muscles. This will help with pelvic stability. Improve your proprioception. This is our sense of where each body part is in space and is similar to balance. Proprioception affects the way we move, especially when our balance is compromised and is therefore important in avoiding all injuries. Get plenty of rest and avoid over-training! If you train too much or for too long fatigue sets in, which increases the risk of injury. I don't make this stuff up. I have access to some of this knowledge on these injuries, since one of my best friends is a college athletic trainer with a college degree in this field and having 5 different board certifications. These are just some of the things he stresses that prevent muscle strains. The pro Eloy camp of people here need to get off this constant making excuses for him, like he has bad luck, a fluke injury, or just not the right body type, etc. I'm sorry, but there are many baseball players that never have a groin injury the entire season.

After not being thrilled with the top two picks, well-rounded is right for the rest of the class. Some big trait bets, some strong floor plays. Definitely seems like it's going to be harder to lure prep players away than it was before NIL.

Every time he hits a home run, we must eat all the money owed to Moncada and move on. Every time he goes a month striking out twice a game, crickets. I’m not saying either are the answer but I’m not throwing the baby out with the bathwater

Burgers OPS is the same as a guy with an injured back isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement. The fact remains that this site swoons every time Burger hits a home run and turns their cheek when he goes an entire month without a hit. Moncada might not be the answer but that doesn’t mean Burger is

Does this mean Hahn won't be selling anyone at the trade deadline now that the second half surge has begun and they are only 8.5 games back?

What's the point of trading him now...you won't get anything for him. But yeah, he's a massive disappointment. I thought he was going to be our best hitter since Frank Thomas.

An unfair take on Eloy and even Moncada. I would not question their dedication because a lot of it was required to get where they are, especially considering where each came from. Sometimes, some players are just more injury prone. It happens. A bad back is a bad back, bad legs are bad legs. It’s genetics… but watch any game and I don’t see how you question at least Eloy’s joy for the game.

Montgomery 3 BBS on game 2

So much to unpack here. I harken back to memories not long ago of Jose rounding the bases laughing, of TA putting his arm around Jose as they helped each other back to the dugout, of Eloy bouncing around the field, among many others as we watched this team grow together. Where did this go?? Meanwhile, we have a manager who constantly stresses focus. preparedness. Really? Could this not be the problem? These may well be issues but this team severely lacks any type of confidence and they play tight without any semblance of looseness. I see it every time Eloy comes up in a game situation. You can literally see his spine straighten, his sphincter pucker as the game moves entirely too fast and he invariably swings at a pitch he used to wait on. And it's not just Eloy. It's almost everyone but contrast today's Eloy to his approaches in 2020. And pitchers? Watch their body language when they lose their release point and control. No, Pedro, the main issue with this team is they just don't play loose. They play like losers trying to think their way to getting better. To me, the most telling statement in the article was his admission that he doesn't do a lot of team stuff but a lot of individual conversations. Um, isn't that what a coach does? I am willing to admit Pedro may be a good coach but a manager is responsible for the team and right now, this team needs a manager. Ricky was not the greatest tactician but he kept the team loose and confident. LaRussa clearly brought gravity just with his resume. Last year, I felt the team did a bad job of adjusting to being the target but this has now been two years of watching a team regress. It's sad and disappointing. Yes, this is a severely flawed team, a different beef with a FO not understanding what a rebuild actually entails. Pedro has been dealt a difficult hand but I don't think he has done himself any favors either.

I wonder if Pedro is intimidated in his position. Maybe has the right intentions but took over a dysfunctional group of Prima donnas who thought they would win it all because all the reporters said so a few years back. It’s hard to come in as a first time leader in any organization and when you have this mess known as the Sox, it’s a difficult position. If they had a few established leaders on the team he could lean on it may help, but their most tenured guy is a complete mess this year and a bad example for the younger guys to follow. What a hole they dug for themselves. He was the wrong choice for a team in this position, but he was cheap and controllable.

See Dylan Cease and his yoga/Zen Buddhism...

They all stretch before the game. That is the team's initial stretching routine which is a great start to the game. However they still have to do continual stretching throughout the game to stay loose, especially right before their at bat. A perfect example of this was Jose Abreu. As we know he was rarely ever injured. Yes his pre-game stretching routine was extensive with the coaches. Yet throughout the game Jose would be stretching in between innings or especially right before his next at bat in the on deck circle. Keep in mind medical research has proven it's not just proper stretching to avoid muscle strains . There is extensive documented research that states that certain other core muscles in the lower body need to be developed properly in order to hopefully avoid muscle strains and tears.

Excellent article. Thanks!

I don’t think anybody said Burger was the answer, just better than Moncada. Also Burger has 21 home runs this year. Moncada has 29 for the last three years combined. Burger > Moncada.

He said, “Burger’s OPS during his awful slump”. That’s a big difference. Burger at his worst still brings a better bat than Moncada.

A team needs a 30 fWAR Position Player and 20 fWAR Pitching Staff, on average, to be a Top 6 team across The MLB. 2023 (58% played = X 1.72 pro-rated) 7.2 Hitters Pro-rated (24%) & Pitchers Pro-rated 10.8 (54%) 2022 15.2 Hitters (51%) & 17.3 Pitchers (87%) 2021 22.9 Hitters (76%) & 27.6 Pitchers (138%) You'll see a motivated Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada playing for their next contract. If you can get a 2 + fWAR out of both that would be positive seasons, though reasonably under their career peaks. Where they will be taking a hit is pitching which has held them up the prior two seasons with Lucas joining Rodon out the door. They look to be about 9 fWAR short in the pitching staff with 3 starters needed. The likely best way to obtain that with their budget is bring in guys and hope they get lucky on a couple like Cueto last season. 2024 Optimistic Best Case Scenario Projections (Previous fWAR career high) Hitting 20.5 (68%): 4.0 CF Robert (3.7 YTD); 2.5 3B Yoan (5.5); 2.5 SS Anderson (4.6); 2.0 LF Benintendi (4.9); 1.5 Burger (0.9 YTD); 1.5 C Zavala (1.9); 1.5 Jimenez (1.7); 1.0 1B Vaughn (0.2 YTD); 1.0 RF Colas (-0.5 YTD); 1.0 R. Gonzalez (0.0); 1.0 FA Defensive Catcher; 1.0 Reserves Pitching 11.1 + 3 new SPs (56% + new SPs) Rotation 4.5: 3.0 Cease (4.4); 1.5 Kopech (1.7) + SP + SP + SP Bullpen 6.6: 1.8 Hendriks (3.9); 1.0 Santos (1.1 YTD); 1.0 Bummer (1.3); 1.0 Crochet (1.4); 1.0 Graveman (1.1); 0.4 Middleton (0.2 YTD); 0.4 Toussaint (0.4); 0.0 Others.

Part of the issue I think with both Moncada and Eloy (well two issues) are they were given huge contracts before proving a damn thing and that impacted them negatively and second they are both built like Greek Gods, yet both are made of glass because of it.

Nice to see Ramos with a HR.

Seems like the analysts like many of the picks this year.

Adisyn Coffey gets out of it with minimal damage in his AA debut. 13-2 now. Thompson 5IP 3H 2R 2ER 6bb 4K, honestly should have been worse.

Birmingham is leading 13-1, another relatively good start for Thompson, but once again at various times he loses all ability to throw strikes. 4 walks in one inning led to their run and now he's just walked the first 2 guys in the 6th. 6 bb in 5IP is not going to cut it.

Yeah, agreed. I feel like Eloy loves playing baseball, he's just a cumbersome oaf who gets hurt easily. Yoan....he seems like the guy who'd rather be anywhere but on the baseball field, and is still made of glass.

IMHO Eloy seems like he has a lot more fun than Moncada who seems like he hates baseball.

Neither Moncada or Eloy strike me as players that love the game and the grind. They aren't dedicated to getting in the best shape possible and wanting to be on the field every single game. The two things I absolutely want to see the rest of this season is Colas play every game in RF, and trading for a legit 2B. You have to find out if Colas is the guy or not and you have to fill the void at 2B that has been there forever. You then get yourself a great defensive catcher who can hit some HR's and you are suddenly strong up the middle which all good teams are. Also I don't trade TA unless I get an offer to good to pass up. I'm convinced all his issues are related to an injury and his off field nonsense and his marriage most likely being in shambles. He needs to get his head back right.

You just get put on the IL 19x because you're *extremely* unlucky, got it

At least he is batting 7 th today and not 6 th as yesterday. He is our worst hitter today IMO.

Maybe the Braves broadcasting people will upgrade and hire Gordo who is from Atlanta.

It's a great Sunday win and impressive series win. However that's baseball and sometimes a bad team can win a series against the best team. Just be careful here, the Sox still have major flaws and are not a playoff team. I will not drop my guard and let them tease me thinking they are back in the race to win the Central. We've gone down this rabbit hole too many times this season. Sorry to be negative, but it is what it is! This impressive series win shouldn't change anything to the fact, the Sox still need to be sellers in the next few weeks.

If a team is going to turn a season around, it first has to have confidence. These two wins can help. But let's see what they do during the rest of the road trip. What I really did like was the emotion after the 6-5 win.

A couple more previously unannounced UDFAs: Luke Bell, RHP, 22, Xavier University Dominic Tamez, C, 22, University of Alabama Wolkow not in today's batch of agreed terms. $3.9 million for Gonzo.

Eloy should just retire, im so done with him

Good…boost that trade value back up, then send his ass packing

Kolby Allard is not a major league caliber pitcher

Tim now 4 for 10 post ASB. Dabs on the haters.

I'd much prefer Perez at DH than Grandal at this stage. Definitely should DFA him if he's not shipped by the deadline.

Have a cookie, reiks. Career Tim 18.1 (12.5 since Eloy's 2019 callup) > Eloy 5.5. Tim has had two 4.5 + seasons, Eloy does stupid stuff, gets bonehead injuries like in Spring Training.

I am counting the days until I no longer have to watch Grandal.

I really.....REALLY never need to see Grandal hit for the Chicago White Sox, again.

going to be a 100 loss season next year