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But in hockey, you can't position your players wherever you want. In football, you can't position your players wherever you want In basketball, you can't position your players wherever you want. In soccer, you can't position your players wherever you want. I Don't get why people think baseball should be different. There are rules in all other sports preventing some form of exploitative defensive/offensive practices related to positioning. I don't see why baseball should be any different.

I just have to get it out there…I really hope MLB doesn’t mess this up. I can’t wait until the shift is gone and people have to play in the right spots and we can start awarding the best players for making plays and not the front office with the best algorithms. Let the players play. Bring back the advantage of defensive range in the middle infield. Make MLB greater again!!! PS: I can’t freaking wait. Like literally this will be amazing. Wish they could make it go into effect immediately vs they are playing this whole season with one final, majorly extreme version of the shift in the most pitching dominant season I have ever seen (and it isn’t really pitching dominant as it is great positioning robbing great hit after great hit. I also think this will help the Sox as there algorithms / inability to use the shift stinks.

At this point you gotta just play your best players. The lefties and switch hitters have all been worthless. A platoon advantage doesn't do shit when the guys with the advantage can't get hits. In the end, this is on Hahn for failing to address our weak hitting from the left side.

Oh. Thompson has 7 K's through 4.0 IP. 0 H. 47 pitches. 33 for strikes.

I think we win this. Big Pollock game coming. So if we go like 36-5 in our next 41 games that puts us at 62-32, 30 games over.

Absolutely, and it's always from the keyboard warriors. You ask any player and they will tell you how hard it is, especially when you reach the MLB level. Additionally, take a guy like Grandal, who obviously has had a TERRIBLE season, but when you look at his career, he's been a fairly accomplished hitter and been around for a while. He's been hitting in the same "style" for over a decade, not counting the minor leagues. Asking him to abandon that and hit in a completely different fashion is not an easy thing for any player to accomplish.

Mena 4 H 0 BB 8 SO through 6.0 IP.

TLR is fucking brain dead. Shades of Ozzie's last year. edit: Just read his quote's on Andrew needing a day off after a "tough series on turf" -- dude, he just had a day off Monday. He's 24 FFS. It's not like he's some 32 year old in the midst of some brutal 30 games in 31 day stretch in the heat of August.

In 2000, the average MLB batting average was 276. In 2022, the average MLB batting average is 237. In 2000, MLB teams averaged 5.14 runs per game. In 2022, it's 4.3. 2000 AVG OPS: 782 2022 avg OPS: 699 They're having a hard time finding "someone who can" and it's hurting the game. That's the problem, and positioning plays into it; obviously strike outs are up as well which doesn't help.

It's the Hotel California. Everyone checks out at some point, but no one actually ever leaves.

Before injury, Sale was pretty close to a surefire HoF candidate…that’s a pretty high bar. Higher than Buehrle and Konerko.

Shifting is just another way to analyze data to get a competitive edge. Yes hitting is suffering because of it but baseball shouldn't revert back to the dark ages. There were never any rules regarding where a defense had to line up before and there shouldn't be now. All major sports are doing this. Baseball analyzes data on hitters hot zones, hitters tendencies, not only where they hit it but what they swing at. Baseball is a game of adjustments. If all teams do it then there is no competitive advantage to any team except for those teams that analyze and employ the strategies better than others. The same thing applies to scouting and development. If you do things right and get the best pitchers and hitters who can either use these strategies or beat them you deserve to win. The only reason the shifts will be banned is because if pitching is dominant baseball becomes even more boring and less attractive than faster paced offensive oriented sports. With or without the shift baseball is already behind the 8 ball.

On field delay at the Dash game as someone has run onto the field during Ramos' AB. He rips off his shirt and has a Cleveland Browns jersey underneath? He has now thrown a book on the field then put on some sunglasses?! He now rips off the Browns Jersey and has a polo underneath. Golf cart chasing him? Tackled now. Has left a pile of white stuff on the field? Is it popcorn? It's popcorn.

Alright boys, the Sox have reclaimed 2nd place in the Central after last night’s win and now are four games back of the divisional lead. A win tonight would put us back at .500, which would be a nice milestone with Lynn & Eloy coming back soon and hopefully Anderson in a few more weeks. It would also ensure that we’re at .500 heading into six games against the Rangers & Tigers. As such, wining one of these next two games will be huge. Tonight will prove the more challenging games of the two remaining with the Dodgers. On the mound for LA is Tony Gonsolin, who currently sits 6-0 with a 1.59 ERA, 3.04 FIP, and a 90th percentile xwOBA. Beyond just being awesome to start this year, the dude has a wide assortment of secondary pitches that should pose problems for us. Against righties, he primarily uses his slider (.152 wOBA | .255 xwOBA) and against lefties a combination of a split finger fastball (.143 wOBA | .194 xwOBA) and a curve (.000 wOBA | .048 xwOBA). As such, Tony won’t just be able to stack the lineup with bad LH hitting tonight. Gonsolin’s biggest weakness has traditionally been his walk rate, so if I’m Tony I’m probably starting every guy who has a semblance of plate discipline and hoping Cueto can keep us alive until we reach their bullpen. Unfortunately we don’t have many players that fit that billing, so I’d look to prioritize defense where possible (i.e. Pollock in LF & Engel in RF). Also, I pray that Legend and his two walks will be on the bench, but fully expect Tony to bat him leadoff due to his speed & switch hitting abilities. This game isn’t going to be easy and will likely come down to Cueto’s pitching performance tonight. If he can limit the Dodgers to two runs over say six we may be able to squeak out a win. If not, at least Thursday poses a far more favorable matchup for us. Either way, we got nothing to lose tonight given the tough matchup and hopefully the offense can find a way to surprise us. Let’s fucking go!!!!

I hope that old piece of shit (TLR) and this crap organization keep getting roasted by baseball people. Obviously they don't give a fuck what their fans say. Maybe as they become a laughing stock by baseball people then someone will care.....

La Russa is exaggerating Hahn's fuckups, it's like he's trying to get Hahn fired by sabotaging the lineup with what was given to him

That's such a Dr. Seuss name.

I think banning the shift is ridiculous. They're professional hitters. Make an adjustment and if you can't they'll find someone who can. I don't remember seeing it written anywhere that Joey Gallo has to be a major league baseball player. If he can't get a hit with half the field open then maybe he's just a bad hitter. The player adjusts to the game the game doesn't adjust to the player.

Kopech is going to be one of the best pitchers in the game for a while. Been saying that for some time.

That would suck if you had to start rooting for the team you like,

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/stats/affiliates?teamId=145&date=06/08/2022 https://www.milb.com/scores/chicago-white-sox/2022-06-08 Lance Lynn for AAA. Is this his final tune up?

On the plus side, I guess it's nice to know that a majority of us aren't the only ones puzzled by the lineup decisions. I suppose that makes me feel slightly better in some regard.

Pretty sure you say this at least once every year

Anyone else disappointed in Robert? I just looked him up, and he's hitting .272/.300/.400 against RHP with a 104 wRC+ He can still get better, but he's just okay at this point, nothing special.

There's something seriously wrong with this organization (actually a lot of things). Rather than being able to develop players, it seems like players in this organization often regress.

Hope the baby is born tomorrow, because god knows he doesn’t feel comfortable on the 8th

Wait....you mean the offense with LOLEury leading off, and Moncada 3rd, haven't managed to put on an offensive display? Who could have seen that coming?

I wish these soft ass reporters would actually ask Tony hard questions and make him give an actual answer to his stupid decisions

Losing this game is tolerable. The drunken stupidity is what irks me.

Moncada and Grandal should bat 7 and 8 and Garcia should never be above 9.

Just a mind boggling offseason for a team with championship ambitions

He's a below average utility player that we knew would be overexposed yet chose to retain him for three years competing against no one

There was plenty of booing Garcia here.

Once again, thanks for fucking up everything this offseason Hahn.

Fire Menechino

Heard some boos for Leury there

It's funny we can't play Moncada who came up as a 2B at 2B to make room for Burger, but it's no big deal making Vaughn play OF.

At this point, screw it, start Burger at 3B and make Moncada re-earn that spot.

at least burger doesn't annoy me

I fucking despise Tony La Russa…what a predictably stupid move by a brain-dead asshole

A Real AF blowout win for everyone except ESPN?

I think a manager should be free to position his seven fielders wherever he wants. The goal of the hitter is to "hit it where they ain't".

Banning the shift might revive Grandal's bat. He probably gains 50 points of batting average if they can no longer play the 2B in the outfield for him.

How about not hitting every single ball to 1/4th of the field, as a hitter? Shifts were a thing before computer complied data, because so many players can pretty much only pull the ball. This is a dumb ass proposal. Most shifts could be beat 100% of the time by...knowing how to bunt. Or just put the bat on the ball, and direct it where to go. This is on hitters.

Gotta say for all the harumph this season has been you wouldn’t know it in the stadium. Every game I’ve been to has been a joy and excellent crowds. We all suffered in the rebuild and are cashing in even if the on the field isn’t representative of what it should be yet.

well maybe they should just win the next 10 in a row to cement it then.

Probably Tony's best game of the season.

Name your price and I will take the other side of that bet.